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How to Vacation Like Taylor Swift in Her VMA Debut Music Video, “Wildest Dreams”

By Virginia Van Zanten

Taylor Swift swept us away to remote wilds—zebras stampeding, bush sunsets, romantic tented bedrooms—in her latest music video for “Wildest Dreams.” And while we can’t hook you up with Scott Eastwood as a travel companion, we can suggest African safari destinations that are every bit as awe-inspiring as her video. Here, five of the best:

Finch Hattons

This intimate tented camp is situated in the midst of 10 million acres of untouched wilderness in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park, and offers views of both Mount Kilimanjaro and the Chyulu Hills. Set out on a game drive, stargaze from the terrace, meet the local Masai residents, or relax in a grand infinity pool overlooking an oasis of natural spring pools—a gathering point for the resident hippopotamus pods.

Jack’s Camp

Come to this luxury camp in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pans National Park for the kind of absolute silence that you’ll find only in the midst of the Kalahari. In addition to treks, make a point of seeing the famous Chapman’s Baobab (acknowledged to be the third-largest tree in Africa and campsite of early explorers like David Livingstone), and enjoy a sunset on the vast dry lake bed: The wide flat expanse blends with the sky at dusk, making it easy to lose one’s sense of perspective—although back at the camp, the 1940s-style decor and stunning tented pool pavilion are reasons enough to make the trek.

&Beyond Ngala Safari Lodge

Come here not just for the luxurious accommodations, but for incredible proximity and access to the local wildlife. The &Beyond Ngala Private Game Reserve in South Africa is home not only to the “big five”—lion, elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros—but also to packs of African wild dogs, a rare species with around 3,000 remaining animals. Guests can also join conservationists for a very unique experience: tracking rhinos on the reserve—an important antipoaching measure.

Greystoke Mahale

Located on a white sand beach on the banks of Tanzania’s Lake Tanganyika with the Mahale Mountains rising sharply behind, this unique waterfront location sets the resort apart from most safari locales. But perhaps more unique is the local wildlife. Rather than the usual “big five,” guests can join guided treks into the mountain forests to get up close with the local chimpanzee population. At night, return to your thatched bandas—one of only six on the property—for a sundowner.

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Taylor Swift Goes on Safari in the Glamorous ‘Wildest Dreams’ Video

If you thought Taylor Swift went big with her previous videos, she takes it to another level with "Wildest Dreams." And after all the hype, she finally premiered the video on the 2015 MTV Videos Music Awards tonight (August 30).

Directed by Joseph Khan, who she worked with on "Bad Blood" and "Blank Space," the video goes back to the days of Old Hollywood. Taylor rocks a brunette coif as she plays a starlet, who's in love with her co-star, played by Scott Eastwood. Filmed in a number of breathtaking locations and also includes some wild extras including elephants, zebras and giraffes. Taylor even casually sings next to a lion.

"We just wanted to something so wildly different than we ever did before, and I hope people like it," Taylor told Kelly Osbourne after her video premiered.

Taylor also looks stunning in whatever she puts on. With a number of costume changes, she especially shines mustard gown that flows in the wind as she belts out her emotions.

As the lyrics lay out, the romance doesn't necessarily stay happy as the two get into arguments while filming the movie. Although there are clips of the the couple getting passionate between the sheets as well as going on a romantic plane ride, the visual ends on a sad note. Taylor and Scott both attend the film premiere separately, but Taylor makes a quick exit during a romantic scene. Her leading man runs after her, but it's too late. Taylor gets into her car and rides off -- leaving Scott alone.

While the video is its own mini movie, Taylor has a bigger and more charitable plan for "Wildest Dreams." Possibly inspired by the killing of Cecil the Lion , the clip ends with a message that says, "All of Taylor's proceeds from this video will be donated to wild animal conservation efforts through the African Parks Foundation of America."

Mission statements aside, the video is another strong and beautiful effort from Taylor.

See Taylor Swift Throughout the Years

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Taylor Swift, ‘Wildest Dreams,’ and the Perils of Nostalgia

The past is beautiful until you’re reminded it’s ugly.

Taylor Swift’s music video for “Wildest Dreams” isn’t about the world as it exists; it’s about the world as seen through the filter of nostalgia and the magic of entertainment. In the song, Swift sings that she wants to live on in an ex’s memory as an idealized image of glamour—“standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset.” In the video, her character, an actress, falls in love with her already-coupled costar, for whom she’ll live on as an idealized image of glamour—standing in a nice dress, staring at a giant fan that’s making the fabric swirl in the wind.

The setting for the most part is Africa, but, again, the video isn’t about Africa as it exists, but as it’s seen through the filter of nostalgia and the magic of entertainment—a very particular nostalgia and kind of entertainment. Though set in 1950, the video is in the literary and cinematic tradition of white savannah romances, the most important recent incarnation of which might be the 1985 Meryl Streep film Out of Africa , whose story begins in 1913. Its familiarity is part of its appeal, and also part of why it’s now drawing flack for being insensitive. As James Kassaga Arinaitwe and Viviane Rutabingwa write at NPR :

To those of us from the continent who had parents or grandparents who lived through colonialism (and it can be argued in some cases are still living through it), this nostalgia that privileged white people have for colonial Africa is awkwardly confusing to say the least and offensive to say the most [...] She should absolutely be able to use any location as a backdrop. But she packages our continent as the backdrop for her romantic songs devoid of any African person or storyline, and she sets the video in a time when the people depicted by Swift and her co-stars killed, dehumanized, and traumatized millions of Africans. That is beyond problematic.

It’s hard to imagine that Swift intended to get this reaction, or even anticipated it. But the all-white “Wildest Dreams” video is, in fact, the culmination of a current running throughout her recent output—a powerful but vague nostalgia, defined less by time period than by particular strains of influence that just happen to be affiliated with a certain skin color.

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As The New York Times’ Jon Caramanica pointed out in his review of 1989 , the music on the album contrasts with modern pop by harkening back to when hip-hop hadn’t yet infiltrated the mainstream (the only thing she has made in this album cycle that could be thought of as current or futuristic was the “Bad Blood” remix—which, perhaps not coincidentally, included rap). The “red lip, classic thing that you like” and the “James Dean daydream” that are glorified explicitly in “Style” and implicitly in the lyrics of other songs, including “Wildest Dreams,” are old-school, definitionally white images of beauty . And the hunky, chiseled love interests of her recent videos (“Style,” “Blank Space,” and now “Wildest Dreams”) have all been white, and all been associated with the past: Gatsby -like aristocracy for “Blank Space,” Miami Vice and Instagram-ish memory haze for “Style.”

Pointing out these things is not to call Taylor Swift racist, but to emphasize how nostalgia can be inherently political. Swift is white, and she was raised in a society where certain symbols of white dominance and a more-segregated past have been glorified. Popular culture exists in large part to comfort, and the omission of black people from a story set in Africa certainly helps distract from the uncomfortable history of colonialism. But in 2015, there’s a growing popular awareness that things often considered “classic” were directly enabled by oppression, and that looking away from the uglier parts of the past will only perpetuate old problems. If that awareness hadn’t completely reached Swift with regards to windswept colonial romances set in Africa, the backlash to the video will almost certainly be a lesson.

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Director hits back at critics of Taylor Swift's African video

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The director of Taylor Swift's new music video set in Africa struck back on Wednesday at mounting criticism of the scarcity of black people in the mini-film and its romanticized portrayal of the continent. "Wildest Dreams," a love story filmed against a backdrop of giraffes, lions, waterfalls and stunning sunsets, has been viewed more than 15 million times since it was released on Monday to accompany the American pop superstar's latest single. Although Swift is donating all proceeds to the African Parks Foundation of America, critics have seized on the video as portraying a stereotyped colonial-era view of Africa. "So thank you, Taylor Swift, for proving once again that African stereotypes are safe atop the pinnacle of American pop culture," wrote Matt Carotenuto, who teaches African studies at New York state's St. Lawrence University, in an article on Wednesday on Salon.com. Director Joseph Kahn said the "Wildest Dreams" video depicted a love story on the set of a period film in Africa in 1950. Kahn said there were black Africans in the video in background shots but that it would have been "historically inaccurate to load the crew with more black actors as the video would have been accused of rewriting history." He also noted that the video's producer, Jil Hardin, and editor Chancler Haynes are both African-American. "There is no political agenda in the video. Our only goal was to tell a tragic love story in classic Hollywood iconography," Kahn said in a statement. Swift, who has some 62 million Twitter followers and whose "1989" album has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide, has not responded to the criticism. In an article for National Public Radio's website, James Kaaga Arinaitwe and Viviane Rutabingwa, who have both lived and worked in several African countries, said Swift was not the first person to use the continent as a backdrop for romantic tales. "We are shocked to think that in 2015, Taylor Swift, her record label and her video production group would think it was OK to film a video that presents a glamorous version of the white colonial fantasy of Africa," they added. (Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney)

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All 7of Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” Outfits That Will Have You Swooning More Than Scott Eastwood

By Erin Lukas

When it comes to music videos, Taylor Swift knows what we like and continues to deliver every single time with dramatic plot twists and amazing fashion moments worthy of the big screen. In her latest video for “Wildest Dreams,” Taylor swaps her “Bad Blood” leather and girl squad to take her red lip, classic thing that we like (scratch that, love) to the next level by channeling Old Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor.

From beautiful gowns to vintage co-ords Taylor’s looks throughout the clip — which follows her and Scott Eastwood filming a movie and frolicking in Africa — are just as cinematic as its background. Not to mention, she ditches her signature blonde for a black, curly bob to complete the part of the Old Hollywood siren — and totally pulls it off. Click through to see the seven most epic outfits from the video for major retro-fashion inspiration.

Taylor’s sultry, vintage boudoir ensemble is what our wildest sartorial dreams are made of.

Frankly, we’ll go wherever the wind takes us if it means flying in Taylor’s fitted top and capris, perfectly accessorized with a retro polka-dotted headscarf and cat-eye sunnies.

When you look as glamorous as Tay does in a strapless, champagne colored gown and statement jewels, you deserve a moment to kick back and chill with a lion.

By Ashleigh Carter

By Angie Jaime

By Kristi Kellogg

This gingham two-piece is further proof that Taylor has never met a crop-top and high-waisted co-ord she hasn’t liked (and flawlessly pulls off every single time).

The Old Hollywood screen sirens of the past ain't got nothing on Taylor’s sparkly brocade gown, fur stole, and dazzling diamonds.

Tay’s requirement for Scott Eastwood’s request for one last kiss? Coordinating safari outfits consisting of a cropped white shirt, high-waisted khakis, and riding boots.

A mustard gown with a dramatic train blowing in the breeze is the epitome of standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, and being etched into the mind of your former lover forever.

By Shauna Beni-Haynes

By Marilyn La Jeunesse

By Teen Vogue Editors

Taylor Swift’s 2015 hit song “Wildest Dreams” was filmed in Botswana

Did You Know that acclaimed pop star Taylor Swift’s 2015 hit song, Wildest Dreams was filmed in Botswana? Hard as it may be to believe, the music video for the hit song Wildest Dreams was filmed in Botswana’s breath – taking Makgadikgadi Salt Pans . And what a fitting setting for wildest dreams it was!

The hit music video was launched at the MTV awards pre-show and hit over 5 million views in 24 hours on YouTube. Filming was done in six locations in four days, covering over 1500 kilometres in the process.

Taylor Swift reportedly donated all proceeds from the video to the African Parks Foundation of America.

James Stenner, co-founder of Barclay Stenner Safari Co, the company that helped with the filming of the video, said of the experience

“We always get excited at the opportunity of showing the magic of Botswana to first timers and repeat guests alike, this time we are overjoyed to have worked on a project that will show the magic of the wild to the world.” “We really hope this spreads global awareness of the importance of conservation and preservation in order to keep this pristine wilderness and its wildlife as Mother Nature intended. We commend and salute Taylor Swift for her decision to put all the proceeds of the video into animal conservation here in Africa through the African Parks Foundation. We had lots of help along the way and it really great to work together to promote Botswana globally as a leading safari destination.”

We at YourBotswana commend both Taylor Swift, Barclay Stenner Safari Co and Africa Geographic for their contribution towards putting Botswana on the map as well as their conservation efforts.

Reference: Africa Geographic

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I came across your website by accident and landed on this post. Very interesting! I’ll def be back to see more of your work, very inspiring.

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The Official Ranking Of All Of Taylor Swift's Music Videos

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd do this. I hope you're ready for it.

BuzzFeed Staff

Hi y'all! I'm sure you got this from the title, but I am a big Swiftie. From "Teardrops on My Guitar" to "Mr. Perfectly Fine," I've been there for every song, album, video, theory, and scandal.

Cam Sackett @camsackett I just unfollowed people for hating on my girl I love you Taylor 01:23 AM - 25 Aug 2014 Reply Retweet Favorite

Cam Sackett @camsackett Taylor Swift is the coolest person on planet Earth 04:39 AM - 01 Jan 2015 Reply Retweet Favorite

Here are some tweets from high school that prove my loyalty to Miss Swift.

I have been seeing many rankings and lists of Taylor's songs and albums (shoutout to SwiftTok), but I noticed there was an essential one missing: a ranking of her music videos.

So here goes nothing this is my definitive ranking of all of taylor swift's music videos.

For clarification, I included every official music video she put out, including the videos that are from her tours and ones comprised of archival footage.

45. "Change"

This video is a hot mess. The extreme close-ups are quite jarring, and there truly is no reason for this video to exist.

41. "Fearless"/"Sparks Fly"/"Red"/"New Romantics"

I didn’t think it was necessary to rank all of her music videos that are comprised of concert footage. While I think they’re not the most creative, it is fun to see high-definition footage of her concerts. I’m glad they exist, but I don’t often go back to rewatch.

40. "I Don't Wanna Live Forever"

File this into the category of “I Don’t Wanna See Anyone but Taylor in This Music Video.”

39. "Crazier"

I am obsessed with the fact that Taylor was in Hannah Montana: The Movie .

38. "Safe & Sound"

The only purpose of this video really was to The Hunger Games , so I’m not upset at the minimal effort put into it. I do love the song.

37. "I'm Only Me When I'm With You"

A last ditch effort at getting some extra air time for this song. A cute idea, but I’m bored after about 60 seconds.

36. "The Best Day"

While the footage of Taylor and her mom, Andrea, is adorable, it is not as entertaining as original music video content.

35. "The Best Day (Taylor's Version)"

Taylor's Version > Original Version

34. "End Game"

This feels like a fever dream. Mimicking a rap video was a cool idea, but it feels tired and unoriginal. However, I do love to see Taylor in the rainbow sequin dress. Maybe an Easter egg for the Lover era??

33. " Tim McGraw "

Generic country music video. That’s all I can say about this one. You could copy and paste almost any country star and song from that era, and it would fit into this video.

32. "Fifteen"

WHOA, this video looks dated. And not in a nostalgic way, in an “I can’t believe we thought that was cool” kinda way. I like the cameo from Abigail, but the backgrounds of this video look incredibly cheesy.

I just don't understand what they were going for here. I understand that aesthetically this video is introducing the Lover era, but there is almost no connection to the song, which is already not great to begin with. I do love the snake to butterflies transition at the beginning, but it’s downhill after that.

30. "Everything Has Changed"

Although the little kids in this are adorable, I take points off for lack of Taylor. I always want it to be all about her.

29. "Our Song"

The best part of this video is the flowers. Give me more Taylor floral moments. I’ll eat that up all day long. The rest of it is just a little bit meh, but Taylor was still learning how to make a great music video at this point in her career .

28. "The Story of Us"

Speak Now music videos are in all different types of settings: a workplace, a snowy small town, and in this case, a school library. The connection between the song and video is cute, and I like that she’s incorporating her band, but this video lacks excitement.

27. "White Horse"

The “crying at home” video was a staple for Taylor’s first few albums. This one really fits that mold but has some weird (and almost hilarious) acting moments in between the choruses and the verses. Taylor’s emotion is raw, but the gimmicks of the video detract from that emotion.

26. "Style"

The music video for this song had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. "Style" is one of her best pop songs, but the video is lackluster. There are some cool visuals throughout, but overall it isn’t too exciting.

25. "Back to December"

This video gives a lot of "White Horse" vibes, but the snow inside the house really elevates it. I don’t think the shots of the random man walking through a snowy town are necessary, but I like the house Taylor is in.

A millennial dream. Sometimes I forget Taylor is a full-fledged millennial, but we love her for it! Although this birthday party is so 2013, right down to the cat ears and twinkle lights, I would die to be there.

23. "...Ready for It?"

Please don’t hate me but this is a knock-off "Bad Blood." It has the same themes and visuals but without any of the fun celeb cameos. This video is by no means bad, but it just doesn’t live up to the grandiosity of many of her others.

22. "Out of the Woods"

The ranking of this video is solely based on what could have been. We could have had a video about the supposed car accident that Taylor and Harry Styles got in, but this is simply not it. C’est la vie.

Taylor really leaned into the popularity of The Office and created a little workplace romance moment in this video. My problem with this video lies with the twist at the end, which I don’t think entirely fits, but it is a cute video for a cute song.

20. "Teardrops on My Guitar"

Talk about a throwback. It is so fun to watch young curly-haired Taylor act out these very age-appropriate stories. After watching her tackle some very emotional topics later in her career, it’s refreshing to see the problems she faced as a young person are the same as the rest of us.

Hear me out: I love Taylor’s loose side braid. It may be really 2010, but she looks great! This may not be her meatiest video, but it has a timeless quality about it. Also, anyone else spot a young Joey King?!?

18. "I Knew You Were Trouble"

Watching this video brought me right back to 2012. The outfits, sets, and dramatic voice-over feel a little dated, but Taylor’s performance is still really solid.

17. "Delicate"

While Taylor uses "Shake It Off" to show us that she’s not the greatest dancer, she proves that she actually has some dancing chops in "Delicate." Although this video is very endearing, there is some disconnect between the sonic qualities of the song and the concept of the video.

16. "Begin Again"

I could watch Taylor walk around Paris all day. The second single off of Red was one of the most mature things she had released up to that point. This video is bursting at the seams with gorgeous city views and beautiful dresses. I mean, that purple dress with the view of the Eiffel Tower??? Stunning.

15. "Bad Blood"

Anyone else getting Hunger Games vibes from this video? Taylor is ready to take on anyone with her infamous squad. I forgot how many great celebs are in this video like Hailee Steinfeld, Selena Gomez, and ZENDAYA.

14. "Willow"

The "Willow" video is one of my favorite ways that Taylor has used her music videos to end one era and step into another (also shoutout to the snake in the "Me!" video). The golden string is gorgeous and ties everything together with a neat little bow.

13. "Cardigan"

Now you may be wondering, why is this video ahead of "Willow"? The only thing that sets them apart for me is the water scene. That scene is SO FREAKING COOL and has got to be one of the hardest scenes she’s ever filmed.

12. "Shake It Off"

When Taylor shows us everything she’s “bad” at, why does it make us love her even more? She’s not a ballerina or a hip-hop dancer, but Taylor knows how to make a fun pop-music video to launch an iconic era. Also, props to this video for having over 3 BILLION VIEWS.

11. "Love Story"

Holy nostalgia. This music video will bring back all of your Romeo & Juliet fantasies. Taylor looks absolutely stunning as a princess, even though she looks like she’s frolicking around a college campus rather than an actual castle.

10. "You Need to Calm Down"

Talk about cameo central! This video is dripping with celebrities. From the Queer Eye cast to Katy Perry and more, Taylor brought all of her friends together for this Pride anthem. This video is colorful, funny, and full of Easter eggs.

9. "Picture to Burn"

Taylor + a revenge plot = magic. No one does revenge songs better than Taylor. Also, “he never let me drive the truck” is an all-time-best Taylor Swift line.

You cannot tell me that this video doesn’t make you tear up a little. Seeing Taylor act out this beautiful but utterly typical love story almost makes you believe she’s a normal person!

7. "The Man"

Taylor took a page out of Lady Gaga’s book for this video (à la "You and I") and transformed into a man. She gives an Oscar-worthy comedic performance in this video full of manspreading, celebrations for doing the bare minimum, and a great Scooter Braun callout.

6. "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

A one shot wonder. This video launched a lot of classic Taylor staples: the bangs, red lipstick, and her transition to pop. Although I still don’t really understand the band in animal suits, this video is beautifully designed and a whole lot of fun.

This video broke into the top five because of its set design + 🥺. The different rooms that are supposedly dedicated to the different eras of her career are a PERFECT backdrop for this gorgeous love song. Watching this video gives us all the feels.

4. "Look What You Made Me Do"

Controversial to the general public but not to my Swifties, we love LWYMMD. Taylor had done Easter eggs before this video, but she really went above and beyond in this one. You really can’t top all of the “old” Taylors at the end. And let us not forget to mention some of the best dancing of her career. Simply I-C-O-N-I-C.

3. "You Belong With Me"

You knew it would be near the top. This is probably her most endearing video with a great cameo from Lucas Till (of Hannah Montana: The Movie fame). Taylor showed young women everywhere that you can be quirky and nerdy and still be liked by whatever person you desire. She really gives a phenomenal performance in this video as her little nerdy self and her evil twin.

2. "Wildest Dreams"

One thing that defines a great music video to me is that you think of the video when you hear the song. I cannot hear "Wildest Dreams" without thinking of the beautiful and heart-wrenching story that Taylor tells in this video. This is one of her most clever interpretations of a song, with the biggest plot twist of her entire career. I won’t spoil the twist, but you must watch immediately if you haven’t seen it. ALSO that yellow dress. And Scott Eastwood. I have no words.

1. "Blank Space"

Do I really need to explain myself? This video perfectly encapsulates the message that Taylor was trying to convey with this song by leaning into the narrative of her behavior in relationships. The house? Incredible. The looks? Incredible. Her acting? Incredible. This will go down in history as one of the greatest music videos of the 2010s. There never was a blank space at the top of this list because this is far and away Taylor Swift’s best music video.

Well, that's it. I laughed, I cried a number of times, I sweat, I danced, I got a shot, I ate, and I had many epiphanies. If your ranking is different (let's be real — we all know it is), let me know what it is in the comments!

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Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Taylor Swift Makes GRAMMY History (Again) With Best Music Video Win For "All Too Well: The Short Film" | 2023 GRAMMYs

Taylor Swift's Best Music Video win was her first of the 2023 GRAMMYs, which also marked another GRAMMY first for the superstar.

Taylor Swift won the GRAMMY for Best Music Video at the 2023 GRAMMYs  thanks to "All Too Well: The Short Film," becoming the first  artist to win the category with a sole directing credit for their own music video.

Though Swift wasn’t there to accept the award herself, her video co-producer, Saul Germaine, delivered a short-and-sweet speech thanking Swift as well as the video's team and two stars, Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. "It was an incredible honor to tell this story with you," Germaine said.

Swift is no stranger to making GRAMMY history , as she became the first female artist to win the prestigious Album Of The Year GRAMMY three times in 2021 with her win for folklore . This is also not her first win in the Best Music Video category, either, as she won the award for "Bad Blood" in 2016.

Adele , BTS , Doja Cat , Kendrick Lamar ,  and  Harry Styles  were the other nominees in the Best Music Video category this year.

Listen to music from all of the nominees on our official Amazon Music playlist .

Check out the complete list of winners and nominees at the 2023 GRAMMYs .

Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

11 Artists Who Influenced Taylor Swift: Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Tim McGraw & More

From Paul McCartney to Paramore, Emily Dickinson and even "Game of Thrones," read on for some of the major influences Taylor Swift has referenced throughout her GRAMMY-winning career.

As expected, much buzz followed the release of Taylor Swift 's 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department , on April 19. Fans and critics alike have devoured the sprawling double album’s 31 tracks, unpacking her reflections from "a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time" in search of Easter eggs, their new favorite lyrics and references to famous faces (both within the pop supernova’s closely guarded orbit and the historical record). 

Shoutouts abound in The Tortured Poets Department : Charlie Puth gets his much-deserved (and Taylor-approved) flowers on the title track, while 1920s screen siren Clara Bow, the ancient Greek prophetess Cassandra and Peter Pan each get a song titled after them. Post Malone and   Florence + the Machine ’s Florence Welch each tap in for memorable duets. Relationships old (Joe Alwyn), new (Travis Kelce) and somewhere in between (1975’s Matty Healy) are alluded to without naming names, as is, possibly, the singer’s reputation -era feud with Kim Kardashian. 

Swift casts a wide net on The Tortured Poets Department , encompassing popular music, literature, mythology and beyond, but it's far from the first time the 14-time GRAMMY winner has worn her influences on her sleeve. While you digest TTPD , consider these 10 figures who have influenced the poet of the hour — from Stevie Nicks and Patti Smith to Emily Dickinson, William Wordsworth, Arya Stark and more.

Stevie Nicks

If Taylor Swift is the chairman of The Tortured Poets Department , Stevie Nicks may as well be considered its poet laureate emeritus. The mystical Fleetwood Mac frontwoman earns an important mention on side A closer "Clara Bow," in which Swift ties an invisible string from herself to a pre- Rumours Nicks ("In ‘75, the hair and lips/ Crowd goes wild at her fingertips"), and all the way back to the 1920s It Girl of the song’s title.

For her part, Nicks seems to approve of her place in Swift’s cultural lineage, considering she penned the poem found inside physical copies of The Tortured Poets Department . "He was in love with her/ Or at least she thought so," the Priestess of Rock and Roll wrote in part, before signing off, "For T — and me…"

Swift’s relationship with Nicks dates back to the 2010 GRAMMYs, when the pair performed a medley of "Rhiannon" and "You Belong With Me " before the then-country upstart took home her first Album Of The Year win for 2009’s Fearless . More recently, the "Edge of Seventeen" singer publicly credited Swift’s Midnights cut "You’re On Your Own, Kid" for helping her through the 2022 death of Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie .

Patti Smith

Swift may see herself as more "modern idiot" than modern-day Patti Smith, but that didn’t stop the superstar from name-dropping the icon synonymous with the Hotel Chelsea and punk scene of ‘70s New York on a key track on The Tortured Poets Department . Swift rather self-deprecatingly compares herself to the celebrated Just Kids memoirist (and 2023 Songwriters Hall of Fame nominee) on the double album’s synth-drenched title track, and it’s easy to see how Smith’s lifelong fusion of rock and poetry influenced the younger singer’s dactylic approach to her new album. 

Smith seemed to appreciate the shout-out on "The Tortured Poets Department" as well. "This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor," she wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of herself reading Thomas’ 1940 poetry collection Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog .

Emily Dickinson

When it comes to iconic poets, Swift has also taken a page or two over her career from Emily Dickinson. While the great 19th century poet hasn’t come up explicitly in Swift’s work, she did reference her poetic forebear (and actual sixth cousin, three times removed !) in her speech while accepting the award for Songwriter-Artist of the Decade at the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards.

"I’ve never talked about this publicly before, because, well, it’s dorky. But I also have, in my mind, secretly, established genre categories for lyrics I write. Three of them, to be exact. They are affectionately titled Quill Lyrics, Fountain Pen Lyrics and Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics," Swift told the audience before going on to explain, "If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre," she went on to explain.

Even before this glimpse into Swift’s writing process, Easter eggs had been laid pointing to her familial connection to Dickinson. For example, she announced her ninth album evermore on December 10, 2020, which would have been the late poet’s 190th birthday. Another clue that has Swifties convinced? Dickinson’s use of the word "forevermore" in her 1858 poem "One Sister Have I in Our House," which Swift also cleverly breaks apart in Evermore ’s Bon Iver-assisted title track ("And I couldn’t be sure/ I had a feeling so peculiar/ That this pain would be for/ Evermore").

The Lake Poets

Swift first put her growing affinity for poetry on display during her folklore era with "the lakes." On the elegiac bonus track, the singer draws a parallel with the Lake Poets of the 19th century, wishing she could escape to "the lakes where all the poets went to die" with her beloved muse in tow. In between fantasizing about "those Windermere peaks" and pining for "auroras and sad prose," she even manages to land a not-so-subtle jab at nemesis Scooter Braun ("I’ve come too far to watch some name-dropping sleaze/ Tell me what are my words worth") that doubles as clever wordplay on the last name of Lake Poet School members William and Dorothy Wordsworth.

Swift revealed more about why she connected to the Lake Poets in her 2020 Disney+ documentary folklore: the long pond studio sessions . "There was a poet district, these artists that moved there. And they were kind of heckled for it and made fun of for it as being these eccentrics and these kind of odd artists who decided that they just wanted to live there," she explained to her trusted producer Jack Antonoff . "So ‘the lakes,’ it kind of is the overarching theme of the whole album: of trying to escape, having something you wanna protect, trying to protect your own sanity and saying, ‘Look, they did this hundreds of years ago. I’m not the first person who’s felt this way.’"

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney and Swift have publicly praised one another’s work for years, leading to the 2020 Rolling Stone cover they posed for together for the special Musicians on Musicians issue . The younger singer even counts Sir Paul’s daughter Stella McCartney as a close friend and collaborator (Stella designed a capsule collection for Swift’s 2019 studio set Lover and earned a shout-out of her own on album cut "London Boy").

However, Swift took her relationship with the Beatles founder and his family a step further when it was rumored she based Midnights deep cut "Sweet Nothing" on McCartney’s decades-long romance with late wife Linda. While the speculation has never been outright confirmed, it appears Swift’s lyrics in the lilting love song ("On the way home, I wrote a poem/ You say, ‘What a mind’/ This happens all the time") were partially inspired by a strikingly similar quote McCartney once gave about his relationship with Linda, who passed away in 1998. To add to the mystique, the Midnights singer even reportedly liked a tweet from 2022 espousing the theory.  

The admiration between the duo seems to go both ways as well, with the former Beatle admitting in a 2018 BBC profile that the track "Who Cares" from his album Egypt Station was inspired by Swift’s close relationship with her fans.

From her days as a country music ingénue to her ascendance as the reigning mastermind of pop, Swift has credited the Chicks as a seminal influence in her songwriting and career trajectory. (Need examples? Look anywhere from early singles like "Picture to Burn" and "Should’ve Said No" to Evermore ’s Haim-assisted murder ballad "no body, no crime" and her own Lover -era collab with the band, "Soon You’ll Get Better.") 

In a 2020 Billboard cover story tied to the Chicks’ eighth album Gaslighter , Swift acknowledged just how much impact the trio made on her growing up. "Early in my life, these three women showed me that female artists can play their own instruments while also putting on a flamboyant spectacle of a live show," she said at the time. "They taught me that creativity, eccentricity, unapologetic boldness and kitsch can all go together authentically. Most importantly, they showed an entire generation of girls that female rage can be a bonding experience between us all the very second we first heard Natalie Maines bellow ‘that Earl had to DIE.’"

"Game of Thrones"

When reputation dropped in 2017, Swift was on a self-imposed media blackout, which meant no cover stories or dishy sit-down interviews on late-night TV during the album’s roll-out. Instead, the singer let reputation speak for itself, and fans were largely left to draw their own conclusions about their queen’s wildly anticipated comeback album. Two years later, though, Swift revealed the dark, vengeful, romantic body of work was largely inspired by "Game of Thrones."

"These songs were half based on what I was going through, but seeing them through a 'Game of Thrones' filter," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2019. "My entire outlook on storytelling has been shaped by ["GoT"] — the ability to foreshadow stories, to meticulously craft cryptic story lines. So, I found ways to get more cryptic with information and still be able to share messages with the fans. I aspire to be one one-millionth of the kind of hint dropper the makers of 'Game of Thrones' have been."

Joni Mitchell

Swift has long made her admiration of Joni Mitchell known, dating back to her 2012 album Red , which took a cue from the folk pioneer’s landmark 1971 LP Blue for its chromatic title. In an interview around the time of Red ’s release, the country-pop titan gushed over Blue ’s impact on her, telling Rhapsody, "[Mitchell] wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons. Songs like ‘River,’ which is just about her regrets and doubts of herself — I think this album is my favorite because it explores somebody’s soul so deeply."

Back in 2015, TIME declared the "Blank Space" singer a "disciple of Mitchell in ways both obvious and subtle" — from her reflective songwriting to the complete ownership over her creative process, and nearly 10 years later, Swift was still showing her appreciation for Mitchell after the latter’s triumphant and emotional appearance on the GRAMMY stage to perform "Both Sides Now" on the very same night Taylor took home her historic fourth GRAMMY for Album Of The Year for Midnights .

Fall Out Boy & Paramore

When releasing the re-recording of her third album Speak Now in 2023, Swift cited two unexpectedly emo acts as inspirations to her early songwriting: Fall Out Boy and Paramore . 

"Since Speak Now was all about my songwriting, I decided to go to the artists who I feel influenced me most powerfully as a lyricist at that time and ask them to sing on the album," she wrote in an Instagram post revealing the back cover and complete tracklist for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) , which included Fall Out Boy collaboration "Electric Touch" and "Castles Crumbling" featuring Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams .

For one of Swift’s original career inspirations, we have to go all the way back to the very first single she ever released. "Tim McGraw" was not only as the lead single off the 16-year-old self-titled 2006 debut album, but it also paid reverent homage to one of the greatest living legends in the history of country music. 

In retrospect, it was an incredibly gutsy risk for a then-unknown Swift to come raring out of the gate with a song named after a country superstar. But the gamble clearly paid off in spades, considering that now, when an entire generation of music fans hear "Tim McGraw," they think of Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' Is A Post-Mortem Autopsy In Song: 5 Takeaways From Her New Album

Photos (L-R): Buda Mendes/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management, Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Clear Channel

Songbook: An Era-By-Era Breakdown Of Taylor Swift's Journey From Country Starlet To Pop Phenomenon

Upon the arrival of Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department,' take a deep dive into her discography and see how each album helped her become the genre-shifting superstar she is today.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on April 19 to reflect the release of The Tortured Poets Department.

The world now knows Taylor Swift as a global pop superstar, but back in 2006, she was just a doe-eyed country prodigy. Since then, she's released 11 studio albums, re-recorded four as "Taylor's Version," and cultivated one of the most feverish fan bases in music. Oh, and she's also won 14 GRAMMY Awards, including four for Album Of The Year — the most ever won by an artist.

Swift has become one of music's most notable shapeshifters by refusing to limit herself to one genre, moving between country, pop, folk and beyond. A once-in-a-lifetime generational storyteller, one could argue that she is music's modern-day maverick, constantly evolving both her music and the culture around her.

Every album era has seen Swift reinvent herself over and over, which has helped pave the way for artists to explore other musical avenues. In turn, Swift hasn't just become one of the biggest artists of all time — she's changed pop music altogether.

To celebrate Taylor Swift's newest era with The Tortured Poets Department , GRAMMY.com looks back on all of her albums (Taylor's Versions not included) and how each era shaped her remarkable career.

Taylor Swift : Finding Her Place In Music

In a genre dominated by men, the odds were already stacked against Swift when she first broke into country music as a teenage female artist. The thing that differentiated her from other writers — and still does to this day — is her songwriting. She didn't want to be just "another girl singer" and knew writing her own songs would be what set her apart. 

Written throughout her adolescence, Taylor Swift was recorded at the end of 2005 and finalized by the time Swift finished her freshman year of high school. Serving as a snapshot of Swift's life and teenhood, she avoided songwriting stereotypes typically found in country music. Instead, she wanted to capture the years of her life while they still represented what she was going through, writing about what she was observing and experiencing, from love and friendship to feeling like an outsider. 

As a songwriter, Taylor Swift set the tone for what would be expected of her future recordings — all songs were written by her, some solely and others with one or two co-writers. One writer in particular, Liz Rose , applauded Swift's songwriting capabilities, stating that she was more of an "editor" for the songs because Swift already had such a distinct vision. 

The album's lead single, "Tim McGraw," an acoustic country ballad inspired by Swift knowing her relationship was going to end, represents an intricate part of Swift's songwriting process; meticulously picking apart her emotions to better understand them. With its follow-up, "Our Song" — which spent six consecutive weeks on the top of Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart — she became the youngest person to solely write and sing a No. 1 country single; she also became the first female solo artist in country music to write or co-write every song on an album. 

Although Swift's eponymous debut is underappreciated now — even lacking its own set on Swift's Eras Tour — Taylor Swift 's forthcoming rerecording is arguably the most anticipated by fans, who are eager to hear the songs with the singer's current and more refined vocals. Still, for fans who haven't properly explored Taylor Swift , it's easy to tie together Swift's earlier work to her current discography. 

On the track "A Place In This World," a song she wrote when she was just 13, Swift sings about not fitting in and trying to find her path. While her songwriting has developed and matured, feeling like an outsider and carving her own path is a theme she still writes about now, as seen on Midnights ' "You're On Your Own, Kid." 

Even as a new country artist, critics claimed that she "mastered" the genre while subsequently ushering it to a new era — one that would soon see Swift dabble in country-pop. 

Fearless : Creating A Different Kind Of Fairytale

If Taylor Swift was the soundtrack to navigating the early stages of teenhood, Fearless is Swift's coming-of-age record. More than its predecessor, Fearless blurs the line between country and pop thanks to crossover hits like "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me," yet still keeps the confessional attributes known in country songwriting. 

Most of Fearless is Swift coming to terms with what she believed love to be. On the album's liner notes, Swift says Fearless is about "living in spite" of the things that scare you, like falling in love again despite being hurt before or walking away and letting go. The 2008 version of Taylor wanted to "believe in love stories and prince charmings and happily ever after," whereas in Swift's Fearless (Taylor's Version) liner notes, she looks back on the album as a diary where she was learning "tiny lessons" every time there was a "new crack in the facade of the fairytale ending she'd been shown in the movies." 

Much of Fearless also sees Swift being reflective and nostalgic about adolescence, like in "Never Grow Up" and "Fifteen." Still wistful and romantic, the album explores Swift's hopes for love, as heard in the album's lead single "Love Story," which was one instance where she was "dramatizing" observations instead of actually experiencing them herself. 

Unlike the slow-burn of Taylor Swift , Fearless went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks. It won Swift's first Album Of The Year GRAMMY in 2010, at the time making her the youngest person to win the accolade at age 20. To date, it has sold 7.2 million copies in America alone. It might not be the romantic tale Swift dreamed of growing up, but her sophomore album signalled that bigger things were to come.

Speak Now : Proving Her Songwriting Prowess

Everything that happened after the success of Fearless pushed Swift from country music's best-kept secret to a mainstream star. But this meant that she faced more publicity and criticism, from naysayers who nitpicked her songwriting and vocals to the infamous Kanye West incident at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

For the first time since becoming an artist, she was forced to reckon with the concept of celebrity and how turning into one — whether she wanted it or not — informed her own writing and perception of herself. No longer was she the girl writing songs like "Fifteen" in her bedroom — now she was working through becoming a highly publicized figure. Speak Now is the answer to those growing pains. 

Along with having more eyes on her, Swift also felt pressured to maintain her persona as a perfect young female role model amid a time when her peers like Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato were attempting to rebrand to be more mature and sexier. During her NYU commencement speech in 2022, she reflected on this era of her life as one of intense fear that she could make a mistake and face lasting consequences, so the songs were masked in metaphors rather than directly addressing adult themes in her music. But that also resulted in some of her most poignant lyrics to date.

Read More: For The Record: How Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' Changed Her Career — And Proved She'll Always Get The Last Word

Writing the entire album herself, Swift used Speak Now to prove her songwriting prowess to those who questioned her capabilities. Much like her previous two albums, Swift included songs that were both inspired by her own life and being a fly on the wall. The album's title track pulled from the saying, "Speak now or forever hold your peace," inspired by a friend's ex-boyfriend getting engaged; meanwhile, "Mean" was everything Swift wanted to say to a critic who was continuously harsh about her vocals.

Retrospective and reflective, Speak Now is an album about the speeches she could've, would've and should've said. From addressing the aforementioned VMA incident in the forgiving "Innocent" to a toxic relationship in "Dear John," Speak Now also hinted that her rose-colored glasses were cracked, but Swift (and her songwriting) was only becoming stronger because of it.

Red : Coming Into Her Own

Highly regarded as Swift's magnum opus, Red sees the singer shed the fairytale dresses and the girl-next-door persona to craft a body of work that has now been deemed as her first "adult" record. On Red, Swift focused on emotions evoked from a hot-and-cold relationship, one that forced her to experience " intense love, intense frustration, jealousy and confusion " — all feelings that she'd describe as "red." 

Unlike most of her previous writing that had been inspired by happy endings and fairytales, Red explores the lingering pain and loss that can embed itself within despite trying your hardest to let go. In her liner notes, she references Pablo Neruda's poem "Tonight I Can Write," stating that "Love is so short, forgetting is so long" is the overarching theme for the album. She plays with time — speeding it up in "Starlight," dabbling in the past in "All Too Well," and reframing it in "State of Grace" — to better understand her experiences. 

After releasing country-pop records, Red toed the line between genres more than ever before. Swift leaned further into the full pop territory by working with esteemed producers Max Martin and Shellback for the dubstep-leaning track "I Knew You Were Trouble," the punchy lead single "We Are Never Getting Back Together," and the bouncy anthem "22." But even when the pop power players weren't involved, her country stylings still leaned more pop across the album, as further evidenced with the racing deep cut "Holy Ground" and the echoing title track. 

The slight change of direction became polarizing for critics and fans alike. Following the more country-influenced Speak Now , some critics and fans found the pop songs on Red were too pop and the lyrics were too repetitive, possibly indicating that she might be selling out. If that wasn't enough, Red became an era where Swift's personal life went from speculation to tabloid fodder, with misogynistic headlines and diluting her work to just "writing about her exes." It's an era that would eventually inspire many tracks on Red 's successor, 1989 , like "Blank Space" and "Shake It Off."

Commercially, Red debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 1.2 million copies in its first week, becoming the fastest-selling country album and making Swift the first female artist to have three consecutive albums spend six or more weeks at the top of the chart. The impact of Red extended beyond its own success, too. Often mentioned as a record that inspired a generation of artists from Troye Sivan to Conan Gray , Swift's confessional, soul-bearing authenticity set a new standard for straightforward pop music. 

1989 : Reinventing Into A Pop Genius

The night Red lost the GRAMMY for Album Of The Year in 2014, Swift decided that her next album would be a full-on pop record. After years of identifying as a country artist and flirting with pop, Swift departed her roots to reinvent herself, no matter what her then-label or critics had to say. And in true Swiftian fashion, turning into a pop artist didn't just prove her genre-shapeshifting capabilities — it further solidified her as an artist who is at her best when she freely creates to her desires and refuses to adhere to anyone.

1989 was lauded by critics for its infectious synth-pop that was reminiscent of the 1980s, yet still had a contemporary sound. Swift opted to lean more into radio-friendly hits, which resulted in songs like "Style," "Wildest Dreams," "Blank Space," and "Shake It Off," all of which became singles. And where some might trade a hit or two at the expense of their artistic integrity, Swift didn't falter — instead, her lyrics were just as heartfelt and intimate as they were on prior albums.

After exploring pop-leaning sonics she first found with Red , Swift worked with Martin and Shellback again on most of 1989 . This reinvention brought new (and very important) collaborators as well. Swift's now-frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff credits her as the first person to take a chance on him as a producer with "I Wish You Would" and "Out Of The Woods"; both tracks exemplified how future Antonoff-produced songs would sound on albums like reputation, Lover and Midnights .

At the time, 1989 became Swift's best-selling album to date. It sold nearly 1.3 million copies within release week in the U.S., debuting atop the Billboard 200 and reigning for 11 non-consecutive weeks. The album also earned Swift several awards — including her second Album Of The Year GRAMMY, which made her the first female artist to ever win the award twice. 

Following the release of 1989 , Swift became a cultural juggernaut, and the album has had an omnipresence in music since. Swift didn't just normalize blending genres, but proved that you can create a sound that is uniquely yours by doing so. In turn, Billie Eilish , Dua Lipa and more pop stars have refused to conform or stick to what they've done prior. 

reputation : Killing The Old Taylor

For years, Swift was on a strict two-year cycle — she'd release an album one year, tour the next, and then release a new album the following year. But following the heightened scrutiny and highly publicized tabloid drama that followed the end of the 1989 era, Swift completely disappeared for a year. She stayed away from public appearances, didn't do any press, and missed the album schedule fans became accustomed to. It wasn't until summer 2017 when she returned from her media (and social media) blackout to unveil the fitting title for her new album: reputation .

Born as a response to the naysayers and name-callers, reputation follows Swift shedding her public image — which includes the pressure to be perfect, the drama, and the criticism — by declaring, "There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation." Leaning on the same tongue-in-cheek songwriting techniques she used while penning "Blank Space," Swift wrote from the mindset of how the public perceived her.

When Swift released the lead single "Look What You Made Me Do," a song she initially wrote as a poem about not trusting specific people, many assumed the album would center on vengeance and drama. Although Swift said that the album has its vindictive moments — even declaring that the "old Taylor" is dead on the bridge of "Look What You Made Me Do" — it's a vulnerable record for her. Swift described reputation as a bait-and-switch; at their core, the songs are about finding love in the darkest moments. 

Swift still remained in the pop lane with reputation , largely leaning on Antonoff and the Martin/Shellback team. The sound almost mirrored the scrutiny Swift faced in the years prior — booming electropop beats, maximalist production and pulsing synthesizers dominate, particularly on "End Game," "I Did Something Bad," and "Ready For It…?" But the "old Taylor" isn't entirely gone on songs like "Call It What You Want," "So It Goes…" and "New Year's Day," where she lets her guard down to write earnest love odes.

Even after Swift spent some time away from the spotlight, the public didn't immediately gravitate toward her return. And even despite matching the 1.2 million first-week sales of her previous releases, some concluded that the album was her first commercial failure when compared to 1989 . With time, though, it became clear that the response to reputation became muddled with the public's overall perception of her at the time — some even claimed that Swift was ahead of her time with the album's overall sound.

For her 2023 TIME Person of the Year profile , Swift described reputation as a "goth-punk moment of female rage at being gaslit by an entire social structure." For years, she felt the pressure to be "America's Sweetheart" and to never step out of line. Writing reputation became a lifeline following the events that catalyzed it  — a way to shed the so-called snakeskin and make peace with however the public wanted to view her. 

Lover : Stepping Into The Daylight

After finding love amongst chaos with reput ation, Swift was learning to deal with the anxiety and fear of losing her partner — became a major theme of another aptly titled album, Lover . Both sonically and visually, Lover was a complete change from reputation . After touring reputation , Swift found that her fans saw her as "a flesh-and-blood human being," inspiring her to be "brave enough to be vulnerable" because her fans were along with her. Stepping away from the dark and antagonistic themes around reputation encouraged Swift to step into the light and be playful with her work on Lover .

Swift also found a new sense of creativity within this new mindset, one where she aimed to still embed playful themes in her songwriting but with less snark than that of "Blank Space" and "Look What You Made Me Do." Leaning into Lover being a "love letter to love," Swift explored every aspect of it. Tracks like "Paper Rings" and "London Boy" exude a whimsical energy, even if they center on more serious themes like marriage and commitment. Other songs, including "Death By A Thousand Cuts" and "Cornelia Street," are Swift at her most vulnerable, reflecting on a love lost and grappling with the extreme worry that comes when you could potentially lose someone. 

Looking at Lover retrospectively, it's an album that almost symbolizes a bookend in her discography. She was playful yet poignant, picking apart her past lyrics and feelings and looking at them with the perspective of someone who was once on top of the world, hit rock bottom, and survived in spite of it. This evolution is mentioned throughout Lover, particularly in a direct callback to 2012's Red , "Daylight," which sees her describe her love as "golden" rather than "burning red." 

Lover also marked the first time Swift divulged into politics and societal issues, like campaigning against Donald Trump, releasing the Pride-infused "You Need To Calm Down," and feeling disillusioned by the political climate with "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince." Swift's documentary Miss Americana explores this change further, discussing how she regrets not being vocal about politics and issues prior, in addition to opening up about her body image issues and mental health struggles.

Lover became Swift's sixth No. 1 album in America, making her the first female artist to achieve the feat. But Lover was more than any accolades could reflect — it was Swift's transitional album in many ways, notably marking the first album that she owned entirely herself following leaving Big Machine Records for Republic Records in 2018.

folklore : Looking Beyond Her Personal Stories

After the pandemic started and Swift cancelled her Lover Fest, she spent the early stages of quarantine reading and watching a myriad of films. Without exactly setting out to create an album, she began dreaming of fictional stories and characters with various narrative arcs, allowing her imagination to run free. The result became folklore , 2020's surprise archetypal quarantine album.

Crafting a world with characters like the folklore love triangle between those in "betty" and "august," as well as Rebekah Harkness from "the last great american dynasty" (who once lived in Swift's Rhode Island mansion), was Swift's way of venturing outside her typical autobiographical style of writing. She'd see visceral images in her mind — from battleships to tree swings to mirrored disco balls — and turned them into stories, sometimes weaving in her own personal narrative throughout, or taking on a narrator role and speaking from the perspective of someone she had never met. 

She worked remotely with two producers — again working with her right-hand man Jack Antonoff, and first-time collaborator Aaron Dessner from The National . Some songs, like "peace," were recorded in just one take, capturing the essence and fragility in the song's story, whereas the lyrics for the sun-drenched "august" were penned on the spot as Swift was in her makeshift home studio in Los Angeles.

Another aspect that separated folklore from her previous work was the obvious decision not to create hits made for radio play, so much so that Dessner claimed that she made an anti-pop record at a time when radio wanted clear "bops." Sonically, it ventured into genres Swift hadn't explored much outside of a few folkier tracks on Lover . Rather than relying on mostly electronic elements, Swift, Antonoff and Dessner weaved in soft pianos, ethereal strings, and plucky guitars.

folklore 's impact on the zeitgeist at a time where everyone was stuck at home helped shape people's quarantine experience. Fans rejoiced at having songs to comfort them during difficult times, and artists like Maya Hawke , Gracie Abrams , and Sabrina Carpenter credit folklore for inspiring them to create and be even more emotionally honest in their songwriting. After its release, folklore became the best-selling album of 2020 after selling 1.2 million records. At the 2021 GRAMMYs, folklore took home Album Of The Year , making her the fourth artist in history to win three times in the Category. 

evermore : Embracing Experimentation

It was exciting enough for Swifties to experience one surprise album drop from Swift, an artist who typically has an entire album campaign calculated. So when evermore was released just six months after folklore , fans were in shock. 

Like its (literally) folklorian sister, evermore was a surprise release at the end of 2020, marking the first time Swift didn't have distinct "eras" between albums. She felt like there was something "different" with folklore , stating in a social media post that making it was less like she was "departing" and more like she was "returning" to the next stage of her discography. In turn, the album served as a similar escape for Swift as folklore did.

Bridging together the same wistful and nostalgic themes as heard on its predecessor, evermore sees Swift venture even further into escapism. She explores more stories and characters, some based in fiction like "dorothea," and some real, like "marjorie," written in dedication to Swift's grandmother. 

Evermore follows folklore 's inclusion of natural imagery and motifs, like landscapes, skies, ivy, and celestial elements. In contrast to the fairytale motifs and happy endings of Fearless , evermore saw Swift become fixated on "unhappy" endings — stories of failed marriages ("happiness"), lifeless relationships ("tolerate it"), and one-time flings ("'tis the damn season"). 

Sonically, evermore is a slight departure from its sister record; where folklore relies on more alt-leaning and indie-tinged sounds, evermore takes the sonics from all of Swift's past records — from pop to country to indie rock — and features all of them on one album. Country songs like "cowboy like me" and "no body, no crime" reaches back to Swift's earlier work in narrative building, seamlessly crafting a three-party story with ease. "Closure" is a "skittering" track that has the same energy as tracks like Lover 's "I Forgot That You Existed," whereas the ballad "champagne problems" is thematically reminiscent of Swift's Speak Now track "Back To December" where she takes responsibility for her lover's heartache. 

Working mostly with Dessner on evermore , Swift was emboldened to continue creating and opted to embrace whatever came naturally to them rather than limiting themselves to a sound. Swift felt a "quiet conclusion" after finishing up evermore , describing that it was more about grappling with endings of all "sizes and shapes," and the record represented a chapter closing. Even so, its poetic lyricism and mystical storytelling cleverly foreshadowed what was to come with subsequent albums, particularly The Tortured Poets Department .

Midnights : Encapsulating Her Artistic Magic

After coming out of the folklorian woods following folklore and evermore , fans and critics alike were intrigued to see what direction Swift would take on her next studio album. On Midnights , Swift leaves behind indie folk sounds and returns to the pop production of 1989 and Lover .

Her most conceptual album to date, Midnights charts 13 sleepless nights and explores five themes, from self-hatred and revenge to "what if" fantasies, falling in love, and falling apart. They are the things that keep her up at night, like the self-critiquing in "Anti-Hero," her rise to fame in "You're on Your Own, Kid," and the anxiety of falling in love again in "Labyrinth." Similarly to Swift's cheeky songwriting style that sees her create caricatures of herself in songs like "Blank Space" and "Look What You Made Me Do," she doubles down on claims she's "calculated" on "Mastermind," a song about devising a plan for her and her lover. 

Although the album is a departure from the two pandemic sister albums, the overall creation process didn't differ too much. In addition to working alongside Antonoff (and bringing Dessner in for the bonus-track-filled 3am Edition), Swift's worldbuilding is still the throughline that connects Midnights and Swift's recent albums, whether she's dreaming of a Parisian escape in "Paris" or using war imagery as a metaphor for the struggle of love in "The Great War."

Read More: 5 Takeaways From Taylor Swift's New Album 'Midnights'

Following the success with folklore and evermore , Swift's intrigue was at a then-all-time high upon the release of Midnights . Along with breaking several streaming records — including becoming the first album to exceed 700 million global streams in a week — it was Swift's 11th No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, and was the highest-selling album of 2022 (and, remarkably, the second best-selling of 2023).

To say that Swift's celebrity has become otherworldly since the release of Midnights would be an understatement. Celebrating her genre-defying and varied discography through The Eras Tour has resulted in old songs having a resurgence, new inside jokes and Easter eggs within the fandom, and a plethora of new listeners being exposed to Swift's work. 

As a result, there has arguably never been more excitement for a Taylor Swift album than for The Tortured Poets Department — especially because the announcement came on the heels of her lucky 13th GRAMMY win in February. Midnights helped further solidify Swift's larger-than-life status at the finale of the 2024 GRAMMYs, too, as she became the only artist in history to win Album Of The Year four times. 

The Tortured Poets Department : A Grief-Stricken Poetic Odyssey

It’s been a while since Swift has penned a full-fledged breakup album. On The Tortured Poets Department , she navigates the five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — after her long-term relationship ended. Taking a page from the release of folklore and evermore , she dropped a double album and announced The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology at 2 a.m. on release day. Throughout a total of 31 tracks, the prolific songwriter shelved the glittery pop radio-friendly tunes in favor of more subdued, synthy and heart-wrenching songs. 

On Instagram, Swift described the album as a collection of poetic songs that reflect the "events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time," Swift pulled out the fountain and quill pens to craft songs about the "tortured poets" in her life — sometimes musing about lovers, sometimes taking aim at villains, and sometimes pointing the finger at herself. 

TTPD is also her most confessional album thus far. It pokes fun at so-called fans who overstep with her personal life ("But Daddy I Love Him"), says goodbye to a city that gave her a home ("So Long London"), and muses on how her own celebrity has stunted her growth ("Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?"). To help explain this chapter of her life, Swift brings together a myriad of collaborators — from Stevie Nicks as fellow poetess, to duets with Florence Welch and Post Malone — and leans on real and fictional characters, like Clara Bow, Peter Pan ("Peter"), and Patti Smith .

In the same post, Swift declared that once she’s confessed all of her saddest stories, she’s able to find freedom. Yet The Tortured Poets Department (and its accompanying 15-track anthology) spends much time reflecting: she toys with her own lore, self-referencing past songs from albums like 1989 and poems from her reputation era. 

Fourteen years ago, Swift declared that she would never change, but she’ll never stay the same either. The Tortured Poets Department proves that in the throughline of Taylor Swift's many artistic eras is a commitment to exploration and a love of autobiographical lyricism.

All Things Taylor Swift

Photo: Don Arnold/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' Is A Post-Mortem Autopsy In Song: 5 Takeaways From Her New Album

"There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed," Taylor Swift wrote of her new album. From grapplings with fame to ultra-personal reflections on love lost, her latest set of fountain and quill pen songs marks the end of an era.

"All’s fair in love and poetry," Taylor Swift declared when she announced her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department , at the 66th GRAMMY Awards . 

Taken from the proverb "All’s fair in love and war," the pop phenom gave us a fair warning: there’s no limit to what she’ll go through to achieve her ends. 

On the freshly released The Tortured Poets Department , Taylor Swift has a few things to get off her chest — so much that it required a surprise second record, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology , adding an additional 15 songs . The sprawling album is a masterclass in songwriting and so personal that it's analogous to performing a post mortem autopsy; The musical shapeshifter is here to exhume the tortured poets of her past and make peace with them. 

In an Instagram post , Swift called the record an anthology that reflects " events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure." With the release of Tortured Poets , "t here is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed…our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page." 

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

Describing Swift’s work as a collection of tracks about boys and break-ups has always felt underbaked and disingenuous, but much of The Tortured Poets Department is just that. In true Swiftian fashion, she plays on preconceived theories, opting to toy with the five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance — after a break-up, bringing listeners along on a peregrination exploring the depths of her relationships and personal growth. 

Analyzing her feelings to craft songs is muscle memory at this point, but with every release Taylor Swift somehow does so with a refreshed and reimagined perspective. The stories she shares with her fans in TTPD might’ve made her feel like she died, but she’s a revenant no longer tortured by the whims and words of other poets.

With The Tortured Poets Department open for business, read on for five key points to consider when listening to Taylor Swift’s new album .

It's Much More Than A Break-Up Record

Although the record orbits around a break-up, The Tortured Poets Department demonstrates Swift's ability to shapeshift as a songwriter. A song about a break-up is layered, typically forcing Swift to unveil her own flaws while wearing her broken heart on her sleeve.

The fifth track on a Taylor Swift album is typically the most emotionally cutting, and "So Long London" is no exception. On the standout track, Swift views the loss of her lover and the breakdown of her relationship to Joe Alwyn through the lens of the city they once shared together. It’s a cathartic release for Swift who point-blank notes the pain they inflicted upon her and how, in turn, they ended up just as heartbroken as she is. 

The high-spirited "Down Bad" and subdued "The Smallest Man in The World" are two sides of the same coin. The former is hopeful that a love could be reignited, whereas the latter sees Swift at her grittiest, pointing the finger at her former lover. "Smallest" poses a series of questions, accusing her ex of being a spy who only wanted to get intel on her.

On piano ode "loml," Swift looks back at the "get-love-quick" schemes she first wrote about in "Why She Disappeared," a poem for reputation . The poem originally considered the death of her reputation and how its aftermath made her stronger while she was simultaneously nursing a new relationship. 

The track has a similar energy to fan favorite "All Too Well," but is even more accusatory — seemingly unlocking another level of her songwriting prowess as she teeters between seething rage and mourning with lines about picking through a "braid of lies" spewed by a partner who "claimed he was a lion" but is really a coward. While Swift is honest about never feeling a loss so deeply, she maturely accepts that the effort she put into keeping the relationship afloat was all she could do. It’s distinctly different from the battles she bravely fought in "The Great War," "Daylight" and "long story short."

She's Grappling With Fame & Owning Her Choices

That Taylor Swift struggles with her own celebrity and the public's perception is nothing new. On reputation ’s album prologue, she stated, "We think we know someone, but the truth is that we only know the version of them they have chosen to show us." 

On The Tortured Poets Department, Swift has never been more honest about her feelings towards those who claim to know better than she does. On "But Daddy I Love Him," she doubles down on these frustrations, taking aim at self-righteous "vipers" and "judgmental creeps" who condemn her choice of a lover. Swift holds nothing back, declaring "I'll tell you something about my good name/It's mine alone to disgrace."

Swift stated that her life sometimes feels like a public autopsy with people psychoanalyzing her every thought and feeling. Following the release of Midnights and her larger-than-life Eras Tour , Swift’s been in her "glittering prime" despite experiencing her long-term relationship ending and the media hysteria around it would make anyone feel the opposite. "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" confirms fans' theories that the GRAMMY winner was indeed putting on a brave face.  

On "Clara Bow" — a song named for the silent film actress whose public life was so scrutinized that she admitted herself into a sanatorium — Swift sings "Beauty is a beast that roars/Down on all fours/Demanding, 'More.'" Again, Swift plays with the double-edged sword of fame, comparing herself to a performing circus animal — something she sings about in "Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?" 

Taylor Swift Gets By With A Little Help From Her Friends

Swift has always looked up to and honored the greats in her music and art, and Tortured Poets is no exception. She recruits rock icon and songwriter Stevie Nicks to help build TTPD ’s world, and Nicks penned a poem featured in Swift’s physical album. Written in Texas, the poem is "For T and me..." and tells the tale of two ill-fated lovers. (Swift also namedrops Nicks in "Clara Bow," touching on the comparisons made between Clara, Nicks and herself.)

There are two additional guest appearances on TTPD : Post Malone appears on "Fortnight" and Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine is featured on "Florida!!!" (a surprisingly toned-down lead single). Swift particularly shines when paired with Welch, and the soaring "Florida!!!" sees their intertwined vocals creating a sound as infectious as the "drug" they sing about.

J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan inspired Swift on "cardigan" ("Tried to change the ending/Peter losing Wendy") but now the Lost Boy gets his own track on The Anthology ’s "Peter." The ever-inquisitive Swift pleads, "You said you were gonna grow up/Then you were gonna come find me" and confronts this man who wouldn’t grow up. She even puts herself in the shoes of Wendy who waited for Peter Pan to return but has grown tired of waiting.

TTPS Is All Quill And Fountain Pen Songs

A few years ago, Taylor Swift categorized her songwriting according to three writing devices: glitter gel pens for fun tracks, fountain pens for songs using modern imagery and lyrics, and quill pens for tracks with flowery, figurative language. Although devoid of the glittery gel pen songs that comprise many of Swift's hits, TTPD and its accompanying anthology are steeped in fountain and quill writing. 

Most of The Tortured Poets Department are fountain pen tracks — thanks to 2024 Producer Of The Year Jack Antonoff ’s sleek pop production and synth use. Tracks like "Fresh Out The Slammer" and "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" are sharp, snappy, tongue-in-cheek tales of love affairs about to begin and coming to an end with the same sonic exuberance of past Swift & Antonoff songs, like "Out of the Woods" and "Getaway Car."

Tracks on The Anthology , mostly produced by Aaron Dessner , are stripped-back, folk-tinged quill songs brimming with sorrow and harrowing thematics and dives even deeper into her chaotic psyche. "The Prophecy" sees Swift beg to change a prophecy that has been laid out ahead of her — likely stemming from the pressure of being a global superstar when all she wants is to be loved.

This Is The End Of An Era (Or A Chapter)

To her occasional disdain, Swift's highly personal songwriting has created a global obsession with her inner life.  Although she's tired of the "public autopsy," Tortured Poets offers her time to reflect on the "events, opinions, and sentiments" over a time that was equal parts transient and transformative. 

From her growth from the country-twanged teen singer on her self-titled debut to woman who is fearless in her pursuit of happiness, love, and peace, Swift has transformed time and time again. By viewing her work in eras — or, in this case, a chapter in a book of her life — it’s clear that Swift sees this current chapter of her life coming to a close, turning the last page and no longer longing to look back. 

One could argue that Swift is an unreliable narrator, only ever presenting her side of the story. But she says that while considering the pain described on TTPS , many now-healed wounds turned out to be self-inflicted. With these stories immortalized, Taylor Swift has spoken her saddest story and is now "free of it." The tortured poets and poems will no longer take up space in this next chapter of her life.

Songbook: An Era-By-Era Breakdown Of Taylor Swift's Journey From Country Starlet To Pop Phenomenon

Photo: Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Taylor Swift’s New Album 'The Tortured Poets Department' Is Here: The Tracklisting, Guests, Easter Eggs & More

Just over two months after Taylor Swift announced 'The Tortured Poets Department' at the 2024 GRAMMYs, the sprawling, bracingly personal album is here. Before you open the department door, arm yourself with the following knowledge.

We’ll be wandering through this Department for the foreseeable future.

Not only has Taylor Swift unleashed an absolute maelstrom with her 16-song new album, The Tortured Poets Department ; she’s dropped a whopping 15 additional tracks via its expanded version, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology .

Clearly, there’s an absolute treasure trove here — for Swifties and the merely Swift-curious alike. A mostly downbeat and discursive affair, The Tortured Poets Department feels like the shadow cast by the gilded, giddy, exhilarating Eras Tour , which isn’t over yet. (Which makes all the sense in the world, as she was simultaneously chipping away at the album while crisscrossing the globe.)

If you’re reading this, you’re probably bracing yourself for this long, solemn, darkly funny journey. Don’t go alone: here’s a brief breakdown of what you should know going in. (And keep checking GRAMMY.com, as there’s plenty more Taylor and Tortured Poets coming your way.)

The Tracklisting

As previously reported , here’s the standard tracklist for The Tortured Poets Department:

Side A "Fortnight" (feat. Post Malone ) "The Tortured Poets Department" "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" "Down Bad"

** Side B ** "So Long, London" "But Daddy I Love Him" "Fresh Out the Slammer" "Florida!!!" (feat. Florence + the Machine )

** Side C ** "Guilty As Sin?" "Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?" "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)" "Loml"

** Side D ** "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" "The Alchemy" "Clara Bow"

The Expanded Tracklisting

Aside from The Black Dog Edition , The Albatross Edition , The Bolter Edition , and The Manuscript Edition — which consist of the standard edition of the album with its titular bonus track — here are the additional tracks that complete The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology .

"The Black Dog"

"Imgonnagetyouback"

"The Albatross"

"Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus"

"How Did It End?"

"So High School"

"I Hate It Here" "thanK you aIMee"

"I Look In People’s Windows"

"The Prophecy" "Cassandra" "Peter" "The Bolter" "Robin"

"The Manuscript"

Physical copies of The Tortured Poets Department feature an original poem by the one and only Stevie Nicks .

Titled "For T and me…," the poem starts off with "He was in love with her / Or at least she thought so / She was brokenhearted / Maybe he was too." It goes on to trace a doomed relationship — one party being "way too hot to handle" and the other "way too high to try."

Elsewhere, Post Malone lends a haunting vocal to opener and lead single "Fortnight," and Florence + the Machine elevate "Florida!!!".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiqoZyauhdA

The lion’s share of the album was produced by Jack Antonoff ; Aaron Dessner handled a handful of tunes on the standard edition and the majority of The Anthology .

The Easter Eggs

Where do we begin? For starters, most of the songs seem to be directed at ex Matty Healy of the 1975, but Joe Alwyn and Travis Kelce seem to pop up here and there as well.

In the title track, Swift describes embracing the "cyclone" of a relationship with a partner akin to a "tattooed golden retriever." And they’d be remiss to compare themselves to Patti Smith or Dylan Thomas or any other famously tortured poet of the 20th century: "We’re modern idiots… we’re two idiots."

Elsewhere, Lucy Dacus of boygenius — and Antonoff himself — pop up ("But you tell Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave / And I had said that to Jack about you / So I felt seen").

Far be it from us to speculate on exact subjects, but there are shades of depression ("You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days"), a betrothal that wasn’t to be ("You swore that you loved me but where were the clues? / I died on the altar waiting for the proof") and the racket of fame ("The circus life made me mean").

As usual, Swift has dumped puzzle pieces on the carpet — daring her ardent, global fanbase to start at the edges and work their way to the center. But never to this degree, across such an ocean of material.

Tortured poets — and those who fall in love with them — assemble!

Songbook: An Era-By-Era Breakdown Of Taylor Swift’s Journey From Country Starlet To Pop Phenomenon

• 1 Taylor Swift Makes GRAMMY History (Again) With Best Music Video Win For "All Too Well: The Short Film" | 2023 GRAMMYs
• 2 11 Artists Who Influenced Taylor Swift: Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Tim McGraw & More
• 3 Songbook: An Era-By-Era Breakdown Of Taylor Swift's Journey From Country Starlet To Pop Phenomenon
• 4 Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' Is A Post-Mortem Autopsy In Song: 5 Takeaways From Her New Album
• 5 Taylor Swift’s New Album 'The Tortured Poets Department' Is Here: The Tracklisting, Guests, Easter Eggs & More

Taylor Swift's new 'Fortnight' music video with Post Malone is out now

Swift released the new music video for the single from her 11th studio album.

Taylor Swift 's new single, "Fortnight," from her newly released double album, "The Tortured Poets Department," is already stuck in our heads and it now has a new music video to go with it.

The award-winning singer released the music video for "Fortnight," which features Post Malone, Friday evening, following the album release at midnight .

Check out the music video below.

MORE: Breaking down Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' double album

The video, which is in black and white, begins with Swift in a psych ward of sorts and wiping her face to reveal tattoos similar to Post Malone's. Then in another scene, she walks into a room wearing a black Victorian mourning dress, where others, including Post Malone, are typing on vintage typewriters. She types the lyrics of the song, "I love you, it's ruining my life."

The video then takes viewers to clips of her and Post Malone embracing as pieces of paper fall all around them. The music video ends with Taylor Swift sitting on top of a payphone in the rain as Post Malone reaches out to her from below.

In addition to Post Malone, Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles appear in the music video. The duo starred in the 1989 film, "Dead Poets Society."

"When I was writing the Fortnight music video, I wanted to show you the worlds I saw in my head that served as the backdrop for making this music," Swift wrote in an Instagram post about the music video. "Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner of the album or another."

"For me, this video turned out to be the perfect visual representation of this record and the stories I tell in it," she continued. "@postmalone blew me away on set as our tortured tragic hero and I'm so grateful to him for everything he put into this collaboration. I'm still laughing from getting to work with the coolest guys on earth, @ethanhawke and @mrjoshcharles (tortured poets, meet your colleagues from down the hall, the dead poets)."

She also thanked her team behind the music video which included cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, production designer Ethan Tobman and editor Chancler Haynes.

"The entire crew made this a dream to shoot," Swift said. "Thank you to everyone involved and everyone who has watched it!!"

Hawke and Charles also took to Instagram and shared a photo from the video.

"I've admired Taylor for a long time, but meeting her in person took my fandom to a whole new level," Charles said in his post . "Genuine, kind, approachable, and just an all around stellar human being -- Not to mention a kick a-- director to boot!"

In his post, Hawke wrote, "'Todd' & 'Knox' from DEAD POETS SOCIETY are now PhDs in THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. It's quite an honor."

"Thank you @taylorswift for the opportunity to be in the music video for your song FORTNIGHT feat. @postmalone," he added.

Ahead of the release of the music video, Swift shared a post on Instagram with Post Malone to announce "Fortnight" was the album's first single.

"The first single from The Tortured Poets Department is…………. Fortnight featuring @postmalone 🤍," she captioned her post before going on to describe working with Post.

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She continued, "I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever."

She added, "I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight."

MORE: Shop gift ideas inspired by the release of Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department'

Swift also teased a short clip of the music video on Thursday afternoon, hours before dropping "Tortured Poets Department."

"At this hearing, I stand before my fellow members of The Tortured Poets Department with a summary of my findings," she captioned the teaser.

MORE: Taylor Swift reveals the biggest risk she took that changed her life

Along with Swift's collaboration with Post Malone on her 11th studio album, Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine is also featured on the song, "Florida!!!"

Read more about Swift's newly released album here .

WATCH: The evolution of Taylor Swift's music

The evolution of Taylor Swift's music

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Watch Taylor Swift and Post Malone’s New “Fortnight” Video

By Matthew Strauss

Taylor Swift has released her first Tortured Poets Department music video. The visual is for the album’s opener, “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone . Watch the new video, written and directed by Swift and co-starring the musicians with Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles, below.

Just two hours after Swift released The Tortured Poets Department , she surprised fans with a second volume of music. The full double album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology , spans 31 songs. Swift worked on her new music with Jack Antonoff and Bleachers, Aaron Dessner, Florence Welch, Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, Sufjan Stevens collaborators James McAlister and Thomas Bartlett, and many others.

Swift released music videos to go with Midnights : “ Anti-Hero ,” “ Bejeweled ,” “ Lavender Haze ,” and “ Karma .” She also shared a visual for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) ’s “ I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) .”

Read “ 8 Takeaways From Taylor Swift’s New Album The Tortured Poets Department ” on the Pitch.

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Taylor Swift's candid promo video for 'Fortnight' is filled with cute references to her relationship with Travis Kelce

• Taylor Swift shared a promotional video for her single "Fortnight" and it's full of references to her beau.
• Some clips featured Travis Kelce directly, including one where he leans in to give Swift a peck on the cheek.
• Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," broke records on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

Taylor Swift is happily in love, and she's not afraid to let the world know .

Over the weekend, the singer posted a promotional video for her single "Fortnight" on YouTube Shorts, and it's full of cute nods to her relationship with NFL player Travis Kelce .

The 16-second clip was meant to encourage fans to participate in the #ForAFortnightChallenge, where they post a highlights recap of their fortnight. As of April 22, there are about 5,200 videos under the hashtag on YouTube Shorts.

Swift's video has been viewed almost 40 million times since it was first uploaded.

While some clips in her fortnight recap featured Kelce directly, there were a few other sweet but subtle moments where she referenced their relationship.

1. A peck on the cheek

About one second into the video, Kelce can be seen leaning in to give Swift a peck on the cheek as she whips something up in the kitchen.

2. A University of Kansas sweatshirt

In one of the clips from the video, Swift can be seen wearing a colorful University of Kansas sweatshirt while making crafts.

Although Kelce didn't attend the University of Kansas — he was a student at the University of Cincinnati — he does play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chiefs' home venue, Arrowhead Stadium, is less than an hour away from the KU campus.

3. Making cinnamon rolls

In December, former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar said on 560 WQAM's " Tobin and Leroy Show " that he once tried one of Swift's homemade cinnamon rolls while at Kelce's house before a Chiefs game.

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"I was at his house like three hours before the game, we're having a pregame meal and Taylor is so nice. She comes in by herself and she's so cool. She brings her homemade cinnamon rolls for Travis for the pregame meal," Kosar said. "I'm a juicer right now, trying to be vegan and gluten-free and stuff, but I absolutely had a sample some of that on game day."

Although it's unclear if the clip of the cinnamon rolls in the video is from the game day that Kosar's referring to, Swifties should know that the singer really loves her baked goods.

In 2020, Swift also posted an image of her homemade cinnamon rolls on Instagram .

4. A night stroll at Singapore's Gardens by the Bay

In March, Swift played six sold-out concerts in Singapore, her only Southeast Asian stop on the Eras Tour. Kelce was spotted in the audience on two nights.

During Swift's downtime, the pair even managed to take a romantic night stroll through the country's famous Gardens by the Bay , as seen in her video.

Kelce was particularly excited about his experience at the gardens and raved about it to his brother, Jason, on an episode of their " New Heights " podcast released on March 31.

"I got to check out the world's largest greenhouse. How about that? I'm a big plant guy. Loved seeing fucking enormous trees," Kelce said on the podcast. "It was cool as fuck; they had the world's biggest waterfall in a greenhouse, too."

5. A Kansas City Chiefs pickleball paddle

In one of the clips in the video, Swift can be seen holding a red Kansas City Chiefs pickleball paddle while wearing a white top and lavender skorts. The paddle is available on Target for $89.99.

Kelce has been playing for the Chiefs since 2013 , and Swift has been spotted cheering him on at numerous NFL games .

"Fortnight" — featuring Post Malone — is the first single off of Swift's latest album " The Tortured Poets Department ," which was released on Friday.

Despite a subdued promotional strategy , Swift's album managed to break records on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

According to an official X post by Spotify, the album became the " first album in Spotify history to have over 300M streams in a single day. " In a follow-up post, Spotify also announced that "Fortnight" became the platform's " most-streamed song in a single day. "

A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

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Taylor Swift’s ‘Fortnight’ music video recruits Baltimore native Josh Charles for ‘Tortured Poets Department’

Move over Jackson and Jordan, Baltimore-born actor and perennial Orioles fan Josh Charles is rooting for another team.

Team Taytay. He’s flown the coop and landed right in the middle of a flock of Swifties .

But don’t worry, boys, it’s probably only a short-term fling. Two weeks or so, based on Charles’ guest starring role in Taylor Swift’s new music video for “Fortnight,” her latest No. 1 hit.

“I’ve admired Taylor for a long time, but meeting her in person took my fandom to a whole new level. Genuine, kind, approachable, and just an all around stellar human being – Not to mention a kick ass director to boot! #TSTTPD,” Charles wrote in an Instagram post Friday.

Late last week, the pop superstar dropped her new album “The Tortured Poets Department,” a highly anticipated 11th studio recording that she announced at the Grammys in February.

Within 24 hours of its release, Swift debuted a music video for her first single from the album — a collaboration with rap artist Post Malone called “Fortnight.”

In the cinematic black and white video, Swift is in a research lab, where she is rescued by Malone from experiments performed by two scientists portrayed by Charles and actor Ethan Hawke, both of whom starred in “Dead Poets Society,” an Oscar-nominated film from 1989 — the year Swift was born and the title of one of her albums. (Her dedicated fans — called Swifties — love these little connections, known as Easter eggs.)

“Dead Poets Society” stars the late comedic actor Robin Williams as a charismatic teacher who uses poetry to distill life lessons to students at an all-boys prep school.

Charles grew up in Baltimore and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts. He filmed the movie when he was just a teenager.

Swift, who is obviously fond of poetry — Ancestry.com has said it traced her genealogy and found links to famed poet Emily Dickinson — is a fan of the film and its stars.

“I’m still laughing from getting to work with the coolest guys on earth, @ethanhawke and @mrjoshcharles, (tortured poets, meet your colleagues from down the hall, the dead poets),” Swift said in an Instagram post .

Charles said he kept his role in the Swift music video secret. Even his family didn’t know.

“We were treated with such class by Taylor and her crew from beginning to end. What I’ll remember most was the laughter, there was a lot of it. Like we were 17 all over again. #TSTTPD,” Charles said, sharing a picture on social media of himself and Hawke at an airport traveling to the video shoot.

Charles, a longtime Baltimore sports fan who has been spotted upon occasion wearing an Orioles home run chain at Camden Yards, was fired up to receive some Swift swag after his video performance.

The singer sent him (and some select others like NFL fashion designer and Towson grad Kristin Juszczyk ) a beige hoodie and sweatpants with the Tortured Poets Department logo.

Charles modeled the outfit on social media, topping it off with the ultimate fanboy accessory: an Orioles baseball cap.

It seems the bromance is still strong.

©2024 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Taylor Swift announces 'Tortured Poets' music video and highlights 2 o'clock

Taylor Swift has released a new timetable associated with the release of her 11th era album, "The Tortured Poets Department."

A video posted to the singer's Instagram account begins on a clock pointed at 2 o'clock. This is the same time from the Karma (Remix) music video coffee cup and the same time that clocks at a Spotify exhibit in Los Angeles teasing the new album point.

Next the camera leaves the animated room that previewed her week of "Midnights" appearances, music videos and announcements. There are crumpled papers on the ground along with the vinyl variants for the "Lavender Haze" album and four photos on the wall that are seen on this post Swift made on Instagram on October 22, 2022 . The camera enters an office hallway before turning to a door with the name plate, "The Tortured Poets Department."

The video jumps through the keyhole to a shiny marble white office with two desks. The camera hovers over a desk with a coffee cup before jetting to a cork bulletin board that has photos of Swift at her Eras Tour piano when she announced the three variants with three bonus songs. There is another clock on the wall pointed to 2 o'clock. A fourth photo of Swift is at the top with her cat kissing her nose.

The calendar shows April 19 and reads: "The Tortured Poets Department Release Day" and "8 p.m. ET music video release!!" There is a tally bellow that adds up to 14, which could refer to a fortnight, which is two weeks.

The video also teases April 20, which is also Record Store Day .

Her album, "The Tortured Poets Department." is set to be released at midnight on April 19.

Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the  free, weekly newsletter "This Swift Beat."

Follow Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West on  Instagram ,  TikTok  and  X as @BryanWestTV .

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Travis Kelce Calls Taylor Swift ‘My Significant Other’ in Eras Ticket Auction at Patrick Mahomes’ Charity Gala

Swift cheered Kelce on as bids went higher for tickets to her tour. Mahomes' foundation raises money to benefit children and communities in need of resources.

By Ashley Iasimone

Ashley Iasimone

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Taylor Swift

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Auctioneer Harry Santa posted a selfie with Swift on Instagram Stories , followed by videos of Kelce helping him get bids for an unannounced package of Eras Tour tickets the star put up for auction for the foundation.

“I was just talking to my significant other,” Kelce said in a coy voice in one of the clips, “and we might have one other auction item that wasn’t on the docket. Has anybody heard of The Eras Tour?”

Donna Kelce Had Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ on Repeat on Release Day: ‘Probably Her…

Santa made the first bid of $5,000 himself, saying they’d be moving forward in $5,000 increments. He joked that the winning bidder could go big for 15 and The Mahomies, then still profit by selling the in-demand tickets online for $200,000 straight after the gala.

“Taylor Swift is actually cheering you on as you’re winning four of her tickets,” he pointed out as Swift, seated next to Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, waved a red napkin. Kelce threw his head back, laughing.

Santa’s last update reported the four-ticket package sold for $80,000.

15 and The Mahomies is “dedicated to improving the lives of children,” Mahomes’ foundation, which he founded in 2019, states on its website . “The Foundation supports initiatives that focus on health, wellness, communities in need of resources and other charitable causes.”

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Is Messy, Unguarded And Undeniably Triumphant…

She returns to tour in less than a fortnight, resuming her hours-long, career-spanning live show — presumably with at least some new material from the TTPD era — in Paris on May 9.

See clips of Kelce and Swift captured at the gala below.

Taylor Swift with her SIGNIFICANT OTHEr Travis Kelce with his SIGNIFICANT OTHER pic.twitter.com/UCioUqyQ1V — sarah ⸆⸉ (@reqnights) April 28, 2024

"-actually pay hundreds of thousands just to know taylor swift is actually cheering you on as you're winning 4 of her tickets this is insane let's go" pic.twitter.com/jsmw2eRJ7r — beloved (@taybeloved_) April 28, 2024

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Pickleball to Eras Tour prep: How Taylor Swift’s skorts helped Popflex go viral

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Talk about a Swift sellout.

Following last Friday’s release of her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” Taylor Swift took to YouTube Shorts to share some rare behind-the-scenes footage from her personal life, including a several-second snippet of herself playing pickleball in a tutu-style lavender skirt.

Despite the clip’s brevity, it took mere moments for Taylor Swift Style blogger Sarah Chapelle to ID the singer’s activewear as the Popflex Pirouette Skort ($60) — and just 15 minutes for the style to sell out completely in Swift’s lilac shade. Before long, it was wiped out of stock in all 11 colors.

“I was in shock. Pure shock,” the activewear brand’s founder, Cassey Ho , tells Page Six Style. At the time Swift posted the video, Ho was at the hair salon with her phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode, so she missed the first handful of calls from her husband as he tried to alert her of the major moment.

“It finally went through because when you do that on iPhone, it counts as an emergency,” she says, quipping, “This was an emergency.”

In an effort to meet the overwhelming demand, Ho enabled preorders for the lavender skort on her Shopify site — “we never do this,” she says — and has since sold “about 7,000” of the Swift-approved style. Since they’ll all be made from scratch, the skorts will ship in August.

“I don’t want to rush through anything; I want to make sure everyone who’s ordering the skort gets the same quality that Taylor got,” she notes.

Popflex Pirouette Skort

But this was no flash-in-the-pan stroke of fortune for Ho and her brand — Swift returned to YouTube Thursday to share a compilation of clips from her recent Eras Tour rehearsals, which happened to be peppered with Popflex pieces.

In one scene, she pairs her Pirouette Skort with the brand’s Corset Bra ($44); in another, she takes the streamlined Twirl Skort ($54) for a spin, while a third shows her striking a confident pose in the Crisscross Hourglass Booty Short ($45).

Popflex Corset Bra

Popflex Twirl Skort

Popflex Crisscross Hourglass Booty Short

Ho confirms none of the merchandise was gifted to the superstar.

“I think she placed an order — I don’t know when,” she tells us. “And it seems like she must have bought a lot of things!”

The fitness entrepreneur and influencer, who’s also the founder of the popular YouTube channel Blogilates , describes her designs as “romantic, feminine, but also always solving a problem,” pointing to Popflex’s inclusive size range (XXS to 3X) and multiple available legging lengths as examples of the latter.

“We all know that Taylor loves princesses and castles and love stories. And so I think because of that, she’s really drawn to the femininity and the romantic-ness of it all.”

Scoring the Grammy winner’s stamp of approval is especially meaningful for Ho, who’s been a Swiftie since 2006.

In 2014, after posting a YouTube video spotlighting her favorite songs from Swift’s emotional “Red” album — “I was going through a lot at the time,” she says — the vlogger even scored an invite to one of her idol’s “secret sessions,” and was one of the first people to hear Swift’s then-unreleased “1989” record in the musician’s own LA home.

“ The Taylor Swift walks out with her red lips and her cropped hair and her crop top, and I’m physically shaking, and she walks over and says, ‘Cassey, I love your videos,'” Ho recalls. “I’m like, ‘What do you mean?!’ “

Years later, the pair’s lives have paralleled in other ways; while Swift was fighting for ownership of her master recordings , Ho was battling larger companies selling bootleg versions of her creations.

“When I designed the Pirouette Skort a few years ago, I remember telling my husband, ‘This is the one that’s going to be stolen by Shein .’ I just knew, because it’s so different,” she says.

Since then, Ho tells me she’s dealt with two separate instances of the fast-fashion giant knocking off her signature design and selling it for cheap; she recently applied for a design patent to protect her work.

“It took a whole year for me to get the patent, but it was weirdly awarded on my birthday,” she says, adding that she announced the milestone with a TikTok set to — what else? — Swift’s tune “Karma.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cassey Ho (@blogilates)

Unfortunately, the patent hasn’t put the kibosh on all the copycats.

“Amazon and TikTok Shop make it really easy,” the designer says, telling us she’s flagged “a ton” of listings for lookalike skorts that include customer reviews and photos taken from her own website — including snaps of Ho herself.

“Every day is like Whac-A-Mole; we take one [listing] down, they start a new account and put it up again,” she adds. “Dupe culture — counterfeit culture — has gotten out of control.”

But considering most Swifties now swear to only listen to the musician’s rerecorded versions of her earlier albums, Ho is confident that those in search of Swift’s skort will add “Cassey’s Version” to their carts.

“Swifties want the real thing. They want the thing that Taylor’s wearing,” she says. “And I just hope that the skort makes everyone who gets it really happy.”

Shop more of our favorite Popflex styles below:

Popflex Corset Pirouette Dress

Popflex Crisscross Hourglass Twirl Skort

Popflex That’s A Wrap Skort

Popflex Zip Cloud Hoodie

Popflex Crisscross Hourglass Flared Leggings With Pockets

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Taylor swift, travis kelce hit vegas hot spot with patrick, brittany mahomes, taylor swift & travis kelce living it up in las vegas ... drinks w/ mahomes crew.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are back to jet-setting ... hitting the Las Vegas Strip for a fun night of drinks with their best couple pals, Patrick and Brittany Mahomes !

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Taylor , Travis , Patrick and Brittany pulled up to Easy's Cocktail Lounge inside the ARIA Resort & Casino.

While definitely an L.V. hot spot ... it's a bit more secluded, tucked away inside the Proper Eats Food Hall in the hotel -- where the celebrity quartet was less likely to be spotted.

It seems they were quite successful in keeping their night lowkey, at least so far ... 'cause footage of the double date hasn't leaked on social media yet -- a bit shocking given the collective star power.

So, it appears the couple chemistry is alive and well ... obviously, Patrick and Travis became fast friends after the Chiefs drafted PM -- and, Taylor and Brittany hit it off after Taylor started dating TK and attending K.C. games.

The group partied together after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl back in February ... but, have mostly gone their separate ways since. Brittany Mahomes did shout out Taylor when she released her new album "The Tortured Poets Department" last week.

Most recently, Taylor and Travis hit up Coachella ... kissing just about everywhere they could find space for themselves while Patrick and Britt were spotted down in Cabo where some Raiders fans gave them some guff .

We've reached out to Taylor's team about the star-studded outing ... so far, no word back.

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