When Taylor Swift released “The Tortured Poets Department” on Friday at midnight, her fan base quickly began to decode the album, looking for layers of meaning and insight into Ms. Swift’s life. Of course, that includes the pop singer’s romantic history.
Like many of her previous works, the songs on this album – which includes over a dozen additional tracks as part of an extended album called “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” – are loaded with names and references, many of which appears to be in real people from Ms. Swift’s universe and the literary canon. At least two poets are mentioned, Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith.
Here’s a look at some of those characters.
Matty Healy
Several lines from “Tortured Poets” have fans guessing that some songs – including “The Smallest Man Who Lived”, “The Black Dog” and “Down Bad” – may be about Matty Healy, the 1975 frontman who was spotted out and about with Taylor on several occasions last spring. One thing Swifties latch onto: In “The Black Dog,” Ms. Swift references the band The Starting Line. Mr. Healy covered one of the band’s songs while on tour last spring. And then there’s the much-discussed reference to a face Ms. Swift describes as a “tattooed golden retriever” on the album’s title track. Mr. Healy seems to fit the bill, according to her fans.
Ms. Swift’s fans are obsessed with the notion that the many sports references in the track “The Alchemy” refer to football player Travis Kelce, the singer’s current boyfriend. “So when / I touch down, call the amateurs and cut ’em from the group / Ditch the clowns, take the crown, baby, I’m the one to win,” she sings on the chorus. “Where’s the trophy? / He just comes running to me,” he adds in the bridge, but there’s some debate, with some fans noting that the use of the term “blokes” seems to imply that the song isn’t about an American on “heroin but this time with an E’ has some speculation that the song is about Mr. Healy, who has previously said for his drug use.)
Joe Alwin
Ms Swift and actor Joe Alwyn split last year after a long relationship. Prior to the release of Tortured Poets, many fans believed that this new album would spell the end of that relationship. (Mr. Alwyn said in a 2022 interview that he was in a group text chat with actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott called “The Tortured Man Club.” (Some fans believe that Ms. Swift nodded to this name in the title of her latest album.) There is some speculation that track 5, “So Long, London,” is about Mr. Alwyn, who is British.
A longtime collaborator of Ms. Swift’s, Jack Antonoff, who is credited as a producer on many of the songs on the new album, appears to have a lyrical voice on the album’s title track.
Lucy Dacus
The musician Lucy Dacus also appears on the same track. (In addition to her work as a solo artist, Ms. Dacus is a member of the supergroup boygenius, which surprised fans with a performance during a stop on Ms. Swift’s Eras tour last year.) “Sometimes, I wonder if you’ll break it to me / But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever left / And I’d told Jack that about you, that’s how I felt to see me,” Ms. Swift sings.
Kim Kardashian
Ms. Swift often leaves clues for fans by capitalizing seemingly random letters in words that, when combined, spell a different word. In the case of this album, the song “thank you aIMee”, seems to reveal the name Kim. (Ms. Swift and Kim Kardashian have a long and hostile history.)
Cassandra
In Greek mythology, Cassandra receives the gift of prophecy from Apollo, but is cursed so that no one will ever believe her. In a song of the same name as the goddess, Ms. Swift sings: “So they killed Cassandra first / Because she feared the worst / And tried to tell the town / So they filled my cell with snakes, I’m sorry to say / You believe me now ?” Snake emojis have also played a key role in the hatred between Ms. Swift and Ms. Kardashian.
Charlie Puth
The singer-songwriter Charlie Puth takes a name on the title track: “You smoked and ate seven chocolate bars / We declared that Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.” Mr. Puth, through a spokesman, declined to comment.
Peter Pan
The song “Peter” seems to refer to the fairy tale character Peter Pan. “You said you’d grow up / Then you said you’d come for me,” Ms. Swift sings. She has made similar allusions in the past, including a line about ‘Peter Losing Wendy’ in her 2020 song ‘cardigan’.
Patti Smith
American singer, songwriter, poet and author Patti Smith gets a name check on the title track in a series about New York’s iconic Chelsea Hotel, where she once lived. Ms. Smith was hailed as “award-winning punk poet.”
Dylan Thomas
The Welsh poet, known for works such as ‘Go not kindly into that good night’, is also listed alongside Ms Smith. “You’re not Dylan Thomas / I’m not Patti Smith / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel / We’re modern idiots,” sings Ms. Swift. Thomas, who was also a resident of Chelsea, is famous for his work as a neo-romantic poet. (Ms. Swift has an older song, from her “1989” album, called “New Romantics.”)
Clara Bow
Clara Bow, an actress from the silent film era known as the first “it girl”, has an entire song dedicated to her in “Tortured Poets”. In 1927, Bowe starred in a film called “It” and became a national sex symbol before leaving the industry. Fans have pointed out that Ms. Swift’s sparsely drawn eyebrows in a video teasing a new music video accompanying the song “Fortnight” bears a striking resemblance to Ms. Bow’s.
Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks is named in the song “Clara Bow”. Ms. Nix has he said that Ms. Swift’s song “You’re on Your Own Kid” reminds her of Christine McVie, her Fleetwood Mac partner who died in 2022. “You look like Stevie Nicks / In ’75, the hair and the lips,” sings Ms. Swift in the song. (Ms. Nix also wrote one original poem accompanying a special vinyl edition of “Tortured Poets.”)