The Tortured Poets Department Part 2
Added 2024-05-19 18:05:25 +0000 UTCPlease let me know if you all see any other issues with this one! :)
Comments
Also The Manuscript is rumored to be about her reflecting on writing All Too Well and going through making the music video with the 10 min version, especially the lyric "the actors were hitting their marks" watching the actors play out her life experiences, then seeing her fans gain so much from that song she "knew what the agony had been for" and releasing the 10 min version into the world made it so "the story isn't mine anymore"
Cassie R. (Indigo)
2024-08-25 02:12:23 +0000 UTCSo all of her albums besides Folklore and Evermore are autobiographical minus like a few songs, but overall a majority of her albums are inspired by her own life experiences, she does use a lot of metaphors though so don't take everything literally but it's ok to assume most things are about her in general for this album at least
Cassie R. (Indigo)
2024-08-25 01:10:27 +0000 UTCGreat reactions btw! 😊
Kelly
2024-08-05 02:58:40 +0000 UTCPeter is such a great song! In Cardigan she says “tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy” so this is likely about Peter Pan not coming back for her(which can of course relate to past relationships). She’s very good at grabbing those childhood/literary references and making you really feel it.
Kelly
2024-08-05 02:57:20 +0000 UTCThat is one of the best things I ever learned was that my hometown, where I'm from wasn't boring and awful. For a long time I thought I was going to leave the second I could and move to some place better and more fun... that was until I started to travel the world, been all over south America, north America and Europe and no matter how awesome these places I went to and saw were, not a single one of them ever gave me the feeling that I had when I was home. Now I have realized that I never want to leave that this is where I want to spend the rest of my life. Home makes me feel comfortable and at peace and there is no other place in this world that has ever given me that feeling.
damon
2024-07-23 13:47:34 +0000 UTCI love how he spilled the tea right before thanK you aIMee lol
Mireille Girard
2024-05-28 22:52:06 +0000 UTCThe Prophecy - same line x 3 and tail line :). such beauty in this
Israel Galindo
2024-05-23 01:21:45 +0000 UTCThe ThanK you aIMee track about KIM as her name is in the title ;) in cap letters ... such a great track .. love the storytelling, the flashbacks and her aggressiveness on it
Israel Galindo
2024-05-23 01:11:55 +0000 UTCHonestly, I didn’t even notice the buttons on the shirt until you mentioned it 😂 Also, I knew you were going to love So High School, it feels like a dream sequence in a late 90s/early 00s coming of age movie
Liam Mcfarlane
2024-05-21 22:19:22 +0000 UTCVery early on in the video, but I think the "come to terms" analysis on her delivery is so on point. To me, the entire central theme of TTPD as an album is an exploration of the habits we can develop as a response to traumatic or impactful events, and a commentary on the cyclical nature of life and people. The main album feels like it tells the actual story of this chaotic, fatalistic relationship, and the anthology feels like it explores the how's and why's of that relationship's existence. By that nature, the anthology songs are very self-analytical in the same way Midnights was. Only now, they come from a place of properly trying to decode the behaviors and experiences that led her to even want a relationship like that in the first place. And it all comes to a perfect head with The Manuscript as the closer, which, to me, explores how a pair of painful relationships experienced during her late teens/early adulthood (as well as growing pressures from the industry and public audience) served as the catalyst for a decade of emotional and behavioral habits that fought, kicked, and screamed their way to death. I think a lot of people may miss this, because many fans are dead set on every song applying to a specific person and missing the deeper themes of the story, but when analyzed closely, it becomes incredibly obvious that the dual relationships explored in TTPD are a parallel to the relationship storyline of Speak Now: leaving a stable but perhaps boring or draining relationship (So Long London vs Back To December) in search of one that seems much more passionate and exciting (Guilty as Sin?, Fresh Out The Slammer vs Sparks Fly, I Can See You), and even though many people are distrusting of this new lover (But Daddy I Love Him vs Ours), she is both so in love and so endeared to the goodness in people that she continues to stand by him (I Can Fix Him, The Tortured Poets Department, Favorite Toys vs Superman, Foolish One, Innocent). Eventually, she comes to realize that he was never true to his word (Down Bad vs Haunted), and leaves her to pick up the pieces of herself in the aftermath of the relationship (Smallest Man vs Dear John). I think that that paralleled story is what's being talked about in the opening half of The Manuscript, and that even if the latter half is about the creation of the ATW10 short film (which I can absolutely believe, especially since she literally makes lyrical references to The Manuscript in some of her press talks for the film), the original 10 minute version of All Too Well that became the foundation of the short film was written during rehearsals for the Speak Now tour, and is thus inextricably also tied to that album's story and experiences as well. Not to mention that the inherent idea of Red being a "heartbreak album" about a 2 month relationship that came right after another age-gap, traumatic relationship also parallels the circumstances of TTPD's existence as well, being another exploration of two back to back heartbreaks in one fell swoop. That's why I think that the songs on the anthology really brilliantly explore the "why" and "how" of it all; they're the self-reflections on the habits that were formed as a result of the Speak Now/Red era experiences as a means to process the Midnights/TTPD era experiences. That's why TTPD as a whole, and especially The Manuscript, are so Speak Now coded, and that's why she's so "come to terms" in her delivery in these performances. Because that's exactly what she's done here. She's come to terms with it all.
angel 🪽
2024-05-21 00:21:36 +0000 UTCTo me, the first 16 tracks feels like folklore and evermore lyrics/storytelling mixed with Midnights-style production and the extra 15 feels more towards the folklore/evermore side of things, but as one cohesive project, it just works so incredibly well together and I don't know of many other artists that could make it work the way that Taylor does. I definitely related to your comment about being a hopeless romantic because I'm definitely one of those people also. The Prophecy hit that part of me a little bit harder than I expected because i have, and still do at times, felt the feelings she emotes in the song. The Manuscript, I think, is the best closing track on any of her albums and it relates to something she says on the eras tour about how these songs may have started out being about something that happened in her life but now she hopes they become stories about our lives. This is why so many of us are fans of her. She wrote these songs about things that either were about real-life events she experienced or that fictional characters she created had experienced and we are able to apply to scenarios in our own lives. The ending lyric being "the story isn't mine anymore" is the absolute perfect way to end this entire album. She's shared her stories with us for years and we've been able to adopt them into our own lives. She literally has written the soundtrack to so many people's lives, saying the things we've probably all thought or wanted to say. Like this is why she's so good at what she does and it's just one of the many reasons why I will always be a fan of hers.
Patty Go
2024-05-20 19:09:38 +0000 UTCHaha Blake your cattie is furious 😝
Lesetoiles (“Do u like dem?” Becky? 👀 🦗🐳)
2024-05-20 05:39:11 +0000 UTCThank you , love this reaction!!!
Barbara Carmona
2024-05-20 02:53:41 +0000 UTC“Taking it to a New Height” during So High School was an unintentional slay 😍😍
Pc_ Cathy
2024-05-20 00:35:45 +0000 UTCI thoroughly enjoyed your reaction! I think something clicked for me watching you listen to The Manuscript. I truly think it's the strongest closing track in her discography.
Caitlyn Lemson
2024-05-20 00:17:07 +0000 UTCAs a Swiftie I always focus so much on the lyrics, so I appreciate your breakdown of the music. It makes me see parts of the songs I didn’t notice before.
Lisa Atkinson
2024-05-19 21:50:47 +0000 UTCI’ve been waiting for this reaction! And thank you for the tribute to Aaron. That made me LOL. Also, that’s a beautiful kitty!
Lisa Atkinson
2024-05-19 21:48:16 +0000 UTCAnyone else screaming KIM during ThanK you aIMee? The Manuscript hit me the same way- feeling of closure. She does say something in the Era’s Tour when she talks to the fans saying these are our songs now! She had to go through so much pain and heartache in her life to be able to truly be able to write about it with authenticity. Look forward to her being happy with herself and those who she loves! I do want her to get that happy ending that she has searched for as she has expressed in her lyrics for years!
Mia B
2024-05-19 21:02:54 +0000 UTCI think "how did it end" is about the aftermath of a relationship and the dreaded question "how did it end?". The gossip that surrounds it and people's morbid curiosity pretending to care.
MAria Elena Velazquez
2024-05-19 20:06:31 +0000 UTCS
Israel Galindo
2024-05-19 19:46:45 +0000 UTCThis was great, Blake! Thanks for posting it for us.
Amanda M.
2024-05-19 19:35:40 +0000 UTCI agree with your take on The Manuscript too. It feels like a reflection on art, how she used her songwriting for catharsis and "purified" herself in a way by gifting her story to us in the form of songs. Perfect album closer.
Lidia Dias
2024-05-19 19:25:39 +0000 UTCShe is letting go of literally everything she is gone through in these two albums and the manuscript felt like the epilogue of her story. It felt like goodbye and I genuinely felt scared when I first listened to it, but I know Taylor will never stop writing stories; so I think if we got a new album it will be the start of a new book of her life.
14shkh
2024-05-19 19:19:18 +0000 UTCYour reaction to The Manuscript was everything. And what you said afterwards was on point! It does feel like a closure, like the end of all her previous eras. I cannot wait to hear what she does after this.
abi
2024-05-19 19:08:44 +0000 UTCI agree with your comments on The Manuscript. It feels like a perfect song to end this album. It feels like she is letting it all go.
ClaireA
2024-05-19 18:43:37 +0000 UTCSo, I’m still on the second song, but I wanted to leave my two scents on the anger issue: I think there’s a lot of anger in this album, but also sadness, exhaustion and yes acceptance in some cases (not in the black dog lol) - one thing that helps a lot is to see Taylor’s playlists, which gives you literally the emotional state in which she was in when writing every song! Edit: Cassandra is one of my favourites! It’s so complex and touches on so many things! The call, the snakes, reputation, the family, the Kardashians, the Christian chorus line, Kanye’s Christian album, blood’s thick but nothing like a payroll, her old record label and SB who she viewed as a second father and he sold her music from under her… if you look at this and Who’s afraid of little old me and this lyric about everything being about her: what if 🛴’s game was to have his clients make fun of her so she would be broken and silent and go along with him buying her music and be easily controlled? Let’s not forget during this past couple of years she probably re-recorded reputation! She was on to something and they all knew Edit 2: on Robin, your subconscious is probably catching on more quickly than you do. this is about Aaron’s son who is named Robin and how all the grownups are trying to protect his innocence and keep the secret of how cruel the world is (and imo also his father’s depression). On the Manuscript, you are completely right! She said somewhere (I think on insta or maybe her vinyl writings or sth) “ the story isn’t mine anymore, it’s yours” and she has talked so many times about how her putting out songs changes her relationship with them according to the relationship the fans have with them, and she has said this specifically about All Too Well (which I think is referenced here - the short film)
Eirini
2024-05-19 18:18:55 +0000 UTCYAYYYYY
Evan Peck
2024-05-19 18:06:13 +0000 UTC
