Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' Criticized for Subpar Songwriting and Lyrics

Taylor Swift's new double album 'The Tortured Poets Department' has received widespread criticism for its subpar songwriting and lyrics, despite breaking several streaming records. Released on April 19, 2024, the album marks Swift's 8th release in the past four years, leading to a sense of exhaustion among some fans.

The album's 31 tracks, split into the main album and a second volume titled 'The Anthology,' feature Swift's usual creative team, including Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, as well as new collaborators like Post Malone and Florence Welch. While hardcore fans have delighted in decoding the detailed, referential lyrics that allude to Swift's recent relationships and personal life, critics argue that the album lacks the dynamic lyricism, compelling storytelling, and clever abstractions that made her previous works so special.

Many of the songs have been described as sounding like "diluted, unimaginative versions" of Swift's past releases, with repetitive choruses and verses that come across as "vocally bored and forced." The lyrics in particular have faced harsh criticism, with reviewers labeling them as "juvenile, shallow, and pedestrian," and noting Swift's sometimes "jarring" use of big words to prove her vocabulary. "The lyrics are cringe-inducing, unrestrained, imprecise, and unnecessarily verbose," wrote one critic, comparing them unfavorably to the work of renowned poets like Sylvia Plath.

The album's opening track 'Fortnight' has been singled out for its poor production and lyrics, with one critic questioning Swift's status as a "songwriter of the century." Other songs like the title track and 'So Long, London' have been praised for their visceral and humanizing qualities, but overall, the consensus is that the album's subpar songwriting and lyrics are a letdown.

Why this matters: As one of the most influential and successful artists of her generation, Taylor Swift's musical output has a significant impact on the pop culture landscape. The mixed response to 'The Tortured Poets Department' raises questions about the quality and direction of Swift's songwriting, and whether her prolific release schedule may be prioritizing quantity over artistic value.

Despite the criticism, 'The Tortured Poets Department' has been a commercial success, selling 1.5 million copies in its first three days and breaking streaming records on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The album is expected to become Swift's 14th number-one album on the Billboard 200 chart, tying her with Jay-Z for the second-most number-one albums. Swift's song 'Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)' also became Spotify's most streamed song in a single day on the

Key Takeaways

• Taylor Swift's new double album 'The Tortured Poets Department' received widespread criticism.
• The album's 31 tracks lack the quality of her previous works, with poor songwriting and lyrics.
• Critics described the lyrics as "juvenile, shallow, and pedestrian," comparing them unfavorably to renowned poets.
• Despite the criticism, the album was a commercial success, breaking streaming records.
• The mixed response raises questions about the quality and direction of Swift's prolific output.