Taylor Swift latest: Patti Smith responds to Tortured Poets mention in song that hits out at Matty Healy
Godmother of punk responds to mention on Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ as pop titan smashes Spotify records on day of album release
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Taylor Swift has released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and fans are busy unpacking everything from lyrics to her “Fortnight” music video.
The pop titan’s latest record, announced earlier this year when she won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album (Midnights), was released overnight on Friday 19 April and has already broken two Spotify records.
In a five-star review of the album, The Independent’s critic Helen Brown praised the “playful narratives” and “hooks like anchors”.
Fans have been surprised that many songs on the album seem to take aim at Swift’s ex Matty Healy, whom she briefly dated last year, instead of Joe Alwyn, her boyfriend of six years, whom she was reported to have parted ways with around April 2023.
Patti Smith has responded after she was namechecked on the title track, writing: “This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor.”
Taylor Swift appears to share first song about boyfriend Travis Kelce
Taylor Swift fans were left reeling after it became apparent that her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, seems to spend more time reflecting on her short-lived romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy than it does her former boyfriend of six years, actor Joe Alwyn.
The pop titan released her 11th studio album at midnight ET on Friday 19 April. Only a few hours later, she announced that a surprise “2am version” extended the record to a further 15 songs.
One of the tracks on the first part of the album is “The Alchemy”, which appears to be the first song Swift has released about her boyfriend Travis Kelce, tight-end for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Read more:
Pop singer is known to delve into themes of love and heartbreak with her songwriting
Fans unpack Swift's lyrics on ‘But Daddy I Love Him’
Fans have quickly reached the concensus that Swift’s new song “But Daddy I Love Him” is a fierce rebuke to critics of her fleeting romance with Matty Healy.
She sings: “I’d rather burn my whole life down/ Than listen to one more second of all this bitchin’ and moanin’/ I’ll tell you something ‘bout my good name/ It’s mine along with all the disgrace/ I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing.”
Then on the bridge: “God save the most judgmental creeps/ Who say they want what’s best for me/ Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see/ Thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me/ And counteract the chemistry/ And undo the destiny/ You ain’t gotta pray for me/ Me and my wild boy/ And all of this wild joy/ If all you want is gray for me/ It’s just white noise/ It’s just my choice.”
Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department review: Irresistible, country-hued tales of relationships past and present
With its playful narratives and hooks like anchors, Swift’s 11th studio album is a terrific reminder of her storytelling powers, Helen Brown writes:
With its playful narratives and hooks like anchors, Swift’s 11th studio album is a terrific reminder of her storytelling powers
Jon Bon Jovi thanks Taylor Swift for enticing Prince William onstage to sing ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’
The Independent spoke to Jon Bon Jovi on the eve of the release of The Tortured Poets Department, and the rock legend had fond memories of the time he, Swift and Prince William ended up belting out “Livin’ On A Prayer” together.
“She literally grabbed him by the arm and ran up on stage,” he recalled.
Look out for The Independent’s career-spanning interview with Bon Jovi on Sunday (21 April), in which the 62-year-old talks about the drug experience that scared him straight, his most extravagant purchases, and his son’s forthcoming marriage to Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown.
WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel trolls viewers by passing off Lara Trump song as Taylor Swift
Michael J Fox says Taylor Swift ‘changes the way the world works’
Days before Taylor Swift broke the internet with her new album, Michael J Fox has praised her, saying that she “changes the world works”.
Speaking to People for the magazine’s 50th-anniversary issue, the Back to the Future star, 62, admitted that he “didn't have an opinion about Taylor Swift when I first heard of Taylor Swift”.
“Now I have a wife and four kids who worship her,” he said. “I think she's going to be a really important person. I think she moves economies, she changes the way the world works, and that’s amazing.”
Who are The Blue Nile, the Scottish band Taylor Swift references on Guilty as Sin?
Taylor Swift fans are scrambling to decipher the US artist’s many lyrical references on new album The Tortured Poets Society.
The Grammy-winning artist released her 11th studio album at midnight (5am GMT) on Friday 19 April, then announced an extended “anthology” version shortly after.
Swifties were surprised to learn that the majority of songs do not, in fact, appear to be about her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, with exceptions such as “So Long, London” and “loml”.
Instead, much of her songwriting seems inspired by her brief fling with The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy, whom she dated around April and May last year.
On “Guilty as Sin?” she sings about “fatal fantasies” for someone from her past who sends her the 1989 song “The Downtown Lights”, by Scottish band The Blue Nile (she might have felt a particular affinity for the song as it was released the year she was born).
Read more:
Song from new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ namedrops her ex Matty Healy’s favourite band
Taylor Swift breaks her own record (again)
Spotify have just announced that The Tortured Poets Department is already their most-streamed album in a single day, with Taylor Swift also becoming the most-streamed artist in a single day in the history of the platform.
It is the first album to ever exceed 200 million streams in a single day. The previous record was also held by Swift, who now has the top three most streamed albums in a single day, with The Tortured Poets Department followed by Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
Why fans think Taylor Swift will perform at Coachella weekend two
Taylor Swift fans are speculating that she may perform at Coachella's weekend two after releasing her new album The Tortured Poets Department.
The singer, 34, is rumoured to be performing with her friend and fellow Jack Antonoff collaborator Lana Del Rey this weekend.
It comes after she was spotted enjoying the festival’s first weekend with boyfriend Travis Kelce. Swift was last spotted attending the festival in 2016.
Read more:
Swift was spotted enjoying the festival’s first weekend with boyfriend Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce’s ex asks trolls to ‘leave her alone’ as Taylor Swift releases new album
Hours before Taylor Swift released her new album, Travis Kelce’s ex, influencer Kayla Nicole, addressed some of the criticism she’s seen about her on social media.
“I’m unproblematic. Mind my business,” she tweeted on Thursday (18 April). “Never respond to the constant vitriol. Solid as they come & don’t expect a pat on the back for it either.”
However, she then hit back at the criticism, before asking her followers to put an end to it. “Just know everyone has a breaking point & would love for ‘yall’ (because you know exactly who you are) to leave me alone,” she concluded.
The American football star dated Nicole off-and-on from 2017 to 2022, before Kelce is believed to have started dating Swift in September 2023.
Read more:
Travis Kelce and Kayla Nicole dated off-and-on from 2017 to 2022
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