The Grammy awards were held on Sunday, February 4th. That very morning, Taylor Swift changed her Instagram profile picture to black and white and her website was down up until that night. Fans were speculating that Swift was going to announce Reputation (Taylor’s Version), but they were pretty off. Swift did announce an album, but instead of a rerecording, she announced her brand new album The Tortured Poets Department, set to be released on April 19th.
Taylor Swift, a 14-time Grammy winner, had just won Best Pop Vocal Album which was also her 13th Grammy, she won her 14th later that night. When her name was announced, she walked onstage and started thanking everyone. “Ok this is my 13th Grammy, which is my lucky number. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that,” Swift joked. She continued, I want to say thank you to the members of the Recording Academy for voting this way; but I know that the way that the Recording Academy voted is a direct reflection of the passion of the fans.” Last year, at the VMAs Swift announced her 10th studio album Midnights in a very similar fashion, so this got the fans very excited for the possibility of Reputation TV. “So I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand-new album comes out April 19th.”
After her announcement an Instagram post immediately went live displaying the cover of the album and a note: “And so I enter into evidence/ My tarnished cost of arms/ My muses, acquired like bruises/ My talismans and charms/ The tick/ tick/ tick/ of love bombs/ my viens of pitch-black ink/ All is fair in love and poetry/ Sincerely/ The Chairman of The Tortured Poets Department.”
Fans went wild. Social media started flooding with ideas and speculations on what the vibe of the album would be and what collabs Swift was going to include.
Right as the Instagram post was live, Swift’s website was also revamped, now including a banner to preorder TTPD and a change in coloring.
The next day, February 5th, Taylor Swift posted the track list on her instagram:
1. “Fortnight” (featuring Post Malone)
2. “The Tortured Poets Department”
3. “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”
4. “Down Bad”
5. “So Long, London”
6. “But Daddy I Love Him”
7. “Fresh Out the Slammer”
8. “Florida!!!”(featuring Florence + The Machine)
9. “Guilty as Sin?”
10. “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”
11. “I Can Fix Him (No Really, I Can)”
12. “loml”
13. “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”
14. “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”
15. “The Alchemy”
16. “Clara Bow”
17. “The Manuscript” (bonus track).
Fans have many guesses and speculations on what and who the songs will be about but nothing has been confirmed. All that is known is who will be the collabs and the names and order of the tracks.
Mark your calendars for April 19th, and get ready for all of the possibilities The Tortured Poets Department holds.