April 23, 2024
Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Sipa USA
Taylor Swift is letting her fans in on some behind-the-album details of 'The Tortured Poets Department' thanks to a new Amazon Music feature.
In the days since the release of Taylor Swift's surprise double album, "The Tortured Poets Department," fans and critics alike have attempted to interpret and decode the masterful, metaphorical lyricism on the singer's 31 new songs. Now, Swift is offering a direct glimpse into her mind and songwriting process through a new Amazon Alexa feature.
On Monday, Amazon launched an album experience featuring Swift's commentary on the inspiration behind some of the "TTPD" tracks. The feature can be accessed through the Amazon Music app, or by saying to an Alexa device, "Alexa, I'm a member of the Tortured Poets Department."
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Topics for Swift's commentary include the first single from the album, “Fortnight” with Post Malone, along with “Clara Bow,” “Florida!!!” with Florence + the Machine, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys.”
As a Swiftie, I had to give the feature a try ... for investigative journalism purposes, of course! So, I said the magic words to my Alexa, which played a beat of ominous music before informing me, "You're in." Before I could revel in what felt like my initiation into an exclusive club, Swift's voice filled the airwaves:
"Hi, I'm Taylor, taking you behind the scenes of my new album in a unique listening experience called track-by-track, only on Amazon Music," she said.
From there, Swift launched into the following explanation of "Fortnight."
“‘Fortnight’ is a song that exhibits a lot of the common themes that run throughout this album. One of which being fatalism — longing, pining away, lost dreams. I think that it’s a very fatalistic album in that there are lots of very dramatic lines about life or death. ‘I love you, it’s ruining my life.’ These are very hyperbolic, dramatic things to say. It’s that kind of album.”
Doing my due diligence as a Swiftie, I filmed my initial interaction with Swift-via-Alexa and posted it to TikTok to share the news of the Alexa feature with other fans.
@frak.attack through this alexa feature taylor talks about the inspo for multiple songs on TTPD including fortnight, clara bow, florida, WAOLOM, & MBOBHFT #THETORTUREDPOETSDEPARTMENT #taylorswift #torturedpoetsdepartment #swifties #swifttok ♬ original sound - franki
Based on the comments on the video, some people didn't have as much luck utilizing the feature. Many claimed their Alexa misheard them, with multiple users saying their device thought they were asking to listen to "Eclectic Donut."
Technological difficulties aside, this new feature gives fans a rare intimate look into the songwriting process of Swift, while also leaving the album largely open for Swifties to interpret and relate to things that have happened in their own lives.
For her explanation of the song "Clara Bow," Swift discusses how the entertainment industry teaches women to see themselves "like you could be the new replacement for this woman who’s done something great before you." "Florida!!!" is an ode to Swift watching "Dateline" and seeing how some criminals try to reinvent themselves in the Sunshine State, while "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" is about being with people who "devalue us in their mind."
As for “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?" Swift was inspired by "bitter" feelings about how society treats artists.
"What do we do to our writers, and our artists, and our creatives? We put them through hell," she says. "We watch what they create, then we judge it. We love to watch artists in pain, often to the point where I think sometimes as a society we provoke that pain and we just watch what happens."
Listeners can also learn more about the meaning behind key words on the album by saying to their Alexa, "Alexa, give me a 'Tortured Poets Department' word." Plus, a special "TTPD" introduction by Swift will play when users tell their devices, “Alexa, play the latest album by Taylor Swift.”
Since the release of "TTPD" on Friday, Swift has been smashing records. "TTPD" became the first album to exceed 200 million streams in a single day, according to Variety. With the new release, the Berks County native became the most streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history, breaking her own record from when “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” dropped in October. Amazon and Apple also said that Swift’s album broke records across their respective streaming platforms, according to CNN.
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