Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department and the art of melodrama

Lyrically, The Tortured Poets Department is a euphoric rejection of societal expectations.

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The ConversationThe Conversation
URL: 
https://theconversation.com/taylor-swifts-the-tortured-poets-department-and-the-art-of-melodrama-228421https://theconversation.com/taylor-swifts-the-tortured-poets-department-and-the-art-of-melodrama-228421
Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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Tags: 
Depression, Broken Heart, Grief, The Eras Tour, Noise, Smith, Death, Life, Poetry, Love, Down Bad, Creativity, Music, Language, Emotion
Summary
Key Points: 
  • Lyrically, The Tortured Poets Department is a euphoric rejection of societal expectations.
  • The title track declares: “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith”, pointing to other famously troubled (or “tortured”) lyrical poets.
  • “In melodrama,” he explains, “man remains undivided, free from the agony of choosing between conflicting imperatives and desires”.
  • This speaks to the extremes of emotion explored in The Tortured Poets Department, including frequent references to death.
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