Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department is a month away from being released, and fans should prepare to cry and be outraged. Swift's 11th studio album, available to pre-order on Apple Music on March 18, will be the singer's most explicit record yet.
Seven of the album's 16 songs were labeled "explicit," including the title track "Down Bad," "But Daddy I Love Him," the Florence + the Machine collaboration "Florida!!!," "loml," " I "Can Do It With a Broken Heart" and "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived".
This count doesn’t include Swift’s four Tortured Poets bonus tracks — “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter,” “The Albatross” and “The Black Dog” — that won’t be available when the album is released in April Play 19. Instead, the songs are spread across four CD and vinyl versions, available only on her website. Each has a unique cover, meaning their "explicit" status is unknown.
The history of cursing
Swift has gradually used more profanity in her lyrics in recent years, starting with her 2017 album Reputation , where she made fans gasp by saying "sh*t." She first had a dirty word spoken on her 2020 surprise album Folklore , which earned her a "Parental Advice" sticker.
Even a "Tyler version" she re-recorded for "Red" turned explicit in 2021, with Swift declaring "Fuck the patriarchy!" on a 10-minute version of "All Too Well."
Ministry of Tormented Poets continues that tradition, which isn't surprising given the literary themes and fan theories that it would be Joe Alwyn's breakup album. Swift's last two albums , Evermore and Midnights, each featured six explicit tracks, making this album her most mature to date in this regard. (If you count bonus track "Hits Different," which ties with "Tortured Poets." )
Additionally, "The Tortured Poets Department" is written in all caps and is classified as a "Pop" album on Apple Music, hinting at the album's sound. That said, "Swift's Red" (Taylor's version) is also labeled as "pop" on the platform, despite containing many country and alternative-influenced songs, meaning "Torture Poet" can still be vocally oriented towards more development in one direction.
