Did Taylor Swift’s New Album Cross the Line?

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After months of anticipation from fans, Taylor Swift released her eleventh studio album causing both fans and haters to claim if it lived up to its hype and if some lyrics crossed the line.  

“The Tortured Poets Department” was released at midnight on April 19th with 13 songs, including one feature from Post Malone. Only a few hours later, “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology,” a deluxe version of the original, released with a whopping 31 songs. 

Within the first three days of its release, the album had over 1.5 million copies sold in the US alone, according to CNN. 

Both version of the album emphasized a pop sound, similar to her previous album “Midnights,” which won Album of the Year at the 2024 Grammy Awards and differing from her indie-folk sounding albums “Folklore” and “Evermore.”  

UWM student Vivian Wagner considers herself a “swiftie,” but was underwhelmed by this album. 

“The album is fine,” Wagner said. “The addition of the anthology was fine. I’m continuing to listen in case it grows on me like “Folklore” did, but as of right now it’s a 6/10.”  

There were a few lyrics that caused some uproar on social media. In the song “I Hate It Here,” Swift says “We would pick a decade we wished we could live in instead of this. I’d say the 1830s but without all the racists.”  

In the song “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” Swift says, “They wouldn’t last a day in the asylum where they raised me.”  

“Having this album revolve around the idea of a mentally ill woman is sensitive,” Wagner said. “She talks about her tortured artistry as if she wasn’t born into a very rich family, had a successful music career by the time she reached high school and is a billionaire with two private jets. I’m starting to get a bit tired of her not recognizing her privilege.” 

Another song that caught people’s attention was “thanK you aIMee.” The capitalized letters spell out “Kim” which fans speculate is in reference to Kim Kardashian who Swift has had public beef with for years now.  

The beef originated when Kanye West, Kardashian’s ex-husband, went up on stage at the 2009 VMA’s and said Beyonce deserved to win the award instead of Swift. Later, West released a song “Famous” claiming he “made that bitch famous” referencing to Swift. 

The main line that fans are connecting to Kardashian is, “One day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.”