"Fortnight" | ||||
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Single by Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone | ||||
from the album The Tortured Poets Department | ||||
Released | April 19, 2024 | |||
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Genre | ||||
Length | 3:48 | |||
Label | Republic | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
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Post Malone singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Fortnight" on YouTube |
"Fortnight" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring the American singer-rapper Post Malone. It was released by Republic Records as the lead single from Swift's eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department ,on April 19,2024. It was written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff.
A 1980s-inspired ballad,"Fortnight" is a downtempo electropop,synth-pop,and new wave song built around a steady,pulsing synth bassline. Its lyrics describe an emotionally impactful,two-week romance:A woman in an unhappy marriage rekindles with a married ex-lover,and the two vow to escape to Florida. Reviews of the song praised the vocal chemistry between Swift and Malone,but some critics found the composition weak when compared to Swift's other singles. At the 67th Annual Grammy Awards,"Fortnight" has been nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
Commercially,"Fortnight" broke the record for the highest single-day streams on the streaming platform Spotify. In the United States,the song debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100,marking Swift's twelfth and Malone's fifth number-one song. It earned Swift her fifth number-one single on the Billboard Global 200 chart and peaked atop the charts in Australia,Canada,Malaysia,New Zealand,the Philippines,Singapore,the United Arab Emirates,and the United Kingdom.
A music video for "Fortnight",directed by Swift,accompanied the song's release. It stars Swift and Malone as lovers,and the American actors Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles as mad scientists experimenting on Swift. Employing a black-and-white aesthetic by the Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto,the video features clips of a gothic Swift in a psychiatric hospital,and a Victorian Swift romancing with Malone in an office. The video's accolades include five wins including Video of the Year at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards,Best Video at the 2024 MTV Europe Music Awards,Best Music Video at the 32nd Camerimage festival,and a Best Music Video nomination at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.
Taylor Swift announced her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department ,at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4,2024. [1] She announced the track listing via social media the following day;Post Malone was revealed to be the featured artist on the opening track,"Fortnight". [2] Swift developed the album "for about two years" after finishing her previous album Midnights (2022). She reflected on The Tortured Poets Department as a "lifeline" for her, [3] and its conception took place amidst media reports on Swift's personal life and her relationships with Joe Alwyn,Matty Healy,and Travis Kelce. [4]
During an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1 in February 2024,Malone said that Swift initiated the collaboration by simply "hitting him up". He then "rolled in the studio" and hung out with her,having a "good day" together. [5] At the time of the interview,Malone had not heard the full song yet. [6] "Fortnight" was released as the lead single of The Tortured Poets Department on April 19,2024,concurrently with the album's release. [7] [8] Republic Records serviced the track to contemporary hit and hot adult contemporary radio in the United States, [9] while Universal Music promoted it on radio airplay in Italy. [10] The track was also made available for purchase as a CD single through Swift's online store in the United States, [11] Ireland and the United Kingdom, [12] and Germany and Switzerland. [13] A remix produced by Blond:ish was released on May 21,2024. [14] On July 8,2024,an acoustic version and a remix produced by Cults were released. [15]
Starting from the May 2024 shows in Paris as part of the Eras Tour,Swift revamped the set list to include songs from The Tortured Poets Department in a new act,including "Fortnight". [16] [17] For its performance,the stage features a "TTPD"-emblazoned bed and dancers dressed as nurses. Swift sings the song as she sits on a typewriter,across from a dancer. [18]
Swift wrote "Fortnight" with Malone and Jack Antonoff,who programmed the track and played instruments on it:acoustic guitar,electric guitar,the Juno,the M1,drums,and percussion. Sean Hutchinson played additional drums,which were recorded by himself and Michael Riddleberger at Hutchinson Sounds in Brooklyn. Malone's vocals were recorded and produced by Louis Bell at Electric Feel Studios in Los Angeles. "Fortnight" was recorded by Laura Sisk and Oli Jacobs at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles and Electric Lady Studios in New York City. It was mixed by Serban Ghenea at Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach. [19]
At 3 minutes and 48 minutes long, [19] "Fortnight" is an 1980s-influenced downtempo electropop, [20] [21] synth-pop, [22] [23] and new wave [24] ballad. [25] Its subtle electronic production is instrumented by a pulsing synth bassline generated by 8-bit synth plucks. [26] [27] Some critics opined that "Fortnight" was stylistically similar to the music of Swift's 2022 album Midnights . [28] [29] [30] Clash's Lauren Webb wrote that the track has a 1980s power ballad sensibility reminiscent of such artists as Roxette, Cutting Crew, and Phil Collins, [22] while American Songwriter 's Thom Donovan thought that the song channels the "bleak Americana" of Lana Del Rey. [31] Writing for Billboard, Jason Lipshutz observed how "Swift sings in a dulled monotone that flares up with the stabs of emotion" in the verses before Malone "swirls around her upon arrival" in the bridge. [32]
Some American publications pointed to the fact that the title is a British English noun meaning "two weeks". [31] [33] The lyrics are about the strong impacts of a two-week romance that leaves behind fleeting emotions: [21] Swift's narrator is a woman in an unhappy marriage, and she becomes a neighbor of an ex-lover, who is now married to another woman. [20] [34] They encounter each other on a daily basis in a suburban American town, watering the flowers in their garden and chatting about the weather. [21] That she lives next-door to her ex-lover makes her fantasize about killing the wife ("Your wife waters flowers/ I want to kill her") [31] and resorts to alcoholism to cope with her misery. [21] After the second verse, during the double chorus, Swift's character finds out about her husband's infidelity ("My husband is cheating/ I wanna kill him"). [31] By the end, Malone's character, representing the ex-lover of Swift's character, sings about escaping to Florida ("Thought of callin' ya, but you won't pick up/ 'Nother fortnight lost in America/ Move to Florida, buy the car you want/ But it won't start up till you touch, touch, touch me"). [31]
In an album premiere special with iHeartRadio, Swift shared that the single "really exhibits a lot of the common themes that run throughout [the album]", including "fatalism, longing, pining away, lost dreams". [35] She added, in a commentary for Amazon Music, that "Fortnight" displayed "fatalistic" themes with hyperbolic and dramatic lyrics ("I love you, it's ruining my life"), which represented the album. [36] The New York Times ' Lindsay Zoladz thought that the track is "chilly and controlled" until it "[thaws] and [glows]" after the lyric "I love you, it's ruining my life". [37] Donovan summed up the storyline as "a former love affair turning into a suburban nightmare". [31] Consequence's Mary Siroky opined that the lyrics had a heavy "air of death" ("I want to kill him"), [38] while USA Today 's Melissa Ruggeri thought that they were "darkly funny" ("I was a functioning alcoholic 'til nobody noticed my new aesthetic"). [39] Helen Brown of The Independent suggested that the lyrics were autobiographical, [40] but Pitchfork 's Shaad D'Souza suggested that they blended the confessional and fictional, evoking the songwriting of Swift's 2020 album Folklore. [41]
Alli Rosenbloom of CNN described the song as a "dynamic first track" and "perhaps the album's catchiest", praising how Swift's and Malone's vocals go well together. [42] Mesfin Fekadu of The Hollywood Reporter also picked it as an album highlight. [30] In the Irish Independent , John Meagher opined that Malone's guest appearance was restrained compared to his usual tendency for "melodramatic performances", and the result turned out to be "all the better". [43] Ed Power in The Daily Telegraph wrote: "His breathy singing voice dovetails surprisingly with Swift's angsty coo". [44] Lipshutz ranked "Fortnight" fifth out of the 31 tracks on the double album edition of The Tortured Poets Department, praising how Malone's appearance suits well with Swift's vocals and gives the bridge "subtle power and hangdog charm". [32] In PopMatters , Igor Bannikov complimented the "buoyant" synth-pop production and acclaimed the track as "the best opening track in her career". [26] Zoladz complimented the lyrics, describing "Fortnight" as a "potent [reminder] of how viscerally Swift can summon the flushed delirium of a doomed romance". [37]
In less enthusiastic reviews, Callie Ahlgrim of Business Insider and Laura Molloy of NME deemed "Fortnight" uninventive for Swift's artistry, arguing that its sound is too similar to Antonoff and Swift's previous collaborations. [29] [45] Mark Richardson of The Wall Street Journal labelled it "so-so". [25] Variety's Chris Willman regarded the single as a good choice for pop radio, but he contended that it was "not much of an indication of the more visceral, obsessive stuff" for the album's remainder. [28] Paste [46] and Our Culture Mag 's Konstantinos Pappis criticized the sound as empty and bland, [47] while Alex Hudson of Exclaim! wrote: "I'm genuinely shocked that a seasoned hit-maker like Swift could possibly consider such a dreary, unmemorable song to be a single." [48]
After one day of release, "Fortnight" set the single-day streaming record for any song on Spotify, surpassing the all-time peak previously held by Mariah Carey's song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (1994). [49] The single debuted atop the Billboard Global 200, marking Swift's fifth number-one song and tying her with Bad Bunny for the most chart toppers among solo acts. It was one of the 9 tracks from The Tortured Poets Department to debut within the top 10, extending Swift's number of top-10 entries to 33. [50]
In the United States, "Fortnight" debuted at number 9 on Adult Pop Airplay and number 13 on Pop Airplay. It tied her own "Shake It Off" (2014) as the highest debut on the former chart, and "Bad Blood" (2015) as the second-highest debut on the latter chart. [51] On the Adult Pop Airplay chart dated June 22, 2024, the single reached number one to become Swift's record-extending 13th chart topper and Malone's second. [52] On the Billboard Hot 100, "Fortnight" debuted at number one on the chart dated May 4, 2024, with first-week figures of 76.2 million streams, 31.1 million radio airplay audience impressions, and 19,000 copies sold. It registered as the second highest first-week streaming figure since Billboard removed YouTube song user-generated content from its chart metrics in 2020. As Swift's 12th number-one single and seventh number-one debut, it tied Swift with Ariana Grande for the most number-one debuts for a female artist. "Fortnight" also marked Malone's fifth number-one single and first number-one debut. [53] The single spent two consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100. [54]
"Fortnight" also debuted at number one and was Swift's fourth number-one single in the United Kingdom [55] and 12th in Australia. [56] The single also topped the charts in Canada, [57] Singapore, [58] and the United Arab Emirates, [59] as well as Billboard's Hits of the World charts for Hong Kong, [60] Malaysia, [61] and the Philippines. [62] Across other European territories, "Fortnight" reached the top five in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Belgian Flanders, Norway, Sweden, [63] Portugal, [64] Latvia, [65] Lithuania, [66] and Iceland. [67] The track peaked at number two on the chart for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. [68] In Asia-Pacific, "Fortnight" peaked in the top five of Billboard's Hits of the World charts for Taiwan [69] and Indonesia. [70]
Swift wrote and directed the music video for "Fortnight", with cinematography handled by Rodrigo Prieto. [71] Four hours prior to the album's release, Swift posted a teaser for the music video on social media. [72] The music video was released on April 19, 2024. It has a black-and-white cinematography and features Swift and Malone as ex-lovers, and Dead Poets Society 's co-stars Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles as mad scientists carrying out tests on Swift. [71] [73] [74]
The video starts with Swift seen in a white dress, chained to her bed in a mental facility; [75] the bed is suspended on the wall. [23] After a faceless person comes to give her a "Forget Him" pill, Swift is seen wiping her face to reveal tattoos, before walking into a white room filled with typewriters with her and Malone typing; [75] [76] she is now seen in a black mourning Victorian dress. [44] Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph thought that this part symbolizes Swift's grievance from a broken relationship, demonstrated by the switch from a white wedding dress to a black mourning dress. [44] Slant Magazine 's Alexa Camp wrote that Swift and Malone's typewriting was in "a sort of relationship rehabilitation center where they're tasked with reliving happier memories of each other". [23]
The video then shows scenes of Swift and Malone embracing on a lone highway before being caught up in a tornado that causes loose papers to swirl around them; Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone thought that this part seemingly tells "the story of star-crossed lovers". [75] [77] Back at the mental facility, Swift is seen strapped to a gurney, in a laboratory. [74] [77] The doctors (Hawke and Charles) perform shock therapy on her as Malone watches from the side. [78] [74] In the final scene, Malone calls from a telephone booth that Swift is on top of in the pouring thunderstorm rain, on an isolated cliff. He ultimately comes out of the booth and grabs Swift's hand. [76] The video ends with silent-film credits. [73]
Swift shared via social media that the video summarizes the aspects of the album, "I wanted to show you the worlds I saw in my head that served as the backdrop for making this music. Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner of the album or another." [73] According to many publications, the music video evokes the 2023 movie Poor Things . [a] Megan Thomas of CNN wrote that the video is "strange yet beautiful". [77] Power thought that the video had a haunting quality, saying that "here, she gets under our skin like never before". [44] In the French film magazine Première, Anthéa Claux compared the black-and-white cinematography to that of early-20th century silent films such as Frankenstein (1931), Metropolis (1927), and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). [82]
Organization | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Guinness World Records | 2024 | Most Streamed Track on Spotify in 24 Hours | Won | [83] |
Most Streamed Track on Spotify in the First 24 Hours | Won | [84] | ||
Most Streamed Track on Spotify in 24 Hours (Female) | Won | [85] | ||
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | 2024 | Favorite Music Collaboration | Nominated | [86] |
Set Decorators Society of America Awards | 2024 | Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Short Format: Webseries, Music Video or Commercial | Won | [87] |
MTV Video Music Awards | 2024 | Video of the Year | Won | [88] |
Song of the Year | Nominated | |||
Best Collaboration | Won | |||
Best Direction | Won | |||
Best Cinematography | Nominated | |||
Best Editing | Won | |||
Best Visual Effects | Nominated | |||
Best Art Direction | Nominated | |||
Song of the Summer | Won | |||
Weibo Music Awards | 2024 | Song of the Year | Nominated | [89] |
Music Video of the Year | Nominated | |||
NRJ Music Awards | 2024 | International Collaboration of the Year | Nominated | [90] |
MTV Europe Music Awards | 2024 | Best Video | Won | [91] |
Best Collaboration | Nominated | |||
Camerimage | 2024 | Golden Frog for Best Music Video | Won | [92] |
Myx Music Awards | 2024 | Global Video of the Year | Nominated | [93] |
Musa Awards | 2024 | Anglo International Song of the Year | Nominated | [94] |
International Collaboration of the Year | Nominated | |||
Billboard Music Awards | 2024 | Top Collaboration | Nominated | [95] |
RTHK International Pop Poll Awards | 2024 | Top Ten International Gold Songs | Nominated | [96] |
NetEase Annual Music Awards | 2024 | Top English Single | Won | [97] |
Grammy Awards | 2025 | Record of the Year | Pending | [98] |
Song of the Year | Pending | |||
Best Music Video | Pending | |||
Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards | 2025 | Best Make-Up in Commercials or Music Videos | Pending | [99] |
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of The Tortured Poets Department. [19]
Weekly charts | Monthly charts
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [181] | 2× Platinum | 140,000‡ |
Belgium (BEA) [182] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [183] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [184] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [185] | Gold | 50,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [186] | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV) [187] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Portugal (AFP) [188] | Platinum | 10,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [189] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [190] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Version | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | April 19, 2024 | Radio airplay | Original | [191] | |
Italy | Universal | [10] | |||
United States | Contemporary hit radio | Republic | [192] | ||
Hot adult contemporary radio | [9] | ||||
Germany | April 25, 2024 | CD single | Universal | [13] | |
France | |||||
Ireland | May 3, 2024 | [12] | |||
United Kingdom | |||||
Various | May 21, 2024 | Blond:ish remix | Republic | [14] | |
United States | May 31, 2024 | CD single | Original | [193] [11] | |
Various | July 9, 2024 |
|
| [15] |
Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic reinventions, and cultural impact, Swift is a leading figure in popular music and the subject of widespread media coverage.
The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has released 11 original studio albums, 4 re-recorded albums, 5 extended plays (EPs), and 4 live albums. She has sold 114 million album-equivalent units worldwide, 57 million of which are certified in the United States. In terms of pure sales, she has tallied 46.6 million albums in the United States and 7 million albums in the United Kingdom. On the US Billboard 200, as of August 2024, she has accumulated 14 number-one albums—seven of which sold one million first-week copies, and 86 weeks at number one—more than any other solo act.
Austin Richard Post, known professionally as Post Malone, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist. He has gained distinction and acclaim for his blending of various genres including hip-hop, pop, R&B, trap, and country. His stage name was derived from inputting his birth name into a rap name generator.
The discography of Post Malone, an American singer, consists of six studio albums, one mixtape, one compilation album, 43 singles, and 46 music videos. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), he has sold 13 million albums in the United States and 95 million digital singles, making him the eighth best-selling digital artist of all time. Malone was ranked by Billboard as the tenth top artist of the 2010s. Following the release of August 26 (2016), Malone's debut studio album, Stoney (2016), had reached at number 4 on the US Billboard 200. It also produced the top-10 single, "Congratulations", a single of which had reached at number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100; the album also includes the top-20 single, "White Iverson", the track of which reached at number 14 on the Hot 100.
The discography of the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift consists of 61 singles as lead artist, 8 singles as a featured artist, and 39 promotional singles. She had sold over 150 million singles worldwide by December 2016. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Swift's digital singles have achieved 137.5 million certified units, based on sales and on-demand streaming, as of July 2023. On the US Billboard Hot 100, as of April 2024, Swift has garnered 12 number-one songs and is the female musician with the most charted songs (263), most top-40 songs (164), most top-20 songs (100), most top-10 songs (59), most top-10 debuts (48), most top-five songs (36), and most number-one debuts (7).
The Tortured Poets Department is the eleventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on April 19, 2024, through Republic Records. Two hours after its release, it was expanded into a double album subtitled The Anthology, containing a second volume of songs. It was written and produced by Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner.
"My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, it is a synth-pop song featuring marching drums and elements of new wave. The lyrics describe romantic abandonment by an avoidant partner through the metaphor of a broken toy.
"The Tortured Poets Department" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the title track of her eleventh studio album (2024). Swift wrote and produced the song with Jack Antonoff. A synth-pop and jangle pop song, "The Tortured Poets Department" incorporates hushed drums, sparkling synths arpeggios, and electronic sounds. Its lyrics satirize a relationship between two pretentious artists, referencing the poets Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith and the musician Charlie Puth.
"Down Bad" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She wrote and produced the track with Jack Antonoff, who played the song's instruments with members of his band Bleachers. "Down Bad" is about a momentary infatuation: the narrator compares falling in love with being abducted by an extraterrestrial being and is then suddenly deserted by her love interest. Musically, "Down Bad" is a synth-pop song with R&B elements in its groove and vocal cadence.
"So Long, London" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She wrote and produced the track with Aaron Dessner. A downtempo chamber pop and synth-pop tune, "So Long, London" is set over to 4/4 house beats and has a piano and synthesizer instrumentation. Its lyrical content concerns a failed romance and explores a narrator processing the fallout and its aftermath.
"But Daddy I Love Him" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Swift and Aaron Dessner wrote the track, and they produced it with Jack Antonoff. "But Daddy I Love Him" has a balladic production consisting of fingerpicked guitars, live drums, and dynamic shifts in the refrain. Critics categorize its genre as country, country pop, electronica, and folk rock. In its lyrics, the narrator affirms her love for a seemingly troublesome romantic interest and condemns the detractors of her love life, telling them she is its only authority and calling out their self-righteousness.
"Florida!!!" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring the English band Florence and the Machine, from Swift's eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She wrote the track with the band's frontwoman Florence Welch, who also sang lead vocals, and produced it with Jack Antonoff. "Florida!!!" is a Southern Gothic power ballad with elements of Americana and indie rock, showcased through the guitars and drums. Its lyrics are about escaping from unpleasant circumstances, rejecting one's own wrongdoings, and indulging in negative thoughts, using Florida as a geographical metaphor.
"Guilty as Sin?" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She wrote and produced the song with Jack Antonoff. It is a 1990s-tinged pop rock and soft rock track combining rock, country, and folk styles, accentuated by guitars and live drums. The lyrics see Swift's character sexually fantasizing about a man while being in a relationship.
"Loml" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Written and produced by Swift and Aaron Dessner, it is a soft, melancholic piano-led ballad. The song's lyrics mourn the loss of a short-lived relationship that leaves a long-lasting mark, using extensive imagery related to death such as phantoms, graveyards, and "Holy Ghost". Whereas "Loml" is a popular colloquialism for "love of my life", the conclusion of the song denotes it as "loss of my life".
"I Can Do It with a Broken Heart" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart" is about Swift's perseverance and professionalism while going through personal hardships during the early days of the Eras Tour. Contrary to the melancholic sentiments of the lyrics, the music is upbeat electropop, dance-pop, new wave, and synth-disco, incorporating house and bubblegum beats, and salient synth arpeggios.
"The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She wrote and produced the song with longtime collaborator Aaron Dessner. A breakup song about an ex-lover, "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" begins as a piano ballad with blinking programming before transitioning into a vitriolic bridge.
"The Alchemy" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Swift wrote and produced the track with Jack Antonoff. A pop rock and electropop track with R&B influences, "The Alchemy" is a love song about a burgeoning romance where two people cannot resist their chemistry. The lyrics use extensive football imagery to depict a sense of triumph.
"Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, the track is a Southern Gothic-inspired chamber pop song that incorporates dense echo and strings. The lyrics were inspired by Swift's bitter feelings while reflecting on her teenage rise to stardom: they compare a narrator to a wicked witch and a trapped circus animal, detailing how her upbringing in an asylum contributes to her callous and vicious nature.
"The Black Dog" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She wrote the track and produced it with Jack Antonoff. A post-industrial power ballad, "The Black Dog" has a production that slowly builds up with a sparse, piano–led arrangement juxtaposed by a brief dynamic shift during the chorus. Told through Swift's perspective, the lyrics use a place to describe the differences of how she and an ex-partner cope with their grief after a breakup.
"Fresh Out the Slammer" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, it has a Western, country pop, and country rock production driven by twangy guitars, looping synths, and a hazy atmosphere. In the lyrics, a narrator contemplates on how her past relationship made her feel trapped and uses another lover as a means to escape immediately after that relationship ends.
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