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I think the Anthology was initially meant to be released in a fortnight, but because the first album got leaked she felt like she had to release the second too, to get ahead of the leaks. Or maybe she saw the poor reception of the first album in the beginning and releasing the second was a form of damage control
I’m actually really glad she released 31 songs because so many artists talk about writing 100 songs and then having to pick between them. Instead of waiting 10 years to get “vault” songs she is giving them now.
@@justwonder1404absolutely! My sister and I have completely different favorite tracks. If Taylor edited more one of us would have missed out. And I have like 13 faves out of 31, but I don’t truly dislike any of the tracks. I’m still listening to the full album in alternate with my paired down playlist. I’m in heaven 😆
I think this is her exact reasoning! She’s releasing anything finished so she can fully move forward and not get caught up in an eras situation again. It’s been good for her career but I think she wants to be known for not only her technical ability but her work ethic and ability to write hundreds of songs. I don’t think she cares as much how it’s received, she just wants to share
Me too! I was waiting to see if people would mention it. One of her saddest songs ever in my opinion, maybe it just hit close to home but I feel like she catches such little details about going through a breakup that a lot of people don’t talk about
You heard it here first, How did it end? will all of a sudden be everyone’s favorite when she plays it live. It’s my absolute favorite, I’ll defend it with my life.
same. it also shows how guarded she felt she needed to be potentially because she knows that people will ask and say they won’t tell anyone but then they will turn around and tell everyone and that she was crazy,, painting her walking in circles like she was lost.
I think the “empathetic hunger” is everyone who says they love her and care about her but they really just want the tea. They’re hungry for gossip but going about it in an empathetic way…..right?
I understand it as she’s hungry for empathy.she really is it’s always her telling her side of the story and rightfully so but it always can’t be the guys fault and she wants us to think it is and only support her.
I personally will never complain about receiving more from her. I appreciate that it’s her outlet for her emotions and how she processes things. I like that sometimes it’s raw and messy. The beautiful thing about her art is that it’s an exploration of the human experience, and because we are always changing, our connections to songs change over time. I feel like a lot of her fans are looking at the album through their own personal lens of what they want or what they like and are forgetting that the music isn’t just for them it’s for her.
Agreed! She needed to write and I’m seated. I also LOVE that Taylor made an album while all of her fucks were on vacation, even towards us! Especially towards her fans that have such strong opinions on who she dates. I’ve always been nauseous when fans over step and punch down on who she is dating, it’s my LEAST favored aspect to Taylor’s fandom. Specifically those making income punching down; it’s bullying even if they think they’re cute and entitled experts on all things swift. I was happy to see Taylor let us know she’d rather retire than allow UA-camrs to pay their bills punching down on her love interests during or after she’s with them. Especially pretending it’s “journalism” to do so. I for one hope to see much much much less punching down in the name of “honesty” or “objectivity.”
No SAME. I cannot imagine being the kind of person that’s like mm she should have cut it down so it was presented better. Like IDGAF about presentation, cohesion, a chronological story, whether the second parts adds to the first in a specific way or not… 😭 I feel like a caveman because I’m like: this is song. Song good. I like song. I listen to song. That’s all I care about and I’ll take anything from Taylor! It’s not like people are forced to listen to it, or listen to it all in one go in one specific order. Who caaaares. Criticisms in that family of things come off as so pretentious to me I’m sorry 😭 no hate to the swiftologist I adore him, he is so funny, that was more about the general sentiment I’m seeing a lot of! And also why do we says she needs to do THIS next or THIS. Why can’t we let an artist create the art they want to create… not to mention people will always have something to say. I hate 1989 I don’t want another one lmao. (Also that’s proof I don’t blindly like everything she does!). I’d rather have TTPD a thousand times over! I do think that the more she puts out the more annoyed the general PUBLIC will be and I myself worry about that (I don’t want her to go through the “overexposure” phase again and disappear and she’s clearly headed there. So I get that. But I would never say that she needs to take a break, like, because it’s too much music for me personally?! 😅 Lastly I do disagree with the criticism that she needs to stop working with Jack. First of all, no one ever mentions Aaron even though they work together just as much and IMO Aaron’s songs sound more alike than Jack’s songs. Aaron’s songs are all slow, mellow, piano type and Jack has produced some 1989 & Rep pop plus Folkmore, if anything he’s more diverse! Second, I don’t know if it’s because Taylor has reinvented herself and her genre so much, but I hate seeing people, swifties included, demand that she does it with every new album. TTPD is apparently not different enough in sound… do people tell The Rolling Stones to stop making rock music, or Drake to stop making rap?! That seems like an unfair demand placed on Taylor alone. If she stayed in the mellow synth-y sound her whole career that’s no different than what most other artists do. And no matter what she does there’s always gonna be complaints so it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. There’s so many repeated sentiments about TTPD that I just gotta get off my chest bahaha but I genuinely love the swiftologist, the quick witty humor is everything so these are just my opinions!!
@@amandaleighplansI agree with every point you made. The “it sounds the same” shows how spoiled ppl are by Taylor and her ‘reinventions’ on every album- tell that to The Ramones or Nirvana or Black Sabbath or The Strokes or Sza - most bands/ artists have a sound that tracks as a baseline throughout their discography. Ppl just like to complain for the sake of complaining.
Madeline has the right marketing strategy- I would've loved TTPD alone for a fortnight, and then Anthology would've felt like dessert. Currently I am grateful, but overwhelmed.
I just think she would receive a ton of backlash if she did it. People would be saying it's really only about the numbers/her trying to revive TTPD heat, after two weeks and etc. From a marketing point of view, yeah, sure. But on her reputation/what she's aiming with it? I don't think it would be good. The conversations about her wanting the numbers would probably overwhelm the discussions about the songs themselves - which were the important thing on this project.
And I won’t confess that I waited but I let the lamp burn As the man masqueraded I hope you’d return With your feed on the ground tell me all that you’d learn Cause love never lost when perspective is earned And how can you say that’s not one of the greatest lyrics. It about when your have to leave someone you care about and you just hope that they will come back to you. It gets me every time. And it’s relatable not only for you lovers but for you friendships too. And the fact that she turned down the lights at the end 😭
This album is so huge that there's something for everyone - a few somethings for this one. Peter didn't hit for me at first, but when I shuffle the album it did. I think when you go in order you're emotionally exhausted by the time you get to this song. But there's really something there with that person you put on a shelf, created into a fantasy, then ended up being disappointed by.
How did it end was so beautiful to me and such a good way to describe how everyone reacts after she goes through a break up. “One gasp and then, how did it end?” “We must know, how did it end?” Not “how are you feeling” “are you ok?” All anyone cares about is how it ended and finding out all the details. And as someone who was there while a family member was dying and heard a death rattle in real life that line hit me so hard and broke my heart.
Yes! Exactly, it’s about the morbid curiosity veiled as concern. Come one, come all reminded of a newspaper boy shouting ‘breaking news!’ On the corner. She is such a commodity to the public that they at times forget that she’s a human being, people love when she’s in pain and gather to watch her suffer (emotionally) and then gossip about it. But it’s a universal feeling (ppl have morbid curiosity about when couples divorce or when there’s a death in the family - you sometimes ask yourself- are ppl asking bc they care or bc they want the salacious details? My condolences on your family loss by the way, thank you for sharing with us ❤
@@Sitting_on_a_perchyes!! I was thinking this yesterday too how when people die unfortunately one of our first thoughts is how they died, especially if it’s a younger person. I think that curiosity is natural but sometimes we need to know when to keep that to ourselves and in Taylor’s case, no one does. Then that’s when the empathetic hunger descends 😢
I love how did it end? so much i think it's actually really clever the way it comments on the fans' desire to pry into her personal life and get every detail about things that aren't our business and how strange it must feel to have people wanting all these answers. and then the real stinger is even if she wanted to she cant give us the answers cause she doesn't even have them herself💔
I wish this was the 1st track instead of fortnight because it's also like a rallying cry in a sense. Fortnight you aren't really sure what's going on. That's what I noticed.
@@walkingtheline1729 yeah fortnight is kind of a nothing song for me. its okay but the production and melody just arent to my liking and the lyrics arent enough to carry it despite the sound
Chloe, Sam,Sophia or Marcus is my favorite song too. The first line with the hologram stumbling into an apartment with Chloe, Sam, Sophia, or Marcus shows the passage of time and heartbreak in such a descriptive and creative way 😭 💔
To me, the "overwrittingness" of How Did It End? is absolutely intentional because she's sticking to the autopsy metaphor. I see her as a coroner or some kind of medical examiner dissecting the body (relationship) and explaining the cause of death in this matter-of-fact academic language.
absolutely!! If you work in the medical field you know that the death rattle is a real thing, a very specific type of respiratory sound that indicates the end is near. So that whole bridge is such a poetic, but still very clear metaphor as for the closest she can get to explaining the cause of death of the relationship. I thought it was brilliant.
This! Also I think the answers she gives are so blown up because she needs to give an answer that NEEDS to satisfy all these hungry characters, but when you look at the answers they're complicated ways to phrase superficial, overused answers ("we grew apart", etc.). She uses those overused answers because she doesn't actually know the answers but hides it by putting on a poetic facade (which also ties in with her real life situation of a singer who's expected to dissect her breakup poetically on those albums)
@@sadbabygirlmilaI think you are all absolutely right! I also had the same understanding of it. This overwriting, the complex phrasing and unusual vocabulary is fully intentional and a way to show that despite the effort to « rationalise » the end of the relationship by dissecting it in this post mortem, all she gets to is emptiness and vacuity. And worse, she is performing this exercise only to the benefit of the audience, the friends, the fans, demanding an explanation, and to make it as precise and emotional as possible (« tell me once again with feeling »). So her explaining the end of the relationship is just a performance, and by making it so weird and complex she’s putting the light on how futile of an exercise it is.
Imgonnagetyouback is 100% about Matty: the way the title is written literally screams The 1975, and it's a nod to Fallingforyou (Matty dedicated this song to Taylor at their concert in 2014 + Taylor alludes to his bike on her track, Fallingforyou has a certain lyric about it)
The title is all lowercase which also goes back to another song where she said she kept her dreams of him in the vault all in lowercase, or something along those lines. That other song is what made me think this was about him. I could be totally wrong and I don’t think it really matters who it was about in the scheme of things.
Do you think the Aston Martin line is a wink at the ridiculous rumors of her dating Fernando Alonso and him leaning into it with a wink? Or did she use it just because of the british?
@@VLoLa9119I really don’t think so, it’s too stupid of a thing to mention or even acknowledge. I’m sure she saw it but was it really anything worth remembering or mentioning again, I don’t think so
“I hate it here” was the first song on the entire album that I needed to listen to on repeat and must repeat 2-3x every time I listen to the album - my favorite of the bunch that doesn’t break my heart. I was thinking of that line “poet trapped inside a finance guy” “all you’ll ever be is my eternal consolation prize” - I think she alludes to how this is her art (she’s a poet) but also addresses the capitalism/ financial aspect of the work. Her “eternal consolation prize” is her money and success - but still doesn’t quite ‘win’ bc feels like she’ll never have the love she’s looking for (at the time). It’s the message of - you’re lonely and heartbroken but at least you can go cry into your billions of dollars (which many ppl say she has no reason to be unhappy since she’s got all that wealth)
As an evermore stan, when The Albatross started, those opening notes were giving such willow and ivy vibes that I ascended. I cry about twice a day to I look in peoples windows…that song is INSANELY beautiful. The yearning, the longing. She really said the anthology is for the evermore girlies and to that I say, 👏🪑
"If you want to break my cold, cold heart Just say, 'I loved you the way that you were'" literally CRUSHES my soul. It feels like she's saying that all the changes she went through in the past years turned out not to be worth it in the end because he might not love the the new her and she's really longing to go back to her past, no matter how she's waited like in the song Peter, she's just not the same anymore. Tho good for our queen lollll we stan, but this song is so damn sad, it really gets to me
I just wonder how much of the “it’s too much criticism” is just todays tik tok age not being able to swallow anything that takes time and isn’t “immediate”. The anthology needs time to sit with it, to understand it, and these times of immediacy, and things to just consume up, the anthology comes in as something that just defies those times, and that’s why I love it. I the Beatles have a double album, Pink Floyd has a double album. No one criticized them for putting out “too much” music. I think the critiques in that area are more due to her putting out a two hour album that isn’t immediate, that isn’t even instant satisfaction, that needs time to be digested - in a time of 25 minute albums. (I mean on top of Taylor being so big right now that some people are just going to make their whole personalities hating). I have a lot of thoughts on this matter.
When taylor announced the album no-one said anything about too much taylor, but as soon as she dropped double album people could not even digest the 1st album with an objective mindset. Last album came in 2022, the pattern that taylor following since start of career. Folklore, Evermore which were the quickest albums and dropped before the 1st anniversary of lover were critically acclaimed. So yeah she can make best songs in shortest time. Ttpd is a long lyrically dense album with no pop bangers. It wants your time and attention.
Yeah honestly, I think people didn't take the time (or couldn't, which is also fair) to really sit with it. I personally have too much time in that I have a job where I can literally listen to music for 8 hours a day, and this album (TTPD and Anthology both) just gets better the longer you sit with it. It feels like every day I find a new favorite and I really appreciate that experience.
@@pridemoth_ i think this feeds into what I’m saying, in that people think that with one listen they already have to be making tik toks with their opinions. Or like something must be said within a day of the album being out. Sometime a work of art requires time, and that might mean having to sit with something and only expressing an opinion - idk - a month later, or maybe even longer. But that’s too hard to conceive for people in this “fast food” “consume everything and then throw it out” capitalist mentality 🤷🏻♀️
I agree about the comparison to the White Album? Would that have been a better album with some of the duds removed, absolutely it would have been. Would it however represent that time in their career as perfectly as it does if you lost the flotsom? No it would not. I get the fatigue, It took me till Wednesday to get around to the last 4 tracks on the Anthology. It was simply too much to consume that quickly.
I think 99% of the people posting about it are manipulating the algorithm in bad faith. They don't care to dig in - they want the clicks. I stopped engaging on the topic because they never did
@@Hawther it’s amazing how ppl complain about her fans and yet as a HATER create a whole playlist / channel about what makes Taylor suck. The hypocrisy of making money of her name and then bashing her is just epic
@@Random-vd8wu I personally need that line in there because i have had that exact line of thought (especially as a poc) with my own friends and it makes the song even more relatable to me.
After having been through a death of a loved one recently, I love the idea of comparing that “empathetic hunger” of people’s morbid curiosity after a passing to that after a breakup. It’s a question that in both cases has a pretense of empathy, sadness, caring but in reality is just… nosiness I guess. Also I definitely understand how it might feel overwritten but I feel like I must’ve been the perfect audience for this one because the imagery of someone wandering lost at the shops, the people caring for a moment before talking about it and moving on, and the death rattle/deflation lines… that was so vivid it was almost too much but in the best way. If you’ve been through that it’s such a visceral and painful thing to just see these irreversible signs of the end that you can’t unhear or get out of your head even when it’s over and you had to just watch it slowly play out before getting left with a feeling to process and an overwhelming number of people invading your space and your grieving. Idk I could talk about this one for hours. Totally respect your views on it, but it’s my number one personally. Also I love these dissections, thank you for your service.
I’m sorry for your loss. ❤That’s a really great parallel or I guess the original and literal meaning of post mortem. Everyone wants to talk about it except the people it actually effects.
Thank you for sharing 🤍 I’ve been through that three times in the last 5 years, and seeing some folks either miss the point or not talk about it (maybe because they have similar experiences they’re not comfortable sharing, which is totally fine obv) has felt a bit isolating
On the topic of the album being ‘too much’, as an artist, we are told to edit our portfolios down to no more than 20 pieces, in painting, photography, drawing, as well as song. However, you both gave me the realization that Taylor isn’t forcing anyone to listen to 31 songs at once. We all wanted to know what else she had written all these years, but now it’s piecework with streaming. We can make our own albums, essentially, with playlists. Taylor is just sharing her art. Personal side note, it’s making me realize she deserves to be paid as 2 separate albums, since she does twice the output, or more, than others
Never thought I'd see the day where fans complain about getting "too much" from their favorite artist. Personally as a fan, I'm never coming at her material from the perspective of what's best for her image, or for her career, or a from critic's eye view. She and her team can deal with that. I'm just here to enjoy what I do of what she releases, so more, is always more to me (especially in the age of playlisting and streaming where you can always taylor/trim an album to suit your specific needs). It reminds me of people who complain about big eyeshadow palettes. Like, why would you complain about having more options? 🤷♀️
I think the most important part of the song that no one is picking is "so I changed your name and any real defining clues". I think the song was kind of red herring and this is definitely not about the song she capitalized the letters that makes the name on the own song. I think this is a big reason why the song is there
I feel like she did start writing this album two years ago, but then the Matty situation happened and she had more to say. And that’s why it feels like two different albums.
Sorry guys but Peter is about Matty 😵💫 There’s an unreleased song by The 1975 (back when they were known as Drive Like I Do) called Lost Boys. She also dedicated Cardigan to him during Eras Tour (“this is about you, you know who you are, I love you”) 😵💫 And Cardigan obviously references “Peter losing Wendy” which this song Peter expands upon. Matty and Taylor were also first romantically linked when Matty was 25. I hate it too but we cannot deny the facts 😭
I have a question and maybe you know the answer. I know Taylor said to Matty "this song is about you" and then played "Cardigan", but what song did Matty play after saying "This song is about you?", aka which song did he dedicate to Taylor at that concert? I've been looking for older articles talking about that situation, but every article is just mentioning that he dedicated a song to her but they never say which song, so I just wanted to ask someone because I'm about to give up on searching for it lol
@@RGLmasterpiece ??? she’s referencing the fans that were saying she needed to end things with matty in that song. not fans simply picking up her clues and making theories on them, she’s always wanted us to pick up on her easter eggs. she just doesn’t want us to tell her what she can and can’t do and this commenter wasn’t trying to do that at all lol.
Same... I'm getting concerned about the reading comprehension of some of these kids. I'm a 38 year old therapist, not a writer, but the number of word definitions people look up while reacting to this album is getting concerning, as is the misunderstanding of really clear concepts. I hope the controversy over I hate it here is just purely bad faith attempts at a takedown, because if people take that song as her genuinely longing for that time they need to go back to school.
@hkandm4s23 I completely agree with you, people don't read as much anymore and I find it really sad. I also think some of the difficulties understanding her lyrics can be because she has a large international fanbase (including me), so English is not everyone's first language.
@@natalieg4225 oh absolutely, anyone with English as a second language absolutely gets a free pass, but I'm talking about every 20 something American swifty ive seem react is looking up words in every song or having insane song interpretations that make no sense. I'm 38 with a masters degree, but I knew all of these words in high school! I wish people would read books again.... I'm tired of the criticism that she needs to "put down the thesaurus." I guarantee her vocabulary is sufficient that she's not looking up "precocious" or "rivulets" or "sanctimonious" or "tryst". I'm cool with people needing to look up a word, but it's the criticism that she's"using big words too sound smart" or being pretentious, especially when this whole album is anti-pretentious.
I think The Manuscript is about All Too Well and that it is referencing the short film that she wrote and directed… the Actors were hitting their marks… and when she saw Sadie crying to the synchronicity of the score… she knew what all the agony had been for… I think she uses All Too Well and how painful that was for her to tell us that once she gives us her songs… she has healed and now they are ours. ❤ Such beautiful songwriting.
🐍Time stamps : 🐍 1:31 : Intro (talking Antology release, Taylor fatigue, Eras Tour, TTPD) 13:01 : The black dog 18:13 : imgonnagetyouback 22:48 : The Albatross 29:12 : Chloe et al 38:18 : How did it end? 47:09 : So high school 49:17 : I hate it here 54:57 : thanK you aIMee 1:00:13 : I look in people’s windows 1:03:02 : The Prophecy 1:09:24 : Cassandra 1:11:52 : Peter 1:13:52 : The Bolter 1:16:19 : Robin 1:18:28 : The Manuscript 🤍
No but what if I said The Anthology is my favorite work since evermore? It’s that good. Aaron, I will open mouth kiss you with tongue to quote our favorite lizard. The Black Dog, The Bolter, The Manuscript, and Peter? Some of her best songs in her entire discography. Yup, I’d go that far to say that.
The Prophecy and Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus are masterpieces, and have both had me crying a few times. I really do love the full 31-songs as a whole, but this 2nd half is definitely on another level for me.
When it comes to Peter, this song is also about Matty, he often refers to himself as emo Peter Pan or sth like that, besides we have this lyric 'my lost fearless leader' and there's this video where Matty is absolutely mesmerised by Taylor when she's singing Fearless, to my mind, this word choice was intentional here (and also, The 1975 have a song called Lost Boys)
How did it end ? Is an amazingly constructed song. Sometime when I hear criticism like “she sounds like first year creative writing” I’m like, yeah ok let’s see those works… This song might be over complicated because it is speaking to how hard it is to explain how a Long term relationship ended. And she’s trying to make sense of that while also having all these people loooiping into her private life in the name of empathy, wanting to know what happened , when she’s even in the midst of trying to understand it herself. The song is beautifully written and the music is gorgeous.
I think i am the biggest fan of 'The Albatross' and i haven't seen anyone praise it much and i am kinda happy about that, this is my interpretation of the song: The song starts with she talking about wise men telling her lover about her the albatross, So like the people around joe telling he shouldnt date her and she is trouble Although he didnt listen to any of them and just ignored their cautions... "Cautions issued, He stood shooting the messengers, They tried to warn him about her ... Shes the albatross she is here to destroy you" Second verse also has almost the same meanings they are telling her how he should not even fiddle with her, dont even start it, to save urself from the trouble. Dont sow the seed, dont call a temptress but somehow taylor was able to seduce joe towards her maybe not intentionally but instead he was pulled by her aura types "One bad seed kills the garden, One less dagger to sharpen .... but id visit in your dreams...." But he didnt listen to them the people around him and now he is in it, the chase And the people started saying, you have chosen the worst thing she is going to destroy you "Shes the death you chose youre in terrible danger" Finally when he wasnt able to capture the albatross, and was defeated i,e. Breakup There was hell towards him, all the internet came for him, he wasnt welcomed anywhere... and taylor told him how she has also gone through the same things so many times but it actually doesnt matter anymore... "And when the sky rains fire on you And you are persona non grata(an unwelcomed person) Ill tell u ive been there too...." Now taylor says wise men, the public the media, read about all the news about why they broke up and believed it and came for attacking him, and he didnt even know it was going to happen, he was just sleeping in his bed, when one of his friends suddenly woke him from his sleep and showed him his phone full of insults, and hate from the internet And maybe taylor before leaving did tell Him about everything that was going to happen to him, everything he was going to loose for not being successful in catching the albatross... "Wise men once read fake news and they believed it... Jackals raised their hackles You couldnt conceive it You were sleeping soundly when they dragged you from your bed... And i tried to warn u about them..." But even then when all the hate was coming towards him, she didnt want to fuel the fire more... she tried to save him i am assuming this is why she didnt write about joe in the bad way that she was capable of writing... (*I know there is alot of stuff about Joe that people can point out but I don't think there is specifically anything much that taylor herself has said that is like a dagger to him, it is like she is letting him go, becoming the bigger person) And when joe saw her new album released, he realised that the albatross wasnt a monster to be captured but a companion to be loved... taylor wasnt the problem here she just really wanted someone who loved her... "So i crossed my thoughtless heart spread my wings like a parachute I am the albatross I swept in at the rescue The devil that you know Looks now more like an angel I am the life you chose And all this terrible danger" I am imagining the albatross picking him up and taking him to some place and talking with him and telling him that she is supposed to be hated and once u become in any way connected to her they believe you have become a symbol of bad omen as well, u couldnt kill me, so they are now coming for you but now u cannot run, you have to be strong and face it, Cause i am the albatross, dear sailor and i am the life you chose and u cannot run away from me anymore... "So cross your thoughtless heart Shes the albatross She is here to destroy you" if u read it so far thanks for taking interest in my interpretation. the feeling of helping someone even when that person is not deserving of it, being the bigger person. the albatross saving the sailor even when he tried to hunt her down. that feeling kind of makes me sad, the verse where she spread her wings and sweeps in for the rescue. it is a good kind of sad, thank you
Fascinating. I’ve always thought it was about Matty and how people must have warned him not to date her, and the part where they drag him from his bed is the whole Speak Up Now bullying. She tried her best to save him from all the terrible danger that follows her. I feel like she wrote this when they were still barely together
My take on How Did It End- it's a juxtaposition of the death of the relationship and the public's invasive need to know every single detail. Notice how the questions start immediately and there's no empathy given at all. I think the death imagery is intentionally over the top to highlight how callous people can be when they hear devastating news that they intend to consume like callous gossip. "Come one, come all" is such a pointed way to tell us that even her most upsetting experiences are treated like headlines. Also, I'm sure there are quite a few of us who can relate to what feels like yet another relationship ending and needing to face the world with this news. She's famously been criticized for having too many relationships and now the relationship to end all the endings has not only ended itself but will inevitably lead to more of the same.
Robin hits me hard as a parent to young kids. Before kids it wouldn’t have landed. It’s watching their sweet inoonence knowing what is coming for them, and knowing you can’t stop it 😭.
She literally says “it was a shared manic episode!” in the prologue and then she says “I cry a lot but I am so productive….its an art.” I think she legit had an insane burst of energy and productivity as one does in a manic episode. Honestly those who have experienced mania love it but the shitty part is the swing back to depression is super hard. All that to say - I was thinking about it and this is her edited version. She has many more songs and these made the cut. That tells me she just had a lot to say and the drive to do it
I don’t think Taylor was actually diagnosed with mania, and I don’t think she actually experienced it. But I do think that when she went through these heartbreaks back to back she threw herself into her work and then the emotions eventually came out and that’s what TTPD is. Just the outpouring of her emotions. People cope with heartbreak or like a loss of a loved one differently. But at the end of the day you are going to have to face the feelings.
@@teresaspedaliere6114we don’t know her medical history and I’m not speculating or suggesting that she’s clinically manic. I’m simply taking her words at face value with some interpretation. Because I don’t think we can say every time she talks about being productive, manic, crazy, etc. it’s always a metaphor.
@@teresaspedaliere6114I also totally agree re: handling heartbreak. I actually saw a therapist on UA-cam saying trauma can lead to symptoms that are similar to psychosis and I’ve actually experienced that and it did have some manic-ness to it. It actually felt good and I think it was my brain’s way of protecting me from feeling the pain of the trauma. Who knows if that’s what happened or she’s just being dramatic which she definitely said the album would be. I don’t mean to speculate but I guess because I’ve experienced something similar it makes sense to me.
@@brittanyparistx100%. Taylor is at the end of the day is an amazing storyteller and takes emotions that everyone experiences and puts it into songs where people can relate and fall into. The intense emotion that pores out of her songs just shows how great she is at her job.
@@teresaspedaliere6114exactly!!! I’m continually amazed at her ability to communicate emotions!!! Like how could one the richest most famous people have us all crying and feeling so sad at her plight. 🤣 seems ridiculous but she does it so well!
All the songs on the album are impeccable and I'm glad each of them were included. The more she creates, the happier she is. I hope she keeps sharing all her songs with us.
The Bolter - “all her fucking lives flash before her eyes” makes me think of “I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time” and also “getting tired even for a phoenix, rising from the ashes, mending all her gashes”
That's a part of it for sure, but I see it more as a recap of several old relationships that she had. She literally says in the end that the manuscript is "one last souvenir from my trip to your shores" (plural). When she talks about "the actors", don't forget that Joe is an actor also.
@@queenofjensylvania thank you. Sometimes I think folks are so focused on who they think the song is about that they can miss the overall meaning of the song. Many songs are likely composites of multiple relationships.
17:21 When the owner of the Black Dog spoke “certain blonde regular who frequents”, that was a response to the question which one of Taylor’s exes visited the place so it was confirmed that it was about Joe instead of Taylor visiting the place. Edit: “My beloved ghost and me Sitting in a tree D-Y-I-N-G” is a callback to that children’s song “sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in a baby carriage!” so it adds to the message of the song How Did it End?, it’s the track 5 of the anthology album for a reason.
@@PondOfGlueJoe has a diverse taste in music. He has said he is a fan of Eminem, he was a fan of Bon Iver, Kings of Leon, and him and Taylor bonded over music. Matty doesn’t have the monopoly to be the only one who liked The Starting Line. Let’s not forget, we do not know much about Joe. Joe and Taylor appeared to be off an on a lot throughout the albums, Taylor wanted forever with Joe so even 6 years would feel fleeting especially since she held on to the ship as it was going down till she realized the relationship was killing her and she had to let go or go down with him. She had to choose herself and she struggles with that. Matty is apart of this album because he gave her a glimpse of hope and something to look forward to, she didn’t have to go down with the ship, she could be beamed up by him and taken away from Joe’s prison and she ran right to him after she was fresh out of the slammer, but that relationship was short lived, some songs are a blend of Matty and Joe because she experienced 6 years with Joe in less than 2 months with Matty and then had to deal with the loss of both and process through her pain on her own and that depression was low. There is a deep complexity here, that a lot of people are missing.
"I hate it here" is my most relatable Taylor song and I'm so happy the Anthology exists ❤. I feel like that part of the album is only for Taylor, her fans, the people who know her through her songs through time, and the people who know Tay-lore if you know what I mean, which makes it so special. All the songs in it are peak poetry, it's Taylor pouring her heart out to us, and literally a continuation of evermore, one of my favourites.
17:43 It's about The Black Dog in Cork, Ireland, 10 minutes from the venue where The 1975 played a concert in June a few days after Taylor and Matty split. Matty's favorite band is also mentioned in the song; he mentioned several times that this is one of his favorite bands. When Matty and Taylor started dating, he performed covers of The Starting Line songs at his concerts several times.
@@Zarab923 I don’t think so because the songs have clear references and muses. I don't see any blurry lines. BUT of course, first and foremost, these are songs about Taylor Swift herself and her feelings!!
Not to mention that she is asking over and over in this song if he was playing a joke on her, or making fun of her, or hazing her (a.k.a. very similar to her confusion in Smallest Man of asking if he was sent to kill her or spy on her, etc.), and she even mentions him leaving with his tail between his legs (a.k.a. coward who said he was a lion, ghosting her). AND he is known to date younger women. Even if it wasn't for The Starting Line detail, this song's overarching themes and "plot" clearly concern someone who dates younger women, who hurt her in a way that keeps making her think she was being pranked or hazed, and who left her.
"thanK you aIMee" to me is Taylor smiling and giving Kim the middle finger. It's a song to give her some closure. It's her at her most petty and I am here for it. LOL.
I feel like she'll keep writing songs about it with the same message just to say "I remember what you did and I'm not letting anyone forget it" and honestly? I respect that.
@@justwonder1404yeah. And I think a crucial factor in that is that Kim never owned up to what she did. She never apologised to Taylor and then tells her to move on because she did. I’m like, girl, no. You don’t get to decide when it’s over. Taylor does. You were the bully, and the fact that you are so ready to leave it all behind and not even vaguely think about it with some sort of remorse, it’s giving psychotic behaviour. I’m sorry, that’s just the way I see it.
@@giuliabonechi1864 she and her fans always act like the 2016 "Kimye" debacle nearly "ruined" her career and destroyed her reputation, but did it? Did it really? At worst, that backlash was only on Stan Twitter. The general public, from what I remember, didn't really know about any of this. The only reputation that was tarnished was that people got the slightest indication that Taylor might not be a perfect, honest person all the time. I was there in 2007 when Britney Spears was going through the worst moments of her life on the public stage. I've seen what a ruined reputation looks like. Taylor Swift, thankfully, has never had to endure anything to that magnitude. She grew up in a well-off and stable family that didn't exploit her, and she's had massive amounts of success since her first album as a teenager. Again, there are legitimate snags and obstacles that she's had to overcome, but overall, her entire career has been nothing but highs. I can't really vouch for this narrative her fanbase constantly spins of her being this misunderstood underdog. … “You’re on your own kid.” Didn’t her parents just casually moved to Nashville cause she wanted to? And her dad even invested a large sum of money from her label when she was starting out? I remember listening to this song when the album dropped and said, “girl you’re a li@r” after it finished.
@@giuliabonechi1864 - She wrote Bad Blood about Katy Perry, cause she was upset over dancers being pulled from her. When in reality, the real reason is clearly due to Katy Perry dating John Mayer, which clearly put her off. - Nothing wrong about writing a song about anyone she wants, but having a whole video campaign about pitting woman against Katy, and trying to find every big A-list name she could pull as me vs you, was whack. - What doubles down her pettiness? The fact that she backtracks years later and went out of her way to blame “the media” when it was her who was out for revenge regarding Katy. She also posts a picture of Katy’s Olive Branch gift, with the words stating she is sorry. Which came across as really childish. If Katy never had apologised to her, Taylor would be still taking shots at her (purposely dropping her catalogue release on Spotify the day Katy Perry dropped her album.) Taylor didn't ask but accepted 50% of the profits for 10 seconds of Olivia's song.
My take away from her releasing, what in essence to me was her diary is that Taylor released it all for Her and nobody else. She needed to let it all go to move forward. She literally says she doesn’t care about the nay sayers and I applaud her for that. The Prophecy she says she doesn’t want money just someone who loves her for her. That is the realist, most easy to understand concept for anyone still waiting for their one to show up in their life. We all heard her say this was the album that she had to release the most of any of hers and that was for her own healing. At the end of the day, Taylor Swift is a global business, but Tay is a person like the rest of us and has all the same wants and desires as we do.
I’m so glad we got 31 songs. it was overwhelming at first but every day I get to discover a new track that I fall in love with. I also think that because there are so many tracks, there’s something for everyone on this album which is like how we always say that in her discography there is something for everyone.
I like the Anyology even better that the first half. I Hate It Here, Robin, Prophecy, Peter, The Albatross - excellent writing, deep thoughtful concepts, diversity of themes and topics, beautiful melodic sounds ✨🤍 However, I think that it should have been different sister album released a few months later, in August, for example. It has this late summer/ Fall sound. Yes, it’s similar to Evermore in that sense (and I also like Evermore more than Folklore).
To me, this album was her therapy. She got everything out that she felt needed to be said so she could move forward with her life. I don't think she is going to reference those past loves any longer. She closed the book on them. Just my 2 cents.
I think fresh out the slammer and so long london's last verse stating that she found the one proves that towards the end of her and Joe's relationship, she was in a flirting situation with mattey. Maybe he gave her that courage to get out of that relationship and she was fixated that he is going to be the end all be all for her. But when he ghosted her she really got rattled and maybe then she wrote prophecy because maybe in her mind this relationship was like the last matchstick in the box. I think its understandable there is only so many times we take a shot before we start doubting ourselves and our destiny.
Had to come back here. The Black Dog is likely about Matty as well. I think we had the wrong pub and the owner from London was milking for sales. There's another Black Dog in Cork, Ireland close to where The 1975 played a stadium show on June 13th 2023 after their breakup.
i think people are missing too that you can be in love and hurt and in your feelings at a certain point in time but a few weeks later u can look back and see it completely different, this whole album felt like a manic episode. like imagine being locked up for years and not getting the love appreciation u deserve and along comes this old flame that worked with u on putting ur feelings into words, so he knows exactly what u were missing, what u need to hear, and after the lovebombing and extremeness ended she got ghosted - so ofc after that everything felt insanely intense but once it died down i think she had time to be like "damn that was crazy lol"
Didn't Matty kiss another(?) male concert security guard (was the guard angry about it?) right before the breakup with Taylor was publicly announced? If that didn't happen, maybe they'd still be together? Who knows. I don't think Matty ever publicly apologized specifically for his former racist/sexist comments, but maybe/hopefully he did. I'm not positive on that.
@@M22986 yess arguing with matty stans is one of the worst experiences in my life, they gloss over his continued racism/sexism over all very inappropiate behavior and meanwhile many of the think pieces online from swifties towards Taylor were invasive and stupid, some of them had apoint telling a girl that made activism a capitilism brand during the lover era, that actively protecting a known racist isn't cool, and since ttpd dropped, the matty apologizer have been at it again and its just...annoying tbh, like wdym u can excuse a nazi salute on holocaust remembrance day, him proudly saying he jerks of to black women being violated, multiple islamophobic comments, the list goes on, even Taylor's team couldn't bury all his messages
Peter is the finest work of art. Man, the way it makes me feels and the way she delivers and MAN THE BRIDGEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I love her so much but it hurts sometimes jsjsjs
Thank you *so* much for uploading this video! I am not sure how/who does your captions but it's honestly a game changer for me as someone who needs to see captions/lyrics as I listen, so thank you *so* much for that! P.S. the Matty Healing pun that popped into your head towards the end was worth listening to the whole episode for. Taylor's gonna make a Matty heal-ing pun in her next album. She's lookin' in your window, she's taking notes! 🪟✍
Also Zach idk if u saw it but just in case u didn’t: there’s evidence based on people tracking the outfit for The Black Dog from Jack’s post that the Black Dog isn’t the PUB in London but the bar in Cork because the song was recorded 2ish weeks after the Matty Healy breakup announcement and right after he performed in Dublin (where he wrote “sorry” seemingly to her before the show) and then performed in Cork the week afterwards (cork having an alternative bar that plays niche songs and it is called The Black Dog Bar) Idk if that’s interesting but anyways a win for the Irish?
The way he always brings it back to question 😂😂😂 its so true but its soo funny to me😂 And I was womdering your take on scarlett marron reference in chloe or sam😅
I want to add that Fiona Apple also did the whole "get him back" double meaning concept back in 2005! This is not a new idea and like Madeline said, the songs are COMPLETELY different sonically.
i think she's putting thank u aimee and a lot of songs that maybe wouldn't have been picked to go on the album bc she doesn't want to revisit this era down the line. we're not getting vault tracks a couple years from now so she's just gonna give us everything so she can truly feel like she's done w this half of her life. i think her next work will be something completely new and she'll never have to reference kim or the turkey or the rat ever again, this is the final installment of her life as we know it. i feel like she knows big change is coming for her and i hope to see this reflected in her sound. as she continues to mature, and we all know she wants a family and to be a wife n mother and a "successful" love story, i think she will evolve into a totally diff woman than the one we've known thus far and that her this will be the last section of her catalog that is representative of the taylor we know. mom taylor is coming soon, petulant teenager taylor is otw out
“Life is an Iris Torah” - Zack 😂😂😂 Thank y’all for giving me somewhere sane to go for these conversations. I’m a new sub & I just adore you both and your chemistry!
Hey zach, can’t wait to watch this video, and i was wondering if you could make a video deep diving into the critical reception for ttpd, because before the album came out I kept seeing negative opinions about the album, and when I actually listened to the album I was thinking to myself this is an amazing album, and way better than midnight so why did midnight get more positive reviews than ttpd, and I felt like it is more related to taylor’s fatigue (as you say it) more than the actual quality of the album, thank you so much and have a great day❤
Robin means a lot to me cause it makes me think of my sister when she was a kid she passed away in 2020 at the age of 20 and I miss her so much. Robin is a beautiful song.
I think you guys missed the whole point of the album, the main theme is that she left Joe because he couldn't marry her, only to be dazzled by Matty's lies and promises because he promised her just that and told her he had changed because he knew exactly why she and Joe broke up, but then he up and left, Taylor realizes that everyone was right about him. She was so blinded by the loneliness she felt at the moment that she ignored all the red flags. Ultimately, she knows she was crazy for believing Matty's lies. Taylor is a 34-year-old woman who knows she wants to start a family, she knows time is ticking. Don't be shocked when she starts having a family next year. She literally sings about babies and marriage every 4 songs on this record. It's crazy that some people think she has been pining for Matty for 10 years, he's really not all that. You should really read the in-summation epilogue and Stevie Nick's poem.
as a 34 year old single woman who has consistently failed at love and who's most recent long term relationship was with someone who told me something no one had ever said to me before, that he wanted to have a baby with me, only for it all to be lies... i feel very seen. i don't even know if i want kids honestly, but i want someone who is so sure of their love for me they'd want to be linked like that to me forever. yeah this album is pretty devastatingly healing for me.
Just going over the list I think at least 14 songs are really good. Especially when you listen to the album on repeat and get to know the lyrics. She was so honest.
I'm glad that we got the Anthalogy because it was so raw at times and deep and authentic, I really think even if its overwhelming, it's one mental health progress, like the story and storytelling wouldn't be complete
As a further point, Aaron is almost purely musical. He doesn’t write lyrics for the national - their front man does. And the nationals lyrics are written somewhat nonsensically as to meaning- Matt writes/rambles words to fit the melody and mood.
so glad y'all spoke your truth about 90's trend, fake news, and no one around to tweet it. the lakes is one of my all time FAVORITE songs by her and i wish the tweet lyric wasn't there, so glad you mentioned it
I think How Did It End is more about people wanting to know how it ended, how the public wants to pull back the curtain on the most painful part of a relationship. The line, “guess who I saw”… is local gossips talking together about her breakup….
Love this conversation. I have an MFA in poetry and am a creative writing professor. I've been thinking a lot about potential edits to this album (looking at the album as a collection of poetry). What I've landed on is that the double album is valid, but the last five tracks on The Anthology aren't adding to the narrative (and, for me, also aren't great songs) and could have likely been edited out. This would leave the final track being The Prophecy, which seems like the perfect place to end on an album(s) that's invested in a meditation on fame and isolation. Also, hello from the only-child-to-writer pipeline.
I couldn't disagree more on the How Did it End dissection. I love that bridge so much, I love that song so much, I love the words and how many there are it makes me salivate and cry and explode it's brilliant imo 😭😭😭 you analyzed it SOOOO heady and I feel that song so hearty
This is also a part of why we all love 1989, and the lure around it, because it was extremely streamlined and nailed down to every note, and every word! Extremely controlled and narrative based!
53:12 THE DECLINE IN LITERACY IS SCARY (period, but also according to Weber and Arendt and probably many others, and having how to see it coming and being unable to stop it makes it even scarier aaah 😵)
So high school is like being in a teen Rom Com. It’s happy vs dark. Almost manic~like what she says she was feeling in her epilogue. Came out of nowhere in her darkest days. I can relate so maybe that’s why I dig it.
i think she just wanted to start fresh with Travis, so she pushes out all of songs that she wanted to share about that depressing time and focus on her happiness moving forward
Black dog is obviously about Matty…He performed the Starting Line in April-23 days before he and Taylor went public…Even Madeline called out how lyrics of that song is literally their love story. Watch Zach in denial mode 😂
I was on a walk when Madeline said that and I literally stopped and dropped my jaw to the floor. Such a good point about that song all us emo kids grew up with. And those relationships where song sharing is a big aspect of the relationship just hit different. Every time you hear that song you connected with someone on, you can't help but think of them. Great, great point.
I love the Albatross so much and I have so much to say about it... Taylor is the albatross looking for love and much like the mariner poem even though she isn't villainous or wicked, the mariners (her love interests) get told that Taylor's dangerous & only going to ruin them... But then after the bridge, much like the end of the mariner poem, it's found out the albatross wasn't BAD but was just as much hoping for the love to be the real thing as the love interest/mariner...
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I think the Anthology was initially meant to be released in a fortnight, but because the first album got leaked she felt like she had to release the second too, to get ahead of the leaks. Or maybe she saw the poor reception of the first album in the beginning and releasing the second was a form of damage control
@@zkxnkj534 The album broke records. The release of Anthology was programmed for 2am. Anyway, music is subjective.
You guys are fuckin’ rock stars! Sooo smart and aware❤
I’m actually really glad she released 31 songs because so many artists talk about writing 100 songs and then having to pick between them. Instead of waiting 10 years to get “vault” songs she is giving them now.
Same. Give it to me all at once
Fr, might as well leave the vault open, the listeners will choose their pick
@@justwonder1404absolutely! My sister and I have completely different favorite tracks. If Taylor edited more one of us would have missed out. And I have like 13 faves out of 31, but I don’t truly dislike any of the tracks. I’m still listening to the full album in alternate with my paired down playlist. I’m in heaven 😆
Ya. Like music is so subjective. Some people may like one track but not another, so the more options the better!
I think this is her exact reasoning! She’s releasing anything finished so she can fully move forward and not get caught up in an eras situation again. It’s been good for her career but I think she wants to be known for not only her technical ability but her work ethic and ability to write hundreds of songs. I don’t think she cares as much how it’s received, she just wants to share
I love How Did It End? The line ‘guess who we ran into at the shops, walking in circles like she was lost’ breaks my heart.
Me too! I was waiting to see if people would mention it. One of her saddest songs ever in my opinion, maybe it just hit close to home but I feel like she catches such little details about going through a breakup that a lot of people don’t talk about
You heard it here first, How did it end? will all of a sudden be everyone’s favorite when she plays it live. It’s my absolute favorite, I’ll defend it with my life.
same. it also shows how guarded she felt she needed to be potentially because she knows that people will ask and say they won’t tell anyone but then they will turn around and tell everyone and that she was crazy,, painting her walking in circles like she was lost.
it breaks my heart a little every time, it's giving right were you left me
@@ragerteenager968 Time for a mash up!
I think the “empathetic hunger” is everyone who says they love her and care about her but they really just want the tea. They’re hungry for gossip but going about it in an empathetic way…..right?
Concern-trolling
💯
@@user-gt2pn4vt4jI forgot about this term!!!! Yes!
Exacto! That's how I parsed it as well 💁🏻
I understand it as she’s hungry for empathy.she really is it’s always her telling her side of the story and rightfully so but it always can’t be the guys fault and she wants us to think it is and only support her.
I personally will never complain about receiving more from her. I appreciate that it’s her outlet for her emotions and how she processes things. I like that sometimes it’s raw and messy. The beautiful thing about her art is that it’s an exploration of the human experience, and because we are always changing, our connections to songs change over time. I feel like a lot of her fans are looking at the album through their own personal lens of what they want or what they like and are forgetting that the music isn’t just for them it’s for her.
Agreed! She needed to write and I’m seated. I also LOVE that Taylor made an album while all of her fucks were on vacation, even towards us!
Especially towards her fans that have such strong opinions on who she dates. I’ve always been nauseous when fans over step and punch down on who she is dating, it’s my LEAST favored aspect to Taylor’s fandom. Specifically those making income punching down; it’s bullying even if they think they’re cute and entitled experts on all things swift.
I was happy to see Taylor let us know she’d rather retire than allow UA-camrs to pay their bills punching down on her love interests during or after she’s with them. Especially pretending it’s “journalism” to do so. I for one hope to see much much much less punching down in the name of “honesty” or “objectivity.”
Agree 100%
Yes yes yes
No SAME. I cannot imagine being the kind of person that’s like mm she should have cut it down so it was presented better. Like IDGAF about presentation, cohesion, a chronological story, whether the second parts adds to the first in a specific way or not… 😭 I feel like a caveman because I’m like: this is song. Song good. I like song. I listen to song. That’s all I care about and I’ll take anything from Taylor! It’s not like people are forced to listen to it, or listen to it all in one go in one specific order. Who caaaares. Criticisms in that family of things come off as so pretentious to me I’m sorry 😭 no hate to the swiftologist I adore him, he is so funny, that was more about the general sentiment I’m seeing a lot of!
And also why do we says she needs to do THIS next or THIS. Why can’t we let an artist create the art they want to create… not to mention people will always have something to say. I hate 1989 I don’t want another one lmao. (Also that’s proof I don’t blindly like everything she does!). I’d rather have TTPD a thousand times over! I do think that the more she puts out the more annoyed the general PUBLIC will be and I myself worry about that (I don’t want her to go through the “overexposure” phase again and disappear and she’s clearly headed there. So I get that. But I would never say that she needs to take a break, like, because it’s too much music for me personally?! 😅
Lastly I do disagree with the criticism that she needs to stop working with Jack. First of all, no one ever mentions Aaron even though they work together just as much and IMO Aaron’s songs sound more alike than Jack’s songs. Aaron’s songs are all slow, mellow, piano type and Jack has produced some 1989 & Rep pop plus Folkmore, if anything he’s more diverse! Second, I don’t know if it’s because Taylor has reinvented herself and her genre so much, but I hate seeing people, swifties included, demand that she does it with every new album. TTPD is apparently not different enough in sound… do people tell The Rolling Stones to stop making rock music, or Drake to stop making rap?! That seems like an unfair demand placed on Taylor alone. If she stayed in the mellow synth-y sound her whole career that’s no different than what most other artists do. And no matter what she does there’s always gonna be complaints so it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
There’s so many repeated sentiments about TTPD that I just gotta get off my chest bahaha but I genuinely love the swiftologist, the quick witty humor is everything so these are just my opinions!!
@@amandaleighplansI agree with every point you made. The “it sounds the same” shows how spoiled ppl are by Taylor and her ‘reinventions’ on every album- tell that to The Ramones or Nirvana or Black Sabbath or The Strokes or Sza - most bands/ artists have a sound that tracks as a baseline throughout their discography. Ppl just like to complain for the sake of complaining.
Madeline has the right marketing strategy- I would've loved TTPD alone for a fortnight, and then Anthology would've felt like dessert. Currently I am grateful, but overwhelmed.
I think she didn't want it too close to restarting the tour but this would have been genius
I think maybe it would have been too complicated coordinating a worldwide cd/hard copy release followed by another hard copy release two weeks later.
I just think she would receive a ton of backlash if she did it. People would be saying it's really only about the numbers/her trying to revive TTPD heat, after two weeks and etc. From a marketing point of view, yeah, sure.
But on her reputation/what she's aiming with it? I don't think it would be good. The conversations about her wanting the numbers would probably overwhelm the discussions about the songs themselves - which were the important thing on this project.
@@carolinamansur113 i mean she’s still getting the numbers criticism now… don’t think it would have done much tbh
The subtitles changing “eras tour” to “Iris Torah” is sending me.
I actually cackled when it said "let my check my nudes" when Madeline said "let me check my notes"
Lmao@@CrystalSki67
Iris Torah seems like a Villain's name in a dyspotian action film.
One more thing Peter is one of the greatest/saddest songs she’s ever written, it is a highlight on the album imo
Right, and imo it connects and finishes the cardigan arc
Makes me cry so much bro.
And I won’t confess that I waited but I let the lamp burn
As the man masqueraded I hope you’d return
With your feed on the ground tell me all that you’d learn
Cause love never lost when perspective is earned
And how can you say that’s not one of the greatest lyrics. It about when your have to leave someone you care about and you just hope that they will come back to you. It gets me every time. And it’s relatable not only for you lovers but for you friendships too.
And the fact that she turned down the lights at the end 😭
It's in my top top top tier, like upper echelon of all of Taylor's songs ever. Boggles my mind when people don't click with it.
This album is so huge that there's something for everyone - a few somethings for this one. Peter didn't hit for me at first, but when I shuffle the album it did. I think when you go in order you're emotionally exhausted by the time you get to this song. But there's really something there with that person you put on a shelf, created into a fantasy, then ended up being disappointed by.
How did it end was so beautiful to me and such a good way to describe how everyone reacts after she goes through a break up. “One gasp and then, how did it end?” “We must know, how did it end?” Not “how are you feeling” “are you ok?” All anyone cares about is how it ended and finding out all the details. And as someone who was there while a family member was dying and heard a death rattle in real life that line hit me so hard and broke my heart.
I agree! I also relate to the death rattle. Truly a sound I’ll never forget and was definitely a lyric that shook me to my core
Yes! Exactly, it’s about the morbid curiosity veiled as concern. Come one, come all reminded of a newspaper boy shouting ‘breaking news!’ On the corner. She is such a commodity to the public that they at times forget that she’s a human being, people love when she’s in pain and gather to watch her suffer (emotionally) and then gossip about it. But it’s a universal feeling (ppl have morbid curiosity about when couples divorce or when there’s a death in the family - you sometimes ask yourself- are ppl asking bc they care or bc they want the salacious details?
My condolences on your family loss by the way, thank you for sharing with us ❤
@@Sitting_on_a_perchyes!! I was thinking this yesterday too how when people die unfortunately one of our first thoughts is how they died, especially if it’s a younger person. I think that curiosity is natural but sometimes we need to know when to keep that to ourselves and in Taylor’s case, no one does. Then that’s when the empathetic hunger descends 😢
I actually really like aso Highschool. It's fun and sweet.
I love how did it end? so much i think it's actually really clever the way it comments on the fans' desire to pry into her personal life and get every detail about things that aren't our business and how strange it must feel to have people wanting all these answers. and then the real stinger is even if she wanted to she cant give us the answers cause she doesn't even have them herself💔
I agree , and also as a commentary on society’s obsession with break ups, especially celebrity break ups.
I wish this was the 1st track instead of fortnight because it's also like a rallying cry in a sense. Fortnight you aren't really sure what's going on. That's what I noticed.
I don’t think this would work as a first track, but just my opinion
Agreed.
@@walkingtheline1729 yeah fortnight is kind of a nothing song for me. its okay but the production and melody just arent to my liking and the lyrics arent enough to carry it despite the sound
Chloe, Sam,Sophia or Marcus is my favorite song too. The first line with the hologram stumbling into an apartment with Chloe, Sam, Sophia, or Marcus shows the passage of time and heartbreak in such a descriptive and creative way 😭 💔
To me, the "overwrittingness" of How Did It End? is absolutely intentional because she's sticking to the autopsy metaphor. I see her as a coroner or some kind of medical examiner dissecting the body (relationship) and explaining the cause of death in this matter-of-fact academic language.
absolutely!! If you work in the medical field you know that the death rattle is a real thing, a very specific type of respiratory sound that indicates the end is near. So that whole bridge is such a poetic, but still very clear metaphor as for the closest she can get to explaining the cause of death of the relationship. I thought it was brilliant.
This! Also I think the answers she gives are so blown up because she needs to give an answer that NEEDS to satisfy all these hungry characters, but when you look at the answers they're complicated ways to phrase superficial, overused answers ("we grew apart", etc.). She uses those overused answers because she doesn't actually know the answers but hides it by putting on a poetic facade (which also ties in with her real life situation of a singer who's expected to dissect her breakup poetically on those albums)
@@sadbabygirlmilaI think you are all absolutely right! I also had the same understanding of it. This overwriting, the complex phrasing and unusual vocabulary is fully intentional and a way to show that despite the effort to « rationalise » the end of the relationship by dissecting it in this post mortem, all she gets to is emptiness and vacuity. And worse, she is performing this exercise only to the benefit of the audience, the friends, the fans, demanding an explanation, and to make it as precise and emotional as possible (« tell me once again with feeling »). So her explaining the end of the relationship is just a performance, and by making it so weird and complex she’s putting the light on how futile of an exercise it is.
Imgonnagetyouback is 100% about Matty: the way the title is written literally screams The 1975, and it's a nod to Fallingforyou (Matty dedicated this song to Taylor at their concert in 2014 + Taylor alludes to his bike on her track, Fallingforyou has a certain lyric about it)
Yep they need to study more lol
The title is all lowercase which also goes back to another song where she said she kept her dreams of him in the vault all in lowercase, or something along those lines. That other song is what made me think this was about him. I could be totally wrong and I don’t think it really matters who it was about in the scheme of things.
The song feels like it's about an unfinished relationship where you could go either way - very situationship coded.
Do you think the Aston Martin line is a wink at the ridiculous rumors of her dating Fernando Alonso and him leaning into it with a wink? Or did she use it just because of the british?
@@VLoLa9119I really don’t think so, it’s too stupid of a thing to mention or even acknowledge. I’m sure she saw it but was it really anything worth remembering or mentioning again, I don’t think so
I Hate It Here is MY FAVORITE song, “tell me all your secrets, all you’ll ever be is my eternal consolation prize” slayed me
“I hate it here” was the first song on the entire album that I needed to listen to on repeat and must repeat 2-3x every time I listen to the album - my favorite of the bunch that doesn’t break my heart.
I was thinking of that line “poet trapped inside a finance guy” “all you’ll ever be is my eternal consolation prize” - I think she alludes to how this is her art (she’s a poet) but also addresses the capitalism/ financial aspect of the work. Her “eternal consolation prize” is her money and success - but still doesn’t quite ‘win’ bc feels like she’ll never have the love she’s looking for (at the time).
It’s the message of - you’re lonely and heartbroken but at least you can go cry into your billions of dollars (which many ppl say she has no reason to be unhappy since she’s got all that wealth)
As an evermore stan, when The Albatross started, those opening notes were giving such willow and ivy vibes that I ascended. I cry about twice a day to I look in peoples windows…that song is INSANELY beautiful. The yearning, the longing. She really said the anthology is for the evermore girlies and to that I say, 👏🪑
🧙♀️
As if you were a trophy or a mythical thing ✨🦄✨
SAME I was like omg a new evermore song 😭 that’s my favourite album
EVERMORE STANS UNITE
Evermoree!!
"If you want to break my cold, cold heart
Just say, 'I loved you the way that you were'" literally CRUSHES my soul. It feels like she's saying that all the changes she went through in the past years turned out not to be worth it in the end because he might not love the the new her and she's really longing to go back to her past, no matter how she's waited like in the song Peter, she's just not the same anymore. Tho good for our queen lollll we stan, but this song is so damn sad, it really gets to me
Literally wept over these lines a few days ago 😭 “if you wanna tear my world apart, just say you’ve always wondered/ … will I always wonder?” TAYLOR
I just wonder how much of the “it’s too much criticism” is just todays tik tok age not being able to swallow anything that takes time and isn’t “immediate”. The anthology needs time to sit with it, to understand it, and these times of immediacy, and things to just consume up, the anthology comes in as something that just defies those times, and that’s why I love it. I the Beatles have a double album, Pink Floyd has a double album. No one criticized them for putting out “too much” music. I think the critiques in that area are more due to her putting out a two hour album that isn’t immediate, that isn’t even instant satisfaction, that needs time to be digested - in a time of 25 minute albums. (I mean on top of Taylor being so big right now that some people are just going to make their whole personalities hating). I have a lot of thoughts on this matter.
THIS!!!!!
When taylor announced the album no-one said anything about too much taylor, but as soon as she dropped double album people could not even digest the 1st album with an objective mindset.
Last album came in 2022, the pattern that taylor following since start of career. Folklore, Evermore which were the quickest albums and dropped before the 1st anniversary of lover were critically acclaimed. So yeah she can make best songs in shortest time.
Ttpd is a long lyrically dense album with no pop bangers. It wants your time and attention.
Yeah honestly, I think people didn't take the time (or couldn't, which is also fair) to really sit with it. I personally have too much time in that I have a job where I can literally listen to music for 8 hours a day, and this album (TTPD and Anthology both) just gets better the longer you sit with it. It feels like every day I find a new favorite and I really appreciate that experience.
@@pridemoth_ i think this feeds into what I’m saying, in that people think that with one listen they already have to be making tik toks with their opinions. Or like something must be said within a day of the album being out. Sometime a work of art requires time, and that might mean having to sit with something and only expressing an opinion - idk - a month later, or maybe even longer. But that’s too hard to conceive for people in this “fast food” “consume everything and then throw it out” capitalist mentality 🤷🏻♀️
I agree about the comparison to the White Album? Would that have been a better album with some of the duds removed, absolutely it would have been. Would it however represent that time in their career as perfectly as it does if you lost the flotsom? No it would not. I get the fatigue, It took me till Wednesday to get around to the last 4 tracks on the Anthology. It was simply too much to consume that quickly.
“Life is literally an Eras Tour”-genius words spoken
They don’t “understand” the 1830’s lyric because it is a low hanging fruit to pick up on to hate on her.
I think 99% of the people posting about it are manipulating the algorithm in bad faith. They don't care to dig in - they want the clicks. I stopped engaging on the topic because they never did
@@Hawther it’s amazing how ppl complain about her fans and yet as a HATER create a whole playlist / channel about what makes Taylor suck. The hypocrisy of making money of her name and then bashing her is just epic
but like… did we really need to have that line in there?? obviously there’s no mal intentions but it’s still corny 😭 like she’s better than this
@@Random-vd8wu I personally need that line in there because i have had that exact line of thought (especially as a poc) with my own friends and it makes the song even more relatable to me.
Are people complaining it’s too woke? What is their complaint?
1:12:00 There are about 4-5 interviews (or more?) where Matty talks about Peter Pan and associates himself with Peter.
I mean Peter losing Wendy…
this is the kind of info I like to learn, thanks for sharing!
She very pointedly released a TTPD *cardigan*
this one is about you you know who you are i love you 😶
After having been through a death of a loved one recently, I love the idea of comparing that “empathetic hunger” of people’s morbid curiosity after a passing to that after a breakup. It’s a question that in both cases has a pretense of empathy, sadness, caring but in reality is just… nosiness I guess.
Also I definitely understand how it might feel overwritten but I feel like I must’ve been the perfect audience for this one because the imagery of someone wandering lost at the shops, the people caring for a moment before talking about it and moving on, and the death rattle/deflation lines… that was so vivid it was almost too much but in the best way. If you’ve been through that it’s such a visceral and painful thing to just see these irreversible signs of the end that you can’t unhear or get out of your head even when it’s over and you had to just watch it slowly play out before getting left with a feeling to process and an overwhelming number of people invading your space and your grieving. Idk I could talk about this one for hours. Totally respect your views on it, but it’s my number one personally. Also I love these dissections, thank you for your service.
I’m sorry for your loss. ❤That’s a really great parallel or I guess the original and literal meaning of post mortem. Everyone wants to talk about it except the people it actually effects.
Thank you for sharing 🤍 I’ve been through that three times in the last 5 years, and seeing some folks either miss the point or not talk about it (maybe because they have similar experiences they’re not comfortable sharing, which is totally fine obv) has felt a bit isolating
On the topic of the album being ‘too much’, as an artist, we are told to edit our portfolios down to no more than 20 pieces, in painting, photography, drawing, as well as song. However, you both gave me the realization that Taylor isn’t forcing anyone to listen to 31 songs at once. We all wanted to know what else she had written all these years, but now it’s piecework with streaming. We can make our own albums, essentially, with playlists. Taylor is just sharing her art. Personal side note, it’s making me realize she deserves to be paid as 2 separate albums, since she does twice the output, or more, than others
Never thought I'd see the day where fans complain about getting "too much" from their favorite artist. Personally as a fan, I'm never coming at her material from the perspective of what's best for her image, or for her career, or a from critic's eye view. She and her team can deal with that. I'm just here to enjoy what I do of what she releases, so more, is always more to me (especially in the age of playlisting and streaming where you can always taylor/trim an album to suit your specific needs). It reminds me of people who complain about big eyeshadow palettes. Like, why would you complain about having more options? 🤷♀️
Exactly !!!
I feel like Thank You Aimee actually shows a shift in perspective on what happened where she finally finds the gratitude in going through it.
Same!❤
@@jessicadangerfield1539and the maturity
Unfortunately, on the other albums where she mentions the situation, she almost always seems to think she’s come to a moment of clarity about it.
I think the most important part of the song that no one is picking is "so I changed your name and any real defining clues". I think the song was kind of red herring and this is definitely not about the song she capitalized the letters that makes the name on the own song.
I think this is a big reason why the song is there
Yes!! She says FU to so many ppl on this album.
I feel like she did start writing this album two years ago, but then the Matty situation happened and she had more to say. And that’s why it feels like two different albums.
Sorry guys but Peter is about Matty 😵💫 There’s an unreleased song by The 1975 (back when they were known as Drive Like I Do) called Lost Boys. She also dedicated Cardigan to him during Eras Tour (“this is about you, you know who you are, I love you”) 😵💫 And Cardigan obviously references “Peter losing Wendy” which this song Peter expands upon. Matty and Taylor were also first romantically linked when Matty was 25. I hate it too but we cannot deny the facts 😭
Do you also realise that songs like “But daddy I love him” are about people like you? Just saying…
I have a question and maybe you know the answer. I know Taylor said to Matty "this song is about you" and then played "Cardigan", but what song did Matty play after saying "This song is about you?", aka which song did he dedicate to Taylor at that concert?
I've been looking for older articles talking about that situation, but every article is just mentioning that he dedicated a song to her but they never say which song, so I just wanted to ask someone because I'm about to give up on searching for it lol
@@MayaMickaMicak The song was literally called "About You" 😂
@@RGLmasterpiece ??? she’s referencing the fans that were saying she needed to end things with matty in that song. not fans simply picking up her clues and making theories on them, she’s always wanted us to pick up on her easter eggs. she just doesn’t want us to tell her what she can and can’t do and this commenter wasn’t trying to do that at all lol.
I agree 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I immediately got I Hate It Here, and was baffled by the confusion about it. But I'm 37 and went to school for writing and literature. So...
Same... I'm getting concerned about the reading comprehension of some of these kids. I'm a 38 year old therapist, not a writer, but the number of word definitions people look up while reacting to this album is getting concerning, as is the misunderstanding of really clear concepts. I hope the controversy over I hate it here is just purely bad faith attempts at a takedown, because if people take that song as her genuinely longing for that time they need to go back to school.
People don't read enough.
Zach said it best. People don’t read real books anymore. They just don’t. Or read at all. 🤷🏼♀️
@hkandm4s23 I completely agree with you, people don't read as much anymore and I find it really sad. I also think some of the difficulties understanding her lyrics can be because she has a large international fanbase (including me), so English is not everyone's first language.
@@natalieg4225 oh absolutely, anyone with English as a second language absolutely gets a free pass, but I'm talking about every 20 something American swifty ive seem react is looking up words in every song or having insane song interpretations that make no sense. I'm 38 with a masters degree, but I knew all of these words in high school! I wish people would read books again.... I'm tired of the criticism that she needs to "put down the thesaurus." I guarantee her vocabulary is sufficient that she's not looking up "precocious" or "rivulets" or "sanctimonious" or "tryst". I'm cool with people needing to look up a word, but it's the criticism that she's"using big words too sound smart" or being pretentious, especially when this whole album is anti-pretentious.
I think The Manuscript is about All Too Well and that it is referencing the short film that she wrote and directed… the Actors were hitting their marks… and when she saw Sadie crying to the synchronicity of the score… she knew what all the agony had been for… I think she uses All Too Well and how painful that was for her to tell us that once she gives us her songs… she has healed and now they are ours. ❤ Such beautiful songwriting.
I think I liked the Anthology more than the main album. But idk haven't had enough time with both of them yet to decide
🐍Time stamps : 🐍
1:31 : Intro (talking Antology release, Taylor fatigue, Eras Tour, TTPD)
13:01 : The black dog
18:13 : imgonnagetyouback
22:48 : The Albatross
29:12 : Chloe et al
38:18 : How did it end?
47:09 : So high school
49:17 : I hate it here
54:57 : thanK you aIMee
1:00:13 : I look in people’s windows
1:03:02 : The Prophecy
1:09:24 : Cassandra
1:11:52 : Peter
1:13:52 : The Bolter
1:16:19 : Robin
1:18:28 : The Manuscript
🤍
THANK YOU!
bless you 🥰
No but what if I said The Anthology is my favorite work since evermore? It’s that good. Aaron, I will open mouth kiss you with tongue to quote our favorite lizard. The Black Dog, The Bolter, The Manuscript, and Peter? Some of her best songs in her entire discography. Yup, I’d go that far to say that.
The Prophecy and Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus are masterpieces, and have both had me crying a few times. I really do love the full 31-songs as a whole, but this 2nd half is definitely on another level for me.
I knew Evemore stans will love The Antology!! I feel like it was a nod to us 😊
Black dog is produced by Jack. But yes both of them have produced/co-written some of her best songs here
Jack, I will open mouth kiss you with tongue too. And YES as an evermore stan, The Anthology is everything 🤎🤍
peter is litreally my fav tay song after peace, its simply a masterpiece
When it comes to Peter, this song is also about Matty, he often refers to himself as emo Peter Pan or sth like that, besides we have this lyric 'my lost fearless leader' and there's this video where Matty is absolutely mesmerised by Taylor when she's singing Fearless, to my mind, this word choice was intentional here (and also, The 1975 have a song called Lost Boys)
“all that i know, is i don’t know how to be something you miss” is such a amazing lyric. it always twists the heart.
13:11 black dog was an instant favorite. The song I liked the most from both albums.
How did it end ? Is an amazingly constructed song. Sometime when I hear criticism like “she sounds like first year creative writing” I’m like, yeah ok let’s see those works…
This song might be over complicated because it is speaking to how hard it is to explain how a Long term relationship ended. And she’s trying to make sense of that while also having all these people loooiping into her private life in the name of empathy, wanting to know what happened , when she’s even in the midst of trying to understand it herself. The song is beautifully written and the music is gorgeous.
The disrespect to peter is INSANE
They don't get it 🫠. They didn't even get it's about Matty. They didn't get the reference to Cardigan.
It’s such an amazing song!! All I think about is “Peter Losing Wendy” 😭
@@priiifrgTHIS!!!!
EXACTLY. it's literally cardigan 20 years in the future. The bridge has SO many callbacks to cardigan. It's so beautiful.
Peter is so underrated 😭
Agreed, this song hit me like a truck.
It’s amazing! I have it on repeat. I don’t get sick of it. It’s so beautiful and sad.
It’s gut wrenching
I think i am the biggest fan of 'The Albatross' and i haven't seen anyone praise it much and i am kinda happy about that, this is my interpretation of the song:
The song starts with she talking about wise men telling her lover about her the albatross,
So like the people around joe telling he shouldnt date her and she is trouble
Although he didnt listen to any of them and just ignored their cautions...
"Cautions issued,
He stood shooting the messengers,
They tried to warn him about her
...
Shes the albatross she is here to destroy you"
Second verse also has almost the same meanings they are telling her how he should not even fiddle with her, dont even start it, to save urself from the trouble. Dont sow the seed, dont call a temptress but somehow taylor was able to seduce joe towards her maybe not intentionally but instead he was pulled by her aura types
"One bad seed kills the garden,
One less dagger to sharpen
.... but id visit in your dreams...."
But he didnt listen to them the people around him and now he is in it, the chase
And the people started saying, you have chosen the worst thing she is going to destroy you
"Shes the death you chose youre in terrible danger"
Finally when he wasnt able to capture the albatross, and was defeated i,e. Breakup
There was hell towards him, all the internet came for him, he wasnt welcomed anywhere... and taylor told him how she has also gone through the same things so many times but it actually doesnt matter anymore...
"And when the sky rains fire on you
And you are persona non grata(an unwelcomed person)
Ill tell u ive been there too...."
Now taylor says wise men, the public the media, read about all the news about why they broke up and believed it and came for attacking him, and he didnt even know it was going to happen, he was just sleeping in his bed, when one of his friends suddenly woke him from his sleep and showed him his phone full of insults, and hate from the internet
And maybe taylor before leaving did tell Him about everything that was going to happen to him, everything he was going to loose for not being successful in catching the albatross...
"Wise men once read fake news and they believed it...
Jackals raised their hackles
You couldnt conceive it
You were sleeping soundly when they dragged you from your bed...
And i tried to warn u about them..."
But even then when all the hate was coming towards him, she didnt want to fuel the fire more... she tried to save him i am assuming this is why she didnt write about joe in the bad way that she was capable of writing... (*I know there is alot of stuff about Joe that people can point out but I don't think there is specifically anything much that taylor herself has said that is like a dagger to him, it is like she is letting him go, becoming the bigger person)
And when joe saw her new album released, he realised that the albatross wasnt a monster to be captured but a companion to be loved... taylor wasnt the problem here she just really wanted someone who loved her...
"So i crossed my thoughtless heart spread my wings like a parachute
I am the albatross
I swept in at the rescue
The devil that you know
Looks now more like an angel
I am the life you chose
And all this terrible danger"
I am imagining the albatross picking him up and taking him to some place and talking with him and telling him that she is supposed to be hated and once u become in any way connected to her they believe you have become a symbol of bad omen as well, u couldnt kill me, so they are now coming for you but now u cannot run, you have to be strong and face it,
Cause i am the albatross, dear sailor and i am the life you chose and u cannot run away from me anymore...
"So cross your thoughtless heart
Shes the albatross
She is here to destroy you"
if u read it so far thanks for taking interest in my interpretation.
the feeling of helping someone even when that person is not deserving of it, being the bigger person. the albatross saving the sailor even when he tried to hunt her down. that feeling kind of makes me sad, the verse where she spread her wings and sweeps in for the rescue. it is a good kind of sad,
thank you
That's like a movie!
Fascinating. I’ve always thought it was about Matty and how people must have warned him not to date her, and the part where they drag him from his bed is the whole Speak Up Now bullying. She tried her best to save him from all the terrible danger that follows her. I feel like she wrote this when they were still barely together
My favorite song too and thank you for your interpretation. I really enjoyed it.
My take on How Did It End- it's a juxtaposition of the death of the relationship and the public's invasive need to know every single detail. Notice how the questions start immediately and there's no empathy given at all. I think the death imagery is intentionally over the top to highlight how callous people can be when they hear devastating news that they intend to consume like callous gossip. "Come one, come all" is such a pointed way to tell us that even her most upsetting experiences are treated like headlines. Also, I'm sure there are quite a few of us who can relate to what feels like yet another relationship ending and needing to face the world with this news. She's famously been criticized for having too many relationships and now the relationship to end all the endings has not only ended itself but will inevitably lead to more of the same.
Robin hits me hard as a parent to young kids. Before kids it wouldn’t have landed. It’s watching their sweet inoonence knowing what is coming for them, and knowing you can’t stop it 😭.
Same! I look at my innocent little baby and cry. Never grow up also hits so differently now. It’s so wonderful and so sad.
She literally says “it was a shared manic episode!” in the prologue and then she says “I cry a lot but I am so productive….its an art.”
I think she legit had an insane burst of energy and productivity as one does in a manic episode. Honestly those who have experienced mania love it but the shitty part is the swing back to depression is super hard.
All that to say - I was thinking about it and this is her edited version. She has many more songs and these made the cut. That tells me she just had a lot to say and the drive to do it
I don’t think Taylor was actually diagnosed with mania, and I don’t think she actually experienced it. But I do think that when she went through these heartbreaks back to back she threw herself into her work and then the emotions eventually came out and that’s what TTPD is. Just the outpouring of her emotions.
People cope with heartbreak or like a loss of a loved one differently. But at the end of the day you are going to have to face the feelings.
@@teresaspedaliere6114we don’t know her medical history and I’m not speculating or suggesting that she’s clinically manic. I’m simply taking her words at face value with some interpretation.
Because I don’t think we can say every time she talks about being productive, manic, crazy, etc. it’s always a metaphor.
@@teresaspedaliere6114I also totally agree re: handling heartbreak. I actually saw a therapist on UA-cam saying trauma can lead to symptoms that are similar to psychosis and I’ve actually experienced that and it did have some manic-ness to it. It actually felt good and I think it was my brain’s way of protecting me from feeling the pain of the trauma.
Who knows if that’s what happened or she’s just being dramatic which she definitely said the album would be. I don’t mean to speculate but I guess because I’ve experienced something similar it makes sense to me.
@@brittanyparistx100%. Taylor is at the end of the day is an amazing storyteller and takes emotions that everyone experiences and puts it into songs where people can relate and fall into. The intense emotion that pores out of her songs just shows how great she is at her job.
@@teresaspedaliere6114exactly!!! I’m continually amazed at her ability to communicate emotions!!!
Like how could one the richest most famous people have us all crying and feeling so sad at her plight. 🤣 seems ridiculous but she does it so well!
All the songs on the album are impeccable and I'm glad each of them were included. The more she creates, the happier she is. I hope she keeps sharing all her songs with us.
The Bolter - “all her fucking lives flash before her eyes” makes me think of “I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time” and also “getting tired even for a phoenix, rising from the ashes, mending all her gashes”
The Manuscript seems to be about how creating the short film for All Too Well was cathartic for her and she's released the story and the relationship.
Nailed it.
That's a part of it for sure, but I see it more as a recap of several old relationships that she had. She literally says in the end that the manuscript is "one last souvenir from my trip to your shores" (plural). When she talks about "the actors", don't forget that Joe is an actor also.
Yes that's how I took it too! The lyric video is even written in screenplay format
@@queenofjensylvania thank you. Sometimes I think folks are so focused on who they think the song is about that they can miss the overall meaning of the song. Many songs are likely composites of multiple relationships.
Man i totally agree with Madeline about how the anthology should have been released literally a fortnight later tbh
17:21 When the owner of the Black Dog spoke “certain blonde regular who frequents”, that was a response to the question which one of Taylor’s exes visited the place so it was confirmed that it was about Joe instead of Taylor visiting the place.
Edit: “My beloved ghost and me
Sitting in a tree D-Y-I-N-G” is a callback to that children’s song “sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in a baby carriage!” so it adds to the message of the song How Did it End?, it’s the track 5 of the anthology album for a reason.
But does Joe really seems like the kind of guy who was ever into The Starting Line? Lmao
@@PondOfGlue Who can say he isn’t? We know almost nothing about him, except that he was a regular client of the Black Dog.
@@PondOfGlueJoe has a diverse taste in music. He has said he is a fan of Eminem, he was a fan of Bon Iver, Kings of Leon, and him and Taylor bonded over music. Matty doesn’t have the monopoly to be the only one who liked The Starting Line. Let’s not forget, we do not know much about Joe. Joe and Taylor appeared to be off an on a lot throughout the albums, Taylor wanted forever with Joe so even 6 years would feel fleeting especially since she held on to the ship as it was going down till she realized the relationship was killing her and she had to let go or go down with him. She had to choose herself and she struggles with that. Matty is apart of this album because he gave her a glimpse of hope and something to look forward to, she didn’t have to go down with the ship, she could be beamed up by him and taken away from Joe’s prison and she ran right to him after she was fresh out of the slammer, but that relationship was short lived, some songs are a blend of Matty and Joe because she experienced 6 years with Joe in less than 2 months with Matty and then had to deal with the loss of both and process through her pain on her own and that depression was low. There is a deep complexity here, that a lot of people are missing.
@@paulaabelenda5867 the 1975 covered The Starting Line
Taylor could be the fan of TSL. I’m sure she listens to emo.
"I hate it here" is my most relatable Taylor song and I'm so happy the Anthology exists ❤. I feel like that part of the album is only for Taylor, her fans, the people who know her through her songs through time, and the people who know Tay-lore if you know what I mean, which makes it so special. All the songs in it are peak poetry, it's Taylor pouring her heart out to us, and literally a continuation of evermore, one of my favourites.
17:43 It's about The Black Dog in Cork, Ireland, 10 minutes from the venue where The 1975 played a concert in June a few days after Taylor and Matty split. Matty's favorite band is also mentioned in the song; he mentioned several times that this is one of his favorite bands. When Matty and Taylor started dating, he performed covers of The Starting Line songs at his concerts several times.
THIS
@@Zarab923 I don’t think so because the songs have clear references and muses. I don't see any blurry lines. BUT of course, first and foremost, these are songs about Taylor Swift herself and her feelings!!
@@Zarab923 Men come and go, but she is the only one. Her talent and her ability to convey HER feelings through songs. One and only QUEEN!
Not to mention that she is asking over and over in this song if he was playing a joke on her, or making fun of her, or hazing her (a.k.a. very similar to her confusion in Smallest Man of asking if he was sent to kill her or spy on her, etc.), and she even mentions him leaving with his tail between his legs (a.k.a. coward who said he was a lion, ghosting her). AND he is known to date younger women.
Even if it wasn't for The Starting Line detail, this song's overarching themes and "plot" clearly concern someone who dates younger women, who hurt her in a way that keeps making her think she was being pranked or hazed, and who left her.
I keep getting WHACKED with matty healy references in songs that i truly believed were about joe its like psychological warfare😂
Madeline, I am also a Stan of Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was so mesmerized by it!
Same ! And i loved madelines theory ! It all made sense ! Its Another song about matty ❤
"thanK you aIMee" to me is Taylor smiling and giving Kim the middle finger. It's a song to give her some closure. It's her at her most petty and I am here for it. LOL.
I feel like she'll keep writing songs about it with the same message just to say "I remember what you did and I'm not letting anyone forget it" and honestly? I respect that.
@@justwonder1404yeah. And I think a crucial factor in that is that Kim never owned up to what she did. She never apologised to Taylor and then tells her to move on because she did. I’m like, girl, no. You don’t get to decide when it’s over. Taylor does. You were the bully, and the fact that you are so ready to leave it all behind and not even vaguely think about it with some sort of remorse, it’s giving psychotic behaviour. I’m sorry, that’s just the way I see it.
Totally agree! I've honestly been waiting for a song like this and it did not disappoint at all! Chef's kiss
@@giuliabonechi1864 she and her fans always act like the 2016 "Kimye" debacle nearly "ruined" her career and destroyed her reputation, but did it? Did it really? At worst, that backlash was only on Stan Twitter. The general public, from what I remember, didn't really know about any of this. The only reputation that was tarnished was that people got the slightest indication that Taylor might not be a perfect, honest person all the time.
I was there in 2007 when Britney Spears was going through the worst moments of her life on the public stage. I've seen what a ruined reputation looks like. Taylor Swift, thankfully, has never had to endure anything to that magnitude. She grew up in a well-off and stable family that didn't exploit her, and she's had massive amounts of success since her first album as a teenager. Again, there are legitimate snags and obstacles that she's had to overcome, but overall, her entire career has been nothing but highs. I can't really vouch for this narrative her fanbase constantly spins of her being this misunderstood underdog. …
“You’re on your own kid.” Didn’t her parents just casually moved to Nashville cause she wanted to? And her dad even invested a large sum of money from her label when she was starting out? I remember listening to this song when the album dropped and said, “girl you’re a li@r” after it finished.
@@giuliabonechi1864 - She wrote Bad Blood about Katy Perry, cause she was upset over dancers being pulled from her. When in reality, the real reason is clearly due to Katy Perry dating John Mayer, which clearly put her off.
- Nothing wrong about writing a song about anyone she wants, but having a whole video campaign about pitting woman against Katy, and trying to find every big A-list name she could pull as me vs you, was whack.
- What doubles down her pettiness? The fact that she backtracks years later and went out of her way to blame “the media” when it was her who was out for revenge regarding Katy. She also posts a picture of Katy’s Olive Branch gift, with the words stating she is sorry. Which came across as really childish. If Katy never had apologised to her, Taylor would be still taking shots at her (purposely dropping her catalogue release on Spotify the day Katy Perry dropped her album.)
Taylor didn't ask but accepted 50% of the profits for 10 seconds of Olivia's song.
Ugh this day just got so much better ❤ thank you Zack and Maddie!
My take away from her releasing, what in essence to me was her diary is that Taylor released it all for Her and nobody else. She needed to let it all go to move forward. She literally says she doesn’t care about the nay sayers and I applaud her for that. The Prophecy she says she doesn’t want money just someone who loves her for her. That is the realist, most easy to understand concept for anyone still waiting for their one to show up in their life. We all heard her say this was the album that she had to release the most of any of hers and that was for her own healing. At the end of the day, Taylor Swift is a global business, but Tay is a person like the rest of us and has all the same wants and desires as we do.
I’m so glad we got 31 songs. it was overwhelming at first but every day I get to discover a new track that I fall in love with. I also think that because there are so many tracks, there’s something for everyone on this album which is like how we always say that in her discography there is something for everyone.
I like the Anyology even better that the first half. I Hate It Here, Robin, Prophecy, Peter, The Albatross - excellent writing, deep thoughtful concepts, diversity of themes and topics, beautiful melodic sounds ✨🤍
However, I think that it should have been different sister album released a few months later, in August, for example. It has this late summer/ Fall sound. Yes, it’s similar to Evermore in that sense (and I also like Evermore more than Folklore).
10:15 rewatching it rn and Madeline just predicted the folkmore set 😅
To me, this album was her therapy. She got everything out that she felt needed to be said so she could move forward with her life. I don't think she is going to reference those past loves any longer. She closed the book on them. Just my 2 cents.
How Did it End? - the whole song - Is about everyone who felt they *had* to know.
I think fresh out the slammer and so long london's last verse stating that she found the one proves that towards the end of her and Joe's relationship, she was in a flirting situation with mattey. Maybe he gave her that courage to get out of that relationship and she was fixated that he is going to be the end all be all for her. But when he ghosted her she really got rattled and maybe then she wrote prophecy because maybe in her mind this relationship was like the last matchstick in the box. I think its understandable there is only so many times we take a shot before we start doubting ourselves and our destiny.
WE’RE SO BACK
Had to come back here. The Black Dog is likely about Matty as well. I think we had the wrong pub and the owner from London was milking for sales. There's another Black Dog in Cork, Ireland close to where The 1975 played a stadium show on June 13th 2023 after their breakup.
I'm screaming thinking about the tagline of The Black Dog in Ireland - "The bar formally known as BDSM". Imagine if that was the title of the song!!
lmao watching this months after, seeing madeline predict evermore and folklore mix is amazing
i think people are missing too that you can be in love and hurt and in your feelings at a certain point in time but a few weeks later u can look back and see it completely different, this whole album felt like a manic episode. like imagine being locked up for years and not getting the love appreciation u deserve and along comes this old flame that worked with u on putting ur feelings into words, so he knows exactly what u were missing, what u need to hear, and after the lovebombing and extremeness ended she got ghosted - so ofc after that everything felt insanely intense but once it died down i think she had time to be like "damn that was crazy lol"
Didn't Matty kiss another(?) male concert security guard (was the guard angry about it?) right before the breakup with Taylor was publicly announced? If that didn't happen, maybe they'd still be together? Who knows. I don't think Matty ever publicly apologized specifically for his former racist/sexist comments, but maybe/hopefully he did. I'm not positive on that.
@@M22986 yess arguing with matty stans is one of the worst experiences in my life, they gloss over his continued racism/sexism over all very inappropiate behavior and meanwhile many of the think pieces online from swifties towards Taylor were invasive and stupid, some of them had apoint telling a girl that made activism a capitilism brand during the lover era, that actively protecting a known racist isn't cool, and since ttpd dropped, the matty apologizer have been at it again and its just...annoying tbh, like wdym u can excuse a nazi salute on holocaust remembrance day, him proudly saying he jerks of to black women being violated, multiple islamophobic comments, the list goes on, even Taylor's team couldn't bury all his messages
Peter is the finest work of art. Man, the way it makes me feels and the way she delivers and MAN THE BRIDGEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I love her so much but it hurts sometimes jsjsjs
Thank you *so* much for uploading this video! I am not sure how/who does your captions but it's honestly a game changer for me as someone who needs to see captions/lyrics as I listen, so thank you *so* much for that!
P.S. the Matty Healing pun that popped into your head towards the end was worth listening to the whole episode for. Taylor's gonna make a Matty heal-ing pun in her next album. She's lookin' in your window, she's taking notes! 🪟✍
Also Zach idk if u saw it but just in case u didn’t: there’s evidence based on people tracking the outfit for The Black Dog from Jack’s post that the Black Dog isn’t the PUB in London but the bar in Cork because the song was recorded 2ish weeks after the Matty Healy breakup announcement and right after he performed in Dublin (where he wrote “sorry” seemingly to her before the show) and then performed in Cork the week afterwards (cork having an alternative bar that plays niche songs and it is called The Black Dog Bar)
Idk if that’s interesting but anyways a win for the Irish?
The way you guys were exactly correct about the TTPD part of the eras tour lol and folklore + evermore getting put together! lol
When I heard the line in “Cassandra” about filling the cell with snakes, I immediately thought of the Snakes themselves
The way he always brings it back to question 😂😂😂 its so true but its soo funny to me😂
And I was womdering your take on scarlett marron reference in chloe or sam😅
It’s the colour of the walls in her Tribeca apartment
I want to add that Fiona Apple also did the whole "get him back" double meaning concept back in 2005! This is not a new idea and like Madeline said, the songs are COMPLETELY different sonically.
i think she's putting thank u aimee and a lot of songs that maybe wouldn't have been picked to go on the album bc she doesn't want to revisit this era down the line. we're not getting vault tracks a couple years from now so she's just gonna give us everything so she can truly feel like she's done w this half of her life. i think her next work will be something completely new and she'll never have to reference kim or the turkey or the rat ever again, this is the final installment of her life as we know it. i feel like she knows big change is coming for her and i hope to see this reflected in her sound. as she continues to mature, and we all know she wants a family and to be a wife n mother and a "successful" love story, i think she will evolve into a totally diff woman than the one we've known thus far and that her this will be the last section of her catalog that is representative of the taylor we know. mom taylor is coming soon, petulant teenager taylor is otw out
“Life is an Iris Torah” - Zack 😂😂😂
Thank y’all for giving me somewhere sane to go for these conversations. I’m a new sub & I just adore you both and your chemistry!
Our pleasure!
I remember when Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus clicked for me…went from being at the bottom straight to top 4 songs. So sad and so good/relatable
Hey zach, can’t wait to watch this video, and i was wondering if you could make a video deep diving into the critical reception for ttpd, because before the album came out I kept seeing negative opinions about the album, and when I actually listened to the album I was thinking to myself this is an amazing album, and way better than midnight so why did midnight get more positive reviews than ttpd, and I felt like it is more related to taylor’s fatigue (as you say it) more than the actual quality of the album, thank you so much and have a great day❤
I literally just filmed this video today :) coming tmw!
@@theswiftologist Can't wait !!! thank you so much
Robin means a lot to me cause it makes me think of my sister when she was a kid she passed away in 2020 at the age of 20 and I miss her so much. Robin is a beautiful song.
I was looking at another anthology reaction when this came out, but I dumped it so fast to come to see yours 😂😂❤
goddamn you guys cooked with that TTPD set convo. hit every bullet point.
I think you guys missed the whole point of the album, the main theme is that she left Joe because he couldn't marry her, only to be dazzled by Matty's lies and promises because he promised her just that and told her he had changed because he knew exactly why she and Joe broke up, but then he up and left, Taylor realizes that everyone was right about him. She was so blinded by the loneliness she felt at the moment that she ignored all the red flags. Ultimately, she knows she was crazy for believing Matty's lies. Taylor is a 34-year-old woman who knows she wants to start a family, she knows time is ticking. Don't be shocked when she starts having a family next year. She literally sings about babies and marriage every 4 songs on this record. It's crazy that some people think she has been pining for Matty for 10 years, he's really not all that. You should really read the in-summation epilogue and Stevie Nick's poem.
as a 34 year old single woman who has consistently failed at love and who's most recent long term relationship was with someone who told me something no one had ever said to me before, that he wanted to have a baby with me, only for it all to be lies... i feel very seen. i don't even know if i want kids honestly, but i want someone who is so sure of their love for me they'd want to be linked like that to me forever. yeah this album is pretty devastatingly healing for me.
Just going over the list I think at least 14 songs are really good. Especially when you listen to the album on repeat and get to know the lyrics. She was so honest.
Another video saved for when i finish exams, thank you so much for the work and the class guys🤍
Been waiting for this since part 1, I’m seated! 🥳
I'm glad that we got the Anthalogy because it was so raw at times and deep and authentic, I really think even if its overwhelming, it's one mental health progress, like the story and storytelling wouldn't be complete
As a further point, Aaron is almost purely musical. He doesn’t write lyrics for the national - their front man does. And the nationals lyrics are written somewhat nonsensically as to meaning- Matt writes/rambles words to fit the melody and mood.
Zach is SLAYING in the thumbnail and Madeline is suchhhh a mood!!!
so glad y'all spoke your truth about 90's trend, fake news, and no one around to tweet it. the lakes is one of my all time FAVORITE songs by her and i wish the tweet lyric wasn't there, so glad you mentioned it
imgonnagetyouback parallels fallingforyou by the 1975 the song that matty dedicated to her in 2014. the title, the bike lyrics, everything
also “when someone still wants my body” parallels “i don’t want your body” in Somebody Else
I think How Did It End is more about people wanting to know how it ended, how the public wants to pull back the curtain on the most painful part of a relationship. The line, “guess who I saw”… is local gossips talking together about her breakup….
Love this conversation. I have an MFA in poetry and am a creative writing professor. I've been thinking a lot about potential edits to this album (looking at the album as a collection of poetry). What I've landed on is that the double album is valid, but the last five tracks on The Anthology aren't adding to the narrative (and, for me, also aren't great songs) and could have likely been edited out. This would leave the final track being The Prophecy, which seems like the perfect place to end on an album(s) that's invested in a meditation on fame and isolation.
Also, hello from the only-child-to-writer pipeline.
I couldn't disagree more on the How Did it End dissection. I love that bridge so much, I love that song so much, I love the words and how many there are it makes me salivate and cry and explode it's brilliant imo 😭😭😭 you analyzed it SOOOO heady and I feel that song so hearty
This is also a part of why we all love 1989, and the lure around it, because it was extremely streamlined and nailed down to every note, and every word! Extremely controlled and narrative based!
I think "Thank You Aimee" may be justification for what we are going to get in the vault tracks from reputation.
Ending the 8 London concerts with I can do it with a broken heart and then So Long, London instead of Karma would be wow !
you dont leave a concert on a low note cmon karma is a great ending song
53:12 THE DECLINE IN LITERACY IS SCARY (period,
but also according to Weber and Arendt and probably many others, and having how to see it coming and being unable to stop it makes it even scarier aaah 😵)
So high school is like being in a teen Rom Com. It’s happy vs dark. Almost manic~like what she says she was feeling in her epilogue. Came out of nowhere in her darkest days. I can relate so maybe that’s why I dig it.
i think she just wanted to start fresh with Travis, so she pushes out all of songs that she wanted to share about that depressing time and focus on her happiness moving forward
Zach I loved your extension of her thoughts on Red to The Black Dog. This is why we need you, that was wonderfully parsed!
Iris thora and AeroStore instead of eras tour are sending me😂
Black dog is obviously about Matty…He performed the Starting Line in April-23 days before he and Taylor went public…Even Madeline called out how lyrics of that song is literally their love story. Watch Zach in denial mode 😂
Watching and giggling a bit. It's so obs about Matty
I was on a walk when Madeline said that and I literally stopped and dropped my jaw to the floor. Such a good point about that song all us emo kids grew up with. And those relationships where song sharing is a big aspect of the relationship just hit different. Every time you hear that song you connected with someone on, you can't help but think of them. Great, great point.
Also Zach is correct about the black dog, it reminded me of Red in a really amazing way
Loved hearing your commentary! I warmed up to The Anthology much quicker than to TTPD. The Prophecy kills me.
I love the Albatross so much and I have so much to say about it... Taylor is the albatross looking for love and much like the mariner poem even though she isn't villainous or wicked, the mariners (her love interests) get told that Taylor's dangerous & only going to ruin them... But then after the bridge, much like the end of the mariner poem, it's found out the albatross wasn't BAD but was just as much hoping for the love to be the real thing as the love interest/mariner...