Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department (April 19, 2024) Album • Page 98

my assumption is that if she ends up saying something (which she might if multiple of her tour mates have now said something, putting a little more pressure on her), it'll be short, state what's already known about the situation and how bad it is, include a link to some relief efforts that fans can donate to, and include a sizable (yet small compared to her net worth) donation from her. some will praise her, some will criticize her, some will say she's not doing enough, and that'll be the one and only time she says anything, moving on with touring.

 

Are you listening to TTPD and Anthology as separate albums? I kind of wish I split it like that too haha

 

I only listen to them separately TBH, I have to mentally separate it to digest everything. In my mind though it;s just Tortured Poets and the deluxe edition tracks

 

Yeah I only ever listen to them separately but I have them downloaded as one big album

 

I haven’t listened to all of Anthology at all.

I took a break from trying to get into this album. I’m gonna do one more go after listening to the Every Single Album podcast.

 

I listen to the full 32 every day in my office. It’s constantly on as a kind of background noise and it’s great to work to and tune in for a few then tune back out.

while I was very lukewarm on this album at best on release day, it’s definitely towards the top of the list for me now, maybe 3rd/4th

 

Ah well yes I mostly listen separate too, what I really meant having them downloaded as two separate albums

 

I have them as two separate albums and don't really listen to either.

 

my iTunes is hyper-organized, so yeah since day one they absolutely have been THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT with the main art and then THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY with the black art.

 

same but I pretty much always listen to them back to back.

 

Two more CD versions out now with Down Bad acoustic and Guilty as Sin acoustic

 

Gonna need someone to compile all the random bonus tracks when she’s done

 

@irthesteve

 

I have the three phone draft memos so far but not the CD ones yet, since those are tied to first shipping then someone ripping. I will eventually though.....

 

ok nevermind, just got the three live bonus tracks.

 

So this video came up on my recommended on YouTube so I decided to watch it and was expecting Taylor to pop up at least once (spoiler: she does not) and it got me thinking about how for as big as she is…she’s only had maybe two genuine smash songs (that could be classified as “song of the year” in terms of how popular they were) in Blank Space and Cruel Summer, which is wild to think about. She’s had other big songs but those are the two I would go yup, those songs soundtracked their respective years they were released. Although even in 2014 there was Uptown Funk which also rivaled her for song of the year (popularity wise).

 

They might not have been the absolute #1 song of the year, but Shake It Off, Love Story, You Belong With Me, I Knew You Were Trouble and We Are Never Getting Back Together were MASSIVE so I strongly disagree with her only having 2 smash hits

 

I meant smash hits as in the number one song of the year only. Those songs were definitely all big though. Also unrelated but I thought Olivia was going to show up for 2021 because I feel like any of Drivers License/Good 4 U/Deja Vu were bigger than Stay (although I did hear Stay A LOT that year so maybe the video is right lol)

 

Shake it Off is absolutely the biggest song of hers

 

Gaga/Katy/Rihanna/Beyonce were the last group pre streaming where they just had hit after hit, and Gaga only had 2 number ones in that era so number ones aren't everything, I have def heard the Taylor doesn't have a slamming screen door I mean signature song argument before but I'd say it's Shake It Off too

 

Love Story got an entire movie written for it.

 

If you actually look at the list of year-end number 1s, it’s pretty interesting. Sometimes it’s the song you’d expect, and sometimes it’s something pretty left field. Like, “Breathe” by Faith Hill is the number 1 song of 2000, even though it never actually topped the charts and certain songs felt more dominant in the year. “Breathe” just had staying power and got played forever, so it ends up on top for the year. Same with “Hanging by a Moment” by Lifehouse for 2001: not actually a number 1 hit, but still the end-of-the-year champ.

Anyway, this list is interesting. Not sure if it’s the same list of songs they pull from for that video, which I have not watched.

2023: Morgan Wallen - Last Night
2022: Glass Animals - Heat Waves
2021: Dua Lipa - Levitating
2020: The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
2019: Lil Nas X - Old Town Road
2018: Drake - God’s Plan
2017: Ed Sheeran - Shape of You
2016: Justin Bieber - Love Yourself
2015: Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk
2014: Pharrell - Happy
2013: Macklemore - Thrift Shop
2012: Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know
2011: Adele - Rolling in the Deep
2010: Kesha - Tik Tok
2009: Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
2008: Flo-Rida - Low
2007: Beyoncé - Irreplaceable
2006: Daniel Powter - Bad Day
2005: Mariah Carey - We Belong Together
2004: Usher - Yeah!
2003: 50 Cent - In Da Club
2002: Nickelback - How You Remind Me
2001: Lifehouse - Hanging by a Moment
2000: Faith Hill - Breathe

 

There's only a few on there that I actually like.

 

One thing that’s notable is that the biggest song of the year usually has a lot of runway to establish that position. “Last Night” came out in January. “Heat Waves” was a sleeper hit that came out in 2020 and then caught fire in 2022. “Levitating” was a later single from a big 2020 album that got a buzzy remix late in that year and then hung around all through 2021. Old Town Road came out December 2018 and gradually went viral on TikTok before entering the charts the following spring. “God’s Plan” came out on January 19. “Shape of You” came out on January 6. “Love Yourself” dropped as a single in December of 2015. “Uptown Funk” is the lead single from an album that came out in January 2015.

And so on. The playbook is basically to have a song that can build up a big lead early and then never stop getting played for the full 12 months. Taylor has never had that. She’s usually released albums in the fall, and even the big ones just don’t have enough time to surpass the big leads other singles have. See 2014, when “Shake It Off” (released August 19) lands at 13 on the end-of-the-year chart. Almost every song ahead of it is almost certainly less iconic or recognizable (OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” is at 5, for instance) but the release time matters. Her songs usually have ended up higher on the next year’s list (“Love Story” at 5 in 2009, “Anti-Hero” at 4 in 2022) so it’s reasonable to assume that she might have had year-end number 1s with a bunch of songs if she’d released them in January instead of late in the year.

Funnily enough, TTPD is probably her best chance at this, because it’s the only album she’s ever released in the first half of a year (save Fearess Taylor’s Version), but I don’t think “Fortnight” has the legs, and Jack Harlow already got out in front with a single that dropped (checks notes) late last year! “Cruel Summer” is currently in number 3 on the total year chart, but its impact is spread across so many years at this point that it’s almost impossible to figure what it might have done as the (springtime released!) first single from Lover.

 

Hell yeah.