Taylor Swift is dropping a new album on Friday and her fans think there is a very dark meaning behind it, with theories going viral online.
The Tortured Poets Department is Swift’s 11th studio album and many of the Swifties— the name of her mega-fans—believe it is a “post-mortem” of her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn.
Swift dated the actor for six years, which has been her longest relationship so far, and they broke up some time in March 2023. The popstar is now in a high-profile relationship with Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images, Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Fans developed the theory about the album being a post-mortem after some of them scoured a pop-up exhibition for clues. Spotify hosted The Tortured Poets Department-themedexhibit in Los Angeles on April 17.
People could walk through a library-themed room with boundless clues, which the Swifties have been hard at work decoding ever since.
Some of the exhibit’s installations included the revelation that new music would drop on the same day as the new album, books with old Swift song lyrics, vases with dried flowers that were a nod to some of her previous songs, such as “Lavender Haze” and many more.
But it was a scroll, that when unfurled read, “The Last Will and Testament of Taylor Swift.” Fans immediately interpreted that as meaning the old Swift from her Alwyn relationship was dead and the new album would be an examination of her time with the actor, ergo a “post-mortem.”
“If the post-mortem theory is true, then it all makes sense: we have a murder case. The victim is the relationship. the album is the autopsy which should reveal the evidence of how it died. And Taylor, as the chairman of the tortured poets department, is presenting it in court,” wrote @everaishamore on X, formerly Twitter.
“Terrifying thought: Hereby conduct this post mortem… Aka, an autopsy of the destroyed relationship,” added @tweetsrichochet.
“All I can think of is this post-mortem idea. If we are really doing an investigation, the victim is the old Taylor, right? And the evidence that’s being entered into question is the cause of her death? And we’ll uncover it as we publicly perform an autopsy of her work,” commented @space_femalien.
Newsweek has contacted Swift’s representatives by email for comment.
The latest theory comes a day after Swifties discovered their hero might actually be releasing two albums instead of one on Friday.
TikToker and super fan Emerson (@swiftlyobsessed) suggested that Tortured Poets will be a “double-album drop,” with Swift releasing another LP alongside it. Emerson shared a series of elaborate clues that supported their theory and then suggested the second album could be a re-release of 2017’s Reputation.
Swift began re-recording her first six albums in 2021, in a way to reclaim her music following a rights dispute with record label owner Scooter Braun. He had previously owned the rights to her music and then sold them on without her knowledge. The new releases have been dubbed Taylor’s Versions.
“I think she wants Tortured Poets to have its moment, so my guess is Tortured Poets comes out, and then at like 3:00 a.m., she just randomly drops Reputation,” Emerson said in the viral TikTok.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.