Five songs to prepare you for Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department'

No. 2 - "Dear Reader" - Midnights

Yet another part of Swiftie legend is the idea that Swift’s final track on each album will lead thematically into the overall aesthetic of the next album. For example, the final track of Swift’s 2010 album Speak Now is “Long Live” which is an upbeat song where Swift celebrates her fans. This track leads perfectly into her next album 1989 which encapsulates much of the same message. 

A more recent example of this is speculated to be the relationship between Swift’s last album Midnights whose final track is a song called “Dear Reader.” In this song, Swift sings about the pressures of mega-fame and the struggles that often come with it. Within her lyrics, she bemoans the words, “Dear reader/ Burn all the files, desert all your past lives/ And if you don't recognize yourself/ That means you did it right.” Upon the announcement of The Tortured Poets Department, fans were quick to notice references to office jargon such as taking meeting minutes. 

Taylor Swift has also released four variants of The Tortured Poets Department vinyl containing four bonus tracks: "The Manuscript," "The Albatross," "The Bolter," and "The Black Dog." On each variant, the bonus track appears under a heading that says “File” followed by the track title. The inclusion of file names, along with the implications of the word “Department” in the album’s title, could mean that Swift’s latest album will contain imagery associated with office culture or academia.