Taylor Swift's new album and the 'functioning Alcoholic' controversy
Taylor Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," has been released to much fanfare.
Fans and critics alike have hailed the surprise double album as her 'best storytelling yet,' praising the 'surreal, beautiful, and insane' lyricism that combines the intimacy of "Folklore" and "Evermore" with the synth-pop gloss of "Midnights."
The lead track "Fortnight," featuring Post Malone, opens with Taylor describing herself as a 'functioning alcoholic.'
She sings, 'I was s'posed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me / I was a functioning alcoholic / 'Til nobody noticed my new aesthetic.'
Swift's past relationship with Alcohol
In the years following, Swift has stated that she wasn't a hard party girl. 'Maybe I'll have a glass of wine, but nothing too hard-core for me,' she told Ladies Home Journal in 2010 about her 21st birthday celebrations. 'I've never had the burning desire to drink,' she added.
Swift has always emphasized her need to be in control of what she says, expressing concerns about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time if she drank.
Swift's music and references to Alcohol
Interestingly, Swift's first four albums - "Taylor Swift," "Fearless," "Speak Now," and "Red" - didn't mention alcohol at all. Even "1989," written when she was 24 and living in New York, only made a thin reference to booze in the song "Clean," believed to be about ex-boyfriend Harry Styles.
The references to liquor really took off with her 2017 album "Reputation," largely inspired by her move to London, her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, and her romance with Joe Alwyn.
Her five albums since have increasingly referenced alcohol.
On social media, Taylor Swift fans worried she admits to being a 'functioning Alcoholic' in new album
One person said: Great role model. Drinking is one thing but to say functioning alcoholic. She still acts like a teenager doing something for the first time!
A second wrote: Taylor don’t go down that road with the alcohol, drugs & vulgar language. It doesn’t become you.
While a third commented: She's an excellent story teller. These are just more stories.
Someone else said: Oh for God’s sake! She’s 34 not 19 anymore.
You don’t write music and produce albums like her if you’re a drunk. Find something else to throw at her. Maybe that’ll stick and make you feel better.
Taylor Swift left fans stunned after aiming at her ex-boyfriend Matty Healy
Fans believe that certain songs in the new album are aimed at Matty Healy, their ex-boyfriend.
In this track, Swift sings about having romantic feelings and ‘fatal fantasies’ for someone from her past while in a relationship with someone else.
Some fans insist the track sounds like a 1975 song and speculate that it’s about Healy.
‘The Black Dog’:
This song references a favored band of Healy’s, The Starting Line. The 1975 covered the band’s 2002 song ‘The Best of Me’ in concert in April and May 2023, just days before Swift and Healy were first seen publicly holding hands.
‘Fresh Out the Slammer’:
In this song, Swift sings about feeling ready to dive into a new romance after ending a different relationship that was holding her back. The lyrics hint at a new boyfriend who is not American.
‘The Tortured Poets Department’: This track seems to reference Healy with a joke about a time when Healy brought a typewriter to her apartment. Healy has previously admitted in a 2018 GQ interview that he ‘really likes’ typewriters.
Additionally, Taylor Swift left fans shocked after releasing a 'diss track' aimed at Kanye West's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.
Many people believe that the song 'thanK you aIMee' on Taylor Swift's new album is aimed at Kim Kardashian in response to the pain the reality TV star caused the singer.
The song is written about a school bully who causes the character to go through a humiliating and painful time. However, from many clues in the song, fans believe that Taylor is referring to Kim Kardashian. The song's title has three bold letters K, I, M, combined to form Kim.
“All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’ / And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel." the song reads. “Screamed, ‘F–k you, Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’ / But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.”
