Swiftly Spoken

To celebrate Taylor Swift’s recent Grammy nominations, this week we look into the Best New Artist Grammy curse, establishing the history behind it, deciphering the logical reasons many of these acts may have suffered, and speaking about some specific cases over the years. We’ll of course be going over Taylor’s nomination from back in the day, discussing famous cases, and finally briefly going over next year's (2025) nominees which include artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Benson Boone and RAYE among others.

A controversial topic that has been widely discussed over the last seven months has been the many versions that exist of The Tortured Poets Department. Ranging from the spreadsheets and charts fans have made to track which edition contains what, to the arguments over the fairness of Taylor’s tactics when it comes to these releases, or even the confusion over why they existed at all while the anthology was still confined to streaming. It’s been a contentious topic that has seemed to finally lead up to the latest release of what seems to be the definitive edition of Taylor’s eleventh studio album. In this episode we speak about every single edition and version of TTPD that Taylor Swift has released over the last seven months, from the original special editions, to the many live covers, to the upcoming Anthology release. We discuss why they exist and how fair of a tactic it is within the current climate of the music industry. We finally go over everything we know about the Anthology, including bonus tracks, cover change, and release dates.

A decade ago Taylor Swift released 1989, a career changing and defining album. It marked her definitive shift from country to pop, served as a rebirth for her celebrity persona, and crafted an incredibly thought out narrative from start to finish. Even ten years later, this is the album that the general public most recognise Taylor for, with hits like Shake it Off, Bad Blood, and Blank Space being unescapable staples of pop culture. A year ago Taylor reclaimed her fifth studio album with the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) which, against all odds, outdid the original version’s opening week sales, reaffirming not only the popularity of 1989, but it’s rightful place as one of the most awarded and critically acclaimed pop albums in history.

In this episode we go through each and every Taylor Swift studio album and try to place it in a geographical location that somehow embodies the music and era. From Taylor’s roots in Pennsylvania, to the straight forward connection between 1989 and New York, and the escapism to somewhere completely chaotic and new in The Tortured Poets Department, we travel all around the world as we review every lyric that mentions a specific location then try and figure out where we would place each album on a world map.

Inspired by the viral Justin Bieber private concert held over the summer, that was reported to have cost around ten million dollars, we decided to give ourselves the same budget and design a personalised setlist we’d love to see Taylor Swift perform. With thirteen spots to fill, we deep dive into Taylor’s discography to choose our dream set experience, with some controversial choices along the way. We also explore other Taylor performances that may somehow be similar to the wedding that Justin Bieber played at and give our thoughts on those surprise appearances.

Welcome to Swiftly Spoken Season Four! This week we’re deep diving the topic of name dropping on Taylor Swift songs, from the innocent call outs in debut, to the shift in her approach after having been burned by someone else name checking Taylor herself, we’re going over every single reference Taylor has made over the years. Not only do we list all of the famous figures, made up characters and niche references, we also categorise them and try to see the patterns in each album as well as understand why Taylor made specific reference to these people in particular throughout her discography. We conclude by going through a fun “other” category in which we speak about indirect call outs, such as the waitress from the lakes or the high man in bejewelled. 

The Eras Tour has now come to an end in Europe, and in this episode we recap the chaotic London shows. From surprise guests, unexpected performances, to a random music video reveal, Cameron gives us a first hand account of how it all went down. We take a look back at the June concerts in Wembley that included Travis Kelce making his Eras Tour stage debut, Hayley Williams singing Castles Crumbling with Taylor, and Gracie Abrams’ first ever performance of us. We then compare the experience with the last few Eras shows that brought the European run to a close, these included even more amazing guests - Ed Sheeran, Florence Welch and Jack Antonoff all joined Taylor over the last five nights. We also take a moment to celebrate our podcast anniversary. To anyone who has joined us over the last three years we thank you! Stay tuned for season four, we have a lot planned!

As we continue to explore The Tortured Poets Department, in this episode we update our “songs that fit on other albums” series by attempting to classify Taylor Swift’s 31 songs compiled on The Anthology version of TTPD onto all of her previous ten studio albums. With some difficulty along the way, we chronologically work our way through her discography, matching songs with lyrical, sonic or thematic connections to her older work.  

After listening to Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, for the last few months, we decided to revisit the five playlists created back in April as a way to promote the project. While prior to the release we initially discussed these playlists and the songs they included, back then we promised to have another look once the new tracks from TTPD and the anthology had been added. We go through each stage of heartbreak and discover which songs made it into each - or in one case sadly didn’t seem to make the cut at all! We also briefly make reference to Taylor’s strange roll-out of TTPD’s second single.

After taking a brief pause from the Taylor’s Version project, we make the most of the height of The Eras Tour to look back at our old predictions for Taylor’s re-recorded albums. We go through some of the ideas and possible vault tracks we uncovered over the last couple of years and firstly compare our Speak Now and 1989 predictions to the real thing. This leads us into discussing the future for Reputation and Taylor Swift, with many changes in the landscape of the music industry, how Taylor herself has discussed her discography, and the unearthing of some recent hidden gems during the acoustic set on tour, a lot of what we once believed may now be subject to big changes. We then make a few final predictions as to what may be next all while remembering to enjoy the current celebration of all eras and take a moment to also pause and reflect on all of the music we have been given over the last six years.  Sorry about the slight volume differences between us, we’ll get that sorted out for upcoming episodes! Also the irony of us speaking both about Sweeter Than Fiction and Mary’s Song being performed mere hours before they were indeed performed is not lost on us but we’ve left the comments in the video anyway haha

This Friday Taylor Swift finally brings The Eras Tour to London for the first round of shows.  To celebrate, we have decided to compile all of the most interesting places a swiftie may want to visit in and around the English capital, including an in-depth review of all of the places mentioned in London Boy, as well as a long list of other, lesser known, interesting stops. From traditional pubs, exciting shopping and Taylor-themed merchandise opportunities, to iconic outfits on display, our resident London specialist shares some expert knowledge on all of the hidden gems Taylor may have name dropped in lyrics or famously visited over the years.  

In this episode we are finally giving some of our first-hand thoughts, tips, reactions and recommendations for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour after one of us was recently lucky enough to attend their local shows, while the other’s tour dates are just around the corner!! We go through some of the highlights of the concert, including Taylor’s changes in outfits, the new Tortured Poets Department section and, of course, the surprise songs.

We finally give our reactions to the surprise second half of The Tortured Poets Department, a collection of incredible songs that transform the project into an Anthology! We reveal some of our absolute favourites, speculate about why Taylor may have chosen to add only four of these tracks onto the physical deluxe albums and analyse our favourite lyrics from these poetic songs.

In this episode we finally sit down after having gathered our thoughts on Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album and discuss all of the intricate details and lyrics weaved into the standard version of The Tortured Poets Department. We give our first reactions to the revealing tracks, break down overarching themes and make tentative connections to previous work and between tracks. We also attempt to decode some of Taylor’s most chaotic, vulnerable, tortured, poetic songs to date!

In our last episode before the release of The Tortured Poets Department, we break down Taylor Swift’s five stages of heartbreak playlists which she recently released through Apple Music. Said to have been inspired by Swiftie theories, these five lists compile many of her most loved tracks into the themes of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. We go through these carefully selected compilations, commenting on some of the most shocking selections and then give our final thoughts on what may be awaiting us in just over a week’s time!