3 of the Punchiest Lyrics From Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), as well as the extended Anthology version, is chock full of hard-hitting lyrics. On this record, she’s making sure to get in as many jabs as possible. While there is stiff competition, check out our picks for the three punchiest Swift lyrics from TTPD: The Anthology, below.

[RELATED: The Gloves are off on Taylor Swift’s Double Album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’]

Taylor Swift’s Punchiest Lyrics on TTPD

1. I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free (“So Long, London”)

“So Long, London” sees a very hurt Swift say her piece. It’s one of the most biting songs on the album because of how fragile she sounds. If we were the ones that put Swift in that position, we’d be feeling pretty awkward after listening to this one.

The above lyrics seemingly refer to Swift’s six-year-long relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, which came to a close in 2023. In the lines above, Swift seems to be chalking up that time in her life to wasted time. I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free, she sings. Few sentences would be more affecting here than that one.

2. You saw my bones out with somebody new / Who seemed like he would’ve bullied you in school (“Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus”)

In many instances on this album, Swift gets in a few low blows. She isn’t afraid to be a little petty on this record–and we’re here for it. In the lines above from “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus,” Swift delivers this round-a-bout way of saying “My new boyfriend is bigger and better than you.”

She pits them up against one another and feels extremely confident in the outcome. Isn’t that what we all want in a breakup? To come out the other side with a better prize?

3. ‘Cause it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden / I would’ve died for your sins, instead, I just died inside (“The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”)

The entirety of “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is Swift at her punchiest. In the above lyrics, Swift nods to the fact that she was dating someone else when she fell for Alwyn. As soon as the mystery of it all died, so went the sex appeal.

Swift usually comes across as very fair. However, she’s calculated on this record in a deeply cathartic way–even for the listener.

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)