How Taylor Swift Confronts Drug Themes In New Album, 'The Tortured Poets Department'

By Lucía Tedesco via El Planteo

Singer Taylor Swift has shattered records with her new album, "The Tortured Poets Department." Amid the repercussions, mentions of drug use did not go unnoticed: the artist openly talks about drugs on the album.

A new facet of Taylor is revealed in 31 tracks: "Sung in a low register, the first 16 songs of TPD are primarily dark, twinkling synthy pop tunes," writes High Times. Love, addiction and religion are just some of the themes chosen to tell the truths of her life.

In "The Tortured Poets Department," Swift sings about an intoxicating and destructive (or toxic?) love, which acts between the limits of desire and dependency. The album has references to figures such as Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith, which give it a poetic narrative.

But, which drugs did Taylor refer to in her new album?

In the album, Taylor also references Matty Healy from The 1975, who spoke publicly about his addiction - and turns out to be a lover who likes heroin, according to the lyrics of “The Alchemy.”

In addition, other substances, such as marijuana and alcohol, show up. In the eponymous song of the album, Taylor sings: “[He] smoked and ate seven bars of chocolates.” Regarding alcohol, she admits in the first verse of the same song, that she was a functional alcoholic until no one noticed her new aesthetic.

"Florida!!!", featuring Florence Welch, also references her friends with a nod to marijuana. "All smell like weed or little babies," she says.

The record of 891 million streams in its first week in the United States marks another success for the artist, giving her audience what they need from her, and even more.

This article is from an external unpaid contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

Photo: makaiyla willis, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons