The Tortured Poets Department Variants Breakdown & Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Mashups Explained! 🤍🩶🤎🖤 

so much to discuss!!! what are your predictions for these bonus tracks? and what's a mashup you'd love to see on the eras tour?

"say my name and everything just stops.... you're losing me" i want her to do this and send everyone into a spiral 🥰

The Black Dog is also connected with Clara Bow. She had a black dog named Diablo (Dobby). And she wrote a letter to him (Clara Bow's letter to her dog) because she regretted the way she was treating him, expecting to much. This quote is quite interesting if you think of the "old habits die screaming" part on the backside of the Black Dog cover “What had habit done to me? The habit of complaining, of finding fault, of reprimanding you. (…) It was not that I didn’t love you; it was just that I expected to much of a little puppy.”

its crazy when i saw this video that it had been out for 13 seconds...

Regarding the Bolter: so Taylor has used War imagery a lot to describe her relationship with Joe and the term Bolter is used in naval aeration. It refers to a plane that is trying to land on an aircraft carrier but messes up and then has to accelerate and become airborne again. So quite literally a plane that is thought to be going down but is then turned right around... where have we heard that before: yes, in labyrinth:D

The Albatross by Charles Baudelaire discusses the precise reason why a poet is a tortured being - the last verse you mentioned draws a parallel to the adult albatross having the means to fly (wings) but still not being able to do so, and a poet being something divine, of the sky, able to draw from the unreachable, otherworldly and craft timeless values into palpable things like poems for mere humans to read - and yet still being a mere mortal himself, just a human. Baudelaire sees it as a curse, to be capable of the godly but not be able to fly like the gods, but to be forced to walk. I think it explains the whole concept of the album and why it's called that way!

“i love you its ruining my life” speaks “you’ve ruined my life by not being mine” to me

Freaking got goosebumps when you said how she started the week with “loving him was red” then ended the week with “I once believed love would be burning red but it’s golden “

People keep clowning about a suprise Rep TV release at March 15 midnight (because of the sus Disney+ release time) but I keep thinking it'd be the perfect opportunity for an Eras Tour Live album

"Am I allowed to cry" made me think about her celebrity and Joes ocean waves blues. Is she allowed to cry even though her problems are "champagne problems"? In "Youre losing me" she says "my pain is such an impostition" and I feel like maybe Joe was the only one "allowed" to be sad. Or maybe that she felt like she had to be the strong one and that there wasnt any room for her to fall apart. And that he never took her sadness seriously

Also, Churchill (English!!) talked about his depression as a black dog always lurking and he always did the ✌🏻 sign for "Victory".

I'm shocked no one has talked about the Poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner. That was my first exposure to an albatross personally. It tells the story of a sailor who shoots a friendly albatross cursing him and his crew and then as punishment has to wear it around his neck. I've always known the phrase "my albatross" or "the albatross I wear" to mean having to carry around this huge regret that weighs you down and there's nothing you can do about it but bare it.

15:13 The last verse of Baudelaire… “The Poet… laughs at The Archer, Exiled on the ground”. Why are we not talking about this?? 😭

As a writer and loser English degree recipient, I refrained from adding my instant recognition of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" about an albatross hung around the narrator's neck by Samuel Taylor(!) Coleridge. I presume others have brought this to light, but I can't not say this: Coleridge cooked up this poem's story with Mr, William Wordsworth and his sister (Dorothy, if I remember correctly adored Coleridge but Coleridge loved Sara someone and was married yada yada yada about a bunch of unrequited love between poets and muses and the Lake District and rumors of wild sex and the Lotus Eaters - Coleridge was an opium addict), on a walk in the Lake District. The poem is about a mariner/archer(!!) who stops a wedding guest (!) to tell his story. The story unfolds about a ship and crew befriended by an albatross that accompanies the ship until the mariner/archer shoots it with his bow resulting in the cursing of the ship and crew. It unfolds in six(!) of the poem's parts that horrors befall the mariner and crew because of the shooting of the albatross. They all die but the mariner whose salvation from a ship stuck on a motionless sea of death comes only when he confesses and repents of killing the albatross that did nothing (say something, Babe, do something). The seventh section is the mariner explaining his penance having at last "returned to his own country" as the opening states....to travel the world telling his story to those who will hear what it all means: "Farewell, farewell! but this I tell To thee thou Wedding-Guest! He prayeth well who loveth well Both man and bird and beast, He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all......He went like one that hath been stunned, And is of sense forlorn(!!): A sadder and a wiser man, He rose the morrow morn." But wait But wait because......the mariner's sea voyage of stillness trapped on the cursed ship (Joever) ends with the lines "Swiftly, swiftly. (!!!) flew the ship, Yet she sailed softly too: Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze --- on me alone it blew." This is not an English class, so I will stop about what the poem means for the song and the album's track list, but I leave us all with the fact that we are the wedding guest, Taylor the mariner/archer, the albatross her relationship with Joe (six years she loved the bird but killed it), then was stuck motionless, rudderless, on the sea alone until she found herself again (which was everything) went through a "Clean" like storm in the poem and only then made land in her own country to tell the tale for others to learn.

Okay but please tell me everyone else who has endured the English school system is thinking about The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and killing an albatross as an action which curses you forever ETA: also the ancient mariner tells his story to a wedding guest, blocking them from the bridegroom's door, and the guest is basically like 'wow I'm too sad to go now I guess' at the end

It’s the way I’m so excited and nervous to hear TTPD like I don’t think I’ve ever been this anxious to hear a Taylor Swift album before and I wonder how it’s gonna sound like omg I’m not ready at all 😭😭

Thank you so much for addressing that grief is non-linear. As a psychologist, I find it important to point out that this 5 stages model was created from a research with terminally ill patients, which as a concept is a little different from the experience of grief about a loved one. And grief itself is also a little bit different from the experience of breaking up.

IMO I think TTPD will have another tour bc the Eras Tour is for the first 9 albums and the final tenth recap album (Midnights) and Poets is like the new generation. IMAGINE HOW AWESOME IT WOULD BEE

I NEED TO BE ABLE TO TURN ON MY PHONE AND HEAR THAT VERSION OF EVERMORE TOO!! That recording breaks me and transports me.

So much of this aesthetic feels like a throwback to bold Hollywood glamour, like vaguely Marilyn Monroe-ish sepia-toned vibe. The way she's been saying over and over again on tour about the fans having appreciation for her doing new things makes me think she's in for a major change. My prediction is that this'll be leaning a bit toward big band/orchestral/jazzy 1930s-1950s vibe but in her Taylor way. The art could be a red herring, but I'm wondering if she's sent the time machine way back to like 80 years ago as an influence. Just what I'm picking up from all this, but who knows!

Thank you for validating me not buying all the variants haha. I got the standard album and I was really debating getting all of them, I just have no need for that many cds 😭 but it does stink that there’s a bonus track locked behind each of them

More on Baudelaire : One of the main themes of hic collection of poems "The Flowers of Evil" is the concept of "Poetic Alchemy", where Baudelaire theorizes the role of the poet. He believes that the role of the poet is to extract the Beauty from the Evil, to turn the ugly into something beautiful. Alchemy is the act of turning metal into gold. This is why he makes a parallel between alchemy and poetry : their goal is the same. Maybe that's the meaning of the song : Taylor is both a poet and an alchemist : she turns her bad experiences into art, just like the way she maybe turned her doomed relationship with Joe into a love golden like daylight. The epilogue of the collection goes like this : "O you, bear witness that I did my duty Like a perfect alchemist and like a holy soul. For I have extracted the quintessence of everything, You gave me your mud and I turned it into gold." (which gives me willow vibes !!)

Another meaning to the word Albatross is someone who causes you problems that you can’t escape or someone who prevents you from what you want to do. So I think the song may use the word in this meaning. If we are talking about the bird though, Albatross’ are the most committed lovers of any bird ❤ Love your videos Ally!!!

Similarly to how the Black Dog/Grim can represent a dark omen, the Albatross is pretty much the same thing in the ballad The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In that poem, the Albatross appears and is an omen before zombie sailor things attack the Mariner and his ship. I barely understand that poem lol, but my English teacher last year stressed repeatedly that the Albatross symbolizes a warning.

Another thing to note about albatrosses: they’re symbols of both good AND bad luck, of regret; and have a lot of literary lore related to them (like embodying the souls of lost sailors). Check out the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Coleridge (one of the Lakes poets): It’s about a sailor who shoots an albatross (which were considered lucky to sailors), and as punishment for cursing himself and the rest of the crew, is forced to wear it around his neck, making it a burden and symbol of regret for past sins/mistakes. Obviously these are all themes that Taylor has touched on before, but I think in this one she’s calling herself the albatross-she brings attention (and economic prosperity to the cities she visits) but that attention is also often putting yourself under an unrelenting microscope-think about when people crashed Jack’s wedding just because they knew Taylor was there. It also touches back to “Tolerate it”: she knows she should be celebrated, but she’s become this obligation and burden to the other person, who just puts up with her and her affection. Fun random facts: Albatrosses mate for life, and form colonies in isolated locations far away from major land masses (sound familiar?), where they only gather with their mates once a year to lay eggs. They also have elaborate courtship dances that vary by subspecies and by each bird pair. (I wrote a paper on them for an English class, so I’m actually getting to use all these random facts for a change!)

Hi Ally. Thanks for a great video once again! Regarding The Albatross - There is a chapter in Moby Dick called the Albatross. In it the crew passes another whaler ship nicknamed The Albatross, which is homeward bound, while they are outward bound. They try to communicate with it, to hear news and most importantly to hear if the other ship has sightet Moby Dick. However, just as the captain of The Albatross tries to answers their questions, he drops his trumpet into the sea and in vain tries to make himself heard without it. So the two ships are never able to share any wisdom. If Swift is inspired by this chapter of the famous novel, there are so many ways, that she could use this as an image. Her trying and failing to communicate in a relationship, or trying to communicate with her future self? As The Albatross is further along its journey than the other ship. I don't know, it was just a thought!

As for the verbiage "Old habits die hard," it could easily reference depression. For those of us battling it, it can be a place that we habitually return to...sometimes willingly. It can be difficult to turn off the auto pilot to darkness. Happiness and light are not to be trusted... Taylor understands pain, betrayal and imprisonment - but can skillfully reimagine herself into the pied piper of optimism. Her music is more than enjoyment, it provides a path to healing. Bless you Taylor Alison Swift.

I've never clicked on a video this fast. I'm literally getting ready for school right now so it's a perfect way for me to start my day 🤣

YES EVERMORE LIVE WAS SO GOOD

To add to the stages of grief theory; (if this album is leaning toward being autobiographical) I think the reason we may not have a fifth bonus track to represent acceptance is because she may not have reached that stage while writing for ttpd. People can be stuck in stages for years or revisit them, or sometimes skip (or merge) stages all together, the path of grief isn’t necessarily linear, and it certainly isn’t always fast. Or perhaps she may not have used acceptance as a theme intentionally, leaning into the “tortured poet” theme. Almost like a “there is no ending” or an “I’m not there yet” message. Please take this with a grain of salt tho, I’m not the best with my words nor my theories lolol

Whitehorse duet = Best mothering moment by mother. She was so proud of her Bree Bree.

There's also an English poem called The Rime of the ancient mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge that has an albatross in it, i think that's more close to the albatross she might be referring to in the song 🥹

I just add on to Ally’s great break down of the albatross, she said that the bird flys for six years then lands back on to solid ground. This could represent Taylor and Joe dating for SIX years and having a great time, but then Taylor landing and coming back into reality

talking about mashups, someone on tiktok pointed out that it’s time to go final part when she sings “so then you just go and then you go, you just go” line up perfectly with daylight final when she sings “let it go, just let it go, let it go” AND I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS NOW

Thank you for another awesome video Ally! I was also there at Melbourne night 1 and I absolutely lost it when she played Red and You're Losing Me, also getting to witness a Taylor announcement live was unbelievable, we were so lucky! Best night of my life!

i was an attendee of singapore n2 and that clean & evermore mashup literally DIED ME DEAD, im still not recovered from that like??? 😭😭😭😭 but adding to your predictions, i would think she intentionally played clean & evermore being sad but hopeful songs hinting on the theme of the black dog as her thoughts and reflections from her past experiences both in love and life and +++ those 2 also being the last songs of each album (clean technically on the standard version), and the black dog being the overall last song for ttpd, it feels like she's actually summing up ttpd with this song and as she said, this album saved her for many reasons. and wrapping everything up with the black dog will make sense of ttpd as a whole album 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 I AM SO SCARED AHHHHHHHHHH

to call someone albatross mean that they cause you great problems from which you cannot escape, or they prevent you from doing what you want to do. [disapproval]. or albatross around my neck meaning an annoying burden, which originates from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” in which a sailor who shoots a friendly albatross is forced to wear its carcass around his neck as punishment.

I haven’t seen anyone talking about this, but can we please talk about the Rime of the Ancient Mariner? The theme of the albatross symbolises this heavy burden this lies on the mariner’s shoulders and weighs him down. There is also a heavy Christian symbolism in the Rime! Instantly I thought about this poem when she announced it.

As a Speak Now stan I was so happy when she sang The Story of Us on Singapore night 2…… but the surprises just kept coming, the Black Dog variant announcement, AND THEN Clean + Evermore?! 😭😭😭 I felt so lucky that night!!

I went to the first Arlington show, and it dawned on me recently that it has been almost a year since then. Time has flown. I wish I could go again, but I'm so very grateful that I go to go and for the luck of having gotten great seats.

Ally you really have just blown my mind with this, the hints behind evermore and Coney Island, all the nights they were played, the song choices in more detail, the paw prints (which I never noticed) and the words on the back of the albums. As a new swiftie this is so helpful and I’m loving it, thank you so much

I'm convinced that she's changing the Eras Tour for the Europe Leg as TTPS will be out, lucky me i'm going to Lyon in June !!! And she's releasing the movie on Disney and a live CD !! French suscriber is sending you hugs for trying out because French is so dang difficult. 💛

Thank you so much for the disclaimer about buying the vinyls, it’s such a little thing to say but still meant a lot to see that someone understands

wow i hadn't caught the 'dog days' in evermore to 'the black dog' connections!! your PLL blogging days really keep you on your toes ally!!

for your nails you could go with black nail polish and use progressively lighter shades until white or light gray for release week!

13 mins agoo. So happy Ally is delivering TTPD content to us!! So excited for this video!

literally the best notification ever!

HIIIIIIIIIIIIII I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!!! it's my comfort channel and I've needed comfort this month. Have a good day/night too anyone reading this!

14:10 I half expected you to start singing Breaking Free lol

Ally I was literally waiting for this video. My mind each day was like "When I am i gonna hear Ally's thought on the variants of TTPD and the mashups". Like you are one of the only swiftie I dont talk to but connect to the most. I am just excited for TTPD.

You bless us Ally, every time

I was there for evermore live (cincy night 1!) and I get chills every time I go back and watch my videos. I would simply dieeee for the acoustic songs on the album. 😅

I saw the black dog pawprints in your intro! I love the little details! 😆

24:27 WOW YOU PREDICTED THAT SO GOOD OMG

the way Ive been checking my notifications for a video like this TYYYY

Nothing better than being sick alone at home, and having my favourite RU-vidr talk about my favourite singer for company❤️✨

ally watching your videos reminds me of sitting down with my bestie and talking forever

Just for completeness, there is also the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Coleridge, where an albatross plays a significant part.

girl i adore your videos sm everything is easier to understand please continue like forever & always

Ally, thank you for your service. The Albatross facts are insane.

Ally I also wanted to share one of my swifty brain findings😂 that she said in TIME interview that 'im collecting horcruxes' like its directly related to Harry Potter and The Black Dog is such a strong reference to HP as well.... IDK maybe she was hinting something❤

wow! coney island connection to the Albatross was amazing, thank you Ally for such insightful videos ❤ you never cease to amaze me

Also, the Albatross has been mentioned various times in significant English literature before, such as in Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein or Coleridge‘s Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In the latter, the poem is about how a sailor kills an albatross, a type of bird, and as a result receives horrible KARMA, which is what albatross always afterwards has meant in literature.

4:06 Mad respect for saying that 🙏

Hi, Ally! I'm seeing Taylor next May 10th in Paris. Can't wait! Thanks fo recommending loops. I'll buy them straight away

Guys!!! I just bought my FIRST Taylor Swift album...!! The Black Dog vinyl...!! I hope you're happy for me :)))))) I have been a Swiftie since Lover, but now I'm finally buying in. My love has grown exponentially with each album, and Folklore & Evermore established her as one of my all time favourite artists. Proud Swiftie from London

people have been talking abt how her hand is on her neck in the black dog cover. ppl say it's her checking her pulse but my theory is: in call it what you want she sings: "I want to wear his initial On a chain 'round my neck, chain 'round my neck" this cover shows her checking for the chain that isn't there anymore, because joe isnt with her anymore. credit to @13ATaylorSwiftFanPodcast for mentioning the checking for her pulse thing, bc otherwise i wouldnt have thought of my theory

Omg Ally, it is so incredible how you get all this information and link everything together, you are amaizing!! How you find the references and the possible story behind every title and lyrics. I can't wait to TTPD to realease to try to understand everything and obiosly enjoy what our queen has to offer us, and then come here to your videos to have a better explanaition of things. Never stop doing this please. Thank you!

Girl you are so smart and good at finding Easter eggs! You are wayyyyyy better at it than me!

Props to Ally for continuing her hard-work in making these videos! Keep it up!

ally i love you so much, you are me and my sisters favourite channel ever! we watch you ALL THE TIME and whenever you post we watch it together, you have taught me so much about being a swiftie and i adore your videos, i hope you continue to grow and have a great day!! ❤

I'm so excited for this video, thanks for your great content😍

This is such a good video! I loved the deep exploration into each variant especially the poem and Coney Island history for the Albatross!! It’s also so funny to see clips from my show when she played White Horse/coney island with Sabrina . You made me feel so happy to have gone to Sydney Night 1 but also you’re so lucky to have gone to Melbourne Night 1 😅 I was watching the livestream with my sister and when you guys got Red and You’re Losing me we GASPED. Same with Melbourne Night 2 😭😭. Anyway, great video as always!!

Ally, could you host a listening party for TTPD here? As a live? So we can all listen to it together and react to it together! Lots of love 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

It's a good day when Ally uploads a video ❤

this video released 2 minutes ago and i already know that i'm gonna love it :DD thank you ally for making our days with your videos!!

i just wanted to say that i love your content sm. it's like a little safe place for me 🫶🏻 like rn i paint my nails, while watching your video, because i'm going to go see the eras tour movie tomorrow for the second time with my mum :)

honestly i‘m the most exited for the bolter, I feel like it’s the most underated variant and her playing ylm after, it‘s gonna be heartbreaking

you mentioned charles baudelaire and i had to pause. i had to run and get my copy of the flowers of evil (i freaking love baudelaire) and tell me why it opens with a note “to the reader” , and the second poem in the book is the Albatross… I have the english translated version and don’t know if it’s any different but im kinda wigging out???

Ally, I love watching you! Thank you for being you! ❤

I love having notifications on! Early bird❤

Loops are amazing!! They are single handedly saving my hearing. The only problem is you can hear everything perfectly but you start talking at a normal level because you can hear your own voice again but no one else can hear you over the music. 😅 It's fine because you should probably be listening to the music anyway 😅

Maybe the tortured poets department is a sister album to 1989 or perhaps a rewritten version of karma the supposedly lost album. In the man wall 1989 appears twice, once much darker. Maybe originally taylor planned on releasing karma but somewhere along the way rewrote all the songs or perhaps because we know she has a general idea of each album 3-4 years before its release (except for folkmore) maybe she had a general idea for a more darker 1989. The skies turned grey after the release of 1989 tv in the visuals. Maybe thats a refrence to poets. On the standard cover of the tortured poets department taylors face is cutting of just like 1989. Midnights and 1989 are both synth pop albums maybe thats why t.n posted the reel about having two sisters... When the album first was announced on registeries it popped up as a synth pop album just like 1989. Albatrosses like ally said are very simillar to seagulls....

Thank you for being our guide in the chaos Ally! Also, I'd love a you're losing me and champagne problems mashup! I cant find a pulse my heart ... was glass you dropped it!

its always a good day when ally uploads!

the way you manifested two mashups so far (is it over now? and i wish you would as well as foolish one x tell me why) tells me that taylor regularly watches your channel and more mashups are to come [and you're to blame... /j]

Ally. I just love your content. I get the warmest feeling sitting down to watch. I love having found someone as passionate as we are about Taylor! Thank you for doing what you do, all the work you put into it does not go unnoticed… thank you for being you 🥰🥰🥰

I am so happy that I found ur RU-vid page in October , I love learning from you ❤❤

thank you for saying something about the vinyl! i have been wanting a record player and ts vinyls for forever but just havent been able to get one yet but i really want one. also love love love ur videos omg ❤

I bought at least one copy of every variant - I budgeted for half of them; the other half I happened to still have my tax refund, so - and I WISH she’d just have dropped all four variants at the same time. Let people pick which one is their favorite one or collect them all like Pokémon. AND KEEP THEM AVAILABLE. So people can buy them when they can afford them. Not gonna lie, I am SALTLY that I had to pay for shipping four separate times. Also wish there was a way to consolidate to save both us, the consumers, and Taylor.

i wanna think that since there are only four variants, maybe there is no acceptance. at least, not yet.

Ally, I adore the way you always make everyone feel included. You are the absolute best 💘

Always a good day when you upload ❤

Do we all think the bonus tracks will ever be on streaming?? I’m too broke for all those variants but I’m so worried I’m gonna miss out on some amazing songs😭😭

she couldn't possibly be releasing a book around those two months right?...........RIGHT??????????

I was at Melbourne N1 as well (sad I didn't get a chance to see you!) and it was so surreal to see an announcement in real life. For that to then be followed by 'you're losing me'... a song that means so so so much to me... I definitely sobbed. It was such a special night 🤍🤍 I also thought she was going to play a ttpd song 😭but I wouldn't trade ylm for the entire world. love love love these deep dives, thank you ally ❤

Lots of love Ally🤍 Love your videos 🥰❤

I still think Taylor watches your videos for ideas 😂

Ally I love ya! But when you said "as long as you're listening to Taylor's Versions, you're supporting her", I don't think that's fair nor true. I understand what you mean, but you're still supporting Taylor if you listen to the originals. She wrote them, she still gets money from the streams/purchases, and she herself even said fans do not have to ONLY listen to TVs. Sometimes, the TVs don't hit (WANEGBT, for example). I listen to mostly Taylor's Versions, but there are a few originals that I still listen to. Some fans don't listen to ANY TVs, and they're still Swifties. Anyway love and respect ya

i’ve been so looking forward to your analysis!!