The night of April 18 saw many Villanova students waiting up for the highly-anticipated release of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department. The 16-song, hour-long album dropped exactly at midnight and captivated fans over the hours to follow.
There were many implicit references to her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn included in the album, as expected by fans. From strategically placing a song titled “So Long, London” in the infamous track five spot to including another song called “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” it is safe to say that Alwyn was not widely popular after fans listened to the album.
Other songs that stood out were “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” (deemed a fan favorite by many), as well as back-to-back tracks “loml” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” These two songs gave many listeners quite the case of whiplash as the soft and sad “loml” leads into the next track, featuring an extremely upbeat and sparkly vibe.
The biggest surprise of the night, however, was the new countdown Swift began right after The Tortured Poets Department dropped. The two-hour clock ran out at two in the morning on April 19, revealing a double album. Swift dropped 15 more songs at 2 a.m., creating The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.
With songs like “The Black Dog,” seemingly revealing why Swift and Alwyn split, to songs like “Cassandra,” which take on a more metaphorical feeling, this second drop lived up to the hype once again.
In order to properly celebrate this album, Villanova’s CAT organized a release party on April 19. Lines for the food trucks began to curl around the Riley Ellipse as Swift’s music began playing from a stage set up in the center of the grass. Energy was high, with many students dancing and singing to Swift’s new tracks.
This release party was the perfect way to get students out on campus to celebrate something current and relevant to their lives and interests. Many Villanova students love Swift, so an event around her album was bound to get students excited. The party had many enthusiastic participants, proving that CAT had chosen just the right way to celebrate The Tortured Poets Department.
