The chorus of Taylor Swift‘s title single from her 11th period album mentions the Chelsea Hotel, Dylan Thomas, and Patti Smith, along with one of the places that connects them.
Swift screams, “You’re not Dylan Thomas,” and grins in “The Tortured Poets Department.” Not me, Patti Smith? This is not the Chelsea hotel. We are modern-day idiots.
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The poetry and novels of Welsh writer Dylan Thomas are most well-known for their compositions “Fern Hill,” “Under Milk Wood,” and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Thomas was born in 1914 and died in 1953.
Born in 1947, Patti Smith is a well-known poet, author, songwriter, performer, and painter. “Writer” is what her Instagram bio says. Together, we are all alive. Smith continues to write regularly. Thursday morning, she signed books in New York City.
Manhattan is home to The Chelsea Hotel, often known as Hotel Chelsea or The Chelsea. Constructed in the latter part of the 1800s, this twelve-story hotel, which has been recognized as a landmark in New York, has been home to numerous writers, painters, novelists, and well-known socialites. and continues to do so.
Professor Stephanie Burt of Harvard, who teaches a Swift course, described the lyric’s layers.
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Burt remarks, “Swift is not just telling (the guy in the song), you’re not that talented.” She is urging us as artists not to allow our self-destructive, tortured natures become the focal point of our work, inviting everyone to take a look at what a mess we are.
Thomas and Smith shared a hotel room. “Dylan Thomas in America,” a 1955 biography by John Brinnin, claims that Thomas was a “roistering, drunken and doomed poet.” Smith continued to tour the world and release recordings. She performed and sung with Bruce Springsteen.
“When discussing a lady on stage who exudes magnetism and is a poet with a capital “P,” Burt suggests bringing up Patti Smith. “If you want to talk about a romantic, self-destructive poet with the talent to support it but no sense of self-care and who overdid everything, you have to talk about Dylan Thomas.”
Swift is advocating against artists who destroy themselves, arguing that we should leave that to the “modern idiots.”
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“The Department of Tortured Poets”
“Tortured Poets” is Swift’s eleventh era album, with 16 tracks and 4 bonus songs (four editions of the album have a different bonus track), in case you missed the message from the department chairman.
When Swift won her 13th career Grammy for pop album of the year, she revealed the project during the Grammy Awards. Two artists that contributed to the pop album are Post Malone and Florence and The Machine.
The track names are savage. The record, according to fans, was about Swift’s breakup after six years of dating English actor Joe Alwyn. Both celebrities maintained their romance private. A knife to the chest, the words “I love you, it’s ruining me” were printed on the back of the original record.
During Swift’s two-month hiatus from her enormously successful and well-liked Eras Tour, the album was released. The three-and-a-half-hour show “Tortured Poets” began in Glendale, Arizona, a year ago, and has been an enormous success for the billionaire. On May 9, Swift will take the stage again in Paris, France. Her most recent era is expected to be incorporated to the show, according to fans.