Breaking Down Every Alcohol Lyric in Taylor Swift’s ‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY’ Album
View of U.S. singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s new album “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” at la Fnac in Paris. (Photo: Raphael Lafargue/Abaca/Sipa USA via AP Images)
In February, we published an article tracking the lyrics that reference alcoholic beverages across the expansive musical catalogue of Taylor Swift.
This month, fans across the world had their eager anticipation satiated when the star released her new record, “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.” Then, they had their minds blown a couple of hours later when Swift surprise-dropped the second half of the album: “THE ANTHOLOGY.”
Since its release, the album has broken records galore, including single-week vinyl sales, single-day Spotify album streams and single-day Spotify song streams (“Fortnight”). It even became the fastest album to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, achieving the feat in a mere five days.
We listened to all 31 tracks of “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY” and combed through the lyrics to write this follow-up article, in which we’ll break down every alcohol lyric Taylor Swift sung in her new double album.
Every Alcohol Reference in Taylor Swift’s ‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY’
All in all, we counted six clear alcohol-related lines on the album, a seventh that might be a little bit of a stretch and one alcohol lyric from a different artist featured on the album.
Fortnight: “I was a functioning alcoholic till nobody noticed my new aesthetic.”
This has been by far the most-discussed alcohol-related lyric among fans and media. As we tracked in our previous article, Swift has made 28 specific alcohol references in her work, not counting references to simply being drunk or vague lines about having “a drink.”
From her songwriting and what we know about her day-to-day life, it’s clear Swift enjoys a drink every now and then, but we have nothing outside of this lyric to suggest she may be a “functioning alcoholic.”
She may see herself this way, but it’s also entirely possible the lyric isn’t biographical. Swift is a creative songwriter who often dabbles in fiction in her work. In fact, on this very song, Swift sings about wanting to kill her husband, who is cheating on her. Swift doesn’t have a husband, and if that lyric is fictitious, it’s quite possible the whole song is.
But Daddy I Love Him: “All the wine moms are still holdin’ out, but f–k ’em, it’s over.”
Swift’s description of those who who gossip about her and her relationships as “wine moms” is pretty funny and probably quite perceptive. In this song, she also sings about “vipers dressed in empath’s clothing” and “saboteurs.”
On “But Daddy I Love Him,” Swift expresses her frustration with her place under the public microscope and the effects it has on her relationships. She seems to be suggesting these “wine moms,” who have nothing better to do than discuss Swift’s love life, are holding out hope that one of her relationships is still ongoing (Matty Healy, perhaps?). It’s over, though.
The Alchemy: “This happens once every few lifetimes. These chemicals hit me like white wine”
A pretty straightforward simile here. This song seems to be about Swift’s boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. “Chemicals” could refer to increased dopamine and norepinephrine levels as Swift feels attraction and falls in love with the football player.
The Alchemy: “Beer stickin’ to the floor. Cheers chanted ’cause they said there was no chance trying to be the greatest in the league. Where’s the trophy? He just comes runnin’ over to me.”
This line appears to strum up some imagery from Kelce’s 2024 Super Bowl victory with the Chiefs and the following celebrations.
Clara Bow: “Crowd goes wild at her fingertips. Half moonshine, a full eclipse.”
Swift teased this lyric ahead of the 2024 Solar Eclipse. This one might be a reach, as “half moonshine” could be referring solely to astrological happenings. Still, though: Moonshine is also commonly used to refer to non-aged whiskey.
Clara Bow: “Cross your thoughtless heart. Only liquor anoints you.”
“Anointing” is usually a religious ceremonial process in which one is smeared with oil. It’s hard to tell exactly what Swift means with this one, but there’s something to the subject of the line being anointed not with a ceremonial oil but instead with liquor, which many would construe to be a negative, dark and impure substance.
I Look in People’s Windows: “I look in people’s windows, transfixed by rose golden glows. They have their friends over to drink nice wine.”
There’s not a ton to read into here. She’s simply stating something she does. Swift follows this line up with “I look in people’s windows in case you’re at their table” — an explanation for why she’s looking in people’s windows.
Bonus: An additional alcohol lyric was on the album, but it wasn’t sung by Swift. Florence & The Machine sang the following on “Florida”: “I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away. Barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine.”
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