Taylor Swift says she ‘was a functioning alcoholic’ in ‘TTPD’ song ‘Fortnight’: ‘I was supposed to be sent away’
Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” is here — so let the lyric breakdown begin.
In her highly anticipated 11th studio album, Swift dropped 17 tracks at midnight Friday, and then surprised fans with an extra 15 — making it a secret double album. And she didn’t waste any time getting personal on the first single, “Fortnight.”
“I was supposed to be sent away/ But they forgot to come and get me,” she sings. “I was a functioning alcoholic ’til nobody noticed my new aesthetic.”
“All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February/ I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary,” she goes on. “And I love you, it’s ruining my life/ I love you, it’s ruining my life.”
It’s unknown if Swift was just taking creative liberties with her songwriting with the lyrics.
The 34-year-old musician cut out alcohol before she embarked on her Eras Tour, which she kicked off following her split from ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
“I knew this tour was harder than anything I’d ever done before by a long shot,” Swift told Time magazine for her 2023 Person of the Year cover. She previously trained “like a frat guy,” but this time trained six months ahead of the first show.
“Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud. Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs,” she said. “Then I had three months of dance training, because I wanted to get it in my bones. I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought.”
The only time she drank during her tour was at the 2023 Grammys, where she was filmed dancing and singing to Demi Lovato performing. “Doing that show with a hangover, I don’t want to know that world,” she added.
The “Midnights” singer has since been photographed on multiple occasions with a drink in hand, notably when attending boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs football games, celebrating his Super Bowl win and while traveling with the athlete, 34, in the Bahamas last month.
Swift collaborates with Post Malone on “Fortnight.” The music video for the track debuts at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.
“I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever,” she wrote via Instagram this week. “I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight.”
