Taylor Swift new album LIVE: Singer sends fans wild with Travis Kelce tributes in The Alchemy – after making brutal digs at exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy… as well as Kim Kardashian

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By Maya Cantina

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Taylor Swift new album LIVE: Singer sends fans wild with Travis Kelce tributes in The Alchemy – after making brutal digs at exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy… as well as Kim Kardashian

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Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated new album, The Tortured Poets Department, is finally here, and the 31 tracks are filled to the brim with Easter eggs and references to her ex-boyfriends, past feuds, and latest romance.

The singer, 34, threw in brutal digs at Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy, finally lifting a lid on what really went down during their romances, breakups, and everything in between.

She also seemed to reference her drama with Kim Kardashian in one tune – and of course, there were some adorable love songs about her new beau Travis Kelce.

Follow along with DailyMail.com’s live coverage to see all the lyric breakdowns, Easter eggs, references to her past romances, reactions, reviews, and more.

‘My jaw is on the floor’: Fans go wild over Taylor’s love song The Alchemy – thanks to its many references to Travis Kelce

The internet is extremely excited over the track The Alchemy – thanks to its many references to Taylor’s new beau Travis.

Throughout the lyrics, she references the Chiefs and ‘touchdowns.’

Soon after the album release, X, formerly Twitter, erupted with fans’ reactions to the song.

Inside Taylor and Post Malone’s unconventional friendship amid their new collaboration

Taylor and Post teamed up for the first track of The Tortured Poets Department, Fortnight.

The pair first met backstage at the Billboard Music Awards in 2018, following Post’s breakthrough album Beerbongs & Bentleys – and their admiration for one another was immediately apparent.

The Better Now singer recounted the moment in an October 2023 interview on The Howard Stern Show.

He said: ‘We were just passing by and she was like, “Oh my god! Nice to see you. Better Now is f***ing amazing.”

‘I was like, “What?’ That’s f***ing crazy, you’re a great f***ing songwriter! Thank you so very much.

‘There’s so many beautiful artists in the world and for another artist to acknowledge that is a really, really special thing. That was a really cool moment and it was very inspiring.’

Read more to find out how their relationship developed and lead to them writing Fortnight together:

The 16th track on Taylor’s new album is entitled Clara Bow – but who is the song about?

Clara Bow was a silent movie actress who began working in Hollywood in the Roaring Twenties, and as one of the most prolific ‘flapper girls’ of the time, she was known for her lifestyle of debauchery, alcoholism and wild partying.

She went on to become the most famous woman of her generation thanks to her stellar acting talent and dramatic personal life – not dissimilar to Taylor, whose critics accuse the star of leveraging her prolific love life for personal gain.

Lyrics from the first verse of Clara Bow read: ‘You look like Clara Bow in this light, remarkable. All your life, did you know you’d be picked like a rose?’

circa 1929: A sad-looking Clara Bow (1905 - 1965) sits on a luxurious bed with draperies. (Photo by Don English/John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

REVEALED: The real reason Taylor and Travis ‘declined their invitations to the Met Gala’

Amid the release of Taylor’s new album The Tortured Poets Department, it was also reported this morning that the popstar will not be attending this year’s Met Gala – and nor will her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

Despite both the singer and her NFL star boyfriend receiving invitations, TMZ has claimed that the pair have RSVP’d ‘no’ to the star-studded event on May 6.

But while she has made her mark on the Met Gala red carpet in the past, this year Taylor is understood not to be able to attend for a very good reason: the event falls at the start of the same week that she is due to kick off the next leg of her Eras Tour.

Meanwhile Travis, who has not previously been a guest at the splashy event, is also said to have declined his invitation – perhaps because his girlfriend will not be able to attend with him.

Taylor Swift the hypocrite? Singer slams ‘gossips’ who examine her relationships

Taylor is known for her honest and clever lyrics often linking to the ends of her high-profile romances, with critics hailing her new album The Tortured Poets Department her ‘most personal yet’ as she took a ‘sharp savage attack on her British exes’, including Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy.

But in a somewhat hypocriticial move, the singer also appeared to take a swipe at all of the ‘gossips’ who have examined her past relationships, despite the fact that she routinely relies on her romances for material for her songs.

Her latest album is no different, with fans pointing to several songs that seemingly reference her relationships with Matty and Joe, as well as several lyrics that allude to her romance with current boyfriend Travis Kelce.

Taylor’s biggest fan! How pop star’s father Scott has supported her as she releases new album

Taylor’s doting parents Scott, 71, and Andrea, 66, are, unsurprisingly, her biggest fans.

Banker Scott has been described as very protective of his daughter and has been spotted by her side at many shows during the Eras tour.

Swifties have captured footage of the devoted dad watching his daughter perform – and she credits him all the way back in The Best Day on Fearless, saying ‘I have an excellent father’.

And he will be as proud as ever as she releases her 11th studio album, with a whopping 31 tracks.

Taylor references an old video of now-boyfriend Travis Kelce saying he would ‘kiss’ her but ‘marry’ Katy Perry

In So High School, Taylor references a game of kiss, marry and kill, singing: ‘Are you gonna marry, kiss or kill me? It’s just a game but really I’m bettin’ on all three for us two.’

It seems to be a nod to Travis Kelce and to a resurfaced video showing the Kansas City Chiefs star playing the game.

In it, he says he would kiss Taylor, but marry Katy Perry – while Ariana Grande got the axe.

Of course, this is years before they actually met but Taylor holding a grudge is such a mood.

How Taylor’s UK romances have led to her most painful lyrics as she slams exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy

Taylor once sang that she loves a ‘London Boy’ on her 2019 album Lover, when she was dating British actor Joe Alwyn.

But The Tortured Poets Department sees her pen So Long, London, appearing to wave goodbye to her love affair with the UK.

The name of the album has long been speculated to be a jab at Joe, who previously revealed that he is part of a WhatsApp group chat with close pals Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott called The Tortured Man Club.

In the past, Taylor has also dated Brits Calvin Harris, Tom Hiddleston and Harry Styles.

ALL the Easter eggs in The Tortured Poets Department – from double album hints to a sneaky reference to Taylor’s lucky number

Fans are keeping themselves busy with poring over every little detail within the 31-track album The Tortured Poets Department.

From a sneaky reference to her lucky number 13 to hinting at the double album for WEEKS, there are clues abundant to be unpicked.

But look no further, as MailOnline has put together a handy guide to give you all the latest Swiftie knowledge that you need!

Taylor Swift fans slam her ex Joe Alwyn as she appears to imply he cheated on her

Swifties have been quick to accuse Joe Alwyn of cheating on Taylor, leading to the end of their six-year relationship in 2023.

Many believe she is implying he was unfaithful in her song, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.

In the song, she belts: ‘And you’ll confess why you did it… And I’ll say good riddance. Cos it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden.

‘You didn’t measure up in any measure of a man. I would have died for your sins but instead I just died inside. You deserve prison, but you won’t get time. You will slide into inboxes and slip through the bars.’

Welsh Swifties declare ‘we’ve won’ as Taylor references poet Dylan Thomas

Swifties from Wales could not contain their excitement on Friday morning as they realised Taylor had mentioned Welsh poet Dylan Thomas on her record.

‘You’re not Dylan Thomas. I’m not Patti Smith. This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel. We’re modern idiots,’ she sings in The Tortured Poets Department title track, which is thought to be about The 1975’s Matty Healy.

Dylan Thomas is one of Wales’s most famous writers, and his works include poems such as Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, which is often read at memorial services.

He died at the Chelsea Hotel in New York aged 39 in 1953. The hotel is also referenced in the song.

Welsh fans were left ecstatic at Taylor’s reference to their country – and many will be hoping she sings the song at her Cardiff shows on the upcoming Europe leg of the Eras tour.

Swifties appear to BREAK Spotify as they rush to listen to The Tortured Poets Department

In 2014, Taylor famously removed her entire catalogue from Spotify amid issues over how much artists are paid.

And issues have arisen again but for an entirely different reason, as her fans seem to have caused several outages as they rushed to listen to the album.

According to Down Detector, the number of outages recorded spiked tremendously at around 7am UK time, as those waking up eagerly plugged in their headphones to listen.

Bakery chain Greggs jokes it’s launching the ‘Tortured Pastry Department’

Brands are always quick to join in whenever Taylor does anything – and the Empire State Building in New York is even known to light up in different colours according to her albums.

UK bakery chain Greggs was quick to jump in on Friday, joking it was launching ‘The Tortured Pastry Department’.

‘All’s fair in love and pastry’… the brand wrote on Twitter.

Fans were left in stitches when they spotted that the ALT text to describe the picture read: ‘An album cover showing a Greggs Sausage Roll lying seductively on a duvet. The title of the album is ‘The Tortured Pastry Department.

Who is the Lucy that Taylor mentions in The Tortured Poets Department?

In the title track of the Tortured Poets Department, Taylor makes yet another reference – this time to a ‘Lucy’.

She sings: ‘You told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave / But I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen.’

Swifties believe that this is a reference to Lucy Dacus from Boygenius, and Taylor’s producer and close friend, Jack Antonoff.

Lucy and Matty Healy apparently used to be friends – but publicly fell out on Twitter last year after Healy made an ableist joke. Dacus wrote on the social networking platform: ‘You don’t hear from me at all.’

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift winner of Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for

The reviews are in! The Tortured Poets is branded ‘gloriously chaotic’ by critics calling it her ‘most personal record yet’

The reviews of The Tortured Poets Department are flooding in, with critics calling it ‘gloriously chaotic’.

The Telegraph’s Neil McCormick focused on Taylor’s savage swipes at her British exes, awarding it four stars.

Meanwhile Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield described it as her ‘most personal album yet’.

And The Daily Mail has awarded it four stars – while El Hunt of the Evening Standard only gave it two.

Read the full round-up here to see what the critics are saying:

Fans still going wild over Matty Healy relationship hints

Many people expected The Tortured Poets would focus on Taylor’s six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.

But her fling with The 1975’s Matty Healy, which began in May 2023, is also heavily referenced.

In the song titled The Tortured Poets Department, she sings: ‘I scratch your head, you fall asleep / Like a tattooed golden retriever,’ appearing to reference Healy’s famous tattoos

Meanwhile in her lead single Fortnight, she appears to say their ‘toxic love’ was ‘ruining my life’.

It’s not all heartbreak out here! Swifties go wild over references to Travis Kelce in The Tortured Poets Department

Taylor may have taken aim at ex-lovers Matty Healy and Joe Alwyn, but she also doesn’t hold back in speaking about her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

In her track The Alchemy, Taylor drops multiple references to her boyfriend and football.

The bridge of the song is where the references to Kelce are the most obvious. ‘Chiefs chanting ’cause they said / There was no chance / Trying to be the greatest in the league / Where’s the trophy?/ He just comes running over to me,’ she sings.

She then refers to ‘touchdowns’ and ‘blokes warming the benches’.

Aww! Read more about the sweet lyrics in our story below:

Who are the writers credited on the album?

Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner are once again credited as writers on Taylor’s latest album.

So, My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys and Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? are the only two songs solely written by Taylor, but she will have had a major part to play in all of them.

Fortnight (ft. Post Malone) also credits Austin Post with writer credits – which is Post Malone’s real name.

He is joined by Florence Welsh (from Florence + The Machine) as a featured writer on the album.

Producer Jack is much beloved by Swifties, having worked on at least 50 of her songs. And The National’s Aaron Dessner has helped her produce masterpieces ever since folklore.

Taylor is called ‘so real’ for song lyric saying she’s ‘crying at the gym’

Taylor certainly knows how to pen a relatable lyric, from the sorrows of young love in Fifteen on her early album Fearless, to later visions of heartbreak in her more recent releases.

And fans have been quick to spot their new favourite lyric in her new song ‘Down Bad’, in which Taylor says she’s ‘crying at the gym’.

‘She’s so real!’ fans were quick to exclaim, flooding Twitter with memes and gifs.

Others even went so far as to call it the ‘most relatable lyric she’s ever written’ – which, as we all know, is a very strong claim indeed.

What Tortured Poets merchandise is available?

With every new album and every new release, Taylor is keen to offer a wide variety of merchandise to her fans.

Folklore saw the launch of the iconic cardigan, which are now worn by Swifties all over the world.

And items for the Tortured Poets include clothes, gold-plated jewellery, baseball caps and a display version for vinyls.

Read on to find out the full selection on offer from Taylor’s billion-dollar merchandise machine.

Read the Mail’s review of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: ADRIAN THRILLS casts his verdict

The Mail’s official review of The Tortured Poets Department is in, as ADRIAN THRILLS has cast his verdict.

‘The pop superstar pulls out all the stops on this mammoth undertaking,’ he writes, adding that this is the ‘dawn of a new era’.

Adrian continues: ‘The good news for Swifties is that the 34-year-old’s astonishing work ethic hasn’t led to a dip in songwriting quality.

‘Including four re-recordings, this is her ninth LP in five years, and it’s well up to the standard of the older albums she’s currently revisiting on The Eras Tour, a career-spanning show which hits UK stadiums this June.’

Find out how many stars we have awarded the album and read the full review here:

All of Taylor’s literary references REVEALED

The Tortured Poets Department is not Taylor’s first deep dive into the world of literature.

Just days before she announced the new album, MailOnline took a detailed look at all the secret literary references she makes in her songs.

From mentioning Romeo and Juliet to Alice in Wonderland, it is no surprise that fans suspect she will one day release a book of poetry (and we can’t wait if she does!).

How many references have you spotted?

What’s happening next?

We may have 31 tracks to be getting on with, but there’s still a lot to be looking forward to!

Taylor will be releasing a music video for the lead single Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) at 8pm ET (1am UK time). She has already released a sneak preview and fans can barely wait.

And if that still isn’t enough, there are big listening parties happening for the new album in London and Manchester, where you can join fellow Swifties in unpicking all the references.

Taylor is such a big fan of surprises that who knows what she has in mind next!

All the poets and celebrities namedropped on The Tortured Poets Department

It’s Easter eggs galore in Swiftieland today as Taylor has namedropped the likes of Charlie Puth and Patti Smith.

The album also includes a poem penned by Fleetwood’s Stevie Nicks, which references a pair of starcrossed lovers.

Swift mentions singer-songwriter Charlie Puth, 32, on the title track The Tortured Poets Department with the lyrics, ‘You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate/ We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.’

Read on to find out who else is mentioned in the 31-track album!

Could Taylor be referencing her feud with Kim Kardashian?

The tea keeps on spilling and Taylor keeps on topping it up!

A track from The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is called thanK you aIMee and surely it’s not a coincidence that the capital letters spell out KIM.

The song happens to be about a school bully.

Taylor and Kim’s longtime row began thanks to the singer’s dispute with Kanye in 2009, when he famously stormed the stage at the VMAs when she won the prize for Best Female Video.

Things got worse in 2016 when Kanye released his song Famous, which featured the lyrics: ‘I feel like me and Taylor Swift might still have sex / Why? I made that b**** famous.’

It led to a social media firestorm ignited by Kim, who was married to Kanye at the time.

Taylor references exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy in new album

There was much speculation over who Taylor would write about on her latest record.

In April 2023, her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn came to an end – and she went on to have a short-lived fling with 1975 frontman Matty Healy.

Fans have been quick to speculate over the meanings of her lyrics – although she is now happily loved up with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce.

Here MailOnline breaks down who each of her new tracks is about. So who does YOUR favourite track reference?

What are fans saying so far?

Swifties are not known for doing things by halves – and have been left in tears by the new album, calling it a ‘masterpiece’ and her ‘best album ever’.

One typed, ‘IM CRYING RN. TAYLOR WE LOVE YOU!!!!’ while another added, ‘This is going to be the best album Taylor has made I know it.’

’13 seconds in and its already the best album,’ a follower penned, and one excitedly wrote, ‘OMG Taylor this is a masterpiece!! Thank you for this amazing album!! Love you.’

‘I love it so much already,’ a Swiftie typed, while another penned, ‘THIS IS THE BEST ALBUM YOU’VE EVER MADE.’

’10 seconds into The Tortured Poets Department,’ one typed while adding a GIF of Max (Sadie Sink) from Stranger Things floating up into the air.

The tracklist in FULL

It’s a great day for Swifties as we now have 31 new songs from Taylor – with a music video on its way.

Here’s the tracklist of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology in full…

Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)

The Tortured Poets Department

My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys

… So Long, London

But Daddy I Love Him

Fresh Out The Slammer

Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)

Guilty as Sin?

Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

The Alchemy

The Black Dog

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The Albatross

Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus

How Did It End?

So High School

I Hate It Here

thanK you alMee

I Look in People’s Windows

The Prophecy

The Bolter

The Manuscript

Taylor sends fans into meltdown by dropping 15 MORE tracks

Just hours after The Tortured Poets Album being released – and Taylor has announced 15 MORE tracks.

The popstar is known for her ‘Easter eggs’ and surprises for her fans – and had sparked a flurry of speculation by posting a countdown clock on social media.

Captioning the post, Taylor told her followers that she’d written ‘so much tortured poetry in the past two years’ that she wanted to share it with her fans.

Sharing the double album was called The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, she wrote: ‘It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. ✌️

‘I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.’

Good morning Swifties!

Good morning everyone and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as Taylor Swift releases her new album: The Tortured Poets Department.

The Grammy-winning artist has officially dropped her highly anticipated 11th studio album.

And what’s more – she’s announced that it is secretly a DOUBLE album with 15 extra tracks!

Let’s get Swiftly into it…

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 04: Taylor Swift accepts the Album Of The Year award for
Key Updates

  • Taylor references an old video of now-boyfriend Travis Kelce saying he would ‘kiss’ her but ‘marry’ Katy Perry
  • Could Taylor be referencing her feud with Kim Kardashian?
  • Taylor references exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy in new album
  • What are fans saying so far?
  • The tracklist in FULL
  • Taylor sends fans into meltdown by dropping 15 MORE tracks

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