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We Decoded Every Track on Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’

During two episodes of our ‘Rolling Stone Music Now’ podcast, we do our best to solve every lyrical mystery of Swift’s 31-track opus

Taylor Swift

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From “Fortnight” to “The Manuscript,” the latest episodes of Rolling Stone Music Now dive into every single track of Taylor Swift‘s longest album ever, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. Along the way, we debate larger issues, including whether Swift intends all 31 tracks to be seen as the album proper, or if the latter half — added by surprise on the night of release — is actually more of a collection of bonus songs.

Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield join host Brian Hiatt for the discussions, which also place every song in the context of Swift’s ever-expanding catalog. Go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above and below.

Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone‘s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out six years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.

From Rolling Stone US