By the look of things, Taylor Swift's Tortured Poets Department draws a lot of inspiration from her past heartbreaks. But, fortunately for Travis Kelce, it seems she still dedicated a few tracks to her present.
In the unlikely event you need catching up, Taylor’s highly anticipated 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, dropped at midnight, inevitably sending Swifties into a frenzy of excitement.
And just as listeners were processing the 16-track record, Taylor did what she does best and dropped in at 2 a.m. with a surprise — gifting fans with yet another 15 songs, which merged with the first installment to create The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.
So, with 31 brand-new tracks to get their teeth into, Swifties have been deep in lyrical analysis since the moment the clock struck 12. And by now, many have speculated that a lot of the songs may have been inspired by Taylor’s fleeting — and rather controversial — romance with Matty Healy, as well as a few nods to her previous ex, Joe Alwyn.
Going into last night's album release, hopes were high that Taylor may have sought inspiration from her current relationship with Travis Kelce — and luckily for Tayvis fans, it seems she delivered.
But, before we get into it, we must first acknowledge that lyrical interpretation is subjective. Therefore, this analysis is rooted in speculation based solely on the history of Travis and Taylor’s relationship.
In the first batch of songs, a track titled “The Alchemy” quickly stood out to listeners as potentially Travis-inspired due to its slew of sports references — namely, the mention of touchdowns.
In scientific terms, alchemy is concerned with mixing chemicals to create gold, and if there’s one thing we know about Taylor, she loves using golden themes to describe her happiest relationships. So, with that in mind, the story of this song seems to be about the transformative magic of a budding romance — presumably with Travis.
For example, in the first verse, Taylor appears to call back to the start of the relationship, noting that such a strong connection is rare.
In the post-chorus, Taylor throws out more sporting references, singing about “blokes” who “warm the benches,” and being on a “winning streak.”
But perhaps most notably, the bridge paints a vivid picture of a familiar sporting scene as Taylor sings: “Shirts off, and your friends lift you up, over their heads / 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, running over to me.”
Despite all this, not everyone agrees that Travis was this song’s sole muse. In fact, numerous fans have theorized that “The Alchemy” could be about Matty.
And while “The Alchemy” left fans a little divided, listeners seem to have no dispute that “So High School” from the second batch of songs might be inspired by Taylor’s all-American love story with Travis.
From the outset, it’s noteworthy that Taylor and Travis’s relationship has drawn high-school comparisons since it first began — the superstar and her popular football player boyfriend, reminiscent of a senior year power couple.
And with that, “So High School” automatically seems to play into that perception of their sweet romance as Taylor depicts the nostalgia of teenage first love — dropping shoutouts to everything from American Pie to Grand Theft Auto, much to the amusement of her fans.
Away from the general high-school themes, Taylor also appears to include some nods to specific moments between her and Travis that fans pored over in the early months of their romance.
So, while The Tortured Poets Department appears to dedicate a lot of time to the past, it looks like Taylor wants fans to know she’s doing pretty damn well in the present, too.
Travis has not publicly discussed The Tortured Poets Department since its release, but we’ll let you know as soon as he does. In the meantime, you can read more of our Taylor coverage here.