Inside Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Section’ pop-up in Los Angeles: All the Easter eggs
Taylor Swift is dropping more hints about her new album, “Tortured Poets Oath.”
Ahead of its highly anticipated release on Friday, the singer has teamed up with Spotify to create a special “library” at The Grove in Los Angeles, curated specifically for her 11th studio album.
Page Six stopped by the exhibit on Tuesday, where we got a closer look at all the Easter eggs hidden inside the pop-up display.
One of the most notable clues was displayed front and center on one side of the exhibit. It was an open book that revealed some new words within its pages: “One less tempting. “One less dagger to sharpen,” and “Even statues crumble if made to wait.”
The surrounding volumes were written exclusively by Taylor Swift and include the titles of some of the songs on her upcoming album, such as “Down Bad,” “But Daddy I Love Him,” “Clara Bow,” and “The Bolter.”
Fans have been a*suming that many of the unreleased songs would revolve around Swift’s failed romance with Joe Alwyn since she announced the new project at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
The album’s title seems to be a brutal reference to an all-boys group text the actor had titled “The Tortured Man Club” with his friends Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott. And now, with new evidence from the show, it’s clear that Swift won’t be shy about revealing the details behind their breakup.
One example, as Swifties noted at the event, was a library card catalog displaying 72 individual boxes. Many have a**lyzed this number to symbolize 72 months, which is the equivalent of six years, aka the same amount of time Swift was in a relationship with Alwyn before linking up with her current beau Travis Kelce.
Others were more interested in one of the sculptures placed on the bookshelves, which symbolizes Diana of Ephesus, “the goddess of birth, fertility, and the goddess of the moon.”
“The original statue of Diana collapsed while waiting to be shipped to London in the 6th century due to years of neglect, succumbing to the pa*sage of time and the elements,” said one fan. Tweeted via XWhich means the statue’s treatment could be reminiscent of how Swift felt while dating Alwyn.
Also interesting are the pens on display – just the quill and quill, no glitter – which could be a clue to the dark and somber themes many of her fans would expect with an album about heartbreak. Swift has previously spoken about how her songs fall into the three different pen categories.
She told Apple Music in 2022 that the “Fountain” songs are “modern personal stories, written like poetry, about those well-remembered moments where you can see, hear and feel everything in stark detail.” “Details of an old score…it’s all old-fashioned, as if you were a 19th-century poet crafting the next sonnet by candlelight.”
Meanwhile, Swift said that “Glitter Gel Pen” songs are usually happy and upbeat, with “lyrics that make you want to dance and sing and throw glitter across the room.”
Other Easter eggs included globes with pins bearing the state of Florida (the name of one of the new trails). And where Swift performed her first post-split Eras Tour show), notebooks with “We” written on the front in black marker (apparently a reference to her 1999 song “The Story of Us”) and dried flowers, including lavender. (Perhaps symbolizing the death of the loving feelings she expressed for Alwyn in “Lavender Haze” in 2022).
Swift’s birthday, December 13, was also prominent inside the exhibit, along with April 19 (the new album’s official release date), a clock set to 2pm and empty bird cages believed to symbolize freedom.
Swift (34 years old) and Alwyn (33 years old) announced their separation in April 2023 after dating for six years. In contrast to the singer’s new PDA-laden relationship with Kelsey, 34, the former couple has been notoriously private, keeping much of their years-long romance out of the public eye.
Although the exact reason behind their breakup has yet to be revealed, the “Lover” singer previously shared that it had to do with the English actor not wanting to tie the knot.
Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department” pop-up, presented by Spotify, is open to the public from Tuesday, April 16 to Thursday, April 18 from 10am-9pm at The Grove ahead of the album’s April 19 release.