Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,”  announcement at the 2024 Grammy Awards is cosmic-level for this Swiftie.

By Emily Laptad

CW: Mention of domestic abuse/violence, complex trauma, and childhood trauma.

On October 22, 2022, I woke up to listen to the bonus tracks on Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album, Midnights (3am Edition). It was a spiritual experience that nudged my personal life story in a direction I never saw coming when the lyrics, “Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first,” crooned through my earbuds as I listened to “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” for the first time.

So, it’s fitting that it’s 3 a.m. now as I try to weave together the words to illustrate just how much the historical popstar, musical mastermind, and 14-time Grammy Award Winner means to me—and so many other Swifties too. This particular editorial has been in the making for over a year now, and after tossing and turning over the shear dismay that Taylor blindsided the Swifties with a brand new album, The Tortured Poets Department, that’s coming out on April 19 (we all thought we were getting reputation (Taylor’s Version) instead) now felt like a better time than ever.

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