Anna Karnedy
Taylor Swift clearly recognizes the similar titling between her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, and the classic drama film, Dead Poets Society. For one, she featured two stars from the film (Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles) in the music video for the album’s single, “Fortnight (featuring Post Malone).” The film influences the double album on a more profound level, too. While the first half of The Tortured Poets Department is another deeply personal look at Swift’s thoughts and feelings that we’ve come to expect (and marvel at) from the singer-songwriter, the so-called ‘anthology’ that makes up the second half of the album is more narrative. A handful of the songs are titled simply with first names, building stories around characters much like she first did in folklore in 2020. It is through these imaginative, vivid little character studies that the listener sees connections to Dead Poets Society.
Tucked in second to last on the album is “Robin.” It’s a sweet ode to childhood, sung from the perspective of a parent hoping to protect their young child from the hardships of the world. Naming this little boy Robin is undoubtedly a nod to the star of Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams. He plays Mr. Keating in the film; the teacher who inspires his young pupils to pursue and appreciate art and literature. He not only tries to protect these boys in the same way the parent tries to protect their child in “Robin,” but also requires that same protection. When Swift sings, “you have no room in your dreams for regrets / you have no idea,” it speaks to Mr. Keating’s flawed idealism. He urges the boys, Neil particularly, onward in their reformation of the Dead Poets Society without considering the ramifications. Because Mr. Keating cannot conceive of the draconian anti-art ideals of Neil’s father, he doesn’t think to protect Neil from his own youth and shortsightedness. When adult’s watch Dead Poets Society, their heart breaks to think of Neil committing suicide; he is too young to know how much he has ahead of him, how fleeting this pain will be. When young people watch it, they understand Neil’s actions. They get swept up in Mr. Keating’s teaching as well, and lament the idea of never being able to practice art again because of their parents and societal expectations. The song “Robin” seems to be reckoning with this generational gap present in the film, by presenting the film’s primary adult as a child.
These themes of youth and fleeting time are also present in the song “Peter,” Swift’s third song that ventures into Neverland. On her third album, Speak Now, Swift has a song titled “Never Grow Up,” a nostalgic look at the journey from babyhood through girlhood into young adulthood. In folklore, she references Peter Pan directly on “cardigan,” asserting, “I knew you / tried to change the ending / Peter losing Wendy.” These hints at Swift’s connection to the Peter Pan story culminate on “Peter,” a track told from the perspective of a Wendy waiting on her Peter Pan to finally grow up and commit to her. Neil is certainly a Peter of sorts, as his death leaves him perpetually young. Like she describes in the song, Neil is a “lost fearless leader” and a “natural scene stealer,” who leads his own camp of Lost Boys into the woods, only to abandon them in death.
Part of what leaves the viewer so devastated at the end of Dead Poets Society is the queer undertones embedded into the relationship between Neil and Todd. This further fuels the motive behind Neil’s suicide as not only because he felt he could never express himself through art, but also perhaps because that translated into never living authentically in love either. Though not exactly the same sentiment, the TTPD track “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” deals with queer confusion and heartbreak. Swift sings about her inability to help her drug-addicted lover, who she catches cheating on her with different people (whose names make up the title). Hurt and confused, Swift blames herself for her lover’s descent into illness, repeatedly referring to her broken “cold, cold heart.” Like Todd is haunted by the death of Neil, Swift is haunted by the betrayal of her unnamed queer lover. Her voice is at its most pure, stripped, and intimate on “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus,” her pain palpable. If this song has a looser relation to Dead Poets Society than “Robin” and “Peter,” it is the closest match in emotional weight.
Taylor Swift is nothing if not intentional. The Tortured Poets Department is a gargantuan album; it holds space not only for her personal songs but also for her to explore her storytelling abilities. This allows listeners to draw comparisons not only to her earlier work but also to the other art that clearly inspired this album. Her inclusion of Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles in her self-directed music video for “Fortnight (featuring Post Malone)” functions as further proof that Swift is paying serious homage to a searing, powerful film.
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