Exes or current boyfriends, Taylor Swift’s gifted poetic hands can’t help but keep writing. The Tortured Poets Department might sound like a full list of breakup songs, but Taylor also hinted at her new and blooming romance with all-star football player Travis Kelce in two songs!
After waiting months, Taylor Swift dropped her new album on April 19, 2024. And as if 16 tracks were not enough, Swift dropped 15 more with The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, surprising and overwhelming her fans even more. While 31 tracks of supposedly heart-aching songs were “too much,” fans were thrilled that a glimpse of Swift’s newest relationship with Kelce was slightly revealed in the album.
What songs in Tortured Poets Department are about Travis Kelce?
The Tortured Poets Department was thought to be an album focused on the different stages of grief and heartbreak experienced after Swift’s six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn. However, three men are speculated to be Swift’s muses in her new album.
Matty Healy might presumably dominate Swift’s new album, followed by Alwyn. However, Swift made sure that Kelce did not get left behind by her exes. Even with merely 2 songs out of 31 tracks, Swift did not fail to emphasize that she has moved on from Alwyn, Healy, or whoever she has written these songs about, with “The Alchemy” and “So High School.”
“The Alchemy” lyrics meaning
Although not as deep nor romantic as previously written love songs about Alwyn, Swift described romance with Kelce as something that “happens once every few lifetimes.”
Alchemy is a magical and mysterious method of creation or transformation. When perceived from the perspective of romance, Swift implied that her current relationship with Kelce is an exciting new chapter full of “magic.” Cheesy, but it’s Taylor Swift!
Additionally, Swift sings, “I haven’t come around in so long/But I’m coming back so strong,” insinuating that she may have suffered from a line of heartbreaks publicly criticized but is back once again with Kelce. The words “coming back so strong” indeed describe it, with their multiple appearances in each of their respective fields, the Eras Tour, and the Superbowl, making thousands of headlines, videos, and paparazzi chasing them.
During the chorus, Swift sings, “So when I touch down/Call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team.” The words “touch down” basically connect to Kelce’s football career. She then follows it up with “These blokes warm the benches/We’ve been on a winning streak,” describing her so-called “charm” from attending almost all of Kelce’s games and celebrating the team’s multiple wins with her presence.
But the heaviest Kelce reference would be the bridge (which almost all Swifties look forward to in all her songs). “Shirts off and your friends lift you up over their heads/Beer stickin’ to the floor cheers” details the usual happenings inside and outside the field after an inevitable win by the team. Lastly, “Where’s the trophy? He just comes runnin’ over to me” is a line directly manifested from Kelce running over to Swift after the Chiefs won during the 2024 Superbowl.
“So High School” lyrics meaning
On the other hand, the track 22 from The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is an adorable take on Swift’s feelings for Kelce. The American singer-songwriter might be 34 years old, but she revealed that she can’t help but feel like a teenager around Kelce, particularly a “bittersweet 16.”
“I wanna find you in the crowd just to hide from you.” This line resonates with all Swifties with crushes. Swift has attended Kelce’s games numerous times, and her cute reactions were always visible.
Kelce is a known joker by her family, friends, and even his fans. Therefore, it can be safely assumed that even around the sensational pop star, he is not embarrassed to show his fun side, inspiring the lyrics, “I’m high from smoking your jokes all damn night.”
However, it was the first two lines in Verse 1, “Are you gonna marry, kiss, or kill me? (Kill me/It’s just a game, but really (Really)” that stole the hearts of the Swifties because evidence that this is about Kelce resurfaced on the internet.
The lyrics were derived from an interview of Kelce with Kristina Zian for E! “Catching Kelce,” posted by AfterBuzz TV. Adorably, the reporter, Kristina, acknowledged that the interview inspired the lyrics and confidently flaunted her part in Swift’s new song and relationship.
Swift didn’t stop there. She again dropped a not-so-subtle confirmation in the “So High School” bridge, “You know how to ball/I know Aristotle,” pertaining to Kelce’s football career. And, Travis being a natural joker, impersonating his dad surely made a mark on Swift in the line “I feel like laughin’ in the middle of practice/Do that impression you did of your dad again,” which Travis and his brother also featured in their podcast New Heights.
From attending the Eras Tour to making a friendship bracelet with his number on it, Travis indeed knew how to sway the heart of Swift, which she did not forget, singing, “You knew what you wanted and/boy you got her.”
While I don’t like to overanalyze things and become a crazily obsessed Swiftie with the so-called Easter eggs, the lyric video of “So High School” posted by Swift’s official YouTube channel had huge football pitch floodlights. Matty Healy, Joe Alwyn, John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, and the other 11 exes of Swift are far from being connected to football; thus, Travis is undoubtedly the person who made Taylor Swift feel “so high school.”
Both songs inspired by Kelce are joining my list of favorite songs from The Tortured Poets Department. This modern fairytale of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift might be the anticipated end-game of the singer-songwriter or another upcoming public heartbreak. Still, only one thing is certain: Fans will always get a list of songs to cry over. That’s just Taylor Swift.
