Taylor Swift has just released her new album The Tortured Poets Department and fans have been quick to pick up on a few famous name-drops in her lyrics.
Everyone already knew Swift would include a song about Hollywood’s original ‘It girl’ Clara Bow; track 16, aptly titled Clara Bow.
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But no one expected her to reference a famous Welsh poet alongside modern pop star Charlie Puth in the album’s second track, which is also titled The Tortured Poets Department.
Keep reading to see all the famous people Swift name-drops in her new album and learn more about each one.
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Half a million people flocked to Swift over these four words
Charlie Puth
“You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist” – The Tortured Poets Department
American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth is the first star Swift name-drops in her song The Tortured Poets Department.
Best known for his pop tracks We Don’t Talk Anymore, Attention and One Call Away, the talented musician also writes and produces songs for other artists, like Stay for Justin Bieber and The Kid Laroi.
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Puth got his start in 2011, when he nabbed a music deal with record label eleveneleven after appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Though Swift and Puth have never collaborated, he’s praised her music and lyrics openly on several occasions, suggesting he’s a bit of a Swiftie himself.
Dylan Thomas
“You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots” – The Tortured Poets Department
Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 and died in 1953 when he was 39 years old.
Despite living such a short life, he made a name for himself as one of the most prolific poets of his generation, writing classics like Do not go gentle into that good night and And death shall have no dominion.
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Though his poetry was incredibly moving and lauded, Thomas had a reputation as a “drunken and doomed poet”.
He lived most of his life in the UK, first in Swansea, Wales, then in London, England, before heading to the US in the 1950s. He died soon after.
Patti Smith
“You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots” – The Tortured Poets Department
Patti Smith may be one of the most influential female artists in modern American history, with achievements in music, literature and visual arts.
Born Patricia Lee Smith in 1946, she burst onto the US music scene in 1975 with her debut album Horses, following it up with her most iconic song Because The Night in 1978.
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As well as being a singer-songwriter, Smith is also a poet, painter and author, and won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids in 2010.
She’s also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2011. Safe to say Smith is something of an over-achiever in the arts!
Jack Antonoff
“You told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave / And I had said that to Jack about you so I felt seen” – The Tortured Poets Department
Swift’s working relationship and close friendship with singer, songwriter and record producer Jack Antonoff is well-documented, so when she mentioned a ‘Jack’ on this track fans assumed it was Antonoff right away.
The duo first met in 2012 at the MTV European Music Awards, where they reportedly bonded over their shared love for the band Yazoo.
Since then they’ve worked together on countless occasions, collaborating on Swift’s albums 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights, as well as several vault tracks off of her re-releases.
When they’re not making music together, the pair enjoy a close friendship and Swift was famously at his wedding to actress Margaret Qualley.
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Lucy Dacus (maybe)
“You told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave / And I had said that to Jack about you so I felt seen” – The Tortured Poets Department
Though Swift doesn’t specify who the ‘Lucy’ in The Tortured Poets Department is, fans believe the line could be a reference to someone in her circle of famous friends.
Swift is friendly with fellow singer and Boygenius member Lucy Dacus, and the pair were photographed sharing a moment together at the Grammys.
Dacus also has history with Swift’s ex and The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, having called him out over a controversial tweet not long ago.
These clues have led fans to surmise that the ‘Lucy’ in the song may be Dacus, but there’s no concrete evidence that this is the case.
Clara Bow
“You look like Clara Bow in this light, remarkable / All your life, did you know you’d be picked like a rose?” – Clara Bow
Track 16 on The Tortured Poets Department is titled Clara Bow, after one of Hollywood’s original ‘It Girls’.
An actress who rose to stardom during Hollywood’s golden era of silent films in the 1920s, she also managed to successfully transition to ‘talkies’ when sound was added to the silver screen.
But like many a Hollywood actress, Bow did not have a picture-perfect life, something Swift hints at heavily on the tack.
Bow’s life was marred by a difficult childhood, and later, mental health problems that saw her become a recluse before her death at the age of 60.
Stevie Nicks
“You look like Stevie Nicks in ’75 / The hair and lips” – Clara Bow
Another hugely famous female figure in entertainment history, Stevie Nicks was a founding member and the lead vocalist of Fleetwood Mac.
Known for her powerful vocals, emotive lyrics and signature ’70s hippie style, Nicks became one of the biggest musical icons of her generation.
She performed with Swift at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2010.
More recently, Nicks revealed she found comfort in one of Swift’s songs after fellow Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie died.
“When I think about Taylor Swift’s song You’re on Your Own, Kid and the line ‘you always have been,’ it was like, that was Christine and I,” Nicks said in a 2023 interview with Vulture
“We were on our own in that band. We always were. We protected each other.”
Nicks also wrote a poem that serves as the written prologue for Swift’s new album, titled For T and me…, which explores heartbreak – a powerful theme in the album.
“He was in love with her / Or at least she thought so / She was brokenhearted / Maybe he was too,” Nicks’ poem begins, before detailing a doomed love.
BONUS: Herself
“You look like Taylor Swift in this light, we’re lovin it / You’ve got edge she never did” – Clara Bow
That’s right, Swift name-dropped herself on the album’s final track.
It seems like she was likening herself to other famous women in history who faced great challenges in their careers, and had other female stars compared to them after they became famous.
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