2 months after the release of Taylor Swift’s 12th (how has time flown that much) studio album, I finally feel like I’ve processed it. I have my favorites, I’ve over analyzed the lyrics, and seen many of the tracks performed live (through a TikTok livestream but still). So now I finally feel like I can determine the best Tortured Poets Department bridges.

It’s been 18 years since the music world was formally introduced to a 16-year-old country singer-songwriter named Taylor Swift. And from that young age, it was Swift’s songwriting ability that garnered her respect in the industry. And adoring fans.

There is simply no room for debate when it comes to the fact that Taylor Swift is an incredible songwriter. She has an innate ability to write not only intricate lyrics but catchy hooks. And of course, there is her unparalleled ability to relate to her audience. Whether on “Teardrops On My Guitar”, a track from her 2006 debut album, or a song off her latest release The Tortured Poets Department.

While Taylor’s talent for songwriting was clearly evident from the early days, she has continued to show masterful growth in her songwriting. She takes great pride in perfecting her craft, and that she has done. Throughout the years though, and one of the things Taylor does better than anyone? Writing a bridge. In my opinion, bridges are where she shines the brightest lyrically.

What Is A “Bridge?”

You may be asking “What exactly is the bridge of a song?”. Essentially it connects two sections of the song (i.e. a verse and chorus) but follows a slightly different structure. In terms of Taylor Swift her bridges typically fall after the second chorus. A bridge often features a different tempo than the rest of the song and helps tell the story. And as one of, if not the, greatest songwriters of our generation storytelling is at the heart of every Taylor Swift track.  If you are any sort of Taylor fan you can probably rattle off your favorite right bridge right now.

Taylor can truly do it all when it comes to songwriting- from catchy pop hits like “Shake It Off” and “Anti Hero” to lyrical masterpieces that rip your heart out. There are countless examples of this throughout her now 18+ year career, and she only gets better as time progresses. This is evidenced by the Tortured Poets Department bridges. It was hard to narrow down the best of the best on this masterful piece of work. These are in no particular order, simply the way they came into my head. Enjoy, and if you have these stuck in your head all day, it’s just another example of her genius.

You can read the full list pre-TTPD of her 13 best bridges here!

8 Best Tortured Poets Department Bridges

• The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

  Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?
  Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?
  Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy?
  In fifty years, will all this be declassified?
  And you’ll confess why you did it
  And I’ll say, “Good riddance”
  ‘Cause it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden
  I would’ve died for your sins
  Instead, I just died inside
  And you deserve prison, but you won’t get time
  You’ll slide into inboxes and slip through the bars
  You crashed my party and your rental car
  You said normal girls were boring
  But you were gone by the morning
  You kicked out the stage lights
  But you’re still performing

  “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is many many people’s pick for the best bridge on “The Tortured Poets Department”. This is certainly amplified by the incredible performance on the Eras Tour. The lyrics are raw and angry, demanding an explanation. The two lines that stand out the most to me (though the whole thing speaks for itself as a masterpiece) are “in 50 years will all this be declassified” and “cause it was sexy once it wasn’t forbidden”. 

• Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?

  So tell me everything is not about me
  But what if it is?
  Then say they didn’t do it to hurt me
  But what if they did?
  I wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me
  You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me
  So all you kids can sneak into my house with all the cobwebs
  I’m always drunk on my own tears, isn’t that what they all said?
  That I’ll sue you if you step on my lawn
  That I’m fearsome and I’m wretched and I’m wrong
  Put narcotics into all of my songs
  And that’s why you’re still singin’ along

  I love this one! “Who’s Afraid of Little Old” is a feisty song that Taylor herself described as being about “being a little bit crazy”. And I know I can relate to that. The line the bridge opens with “So tell me everything is not about me… but what if it is” hits home for me and I know a lot of other people as well. 

• How Did It End?

  Say it once again with feeling
  How the death rattle breathing
  Silenced as the soul was leaving
  The deflation of our dreaming
  Leaving me bereft and reeling
  My beloved ghost and me
  Sitting in a tree
  D-Y-I-N-G

  The cadence of this bridge is a lot of what makes it so memorable. The highlight for me is how it ends (yes that was intended) with “my beloved ghost and me, sitting in a tree, d-i-y-i-n-g” and it’s play on the playful kids rhyme. 

• imgonnagetyouback

  I can feel it coming, humming in the way you move
  Push the reset button, we’re becomin’ something new
  Say you got somebody, I’ll say I got someone too
  Even if it’s handcuffed, I’m leavin’ here with you
  Bygones will be bygone, eras fadin’ into gray (Fading into gray)
  We broke all the pieces, but still wanna play the game (Oh)
  Told my friends I hate you, but I love you just the same
  Pick your poison, babe, I’m poison either way

  “Imgonnagetyouback” is an underrated song on the second part of The Tortured Poets Department titled The Anthology. It’s the bridge (unsurprisingly) that stands out to me about this track. “Told my friends I hate you but I love you just the same” is so relatable to someone who is having to convince themselves they feel the way they know they should and do want to. And the cleverness of “pick your poison, babe, I’m poison either way” is also another gem! 

• The Prophecy

  And I sound like an infant
  Feeling like the very last drops of an ink pen
  A greater woman stays cool
  But I howl like a wolf at the moon
  And I look unstable
  Gathered with a coven ’round a sorceress’ table
  A greater woman has faith
  But even statues crumble if they’re made to wait
  I’m so afraid I sealed my fate
  No sign of soulmates
  I’m just a paperweight in shades of greige
  Spending my last coin so someone will tell me it’ll be okay
  Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

  Perhaps it’s because this song seems as if it was born from the thoughts in my head. That it is everything I fear, and am begging for. I relate to every word of this song, especially the bridge. “I’m so afraid I’ve sealed my fate” yes—just another example of Taylor putting to words my life. 

• But Daddy I Love Him

  God save the most judgmental creeps
  Who say they want what’s best for me
  Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see
  Thinkin’ it can change the beat
  Of my heart when he touches me
  And counteract the chemistry
  And undo the destiny
  You ain’t gotta pray for me
  Me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy
  If all you want is gray for me
  Then it’s just white noise, and it’s just my choice

  “But Daddy I Love Him” is one of if, not my favorite tracks on this album, and I think it’s hands down my favorite bridge. It elicits feelings in me every single time I hear it. I have to scream it, and feel the words with every fiber of my being. I especially love the line “God save the most judgemental creeps who say they want whats best for me”. Because I certainly have some of those in my life currently. And some of them will probably read this. 

• So Long London

  And you say I abandoned the ship
  But I was going down with it
  My white-knuckle dying grip
  Holding tight to your quiet resentment
  And my friends said it isn’t right to be scared
  Every day of a love affair
  Every breath feels like rarest air
  When you’re not sure if he wants to be there

  I love “So Long London” I’ll probably always be biased towards track 5’s. And this one encompasses exactly what I thought The Tortured Poets Department would be. You can feel the pain in Taylor’s voice as she sings these lyrics. And who can’t relate to being in a situation where you’re mentally exhausted from trying, but then walking away makes you look like you “abandoned ship”. 

• The Black Dog

  And you say I abandoned the ship
  But I was going down with it
  My white-knuckle dying grip
  Holding tight to your quiet resentment
  And my friends said it isn’t right to be scared
  Every day of a love affair
  Every breath feels like rarest air
  When you’re not sure if he wants to be there

  I love “So Long London” I’ll probably always be biased towards track 5’s. And this one encompasses exactly what I thought The Tortured Poets Department would be. You can feel the pain in Taylor’s voice as she sings these lyrics. And who can’t relate to being in a situation where you’re mentally exhausted from trying, but then walking away makes you look like you “abandoned ship”. 

• The Tortured Poets Department

  Six weeks of breathin’ clean air
  I still miss the smoke
  Were you makin’ fun of me
  With some esoteric joke?
  Now I wanna sell my house
  And set fire to all my clothes
  And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons
  Even if I die screaming
  And I hope you hear it

  This entire song is a masterpiece. “Six weeks of breathing clean air, I still miss the smoke” everyone who has ever walked away from someone or something they loved, when they know it’s for the best, can relate to this. 

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