Ethermac Exchange-Read Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks' prologue, epilogue to 'The Tortured Poets Department'

As she has with previous albums,Ethermac Exchange Taylor Swift gifted fans with a prologue, adding contextual clues to help unlock “The Tortured Poets Department."

Only this time, there's a prologue and an epilogue.

For the opening of “TTPD,” Swift mentor and muse Stevie Nicks, whose handwritten, untitled poem (other than deeming it “for T … and me”) prefaces the 16 songs on the album.

According to Nicks’ notes, the poem was started Aug. 13, 2023 in Austin – she performed in the city two nights later – with a second time stamp of 8:50 p.m. Sept. 13.

“She was on her way to the stars. He didn’t say goodbye,” Nicks writes, an unsubtle reference to the broken relationship that fuels Swift’s new album.

While Nicks’ words are primarily aimed at Swift, it’s impossible not to read into Nicks’ history and tempestuous relationship with long-ago love and former bandmate Lindsey Buckingham with lines such as: “She was just flying thru the clouds where he saw her … she was just making her way – to the stars – when he lost her.”

Taylor Swift explains 'The Tortured Poets Department'

If fans aren’t left in a puddle after absorbing the emotional blows on Swift’s 11th album, they’ll next be confronted with an essay – or, rather, a summation – from Swift, writing from her position as The Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department.

Her “debrief” is a cryptic explanation of the content.

“As you might all unfortunately recall, I had been struck with a case of a restricted humanity,” she writes. “Which explains my plea here today of temporary insanity.”

As Swift writes about "lovers" who "spend years denying what’s ill fated," likely referring to her relationship with Joe Alwyn. Later, in a line that will have fans speculating on if she's talking about Alwyn or Matty Healy, she says, "I was out of the oven and into the microwave."

No matter who she's writing about, "He never even scratched the surface of me. None of them did.”

Then, with Swiftian style, she proclaims, “A smirk creeps onto this poet’s face because it’s the worst men that I write best.”

How long have Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks been friends?

The mutual admiration society between Swift and Nicks can be traced to 2010, when the pair shared the stage at the Grammy Awards (the performance was not universally beloved) and later that year, when Nicks penned an essay about the burgeoning superstar for Time magazine.

“Taylor reminds me of myself in her determination and childlike nature,” Nicks wrote. “This girl writes the songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John.”

The most Taylor Swift song ever:'I Can Do it With a Broken Heart' (track 13 on 'TTPD')

Zip ahead 13 years and Nicks found new reason to be touched by Swift’s work.

Following the late 2022death of Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac keyboardist and one of Nicks’ dearest friends, Nicks spoke often about how Swift’s “Midnights” track, “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” brought her comfort as she grieved her friend.

In May 2023, Nicks shared during a live show in Atlanta, “The two of us were on our own, kids. We always were. And now, I’m having to learn to be on my own, kid, by myself.”

Read on for the full text of the prologue and epilogue to 'The Tortured Poets Department':

For T and me… by Stevie Nicks

He was in love with her

Or at least she thought so

She was broken hearted

Maybe he was too

Neither of them knew.

She was way too hot to handle

He was way too high to try

He couldn’t even see her

He wouldn’t open his eyes

She was on her way to the stars

He didn’t say goodbye

She looked back from her future

And shed a few tears

He looked into his past

And actually felt fear.

For both of them

The answers would never be

Ever clear

Don’t ask questions now

Do that later

She brings joy

He brings Shakespeare

It’s almost a tragedy

Says she

Don’t endanger me

Don’t endanger me

He really can’t answer her

He’s afraid of her

He’s hiding from her

And he knows that he’s hurting her

She tells the truth

She writes about it

She’s an informer

He’s an X-lover

There’s nothing there for her

She’s already gone

There’s nothing that can stop her

She was just flying

thru the clouds

Where he saw her

She was just making her way

To the stars

When he lost her…

In Summation: Summary Poem by Taylor Swift

At this hearing

I stand before my fellow members

of the Tortured Poets Department

With a summary of my findings

A debrief, a detailed rewinding

For the purpose of warning

For the sake of reminding

As you might all unfortunately recall

I had been struck with a case

of a restricted humanity

Which explains my plea here today

of temporary insanity

You see, the pendulum swings

Oh, the chaos it brings

Leads the caged beast to do

the most curious things

Lovers spend years denying what’s ill fated

Resentment rotting away

galaxies we created

Stars placed and glued

meticulously by hand

next to the ceiling fan

Tried wishing on comets.

Tried dimming the shine.

Tried to orbit his planet.

Some stars never align.

And in one conversation, I tore down the whole sky

Spring sprung forth with dazzling freedom hues

Then a crash from the skylight

Bursting through

Something old, someone hallowed,

who told me he could be brand new

And so I was out of the oven

And into the microwave

Out of the slammer and into a tidal wave

How gallant to save the empress

from her gilded tower

Swinging a sword he could barely lift

But loneliness struck at that fateful hour

Low hanging fruit on his wine stained lips

He never even scratched the surface

of me.

None of them did.

“In summation, it was not a love affair!”

I screamed while bringing my fists

to my coffee ringed desk

It was a mutual manic phase.

It was self harm.

It was house and then cardiac arrest.

A smirk creeps onto this poet’s face

Because it’s the worst men that I write best.

And so I enter into evidence

My tarnished coat of arms

My muses, acquired like bruises

My talismans and charms

The tick, tick, tick of love bombs

My veins of pitch black ink

All’s fair in love and poetry

Sincerely,

The Chairman

of The Tortured Poets Department