How Do You Tame an Albatross?

Or is it worth even trying?

No song has been dissected quite as hard as “The Albatross,” sitting comfortably on The Tortured Poets Anthology and as a bonus track on some vinyl/CD variants. It’s understandable how that happened. It’s the sort of song that begs to be analyzed.

When it was announced as a bonus track variant, Swifties were quick to point out that an Albatross as a bird can fly over the ocean without touching land for six years, seemingly a reference to Swift’s six year relationship that had recently come to an end. Swifties are always quick to see the connections, the hidden details that–frankly–might not have even been intentional. And if anyone REALLY wants to find evidence that we live in a simulation, talk to one of these over analytical Swifties, they see the hidden tethers of the universe.

But once the album was released and the song properly listened to, it was revealed that this wasn’t the case. It might have been meant as a reference to another poem, one about an albatross being a harbinger of death. If so, then Taylor Swift might be the albatross bringing or promising doom onto Travis Kelce who might befall the same end as so many of her past partners, which is not an interpretation, I agree with, let me be clear before the pitchforks come out. But at the same time, I think the interpretation is that far off. But Taylor Swift isn’t the albatross herself. I mean, she is the albatross, but it’s not her personally. It’s what her fame has made her.