“The Tortured Poets Department” (TTPD), Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album, was released on April 19, 2024. It broke numerous records upon release, including Spotify’s highest single-day and single-week streams for an album.
The album surprised many fans because, shortly after its release, Swift released a second set of songs, sublabeled “The Anthology.” The chart-topping album faced mixed reviews immediately upon release, with some critics praising its emotional and heartfelt lyricism while others called it bland, repetitive, and unable to stand without Swift’s dedicated fan base.
Upon first listen, I also found myself confused as to why I did not love the album instantly like I had with “Lover,” “Folklore” and “Midnights.” But, as I continued to explore the double album consisting of 31 tracks, I began to appreciate the depth of TTPD and call the album my favorite amongst Swift’s discography.
“Peter,” the 28th track on TTPD, is a waltz that quickly became my top song of this album due to Swift’s brilliant lyricism combined with a soft, emotional piano and powerful vocals. The song’s allusion, metaphor and unique storytelling truly show that Swift is deserving of the title “poet.”
The title “Peter” is an allusion — an implied or indirect reference to another text or historical event— to J. M. Barrie’s children’s book, “Peter Pan,” which is about a boy who never grows up. The song makes multiple references to the story, such as “the woman who sits by the window,” referring to Wendy, who chose to return home to grow up yet still searched the sky at night, hoping she would see Peter again. Another direct reference in the song is the “Lost Boys chapter of your life,” referring to a band of boys who were lost by their parents and were taken to Neverland by Peter.
Swift has made other, lighter references to the classic story in her previous hit “Cardigan,” where she sang “Peter losing Wendy,” comparing her separation from her lover to how the two characters were separated. Through the beloved and widely-known children’s book, Swift fleshes out the deeply personal story of how she was abandoned by her lover by using different characters, plot points and details as symbolism to mirror her own vastly different narration.
In the song’s first pre-chorus, Swift sings “and I didn’t wanna come down,” alluding to how Wendy and her brothers flew to Neverland, which was above ground. Through the reference to “Peter Pan,” Swift ties her own dilemma to Wendy’s when she decides to return to reality without Peter to grow up. Coming down, in these lyrics, is a symbol of returning to reality to fulfill one’s responsibilities.
This metaphor is used again in the heartfelt, emotional bridge, where Swift sings that she wishes Peter would return with his “feet on the ground.” It is highlighted that the “different galaxies” the narrator and her lover chose to live in were a safe, realistic path in contrast with a fantastical one with no obligations and complete freedom. This metaphor explores the deeper conflict the narrator faced: having to choose between someone she loved and the lifestyle she wanted to pursue. And, it paints the differences between herself and the person she refers to as Peter.
The song’s central theme is revealed in the second verse, where Swift writes, “We both did the best we could do/Underneath the same moon/In different galaxies.” This captures how, despite having so much in common and being “underneath the same moon,” this can refer to their similar beliefs and dreams, as well as their shared affection for each other. The different galaxies symbolize the vastly different paths they followed in life, one choosing to stay “on the ground” and live a safe, realistic life, while the other did not grow up and attempted to live a more exciting life. Swift also juxtaposes “moon” and “galaxy” to demonstrate that their common aspects were much smaller than their differences, resulting in their relationship ending for the better.
In the song’s intense bridge, Swift adds another layer of emotion to her lyrics by using the lamp as a symbol of hope. First, stating, “and I won’t confess that I waited/but I let the lamp burn.” This line emphasizes the lingering faith the speaker had in her lover, hoping that he would return to her world and that they would have a happy ending. Swift captures the conflict of how the narrator still anticipated Peter through the metaphor of light, which is often a symbol of hope in literature. Letting the lamp burn also symbolizes the continued feeling of love and the narrator not moving on because she still believed in the empty promise that he would grow up and come back for her.
The bridge ends with the solemn lines, “but the woman who sits by the window/Has turned out the lights.” The window, in “Peter Pan,” was the way Wendy and her brothers were taken to Neverland. After leaving, Wendy became “the woman by the window,” holding on to the past and anticipating a chance to see Peter Pan once more. In Swift’s song, the window symbolizes how the narrator left the opportunity for her lover to return like he had promised and dedicated her time and heart to look for him in the sky, not completely sealing the past chapter of her life because he had left without closure. However, she ends the bridge and the song by stating that she turned off the light, losing faith that the person she believed was right for her would return. In the end, she moves on.
Many listeners believe that “Peter” is a song about a childhood friend who, quite literally, wouldn’t grow up, resulting in a separation between them and Swift. However, this interpretation may be false because the lyrics say that “Peter,” or Swift’s lover, was 25 years old. The song does not explicitly talk about growing up, like the book “Peter Pan” does, but instead refers to how two people taking different paths in life can separate them, regardless of the amount of love they share.
Peter, in this case, is someone who wants to be free of responsibilities, social expectations and everything associated with growing up to live in a land of dreams and utter freedom, similar to Peter Pan’s Neverland. The narrator, however, wants to ground herself in realistic goals in life and not stay in Neverland, a fantasy that is too good to be true.
Later, Swift sings how Peter was “lost to the Lost Boys chapter of your life,” referring to how her lover’s inability to grow up and how he chose to live completely free of responsibilities—one could be running away from a relationship with the narrator — and obligations, resulted in him straying off the paths he would have taken and ending up lost in life. The song “Peter” does not explore being a literal child, but rather the feeling of being lost in one’s adulthood, only due to taking the risk of exploring the unknowns of the world.
Overall, the lyrics of “Peter,” accompanied by a heartfelt piano waltz, narrate a truth that many face in their life: how one can lose someone they love to uncontrollable aspects, as well as the bitter truth that even the greatest amount of love and ambition can lead to failure. The allusion to the classic children’s novel, which deepened many of the metaphors and symbolism throughout the song, created a meaningful experience that easily makes “Peter” my personal favorite on the album.
TTPD is not simply an album, but rather a story told through instruments and poetry, and “Peter” is the very best example of that.
