Taylor Swift | The Tortured Poet Department (TTPD) Analysis, Meaning & Theory

1. Fortnight

Fortnight : a period of 14 days : two weeks.

Fort: a strong or fortified place
1.: a strong or fortified place. especially : a fortified place occupied only by troops and surrounded with such works as a ditch, rampart, and parapet : fortification.
2. : a permanent army post. often used in place names

Fort
Refer to castle/ shelter/closet

A fort is a strong building or a place with a wall or fence around it where soldiers can stay and be safe from the enemy.

Note: The Poets used 'fort' image as a shelter of their sacred relationship.

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Fortnight Lyric:
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
I was supposed to be sent away
But they forgot to come and get me
I was a functioning alcoholic
'Til nobody noticed my new aesthetic
All of this to say I hope you're okay
But you're the reason
And no one here's to blame
But what about your quiet treason?

Meaning: The poet felt abandoned or locked somewhere in the asylum or madhouse.
They (the public/fans/family) forget about her. or maybe the Poets locked themselves and ruined their life by old bad habits.
Drinking alcohol as their self-destructive behavior. Cope mechanisms. No one knows their bad habits.
No one knows when her world is going down. Until, she shows it the new 'aesthetic'. The new aesthetic reminds me of the reputation album 'snake aesthetic'.

The Poets wish the muse/ex-lover well. And tell them, the muse is the reason why her world is crushing down.
She can't blame the muse or anyone.
And asking the muse, what about your quiet treason (silent betrayal/backstab)?

Question: Did the muse backstab or betray the Poets?

Definition Treason:
the action of betraying someone or something.

Definition  Asylum:
1: a place of safety : shelter.
2. : protection given especially to political refugees.
3. : an institution for the care of those unable to care for themselves and especially for the insane.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
And for a fortnight there, we were forever
Run into you sometimes, ask about the weather
Now you're in my backyard, turned into good neighbors
Your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her

Meaning:
When she bumps into her muse again, it feels like forever, even though it is fortnight , making a small talk like asking about the weather. Now, the muse is just her good neighbor at her backdoor.
She watches  the muse's partner water the flowers. She watches the muse's life from her window. She felt jealous and anxious. She wants to kill the muse's partner because she feels bad while her muse's partner feels happy.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February
I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary
And I love you, it's ruining my life
I love you, it's ruining my life
I touched you for only a fortnight
I touched you, but I touched you

Meaning:
She felt all  her mornings are boring as Mondays blues. Like endless February. She moved on while taking forget-muse pills. But, the effect was temporary. She can't completely forget her muse without ruining herself. She needs to take/do something to forget the muse.

A 'forget- muse' pills probably refers to drinking habits,  finding someone new, going to parties, meeting friends, doing tours, writing music, making arts,  workout at the gym, or endless work routine. As we all know, the person who is diagnosed with mental illness by a psychiatrist has been given drugs for their mental health issues. We are talking about a good dose of drugs to cure or control the mental illness.

Author Notes: Please, don't take drugs as cope-mechanisms, to escape hardship. Please, don't ruin yourself by self-destructive habits.

She loves the muse but it's ruining her life. The muse is like a bad habit to her. She touches her muse only for a fortnight. Or she touches the muse at her fort in the middle of the night. Meet me at Midnights. And Taylor always reminds the fans that, she refers to her muse as drugs in a couple of her songs. Her muse is her drugs. She is addicted to her muse. That's why she cannot forget her muse even though they are already separated.

Question: Did the muse be her bad habits? Alexa, plays Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
And for a fortnight there, we were together
Run into you sometimes, comment on my sweater
Now you're at the mailbox, turned into good neighbors
My husband is cheating, I wanna kill him

Meaning:
The relationship between her and the muse is going on.
At the fort, they are together. Sometimes when her bumps into her muse, the muse comments on  her cardigan.
Now, the muse is closer and closer to her.
Now, the muse at the mailbox acts like a good neighbor.
She said that her partner was cheating behind her.
She was angry like she wanted to kill her partner.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Thought of callin' ya, but you won't pick up
'Nother fortnight lost in America
Move to Florida, buy the car you want
But it won't start up 'til you touch, touch, touch me

Meaning: The muse's and the poet's POV
The muse thought of calling her sometimes but she never picks up.
The muse felt lost without her. The muse said "let's run together and leave everything, move to Florida, buy the car you want, take a new name, and no one knows us"
But, that doesn't happen til she touches the muse.

They missed each other and thought about calling each other.

Question: is it the poet's imagination or delusional stated and dreaming about the muse?

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Theory:
This song is about having illicit affairs with the ex lover only in a short period of time. A rekindled old flame. For a fortnight, this love is ruining the poet's life.

Author Note:
📜 For you, I build a fort. A fort for you to rest from the cruelest world.