Why Taylor Swift name-drops Charlie Puth on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Chuck Arnold

Music

By Chuck Arnold

Yes, there are the usual suspects on the new Taylor Swift album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”

There are the exes: British actor Joe Alwyn, with whom the singer was in a six-year relationship until 2023, as well as the 1975 frontman Matty Healy, who Swift briefly dated last year.

And the 34-year-old superstar used her powerhouse pen to mark her territory on her gridiron guy, Travis Kelce.

But in addition to her current beau, there is another man who gets big love from Swift on “TTPD,” which dropped on Friday.

That would be singer-songwriter Charlie Puth, who gets the ultimate co-sign from Swift on the title track.

“You smoked and ate seven bars of chocolate / we declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist / I scratch your head, you fall asleep / Like a tattooed Golden Retriever,” she sings.

The quote seemingly references her and Healy bonding over their mutual appreciation for the “See You Again” singer during their romance.

Puth, for his part, appears to be a major Swiftie. In 2022, a video of him playing her breakthrough hit “Teardrops on My Guitar” for a New York City crowd circulated on TikTok.

Healy, however, seems to be the target of more pen venom elsewhere on “The Tortured Poets Department.”

Healy — who, before their summer split, was a rebound romance for the pop superstar following her breakup with Alwyn — appears to be the subject of the vicious takedown “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”

“And I don’t even want oil back/If just want to know/If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal,” sings Swift, who caught some flak after Healy made some controversial comments — including racist remarks about the singer’s now BFF Ice Spice.

“And I don’t miss what we had,” she continues. “But could someone give a message/To the smallest man who ever lived.”

There are also hints that “I Can Fix Him” (No Really I Can)” — gotta love that title — might be about the 35-year-old rocker: “The smoke cloud billows out his mouth/Like a freight train through a small town/The jokes that he told across the bar were revolting/And far too loud/They shake their heads saying ‘God help her’ when I tell ‘em he’s my man/But your good Lord doesn’t need to/I can fix him/No, really I can.”

But, of course, Healy also shares the ex attack with Alwyn.

There’s even one song called “So Long, London” — a goodbye to the city where they once lived together.

“Just how low did you think I’d go/Before I’d self implode,” Swift sings on the track.

“Every breath feels like the rarest air/When you’re not sure if he wants to be there,” she adds

Alwyn is also rumored to figure in the album title, which seemingly puts a snarky spin on the name of a group chat, “The Tortured Man Club,” that he had with his fellow actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.

Poetic justice, indeed.