I made a new track order for TTPD

I absolutely love The Tortured Poets Department. It's my second favourite album but I think the official track order is pretty weird and kinda all over the place, though that's probably intentional. Still, I think there is a more cohesive, better flowing way to lay it out. This is what I came up with.

1. Fortnight
2. Guilty as Sin?
3. loml
4. The Black Dog
5. So Long, London
6. Florida!!!
7. Fresh Out the Slammer
8. But Daddy I Love Him
9. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
10. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?
11. Clara Bow
12. The Tortured Poets Department
13. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
14. Down Bad
15. imgonnagetyouback
16. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
17. Peter
18. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
19. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
20. The Albatross
21. How Did It End?
22. I Hate It Here
23. I Look in People’s Windows
24. The Prophecy
25. The Alchemy
26. thanK you aIMee
27. Cassandra
28. The Bolter
29. So High School
30. Robin
31. The Manuscript

Arc 1: Leaving London

• Fortnight
• Guilty as Sin?
• loml
• The Black Dog
• So Long, London
• Florida!!!

We start with Fortnight as usual but instead of moving to Matty right away, we stick with the dissatisfaction of that relationship. she fantasizes about Matty in Guilty as Sin and tries to rationalize it. then they break up and she looks back on it with loml and the black dog. So long london is basically the farewell to that relationship and she escapes to florida to detach from the pain.

Arc 2: Defiant Mania

• Fresh Out The Slammer
• But Daddy I Love Him
• I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
• Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?
• Clara Bow

This is the beginning, manic honeymoon phase with Matty. Rejecting everyone's criticisms and concerns but with some heavily suppressed awareness of the red flags.

Arc 3: Grief and Closure

• The Tortured Poets Department
• My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
• Down Bad
• imgonnagetyouback
• Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
• Peter
• I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
• The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

It ends and this is where all the most chaotic songs are. I think The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived should be the last song about Matty because it's such a razor sharp, cathartic takedown to close that chapter.

Arc 4: Reflective Emptiness

• The Albatross
• How Did It End?
• I Hate It Here
• I Look in People’s Windows
• The Prophecy

I imagine these are her thoughts to herself as she wanders through empty streets at night wondering why relationships keep going wrong.

Arc 5: A Cautious New Beginning

• The Alchemy
• thanK you aIMee
• Cassandra
• The Bolter
• So High School
• Robin
• The Manuscript

I think the Alchemy is her sort of cautious re-entry into a relationship with Travis, but she keeps that on the back burner and thinks about the 2016 cancellation saga and how it changed her. So High School is finally some genuine hope, not mania like But Daddy I Love Him but something actually real. I thought about putting The Alchemy right before it but I feel like there needs to be some space between those two songs to show the progression. I think Robin into The Manuscript is an absolutely perfect end to the album so I've kept that because it's kind of a final look back on this tumultuous roller-coaster to make sense of it all.

I would love to know what people think of this!

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4IVCkr44EU2q6Miq6TaFde?si=dd05819e9e334fea