Taylor Swift and Post Malone navigate through a seemingly painful monochrome era.
The music video for “Fortnight,” the opening track from Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album “
Tortured Poets Bureau,” premiered on Friday evening. The collaborative song showcases the two musicians in various states of sorrowful introspection and anguish, set in a grim and predominantly black-and-white universe.
The visual narrative commences with Swift confined to a bare iron bed frame in a stark white observation chamber. After reluctantly ingesting a “forget him” pill administered by an attendant, Swift wipes her face with a towel, revealing Malone’s distinctive facial ink mirrored on her own visage.
“And for two weeks, we remained endlessly drawn to you/ Sometimes discussing trivialities/ Now you're in my vicinity, transformed into benevolent neighbors/ Your spouse tends to flowers. I harbor murderous thoughts toward her,” Swift intones somberly.
The duo then finds themselves seated at desks within an office environment – presumably the eponymous “bureau” – surrounded by masked figures clad entirely in black, typing away as they harmonize. The scene swiftly transitions to Swift and Malone standing amidst swirling papers on a tumultuous roadway, their faces inches apart.
Subsequently, Swift is depicted restrained to a stretcher with an enigmatic electrical apparatus affixed to her cranium. In a nod to her latest album’s title, fictional researchers portrayed by Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles – both of whom shared the screen in the 1989 movie “Deceased Poets Society” – scrutinize Swift's condition.
“I’m still buzzing from having the privilege to collaborate with the most extraordinary gentlemen on the planet, @ethanhawke and @mrjoshcharles (anguished poets, meet your counterparts from beyond, the deceased poets),” Swift remarked on social media on Friday regarding their guest appearances.
Ultimately, Swift breaks free from her constraints. Papers ignite, rain cascades, and the surreal yet captivating video culminates with Swift and Malone reaching for each other’s hands as she stands atop a telephone booth.
