Taylor Swift’s collaboration with Florence + The Machine “Florida!!!” is “a hellish drug”

“Florida!!!” is the only song in Taylor Swift’s discography to contain three exclamation points and one of two collaborations on “The Tortured Poets Department”.

For track 8, Swift teams up with Florence + The Machine. Swift’s father, Scott, told fans in Florida that the song about the state was his favorite song on the album. Drums on, boom-boom-boom-boom-boom.

“Florida!!!” is “a drug from hell.”

The tension-filled track builds in the verse until the chorus sounds like an exclamation point (or three) from the drums. The song mentions a timeshare in Destin, a northwestern city near Pensacola at the tip of the state. The area is known as a tourist destination for its Gulf of Mexico beaches, golf courses and resorts.

Though it seems like a retreat, the song wraps the sunny paradise in tissue paper of impending darkness and stuffs it into a storm-sized bag. Welch sings about hoping a natural disaster will come and wash it away. “Barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine. So, me and my ghosts, we had a hell of a time.”

Live updates on the release of “Tortured Poets”: What you should know about the debut of Taylor Swift’s new album

“Department for Tormented Poets”

In case you missed the memo from the department head, Tortured Poets is Swift’s 11th-era album with 16 tracks and four bonus songs (four versions of the album each have a different bonus track).

Swift announced the project at the Grammys, where she won her 13th Grammy for Pop Album of the Year. The pop album featured artists such as Post Malone and Florence and The Machine.

The titles of the songs are brutal. Fans speculated that the album was about Swift’s six-year relationship with English actor Joe Alwyn and their breakup. Both stars kept the relationship out of the public eye. The back cover of the first version of the album reads “I love you, it’s ruining me,” which feels like a stab in the chest.

The album was released during Swift’s two-month break from her hugely popular and financially successful Eras Tour. “Tortured Poets” is an exclamation point on the enormous success the billionaire has experienced over the past year since the three-hour-plus show premiered in Glendale, Arizona. Swift will return to the stage on May 9 in Paris, France. Fans expect her latest Eras to be included in the show.

Don’t miss any news from Taylor Swift; sign up for the free weekly newsletter “This Swift Beat.”

Follow Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.

This article originally appeared in the Nashville Tennessean: Taylor Swift’s song “Florida!!!” is “a hellish drug”