Stevie Nicks' TTPD Prologue Poem, Explained Line By Line

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department really was a departure from her traditional album releases. Upon opening the album booklet, fans discovered that she did not write a traditional prologue, which she had done for each album since her self-titled debut.

Instead, this album came with an introductory poem, written by the iconic Stevie Nicks.

An introduction written by someone other than the author is called a foreword, and its purpose is usually to tell the audience what’s special about the art, and what’s special about the artist.

Does Nicks’ poem act as a traditional foreword, and what can we learn about TTPD, Taylor Swift, and Stevie Nicks by combing through this introduction?

Here’s my full English teacher analysis of the Stevie Nicks TTPD prologue poem, line by line. Let’s see what we can decipher.

Cover image for Swiftly Sung Stories' analysis of Stevie Nicks' TTPD Prologue Poem. A black typewriter displays title text: "Stevie Nicks TTPD Prologue Poem: line by line analysis."

Context: Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, and Rockstar Romance

Stevie Nicks rose to fame after joining the already-established band Fleetwood Mac in 1975. She joined the band along with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, and what followed was a rollercoaster of rock and roll romances.

She then briefly dated fellow band member Mick Fleetwood, and many of the band’s most iconic songs were inspired by this chaotic triangle of heartbreak. Add in the drug-fueled haze of the 70’s rockstar lifestyle, and you get stellar songs, written by crumbling hearts.

All of this to say, Stevie Nicks is no stranger to falling in and out of love with rock stars. Her poem that prefaces The Torture Poets Department is about Taylor and Matty Healy, but it’s also about herself.

Her unique perspective on love in the spotlight, and in the music industry, is what makes this opening poem so potent, and makes it a fitting introduction to the album that follows.

Stevie Nicks’ TTPD Poem: Full Text

“Written on Aug 13, 2023

Austin, Texas
Sept 13, 8:50 pm

For T – and me…

He was in love with her
Or at least she thought so
She was broken hearted
-Maybe he was, too –
Neither of them knew.
She was way too hot to handle
He was way too high to try –
He couldn’t even see her
He wouldn’t open his eyes
She was on her way to the stars
He didn’t say goodbye

She looked back from her future
And shed a few tears
He looked into his past
And actually felt fear.
For both of them
The answers – would never be
Everclear
Don’t ask questions now
Do that later
She brings joy
He brings Shakespeare
It’s almost a tragedy
Says she
Don’t endanger me
Don’t endanger me.

He really can’t answer her
He’s afraid of her
He’s hiding from her
And he knows – that he’s
Hurting her
She tells the truth
She writes about it
She’s an informer
He’s an x-lover
There’s nothing there for her
She’s already gone
There’s nothing that
Can stop her

She was just flying
Through the clouds
Where he saw her –
She was just making her way –
To the stars –
When he lost her…”

–Stevie Nicks, The Tortured Poets Department

Stevie Nicks’ TTPD Prologue: Analyzed Line by Line

Annotated portions of Stevie Nicks' TTPD prologue poem on a cream background in black typeface. Red English teacher's pen translates each line, uncovering hidden meanings and explaining the use of literary devices.
The selection of the poem reads:
"For T - and me…

He was in love with her
Or at least she thought so
She was broken hearted
-Maybe he was, too -
Neither of them knew.
She was way too hot to handle
He was way too high to try -
He couldn’t even see her
He wouldn’t open his eyes
She was on her way to the stars
He didn’t say goodbye "

“For T – and me…” is scrawled above the poem. In lieu of a title is this dedication, from which we can glean that it’s not only directed at Taylor. This poem is for its author, too. These two songwriters have much more in common than we know.

“He was in love with her,” she begins in the first line, “Or at least she thought so.” From the jump, this is a love story, or a breakup story. This clues us in that the album that follows will be a recounting of the events of this particular relationship.

She thinks he’s in love with her, but she doesn’t know for sure. Will she ever know for sure?

“She was broken hearted,” she says, “Maybe he was, too – Neither of them knew.” The subject is starting this relationship from a bad place, and the partner is, too. Neither of them quite know what they’re doing, which is a bad omen for beginning a relationship.

🪶🤍 Are you a tortured poet? Find out with my TTPD Lyrics Quiz! 🤍🪶

“She was way too hot to handle,” she says of Taylor, and of herself. These women are feisty, and unattainable, and difficult for anyone to pin down.

“He was way too high to try,” she says of his drug haze, or obliviousness. He wasn’t able to “handle” her; it would take a strong man, and not a drunken, high, or aloof one.

“He couldn’t even see her,” she says, “He wouldn’t open his eyes.” He’s in denial, or delusion, and can’t see what’s right in front of him.

He didn’t even try to see into the real Taylor, or the real Stevie. Like in Taylor’s epilogue poem, “He never even scratched the surface of me. None of them did.”

This is the central worry that has run through Taylor’s lyrics for several years: “who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay?” Who can stay, and probe beneath the surface, when her outward life is so large and overbearing? Will anyone stick around long enough to see what’s underneath?

“She was on her way to the stars,” she says of Taylor, and of herself, “He didn’t say goodbye.” Our protagonists were off to bigger and better things, and their lovers just ghosted them, not even attempting closure.

Stanza 2: “It’s Almost a Tragedy”

“She looked back from her future,” she says in the second stanza, “And shed a few tears.” Our protagonist – or our two protagonists – are now in the present, looking back on the relationship that’s over. They grieve, and this album, as is implied, will be full of grief.

“He looked into his past,” she says, “And actually felt fear.” He looks back, and sees the patterns that have gotten him to this lonely place, and is afraid. Is he afraid of what he’s become, or is he afraid that his past will come back to haunt him?

“For both of them,” she says, “The answers – would never be Everclear.” Neither of them can look back with clarity; neither of them knows why it ended, or how it ended, or what it means.

But Everclear is, essentially, moonshine – a potent grain alcohol. In Clara Bow, Taylor sings:

“You look like Stevie Nicks
In ’75, the hair and lips
Crowd goes wild at her fingertips
Half moonshine, a full eclipse”

The answers will never be clear for him because of his drunken haze. And what is he drunk on? Her. She’s “half moonshine” – intoxicating and addictive – but a “full eclipse”, blocking out the sun with her presence that looms large over the universe.

“Don’t ask questions now,” she continues, “Do that later.” Now is not the time to wonder why, Stevie says. You’ll have the rest of your life to look back and ruminate. Now is the time for action.

“She brings joy,” she says of herself and of Taylor, “He brings Shakespeare.” He’s a fellow tortured poet, but what happens inside of Shakespeare’s plays? Mostly tragedy. Some dark comedy. Death. Destruction. Wounded hearts, which lead to drastic decisions.

“It’s almost a tragedy,” she says, continuing from the Shakespearean reference, “Says she / Don’t endanger me / Don’t endanger me.”

It’s unclear if our protagonist said “it’s almost a tragedy,” or “don’t endanger me”, or both. But either way, she clearly pleads for him not to hurt her. But hurt her he does, just like a Shakespearean tragedy.

Stanza 3: “She’s An Informer”

“He really can’t answer her,” she continues in the third stanza, “He’s afraid of her.” Our protagonist asks why he’s endangered her – why did he have to hurt her so deeply?

He doesn’t know why he is the way he is. Is he afraid of himself, is he afraid of love, or is he afraid of how large she looms over the world? Does she shine too bright for him? Does it blind him?

He cowers, like a little boy, unable to explain. “He’s hiding from her,” she says, “And he knows – that he’s hurting her.” Instead of standing up and being a man, he runs and hides.

“She tells the truth,” she continues, “She writes about it.” All the dirty details of what this man did will come out in the album that follows. He can no longer run and hide; the truth will now be in plain sight.

“She’s an informer,” she says of herself, and of Taylor. What’s another word for an informer? A snitch. Someone who tells the truth, when everyone else tries so desperately to hide it. Someone who uncovers long buried secrets.

“He’s an x-lover,” she says, using the letter ‘x’ instead of the usual “ex.” Another name has been crossed off her list – her “long list of ex-lovers”.

“There’s nothing there for her,” she muses, looking back over this “x-lover”, and finding nothing. He never had anything of value, anyway.

“She’s already gone,” she says, continuing her trajectory to the stars. “There’s nothing that can stop her.”

Her course has been plotted, and even her heartbreaks propel her forward. Like The Bolter, “as she was leaving, it felt like breathing.”

Stanza 4: “Making Her Way to the Stars”

“She was just flying,” she says in the fourth and final stanza, “Through the clouds.” She’s high in the sky, flying above the noise, looming over earth, the brightest star the world has ever seen.

Like in Taylor’s Snow on the Beach, she’s “flying in a dream,” with “stars by the pocketful.” She has everything going for her, and she simply moves along, unaware of who is watching.

“Where he saw her,” she says, her lover spying her up in the clouds. He sees this bright, shining star, on a karmic path to another planet, and wants her for himself. Is he strong enough to catch her, and keep her, when she’s forever in motion?

“She was just making her way to the stars,” she says, “When he lost her.” Like a shooting star, she flies right by him. He wasn’t strong enough to make her stay put.

She was always going to fly right by, because she’s The Albatross. She’s a force of nature, and he’s a mere mortal. He never even stood a chance.

Will anyone ever stand a chance?

🪶🤍 Are you a tortured poet? Find out with my TTPD Lyrics Quiz! 🤍🪶

Stevie Nicks TTPD Prologue: Final Thoughts

This diaristic poem is telling Stevie’s story just as much as it’s telling Taylor’s story. But as a prologue to TTPD, what have we learned about the album that is to follow?

We’ve been given context into the heartbreak that permeates each song, sure. But the most important context is about Taylor – and Stevie’s – trajectory. They are both shooting stars, never able to be captured, and never able to be tamed.

The lovers that stay will need to learn to move with the inertia, instead of against it. It will take an exceptionally steadfast man, and a bit of cosmic destiny, to ever tame these women, who have always been “too hot to handle.”

They burn so bright that anyone who surrounds them is in danger of getting burned, or blinded. Is there anyone who is up to the challenge?

For most of the men that populate TTPD, no. They’re not. But as for the future, way off in the stars where Taylor and Stevie live, maybe there lies someone with the guts, and the gaul, to stand by and not implode.

But along the way these men – the “worst men” that Taylor “writes best” – serve as exceptional muses for her tortured heart.

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