Since the moment Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album dropped on April 19, Swifties have been picking apart the lyrics, deciphering all of the Easter eggs on the 31-track anthology. In addition to The Tortured Poets Department’s most heartbreaking lyrics, fans were excited to see that Swift’s current relationship with Travis Kelce also made the cut. After a couple of her songs appeared to reference the NFL star, he and brother Jason Kelce seemingly responded to the shout-out in a pretty funny way.
While Taylor Swift conducts a post-mortem on her relationships with Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy on many of the offerings on The Tortured Poets Department, the tune “So High School” seems to pay homage to her latest love. One particular line of the song references someone doing an impression of their dad, and Travis and Jason Kelce appeared to acknowledge that on the X (Twitter) account for their New Heights podcast:
Those Papa Kelce impressions are just too good pic.twitter.com/up7hZu8KFuApril 19, 2024
Swifties have fully embraced "the guy on the Chiefs,” as well as his brother Jason Kelce, who even quoted Taylor Swift lyrics in his emotional retirement speech when he ended his career with the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this year. So it’s not surprising that the fans may have remembered this clip when hearing the lyrics:
I feel like laughin' in the middle of practice / Do that impression you did of your dad again.
That certainly wasn’t the only line in “So High School” that screamed Travis Kelce, though. Taylor Swift seemed to reference her boyfriend’s now-infamous interview where he played “Kiss, Marry, Kill” with the Eras Tour star, Ariana Grande and Katy Perry, with Swift singing:
Are you gonna marry, kiss or kill me? / It's just a game, but really / I'm bettin' on all three for us two.
The lyric video also drops a clue, during the line “Cheeks pink in the twinkling lights.” Both times she sings the line in the video, the “T” and “K” in “twinkling” and the “TS” in “lights” are shaded in pink, presumably highlighting their respective initials. See for yourself below:
One has to wonder if Travis Kelce’s favorite Taylor Swift song has changed since the release of TTPD. Maybe “So High School” has replaced his previous top track, or possibly “The Alchemy,” which also has lyrics that seemingly pertain to the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.
Taylor Swift certainly is a mastermind when it comes to dropping Easter eggs and other references in her songs, and the reactions to The Tortured Poets Department have been appropriately dramatic, especially when Swifties discovered that many of the artist’s poems were about her brief fling with Matty Healy, not the six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn that ended early in 2023.
Also, after Taylor Swift indicated in her Time Person of the Year interview that she may still have issues with Kim Kardashian, that appeared to be confirmed when she called out the reality star in the track “thanK you aIMee.”
As we continue to dive into The Tortured Poets Department’s lyrics and await Taylor Swift’s other upcoming projects, The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) is still available to stream with a Disney+ subscription.
