Taylor Swift reunited two '80s movie poets to help sound her barbaric yawp.
The music video for "Fortnight," the first single from her new album The Tortured Poets Department, features Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles from the 1989 film Dead Poets Society. The two, who played prep boarding school students Todd and Knox alongside Robin Williams in the coming-of-age film, appear in the video as scientists who conduct neurological experiments on Swift as she is strapped to a gurney in a facility.
Following the clip's release April 19, Hawke shared a photo of himself, Charles, Swift and "Fortnight" costar Post Malone on the set. "'Todd" & 'Knox' from DEAD POETS SOCIETY are now PhDs in THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. It's quite an honor. Thank you @taylorswift for the opportunity to be in the music video for your song FORTNIGHT feat. @postmalone."
The 53-year-old then quoted one of the most famous lines from Dead Poets Society: "Carpe diem!"
Quoting the English translation of the Latin expression, which Williams utters to his students in the movie, Gwyneth Paltrow commented, "Seize the day, boys!"
Charles, who has reunited with Hawke several times over the years since filming Dead Poets Society, also shared a personal message about working with their new captain.
"I've admired Taylor for a long time, but meeting her in person took my fandom to a whole new level," the Good Wife alum, 52, wrote on Instagram April 19 alongside a "Fortnight" scene showing the actors with Swift. "Genuine, kind, approachable, and just an all around stellar human being - Not to mention a kick a-- director to boot! #TSTTPD"
In her own social media post, Swift explained the meaning behind the clip. "When I was writing the Fortnight music video, I wanted to show you the worlds I saw in my head that served as the backdrop for making this music," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner of the album or another. For me, this video turned out to be the perfect visual representation of this record and the stories I tell in it."
The 34-year-old continued, "Post Malone blew me away on set as our tortured tragic hero and I'm so grateful to him for everything he put into this collaboration. I'm still laughing from getting to work with the coolest guys on earth, Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles (tortured poets, meet your colleagues from down the hall, the dead poets)."
Keep reading to decode the lyrics of The Tortured Poets Department...