Taylor Swift Calls Herself a 'Functioning Alcoholic' in New Song

Taylor Swift suggests she had a problem with alcohol in one of her new songs -- even though, frankly, she's no stranger to booze right now ... hard to tell if she's serious or not.

The singer dropped her new album, "The Tortured Poets Department," Friday, which details her breakups from Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy. In the opening track "Fortnight," fans picked up on a lyric that paints her (or whoever she's singing as) as an alky during this time.

Taylor sings ... "I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me / I was a functioning alcoholic 'til nobody noticed my new aesthetic. All of this to say, I hope you're okay / But you're the reason / And no one here's to blame / But what about your quiet treason?"

Taylor doesn't provide any more insight into this on the song ... as a result, we really don't know if she's being literal, or simply metaphoric. What's interesting ... she notably quit drinking in the months leading up to her "Eras" tour -- that's what she told TIME Magazine anyway.

She previously told TIME she had to ditch her "frat guy" ways while on tour ... choosing instead to prioritize working out and a sober lifestyle so that she could be in tip-top shape for her nearly 4-hour concerts.

While Taylor might've not been boozing toward the beginning of her "Eras" tour -- that didn't last too long ... because as we've seen over the past several months ... Taylor has often had a drink on her for various occasions, especially when around Travis Kelce.

We've seen Taylor pounding beers and other alcoholic beverages at various football games she's been to while watching her boyfriend play ... and that was definitely on display during the Super Bowl as well, where she was having the time of her life ... with a cup in hand.

Even during Taylor's Bahamas vacay with Travis, she was in the water while holding a cocktail -- and this past weekend at Coachella, folks noticed she appeared to be inebriated there too ... with lip-readers saying they saw her apologizing to TK for being drunk.

At just about every big public event Taylor's been to of late ... she's often seen drinking -- including for all the Super Bowl after-parties, where she was raging with the team.

"Drunk Taylor" was also trending during the 2023 VMAs after fans thought the singer had a buzz on at the awards show ... so yeah, it's definitely something people notice about her.

Interestingly enough, she also seems to be aware of it -- although, in the song, she's talking about being an "alcoholic" in the past tense ... so, presumably, that means she used to drink even more ... again, assuming this is meant to be interpreted down to the letter.

Taylor has never looked too out of control, FWIW -- while she certainly likes to have a good time, and even a boozy time here and there, there's never been any outward signs that she doesn't know how to control herself ... or that this is actually a real issue.