Current:Home > MarketsThe most Taylor Swift song ever: 'I Can Do it With a Broken Heart' (track 13 on 'TTPD') -AssetLink
The most Taylor Swift song ever: 'I Can Do it With a Broken Heart' (track 13 on 'TTPD')
Robert Brown View
Date:2025-04-09 17:51:09
Taylor Swift, the new poet laureate of pop, released her 11th album and with it a song that is so quintessentially Taylor.
Swift is an expert at Trojan horse songs: Lyrics that cut hidden beneath an innocuous, upbeat melody.
Enter “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart,” the 13th track of “The Tortured Poets Department.”
With fluttering synths and an electro-pop beat, it’s structured as one of Swift’s trademark glistening pop gems. But in the lyrics, Swift travels through the most potent psychological exploration of “the show must go on” since Smokey Robinson and The Miracles described “The Tears of a Clown” in 1967.
Swift unfurls the anguish she hid while remaining very visible the past year during her historic, world-spanning Eras Tour: “I’m a real tough kid,” Swift sings, defiant as ever. “They said baby, gotta fake it til you make it … and I did.”
But the song achieves liftoff with the dichotomy of Swift’s honeyed voice and her chant-singing, “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day.”
It’s a clever entry into the complexity of mental health, and Swift, she of limitless ambition, flips her sorrow into something constructive, a Superwoman unbowed by pesky things like misery.
More:Taylor Swift name-drops Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas on new song. Here’s why
“I cry a lot but I am so productive,” she chirps, tongue firmly in cheek. “It’s an art … you know you’re good when you can do it with a broken heart.”
Read on for the full lyrics in what’s sure to be Swift's next signature song.
'I Can Do it With a Broken Heart' lyrics
I can read your mind
She’s having the time of her life
There in her glittering prime
The lights refract sequin stars
Off her silhouette every night
I can show you lies
'Cause I’m a real tough kid
I can handle my shit
They said, “Babe you gotta fake it til you make it”
And I did
Lights, camera, bitch smile
Even when you want to die
He said he’d love me all his life
But that life was too short
Breaking down I hit the floor
All the pieces of me shattered
As the crowd was chanting, “MORE!”
I was grinning like I’m winning
I was hitting my marks
‘Cause I can do it with a broken heart
I’m so depressed I act like it’s my birthday
Every day
I’m so obsessed with him but he avoids me
Like the plague
I cry a lot but I am so productive
It’s an art
You know you’re good when you even can do it
With a broken heart
I can hold my breath
I’ve been doing it since he left
I keep finding his things in drawers
Crucial evidence I didn’t imagine the whole thing
I’m sure I can pass this test
Cause I’m a real tough kid
I can handle my shit
They said, “babe you gotta fake it til you make it”
And I did
Lights, camera, bitch smile
In stilettos for miles
He said he’d love me for all time
But that time was quite short
Breaking down I hit the floor
All the pieces of me shattered
As the crowd was chanting, “MORE!”
I was grinning like I’m winning
I was hitting my marks
‘cause I can do it with a broken heart
I’m so depressed I act like it’s my birthday
Every day
I’m so obsessed with him but he avoids me
Like the plague
I cry a lot but I am so productive
It’s an art
You know you’re good when you can even do it
With a broken heart
You know you’re good when you can even do it
With a broken heart
You know you’re good
And I’m good
‘Cause I’m miserable
And nobody even knows
Try and come for my job
veryGood! (41232)
Related
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- Scientists tracked a mysterious signal in space. Its source was closer to Australia
- U.S. arrests 2 for allegedly operating secret Chinese police outpost in New York
- Twitch, the popular game streaming service, confirms that its data has been hacked
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Cara Delevingne Has Her Own Angelina Jolie Leg Moment in Elie Saab on Oscars 2023 Red Carpet
- Canadians Are Released After A Chinese Executive Resolves U.S. Criminal Charges
- Planning for a space mission to last more than 50 years
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- North Korea says it tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile. One analyst calls it a significant breakthrough
Ranking
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- Ryan Seacrest's Girlfriend Aubrey Paige Proves She's His No. 1 Fan With Oscars Shout-Out
- Facebook is rebranding as Meta — but the app you use will still be called Facebook
- The DOJ Says A Data Mining Company Fabricated Medical Diagnoses To Make Money
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO; Parag Agrawal succeeds him
- Oscars 2023: See Brendan Fraser's Sons Support Dad During Rare Red Carpet Interview
- Elizabeth Olsen Is a Vision During Her Rare Red Carpet Moment at Oscars 2023
Recommendation
The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
All the Ways Everything Everywhere All at Once Made Oscars History
Scientists tracked a mysterious signal in space. Its source was closer to Australia
Hugh Grant Compares Himself to a Scrotum During Wild 2023 Oscars Reunion With Andie MacDowell
Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
We’re Stuck on Austin Butler and Kaia Gerber’s Oscars 2023 After-Party Date Night
YouTube Is Banning All Content That Spreads Vaccine Misinformation
In this case, politics is a (video) game