Current:Home > InvestThe most Taylor Swift song ever: 'I Can Do it With a Broken Heart' (track 13 on 'TTPD') -Secure Growth Academy
The most Taylor Swift song ever: 'I Can Do it With a Broken Heart' (track 13 on 'TTPD')
View
Date:2025-04-16 09:25:19
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! (42)
Related
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Out-of-state law firms boost campaign cash of 2 Democratic statewide candidates in Oregon
- Workers are breaching Klamath dams, which will let salmon swim freely for first time in a century
- New Jersey man drowns while rescuing 2 of his children in Delaware River
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Mississippi wildlife officer and K-9 receive medal for finding 3 missing children
- 15 must-see fall movies, from 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' to 'Joker 2'
- New Jersey man drowns while rescuing 2 of his children in Delaware River
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Brittany Cartwright files to divorce Jax Taylor after 5 years of marriage
Ranking
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- South Carolina prison director says electric chair, firing squad and lethal injection ready to go
- As football starts, carrier fee dispute pits ESPN vs. DirecTV: What it could mean for fans
- Michael Crichton estate sues Warner Bros., claims new show 'The Pitt' is an 'ER' ripoff
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Peloton's former billionaire CEO says he 'lost all my money' when he left exercise company
- US Open Day 2: Dan Evans wins marathon match; Li Tu holds his own against Carlos Alcaraz
- Michigan power outages widespread after potent storms lash the state
Recommendation
Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
Pink’s Sweet Pep Talk Backstage With Daughter Willow Proves She’s a True Rockstar
SpaceX delays Polaris Dawn again, this time for 'unfavorable weather' for splashdown
Armie Hammer sells his truck to save money after cannibalism scandal
Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
Sweaty corn is making it even more humid
Pennsylvania ammo plant boosts production of key artillery shell in Ukraine’s fight against Russia
Michigan mayor dismissed from lawsuit over city’s handling of lead in water