Current:Home > MyThe most Taylor Swift song ever: 'I Can Do it With a Broken Heart' (track 13 on 'TTPD') -TradeStation
The most Taylor Swift song ever: 'I Can Do it With a Broken Heart' (track 13 on 'TTPD')
View
Date:2025-04-15 11:17:26
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! (4437)
Related
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Starbucks to pay $25 million to former manager Shannon Phillips allegedly fired because of race
- Florida Fracking Ban Bill Draws Bipartisan Support
- Ohio to Build First Offshore Wind Farm in Great Lakes, Aims to Boost Local Industry
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Helen Mirren Brings the Drama With Vibrant Blue Hair at Cannes Film Festival 2023
- New York City’s Solar Landfill Plan Finds Eager Energy Developers
- U.S. Military Report Warns Climate Change Threatens Key Bases
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- Kids’ Climate Lawsuit Thrown Out by Appeals Court
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Why Chris Pratt's Mother's Day Message to Katherine Schwarzenegger Is Sparking Debate
- Blake Shelton Has the Best Reaction to Reba McEntire Replacing Him on The Voice
- FDA moves to ease restrictions on blood donations for men who have sex with men
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- That Global Warming Hiatus? It Never Happened. Two New Studies Explain Why.
- As electric vehicles become more common, experts worry they could pose a safety risk for other drivers
- Joe Biden on Climate Change: Where the Candidate Stands
Recommendation
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
Developer Pulls Plug on Wisconsin Wind Farm Over Policy Uncertainty
Most Americans say overturning Roe was politically motivated, NPR/Ipsos poll finds
The Top Moisturizers for Oily Skin: SkinMedica, Neutrogena, La Roche-Posay and More
Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
48 Hours podcast: Married to Death
25 people in Florida are charged with a scheme to get fake nursing diplomas
Democratic Candidates Position Themselves as Climate Hawks Going into Primary Season