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I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

Single | THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024)

“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is track thirteen and the second single on Taylor’s eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024). Written and produced by Taylor and Jack Antonoff, the song depicts her personal heartbreak while having to show up to perform for “The Eras Tour” in 2023.

Background and Release

Taylor started working on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, Midnights, for release in 2022. She continued working on it in secrecy throughout the US leg of “The Eras Tour” in 2023. The album’s conception took place amidst media reports on her broken relationship with the English actor Joe Alwyn while she was starting the tour in March of that year. Taylor described THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT as a “lifeline” for her and an album which she “really needed” to make:

«TORTURED POETS is an album that I think, more than any of my albums that I’ve ever made, I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me, just the things I was going through and the things I was writing about. It kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life. And I’ve never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I’d needed it on TORTURED POETS.»

Taylor Swift

From May 2024, the track was included in the revamped setlist of “The Eras Tour”. To celebrate the European leg of the tour, Universal Music Group released the song to Italian radio as the second single from the album on July 2. In the United States, Republic Records sent the song to pop radio stations on July 12. It was released digitally on music streaming services a couple of days later on July 16; the cover artwork is a capture of Taylor’s performance of the song at “The Eras Tour” concert in Lyon, France, on June 2.

Lyrical Theme

Lyrically, the song is a “pep talk” Taylor wrote for herself, capturing the resilience required to persevere as the world’s most famous singer while navigating personal heartbreak. Her “Eras Tour” was an unparalleled triumph—a sprawling live show that showcased her artistic mastery over a 3.5-hour performance. What made the achievement even more extraordinary was that she accomplished it all while nursing a broken heart during the tour’s early stages. This duality forms the core of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”

In the chorus, Taylor delivers the emotional punch: even at the peak of her career, her personal life is in shambles. Following her breakup with Joe Alwyn, her partner of over six years, she rekindled a decade-long connection with Matty Healy, only to be left heartbroken and ghosted after just a month of dating. She sings about her devastation, lamenting, “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.” Though the song’s tempo lifts during this section, the lyrics reveal her at her lowest.

But while many might struggle to even get out of bed after a breakup, Taylor was delivering three-hour performances to thousands of fans, night after night. This anthem chronicles that struggle, highlighting her ability to mask her pain while maintaining a public facade. It is a testament to her dedication, as she candidly declares in the closing lines: “Try and come for my job.”

Production

Taylor wrote and produced the song with her regular collaborator and close friend Jack Antonoff. It is a sonic departure from the predominantly moody atmosphere present in the rest of the album. An electropop and dance-pop confection, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is a juxtaposition between heartbreak in the lyrics and an upbeat production. It creates a tension symbolizing Taylor’s state of mind in mid 2023. Jack told the Los Angeles Times in an interview in October 2024:

«It's all about the juxtaposition between the sadness of Taylor's lyrics and the humor and the joy of the music. It's a person singing about how hard it is to be in the spotlight all the time but also about how strong they are. On a production level, I wanted the literal voices of people fluttering around in the song because I want people to be like, 'Who are all these people in the room?' That's the experience of what she's talking about. I love that type of song that re-presents to the audience the glory of the job and how destructive it can be.»

Jack Antonoff

Essentially, Taylor isn’t just singing about “The Eras Tour,” she models the song’s production after it. From In-Ear monitor countdowns to cinematic instrumentation, the same excitement one would get from seeing Taylor in concert starts to bubble up in the listener. The spoken voice which Jack mentioned can be heard in the beginning of the song, as well as the pre-choruses. It is the voice of recording engineer Oli Jacobs counting Taylor in, mimicking the click track performers use during live shows. He also contributes background vocals and percussion.

Music Video

The music video for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” was released on August 20, 2024, and premiered during the final show of the European leg of “The Eras Tour” in London. It features a compilation of footage and behind-the-scenes clips of Taylor preparing for the tour. It also includes rehearsals for the live performance of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”, costume changes and Taylor entering a cleaning cart prop used to transport her onto the raised stage.

“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is one of multiple “tour music videos” which Taylor has released over the years. The other songs whose videos follow the same concept are “Fearless“, “Sparks Fly“, “Red” and “New Romantics“.

Live Performances

Starting with the European leg, which kicked off in May 2024, Taylor added “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” to the regular setlist for her sixth headlining tour, “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). The performance started with a sketch that resembled silent films: Breaking the fourth wall, backup dancers galvanized a seemingly dead Taylor (she got “shot” during the performance of “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” moments earlier) into getting dressed to continue performing on stage, as a jazzy tune played in the background. Props that were used in the number evoked the Golden Age of Hollywood, such as tailcoats, feathers, and canes. Taylor’s partner, the American football player Travis Kelce, joined the dancers onstage between the songs at the June 23 show in London, inviting extensive commentary and fanfare; Rolling Stone dubbed it the best moment from the international leg of the tour. Taylor herself shared on social media:

«I’m still cracking up/swooning over Travis’ 'Eras Tour' debut!»

Taylor Swift

Critical Reception

Upon release of the album, critics considered the song a standout due to its sanguine music, in contrast with the generally downtempo mood of the rest of the album. Variety gave the song a positive review in its review of the parent album, considering it to be the album’s climax and suggested it was “sure to be one of the most talked-about and replayed tracks”. Tom Breihan of Stereogum wrote that the song showcased “a musical energy and inventiveness” that suggested a new path for Taylor’s artistry, praising the vocals and keyboard instrumentation. Writing for Beats Per Minute, John Wohlmacher said the song is “so unabashedly unhinged and manic that it’s pure joy”.

Commercial Performance

Following the album’s release, its tracks occupied the Top 9 of the Billboard Global 200; “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” debuted at its peak of No. 5 on the chart, where it extended Taylor’s Top 10 entries to 33. In the United States, the song opened and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It along with 13 tracks from the album made Taylor the first artist to monopolize the Top 14 of the Hot 100. The song also charted at No. 7 on Adult Pop Airplay when it was released. In Australia, it reached No. 5 on the ARIA Singles Chart and made her the artist with the most entries in a single week with 29.

Elsewhere, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” reached the Top 10 in Canada (4), Ireland (5), Singapore (5), New Zealand (6), the United Kingdom (8), and the Philippines (10). It also charted within the Top 20 in many countries: No. 11 in Austria, No. 12 in Latvia, No. 14 in Malaysia and Portugal, No. 15 in Belgium and Luxembourg, No. 17 in Sweden, and No. 19 in Croatia, Denmark, and South Africa.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
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

[Pre-Chorus 1]
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 piеces of me shatterеd
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.

[Chorus 1]
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

[Verse 2]
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

[Pre-Chorus 2]
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

[Chorus 2]
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

[Outro]
You know you’re good, and I’m good
‘Cause I’m MISERABLE!
And nobody even knows!
Try and come for my job.