Home » Albums » THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT » Songs on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT » I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024)

“I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” is track eleven on Taylor’s eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024). It is the shortest song on the record. Co-written by Taylor and Jack Antonoff, she is confident that she can be a good influence on her lover. Even if he is known for being callous, under her tutelage he can become an “angel.”

Background

Taylor developed her eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, “for about two years” after finishing her previous album Midnights (2022). She reflected on the creation of the album as a “lifeline” for her, as it took place amidst media reports on her personal life and her relationships with Joe Alwyn, Matty Healy, and Travis Kelce:

«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

The album’s tracklist, including “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”, was revealed shortly after.

Lyrical Theme

Throughout “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” Taylor makes use of a Wild West motif, even though the content is rooted in her real life. She has a history of wanting to make the “Bad Boys” good. As an example, fellow TORTURED POETS song “But Daddy I Love Him” describes the same sentiment. But “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” is perhaps her most zealous acknowledgment of her own self-delusion in doing so.

As per usual, Taylor has not confirmed who inspired this track specifically. If the rumors are to be believed, most of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT was written about her brief relationship with The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy, in early 2023. Around the same time, Healy was getting flak for his jokes and on-stage persona. His reputation made some fans question Taylor’s motives. Frustrated, Taylor uses this song to clear the air, writing:

They shake their heads
Saying, “God help her” when I
Tell ’em he’s my man
But your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger, I can fix him
No, really, I can
And only I can

Taylor doesn’t want anyone to pray for her. She doesn’t need to be saved. She has things under control. She can fix him…no really, she can. Taylor isn’t one to often admit she was wrong. But by the end of “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” she seems to realize the scope of the lie she’s told herself. “Woah, maybe I can’t,” she sings, reluctantly but definitively, as the track stops.

Live Performances

“I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” received its first live performance acoustically on guitar on May 29, 2024, in Madrid during one of Taylor’s shows on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). She mashed it up with “Sparks Fly” (2010). On August 2, 2024, she paired it with “I Can See You” (2023) in Warsaw.

Commercial Performance

Upon the relase of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the chart week ending on May 4, 2024.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
The smoke cloud billows out his mouth like a freight train through a small town
The jokes that he told across the bar
Were revolting and far too loud

[Chorus]
They shake their heads
Saying, “God help her” when I
Tell ’em he’s my man
But your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger, I can fix him
No, really, I can
And only I can

[Verse 2]
The dopamine races through his brain
On a six lane Texas highway
His hand, so calloused from his pistol
Softly traces hearts on my face
And I could see it from a mile away
A perfect case for my certain skillset
He had a halo of the highest gradе
He just hadn’t met me yеt

[Chorus]
They shake their heads
Saying, “God help her” when I
Tell ’em he’s my man
But your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger, I can fix him
No, really, I can
And only I can

[Bridge]
Good boy, that’s right
Come close, I’ll show you heaven
If you’ll be an angel all night
Trust me, I can handle me a dangerous man
No really I can…

[Final Chorus]
They shook their heads
Saying, “God help her”
When I told ’em he’s my man
But your good Lord didn’t need to lift a finger, I can fix him
No, really, I can

[Outro]
WOAH – maybe I can’t.