When Taylor Swift, a real tough kid, who can handle her shit, released The Tortured Poets Department in April, fans were feeling a little self conscious about one absolute banger on the album. “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”, the thirteenth track, is a deeply honest, fed up release of frustration about Swift’s unshakeable ability to show up and perform “in her glittering prime” while she’s really going through it.
“Lights, camera, bitch smile, even when you wanna die,” is one of Swift’s sublime summaries of an artist hitting the stage to perfection night after night while dealing with heartbreak. The album was released mid-Eras Tour with the track imbued with lyrics like “Breaking down, I hit the floor / All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, ‘more'”. Yeah, it was impossible for fans not to feel that twinge.
In July, Swift released “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” as a single, and on Wednesday, she dropped a music video featuring never-before-seen backstage footage from her gargantuan Eras Tour — of course, it’s now the top trending video on YouTube with five million views in 10 hours. The clips embody the lyrics, seeing Swift grinning like she’s winning and hitting her marks in rehearsal. The footage is all taken from preparations for the Eras Tour’s worldwide leg — she debuted the The Tortured Poets Department era, including “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” in Paris in May.
I too, cry a lot, and I too am so productive, but it’s by no means the art that Taylor Swift has made it.
