Published on
Updated
Reading 3 min.
Since its release on April 19, Taylor Swift’s eleventh album, “The Tortured Poets Department”, has continued to be talked about. The singer’s many fans listen to this 31-track opus on repeat, and more particularly “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”. They see this electro-pop track as a critique of our productivist culture.
Contrary to what its catchy rhythm might suggest, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is anything but a happy song. Taylor Swift is reflecting on the end of her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, which was officially announced a few weeks after the start of her major world tour, The Eras Tour. She talks about the pressure she felt at the idea of having to go on stage, in front of tens of thousands of spectators, while she was going through a breakup. “I cry a lot, but I’m so productive, it’s an art. You know you’re good when you can do it even with a broken heart“, we hear him sing.
These words seem to have resonated with many Internet users, who, like Taylor Swift, feel obliged to hide their emotions in their daily lives. Some have featured themselves in videos, published on TikTok, in which they pose in front of the camera, their faces twisted with sadness, to “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”.
Among them is the TikToker @alejandrasup. The young woman filmed herself from a low angle, miming the words of this song. In text: “Taylor wrote this song for all the people who had to get out of bed, wipe away their tears, take responsibility and move on with their lives as if nothing had happened, even though their heart is broken into a million pieces and everything what they wanted to do was cry, feel alone and sad“. This post has more than 534,000 views, making it one of the most viewed on his profile.
Accept your weaknesses
This user is not the only one to appear on the social network, with a swollen face and moist eyes, with “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” in the background. Flavia Martin (@flaviamartinn) used Taylor Swift’s lyrics to show the less happy parts of her life as an influencer. In this five second video, we see her crying on her bed, at the gym but also working on her computer. In the caption: “Taylor wrote a song about me.” It has been viewed more than 643,000 times since its publication on April 20.
The song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” serves as the soundtrack to more than 115,000 posts on TikTok. In the majority of cases, this content is created by young women. No wonder for Casey Lewis, the creator of the After School newsletter, which analyzes popular trends among under-30s. “[Cette chanson de Taylor Swift] resonates with both millennials and Gen Zers, which I think indicates that Gen Z feels the same “girlboss”-style careerist pressures that millennials grew up with“, she declared to the site of CNBC.
The term “girlboss” appeared in 2014, when American entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso published her autobiography titled “#GirlBoss” (Globe, 2015). It is used to describe a woman who manages to reconcile her family life and her career, without flinching, like a modern-day Wonder Woman. Long considered feminist, this notion has been increasingly criticized since Covid-19. Gen Zers now see the girlboss as the embodiment of our collective obsession with productivity, not as an example to follow. They aspire to more balance between their personal and professional lives than their elders.
By choosing to talk about her wounds in “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” Taylor Swift becomes the spokesperson for a generation that values vulnerability. His star problems take on a universal tone, which contributes to the success of his song. Indeed, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is currently in third place on the Billboard Hot 100, the benchmark music ranking in the United States. Proof that getting naked musically pays off.