Taylor Swift is recognized for closely listening to her fans. Upon the revelation of the tracklist for “The Tortured Poets Department,” Swifties speculated that the album delves into different phases of heartbreak.
With the release of her 11th studio album just weeks away, the 34-year-old singer has curated five fresh playlists on Apple Music, aligning with each stage: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
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Taylor Swift’s Personal Playlists: A Musical Journey Through the Five Stages of Heartbreak
Taylor Swift, the acclaimed artist behind hits like “Cruel Summer,” has unveiled five new playlists on Apple Music ahead of the release of “The Tortured Poets Department” on April 19. Apple Music issued a statement saying,, “When Taylor Swift announces an album, the world pays attention. That’s exactly what occurred following the reveal of The Tortured Poets Department, as dedicated Swifties diligently searched for clues and pieced together theories, ultimately concluding that her 11th studio album will likely delve into the five stages of heartbreak.”
The statement further elaborates, “And when Swifties agree upon a theory, Taylor takes an interest- so naturally, she’s responded by crafting a series of exclusive playlists, choosing songs of her own that fit each stage.” These playlists include songs from her past 10 albums and are named after the taglines of previously announced deluxe editions. However, the fifth one, which represents the stage acceptance, is named after one of the songs on TTPD, I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”
Here’s Taylor Swift’s commentary on each of the five playlists:
“I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life” – Denial
For the “I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life” playlist, representing the stage of Denial, Swift shared, “This playlist delves into the initial stage of heartbreak, which I see as ‘denial.’ It features tracks like ‘Lavender Haze,’ ‘Snow on the Beach,’ ‘Lover,’ ‘Cruel Summer,’ ‘Willow,’ ‘Betty,’ ‘Treacherous,’ ‘Wildest Dreams,’ and other love-infused songs.” She also included a voice message as part of the playlist.
“This is a list of songs about getting so caught up in the idea of something that you have a hard time seeing the red flags, possibly resulting in moments of denial and maybe a little bit of delusion. Results may vary.”
“You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad” – Anger
“You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad” playlist embodies the stage of Anger in the heartbreak process. Apple Music describes it as featuring “some of her best and most beloved songs” characterized by their edginess. Among the tracks included are “Bad Blood,” “Vigilante S**t,” “Illicit Affairs,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Dear John,” and “Better Than Revenge.”
Swift said of the playlist, “These songs all have one thing in common, I wrote them while feeling anger. Over the years, I’ve learned that anger can manifest itself in a lot of different ways, but the healthiest way that it manifests itself in my life is when I can write a song about it, and then oftentimes, that helps me get past it.”
“Am I Allowed to Cry?”- Bargaining
Regarding the third stage of heartbreak, symbolized by the “Am I Allowed to Cry?” playlist, Swift commented, “This playlist takes you through the songs that I’ve written when I was in the bargaining stage, times when you’re trying to make deals with yourself or someone that you care about, you’re trying to make things better, you’re oftentimes feeling really desperate because oftentimes we have a gut intuition that tells us things are not going to go the way that we hope, which makes us more desperate, which makes us bargain more.”
The “Am I Allowed to Cry? – Bargaining” playlist is rich with tracks from her album Lover, such as “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” “Soon You’ll Get Better,” “Afterglow,” “Cornelia Street,” and “The Archer.” Additionally, it includes songs from her other albums, including “I Wish You Would (Taylor’s Version),” “The Story of Us (Taylor’s Version),” and “The Other Side of the Door (Taylor’s Version).”
“Old Habits Die Screaming” – Depression
For the fourth playlist, “Old Habits Die Screaming – Depression,” Swift shared her insights, stating, “We’re going to be exploring the feelings of depression that often lace their way through my songs. In times like these, I’ll write a song because I feel lonely or hopeless. And writing a song feels like the only way to process that intensity of an emotion,” Swift said of the fourth playlist. This playlist includes tracks such as “Maroon,” “You’re Losing Me,” “Champagne Problems,” “Dear Reader,” and “Bigger Than the Whole Sky.”
“And while these things are really, really hard to go through, I often feel like when I’m either listening to songs or writing songs that deal with this intensity of loss and hopelessness, usually that’s in the phase where I’m close to getting past that feeling,” she added.
“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” – Acceptance
The fifth and last playlist, titled “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart – Acceptance,” draws its name from a track on her forthcoming TTPD album, symbolizing the stage of “acceptance.” Among its selections are songs like “You’re On Your Own Kid,” “Midnight Rain,” “Labyrinth,” and “August.” Swift explained the playlist saying, “Here we finally find acceptance and can start moving forward from loss or heartbreak. These songs represent making room for more good in your life, making that choice because a lot of time when we lose things, we gain things too.”
