Tough Love: “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” Meaning, Explained
Taylor Swift’s lucky track 13 from The Tortured Poets Department is this candid look behind the scenes of her life. The narrative reveals her “show must go on” attitude, even when she’s had her heart broken and doesn’t want to get up off the floor.
What can we learn about Taylor’s mindset from dissecting these lyrics, and how did this heartbreak really affect her?
Here’s my full English teacher analysis of Taylor’s I Can Do It With A Broken Heart meaning, line by line.

I Can Do It With A Broken Heart by Taylor Swift
- Title: I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
- Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff
- Track: 13, The Tortured Poets Department
- Pen: Glitter Gel Pen, Fountain
- Lyrics from Genius
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart Explained: Narrative Summary
- Setting: In the spotlight, after a devastating heartbreak.
- Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“he”, ex-lover)
- Mood: Wry, confident, sardonic.
- Conflict: She got her heart broken, but the show must go on.
- Inciting Incident: “He said he’d love me all his life / But that life was too short.”
- Quest: Let the crowd know what’s really going on behind the scenes.
- Symbols & Metaphors: “I can do it with a broken heart,” “read your mind,” “time of her life,” “glittering prime,” “sequin stars,” “show you lies,” “one, two, three, four,” “tough kid,” “handle my shit,” “fake it til you make it,” “lights, camera bitch smile, even when you wanna die,” “love me all his life / but that life was too short,” “breaking down I hit the floor,” “pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting ‘more!’”, “grinnin’ like I’m winnin’,” “hitting my marks,” “I act like it’s my birthday everyday,” “avoids me like the plague,” “I cry a lot but I am so productive,” “it’s an art,” “you know you’re good,” “hold my breath,” “since he left,” “finding things in drawers,” “Crucial evidence,” “I didn’t imagine the whole thing,” “pass this test,” “stilettos for miles,” “I’m good,” “nobody even knows,” “Try to come for my job.”
- Lesson: The show must go on.
What is I Can Do It With A Broken Heart About?
This track narrates Taylor having to continue to perform even in a time of great emotional turmoil. She describes having to be on stage, even when she is having a breakdown.
Who is I Can Do It With A Broken Heart About?
The central heartbreak described in the lyrics could be about any of her past loves and losses, but the two most likely inspirations are Matty Healy or Joe Alwyn.
Both of these relationships ended while she was on The Eras Tour, and the song was likely inspired by her “show must go on” attitude as a performer.
Taylor is known to perform in any condition and under any circumstance. This song lets us know that she also performs in any emotional condition, which must be especially tough performing songs that may be written about someone you just broke up with.
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart Lyrics Meaning: Line by Line

“I can read your mind,” she says in a Dear Reader moment right off the bat. She’s speaking to us, her audience, and lets us know she can tell what we’re thinking.
“She’s having the time of her life,” she says, reading our thoughts aloud. She must have the best life, we all think. There, up on that stage, life must be 100% wonderful for her. Right?
“There in her glittering prime,” she describes herself at the height of her career, “The lights refract sequin stars off her silhouette every night.” Like the shimmering mirrorball, she refracts light in a way only the world’s most iconic pop star can.
This also likely references her Eras Tour costumes, which all feature sparkles and sequins in one way or another.
“I can show you lies,” she cheekily nods to her audience, letting us in on the joke: it’s all a facade. Like the mirrorball, she’ll ‘show us every version of ourselves tonight.’ She’s the Mastermind behind her own image, and we only see what she wants us to see.
What we want to see about ourselves is reflected in her, and we don’t want to pay attention to the dark, depressing stuff. She’s got to keep it light and fun for her audience, but it’s all an act.
“(One, two, three, four)” counts down to the pre-chorus, reflecting her in-ear click track. The show must go on, and it starts right now, ready or not.
Pre-Chorus: “You Gotta Fake it Til You Make it”

“’Cause I’m a real tough kid,” she says, “I can handle my shit.” Like You’re On Your Own, Kid, she “gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this.” She’s stronger than anyone gives her credit for, and she can handle everything the world throws at her.
“They said, ‘Babe, you gotta fake it ’til you make it’ and I did,” she says, likely describing her early career. She pretended for this long, so why not keep it up a little longer?
“Lights, camera, bitch, smile,” she says to herself, “Even when you wanna die.” No matter what happens, she keeps her pageant smile plastered on and doesn’t’ let anyone know how she really feels.
Like Snow on the Beach, “My smile is like I won a contest / And to hide that would be so dishonest / And it’s fine to fake it ’til you make it / ‘Til you do, ’til it’s true.” Here, she’s faking smiles again, and she’ll keep doing it until she actually feels happy.
“He said he’d love me all his life,” she says, finally revealing what happened, “But that life was too short.” Her lover has “died”, and she’s in the midst of a devastating heartbreak.
“Breaking down, I hit the floor,” she says, having a mental breakdown, “All the piеces of me shatterеd as the crowd was chanting, ‘More’.” In another lyrical parallel to mirrorball, she breaks into “a million pieces.”
But unlike mirrorball, her breakdown is not for our entertainment: it’s kept hidden. In that track, “the masquerade revelers” are “Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten.”
But here, “I was grinnin’ like I’m winnin’ / I was hittin’ my marks.” Instead of having a public breakdown, she conceals her real self and puts on the Taylor Swift mask. She hides behind the persona she built for herself: the unstoppable entertainer, who will put on a hell of a show.
“’Cause I can do it with a broken heart,” she tells us. She can keep the facade going for as long as it takes to finish a show, because there’s work to be done.
“(One, two, three, four)” the click track counts off again. She doesn’t get a break in the tempo: she has to keep going.
Chorus: “I Cry A Lot, But I Am So Productive”

“I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day,” she reveals in the chorus. She has to pretend there’s something to celebrate just to get through the day. Her birthday is her lucky number 13 (and this track number), so she pretends it’s the best day when it’s really the worst.
“I’m so obsessed with him, but he avoids me like the plague” reveals just how hard this heartbreak hit. She’s still in love with him, but he’s ghosted her. And still, the show must go on.
“I cry a lot, but I am so productive,” she smiles to her audience. This is a meta moment: her emotions fuel her songwriting, and she’s a prolific songwriter. She’s also just a very busy person, but she lets us know that behind all that manic energy, she’s trying to outrun her real feelings.
🪶🤍 Are you a tortured poet? Find out with my TTPD Lyrics Quiz! 🤍🪶
“It’s an art,” she says, in another meta lyric. Her art is her life’s work, and making it – fueled by heartbreak and the need to succeed – is also an art. She does it well.
“You know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart,” she summarizes. She’s so talented and so professional that she can flip the switch from heartbroken woman to pop star performer in a millisecond.
She puts her emotions aside and steps on the stage, because her fans are waiting. And they’re not waiting to see the real Taylor. We don’t even know who the real Taylor is; she only lets us see what she allows us to see.
We’re waiting to see pop star Taylor, and that’s the persona she puts on when she rises up onto the stage.
Verse 2: “Crucial Evidence I Didn’t Imagine The Whole Thing”

“I can hold my breath,” she says in the second verse. This is another meta lyric, and it’s multi-layered.
She holds her breath, waiting for him to come back. She holds her breath so she doesn’t cry. And, finally, she holds her breath because she’s a professional singer. All this breathwork is intentional, and a crucial part of her on-stage persona.
“I’ve been doin’ it since he left,” she says, in the most devastating lyric of the whole track. She’s been waiting for him to come back, to change his mind, to acknowledge her existence. And she’s been holding her breath trying not to lose it since they broke up.
“I keep finding his things in drawers,” she says, echoing a line from Welcome to New York: “took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer.” Here, she puts her broken heart away, but then opens it back up trying to find the truth.
What does she find? “Crucial evidence I didn’t imagine the whole thing.” She’s looking for proof that it was real.
Like in Hits Different, she finds the evidence: “I find the artifacts, cried over a hat.” But like in loml, she wonders if the whole thing was real, or if it was a fraud. And like in Guilty as Sin?, she wonders if she’s allowed to have real emotions over this loss or not.
“I’m sure I can pass this test,” she reassures herself. The “test” could be performing with a broken heart, but it could also be remembering her lost love without having a breakdown. Can she look at the evidence and not lose her mind?
“(One, two, three, four)” the click track echoes again, sweeping her back into performance mode. There’s no time to waste; the show must go on.
2nd Pre-Chorus: “In Stilettos For Miles”

The second pre-chorus changes a few select lines. “Even when you wanna die” changes to “in stilettos for miles.” High heels are an important metaphor in the Swiftverse.
In mirrorball, she’s “spinnin in my highest heels, love, shinin’ just for you,” and the high heels represent trying her best to entertain. In cardigan, it’s “high heels on cobblestones,” where the heels represent a precarious situation.
In Begin Again, “He didn’t like it when I wore high heels / But I do.” The heels here represent freedom and being herself after a breakup.
Then there’s the reference to her Eras Tour costumes, which include high heels that she (literally) walks miles in every night.
All these meanings combine to show us that she’s trying to be all these things: a professional entertainer, balancing in a treacherous situation, being herself, and having the strength to carry on.
The next lyric change goes from “he said he’d love me all his life” to “he said he’d love me for all time.”
“But that time was quite short,” she tells us, echoing the same sentiment as loml: “it was momentary.” She didn’t get the long-lasting relationship she wanted.
Why the change? I think it’s possible that she’s referring to two different subjects. “He” could be two different people, and two different breakups.
Outro: “I’m Miserable, And Nobody Even Knows!”

The chorus repeats, then the outro breaks the fourth wall.
“You know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart,” she says for the last time, “And I’m good.” She speaks this line and doesn’t sing it, which is always a clue that she’s breaking the fourth wall.
“I’m good” means she’s not good at all inside. Outside, sure, she can perform and pretend like nothing’s wrong. But inside? She’s a mess.
“’Cause I’m miserable (Haha),” she says, “And nobody even knows.” This is her most confessional lyric: she’s absolutely not okay. But she’ll keep pretending, because the show must go on.
“Ah, try and come for my job,” she says, closing the track. This is like saying ‘you try doing what I’m doing, and see how long you last.’
No one else can do this as well as she can, she surmises, but she wants to let us know exactly how difficult this is for her.
It’s the closest she’s gotten to revealing her true self, and it’s a devastating peek behind the curtain at the real Taylor Swift.
🪶🤍 Are you a tortured poet? Find out with my TTPD Lyrics Quiz! 🤍🪶
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart Meaning: Final Thoughts
When Taylor performs this song on The Eras Tour, it’s a magical spectacle reminiscent of a circus ring leader. She’s referred to her life and career as a circus before, so it’s fitting imagery.
But in the intro, she pretends to be limp and lifeless, and her dancers act as her stage managers, propping her up and getting her in costume. She’s acting out her most devastating moments for her fans to see.
And what does the crowd do? We’re all “chanting ‘More’!” ‘Keep going, Taylor,’ we urge, ‘you can do it.’
And she can. But that doesn’t mean it’s a healthy thing to do.
More Songs From The Tortured Poets Department
- Stevie Nicks’ TTPD Prologue Poem
- TTPD Epilogue Poem “In Summation”
- Fortnight
- The Tortured Poets Department
- My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
- Down Bad
- So Long, London
- But Daddy I Love Him
- Fresh Out The Slammer
- Florida!!!
- Guilty As Sin?
- Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?
- I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
- Loml
- The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
- The Alchemy
- Clara Bow
- The Black Dog
- Imgonnagetyouback
- The Albatross
- Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
- How Did it End?
- So High School
- I Hate it Here
- thanK you aIMee
- I Look in People’s Windows
- The Prophecy
- Cassandra
- Peter
- The Bolter
- Robin
- The Manuscript