# I Can Do It with a Broken Heart
**"I Can Do It with a Broken Heart"** is a song by the American singer-songwriter [Taylor Swift](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-swift) from her eleventh studio album, *The Tortured Poets Department*, released on April 19, 2024[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yoiDhB9ZI). Written and produced by Swift and [Jack Antonoff](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-antonoff), it pairs an upbeat, synth-driven pop production with lyrics about performing through private heartbreak, and it became the album's second single[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yoiDhB9ZI) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-taylor-swift-new-video-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | April 19, 2024, on *The Tortured Poets Department* (Taylor Swift / Universal Music Group)[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yoiDhB9ZI) |
| Writers and producers | Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yoiDhB9ZI) |
| Single status | Second single from the album, following "Fortnight"[2](https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-taylor-swift-new-video-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/) |
| Peak chart positions | No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100; No. 5 on the Billboard Global 200; No. 8 on the UK Official Singles Chart[3](https://storyofsong.com/story/i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/) • [4](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/) |
| Music video | Released August 20, 2024; directed and produced by Taylor Swift; built from rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage of the Eras Tour[5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl6en1NPTYM) |
| Live moment | Travis Kelce appeared onstage during the song's introduction at Wembley Stadium on June 23, 2024[6](https://time.com/6991077/travis-kelce-taylor-swift-london-i-can-do-it-with-broken-heart/) |
## Lyrics and meaning
The song describes performing on a large stage while privately falling apart. Its lyrics contrast the audience's view of a star "having the time of her life" with the performer's concealed distress, in lines such as "Lights, camera, bitch, smile / Even when you wanna die" and "All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, 'More'"[7](https://www.capitalfm.com/news/music/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-meaning/). The chorus frames the title phrase as a measure of professional competence: "I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it's an art / You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart"[7](https://www.capitalfm.com/news/music/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-meaning/). The closing lines, "'Cause I'm miserable (Haha) / And nobody even knows / Ah, try and come for my job", underline the theme of defiant professionalism[7](https://www.capitalfm.com/news/music/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-meaning/) • [8](https://songsense.io/taylor-swift/i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart).
**Central theme.** Commentators describe the song as being about pushing through emotional wreckage while keeping up appearances, a subject Swift treats with an intensity beyond her usual heartbreak songs[9](https://magneticmag.com/2024/10/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-and-meaning/). The Associated Press characterized it as a song about her own performances, onstage and as a public figure[10](https://apnews.com/article/b24d2275df5cf78ffa9069c61b9825ec).
**Sound against subject.** Reviewers repeatedly noted the mismatch between the cheerful surface and the dark content. The song's bouncy, synth-driven rhythm sits against lyrics about crying and breakdown, an arrangement one analysis described as mimicking the sensation of being forced to perform happiness[11](https://songtell.com/taylor-swift/i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart). Capital FM called it an upbeat sing-along anthem playing into the fact that Swift was emotionally bereft while singing on stage[7](https://www.capitalfm.com/news/music/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-meaning/).
Fans and writers have debated which breakup the song addresses, with readings pointing to Swift's splits from [Joe Alwyn](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-alwyn) and [Matty Healy](https://www.edgepedia.org/matty-healy); Swift herself has not spoken publicly about the song's inspirations[7](https://www.capitalfm.com/news/music/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-meaning/).
## Release and singles run
The track appeared when *The Tortured Poets Department* was released on April 19, 2024[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yoiDhB9ZI). A lyric video followed on Swift's YouTube channel on April 20, 2024[3](https://storyofsong.com/story/i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/). The song was then released as the album's second single, following "Fortnight"[2](https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-taylor-swift-new-video-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/), and a remix by the producer Dombresky followed[9](https://magneticmag.com/2024/10/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-and-meaning/).
## Music video
The official music video premiered on August 20, 2024, during Swift's run of shows at [Wembley Stadium](https://www.edgepedia.org/wembley-stadium) in London, and was released online that evening[12](https://as.com/us/tikitakas/a-que-hora-se-estrena-el-video-musical-de-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-de-taylor-swift-n/). Swift directed and produced it herself[5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl6en1NPTYM). Rather than a scripted narrative, the video assembles rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage from the Eras Tour: dancers preparing choreography, Swift's pre-show routines with her team, her ride across the stadium stage on a rail-mounted platform, and her trip from dressing room to stage hidden in a cleaning cart[5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl6en1NPTYM) • [13](https://los40.com/2024/08/21/ni-reputation-ni-el-documental-taylor-swift-lanza-el-videoclip-de-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/). It was the second video from the album, after "Fortnight"[2](https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-taylor-swift-new-video-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/).
## Live performances
"I Can Do It with a Broken Heart" entered the Eras Tour setlist when Swift added songs from *The Tortured Poets Department* at the start of the tour's European leg in May 2024, performed in black-and-white costume to match the album's visuals[14](https://apnews.com/article/293d90acd670d6d19c294a0e6085829a).
At her third Wembley show on June 23, 2024, her 106th Eras Tour performance, the singer's boyfriend, [Kansas City Chiefs](https://www.edgepedia.org/kansas-city-chiefs) tight end [Travis Kelce](https://www.edgepedia.org/travis-kelce), appeared onstage during the song's introduction in a tailcoat and top hat, lifting Swift to the couch, fanning her and powdering her face before waving her on to sing[6](https://time.com/6991077/travis-kelce-taylor-swift-london-i-can-do-it-with-broken-heart/).
## Chart performance
In its first two months the song reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the [Billboard Global 200](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-global-200), and it placed in the top ten in Canada (No. 4), Australia (No. 5), Ireland (No. 5), Singapore (No. 5), and New Zealand ([No. 6](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-6))[3](https://storyofsong.com/story/i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/). On the UK Official Singles Chart it peaked at No. 8 and spent 26 weeks on the chart from May 9 to October 31, 2024[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/).
## Reception
The Associated Press quoted its "Lights, camera, bitch, smile / Even when you want to die" as an example of Swift holding up a mirror to her own melodrama[10](https://apnews.com/article/b24d2275df5cf78ffa9069c61b9825ec). The song has also been read as a summary of the professional discipline the Eras Tour demanded; the singer [Gracie Abrams](https://www.edgepedia.org/gracie-abrams), an opening act on the tour, cited it as the song that best captured what she learned from the experience[15](https://los40.com/2026/08/21/lo-mas-valioso-que-gracie-abrams-aprendio-de-the-eras-tour-lo-resumio-la-propia-taylor-swift-en-una-de-sus-canciones/).
## References
1. [I Can Do It With a Broken Heart (audio), Taylor Swift official YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yoiDhB9ZI)
2. [Watch Taylor Swift's New Video for "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart", Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-taylor-swift-new-video-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/)
3. [The meaning behind "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart", Story of Song](https://storyofsong.com/story/i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/)
4. [I CAN DO IT WITH A BROKEN HEART – TAYLOR SWIFT, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/)
5. [Taylor Swift – I Can Do It With A Broken Heart (Official Video), Taylor Swift official YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl6en1NPTYM)
6. [Taylor Swift Joined Onstage in London by Boyfriend Travis Kelce for Special Song, TIME](https://time.com/6991077/travis-kelce-taylor-swift-london-i-can-do-it-with-broken-heart/)
7. [What Are Taylor Swift's 'I Can Do It With a Broken Heart' Lyrics About? The Meaning Explained, Capital](https://www.capitalfm.com/news/music/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-meaning/)
8. [Meaning of "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" by Taylor Swift, SongSense](https://songsense.io/taylor-swift/i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart)
9. [Taylor Swift I Can Do It With A Broken Heart Lyrics And Meaning, Magnetic Magazine](https://magneticmag.com/2024/10/taylor-swift-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-lyrics-and-meaning/)
10. [Music Review: Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' is great sad pop, meditative theater, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/b24d2275df5cf78ffa9069c61b9825ec)
11. ["I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" by Taylor Swift – Meaning & Analysis, Songtell](https://songtell.com/taylor-swift/i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart)
12. [¿A qué hora se estrena el vídeo musical de 'I Can Do It With a Broken Heart'?, AS](https://as.com/us/tikitakas/a-que-hora-se-estrena-el-video-musical-de-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart-de-taylor-swift-n/)
13. [Ni 'Reputation' ni el documental, Taylor Swift lanza el videoclip de 'I Can Do It With A Broken Heart', LOS40](https://los40.com/2024/08/21/ni-reputation-ni-el-documental-taylor-swift-lanza-el-videoclip-de-i-can-do-it-with-a-broken-heart/)
14. [PHOTOS: Taylor Swift kicks off European leg of Eras Tour, adds 'The Tortured Poets Department' songs, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/293d90acd670d6d19c294a0e6085829a)
15. [Lo más valioso que Gracie Abrams aprendió de 'The Eras Tour', LOS40](https://los40.com/2026/08/21/lo-mas-valioso-que-gracie-abrams-aprendio-de-the-eras-tour-lo-resumio-la-propia-taylor-swift-en-una-de-sus-canciones/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Pop songs › Pop songs of the 2020s › 2024 and 2025 songs › 2024 pop songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license