She Fooled Me: Taylor Swift Can, In Fact, Do It With a Broken Heart

As the crowd was chanting, "More!"

She’s right, she can read our minds. 

Taylor Swift sings in The Tortured Poets Department single “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” “I can read your mind, ‘She’s having the time of her life,’ there in her glittering prime.” She sings of Swifties watching her perform, anointed with sparkles and sequins, thinking that she’s living her best life, all while going through the breakup of a 6-year relationship. A breakup most of us wouldn’t dare get out of bed during.

And she’s exactly right. That’s just what we thought. 

But little did we know, she could do it all with a broken heart.

On August 20, 2024 Taylor Swift performed at Wembley Stadium for the last stop on the European leg of The Eras Tour. In honor of ending the European leg, Swift released the “official video” for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” She debuted the video at the end of the last show — a jaw-dropping moment for Swifties worldwide. 

Swifties are speculating the video is an Easter egg for a future The Eras Tour documentary, as the video is labeled on YouTube as an “official video” rather than “official music video.” 

Swift is also known to end eras with tour music videos — she’s done this for Red, Fearless, and Speak Now tours. So, is reputation (Taylor’s Version) closer than we think? 

Aside from Easter eggs, Swift’s release of the “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” (music) video gave us a personal insight into Swift’s love, life, and liberty as an artist, performer, and person. She’s more than the sparkles. But she’s also more than the love she lost. 

As the video starts, we see a time lapse of the hustle and bustle of the crowd meandering about the stadium before one of her shows. Then, we see Swift backstage getting excited and exhilarated with her band, vocalists, dancers, and crew. 

We see ourselves and we see her, so close yet so far, divided by the forcefield that separates an artist and their fans: reality. 

Grinning like she's winning.

We think we know an artist like the back of our hand — I know I sometimes try to claim that when I talk about Swift myself. But, as humans, we often never know what our closest friends are truly going through. We don’t know the difference between the sparkles and the sweat. The blood and the paint. The happy tears from the sad. 

Swifties have speculated that the beginning of the video — the time lapse — is from the Arlington shows, her lowest point after her public breakup. The video takes us through her journey of healing romantically and personally. But in Arlington at the time, no one could tell. 

So, if we frequently find ourselves thinking, “I don’t know what they’re going through,” even regarding our closest friends, how could we dare assume Swift is all sparkle? 

The video release for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” reminds us of the power of empathy, compassion, and perseverance. As we watch the video, Swift’s smile stays constant, as does the upbeat essence of the song. However, listening to the lyrics you’re met with a strong realization: this is actually a sad song. And as you look at Swift, you realize, “I have no idea what she’s going through.”

This video gave Swifties and viewers everywhere an appreciation for all of the work that goes into making a tour happen, especially a tour as big as Swift’s The Eras Tour. Swift gave us the privilege of seeing her just moments before she takes the stage, dressed to the nines, and obviously accessorized with a smile. She takes us on a journey of practicing choreography, showing viewers outfits they’d never seen, and preparing to perform with a heart broken. 

Try and come for her job!

From Easter eggs to gratefulness and compassion, Swift continues to give Swifties more than what they could have imagined in their wildest dreams. 

She fooled us all, she made it look easy. She made us believe that if she can do it, we can do it too. Swift proves that she can break records, make millions, and perform like no other artist with a heart broken into pieces, pieces that she’s given to Swifties to put back together. 

While we may not know everything Swift has gone through, with the release of this (music) video, Swifties can understand that Swift chose to do it all with a broken heart, for us.