Break Up Song / Taylor Swift

Over 10 albums (and counting) of her career, Taylor Swift was infamous for the amount of break up songs she has made for her ex. So much so that this page has to be ordered by albums:

• Taylor Swift:
  • "Tim McGraw" was written when Swift was a freshman to her senior boyfriend, who she knew was going to have to break up with her when he went off to college.
  • "Picture to Burn" is an angry break-up song to another high school boyfriend.
  • "Should've Said No" is a message to a former beau who cheated on her.
  • "A Perfectly Good Heart" is a sad ballad about her very first heartbreak.
• Fearless & Fearless (Taylor's Version):
  • "You're Not Sorry" is an accusation to a former lover.
  • "White Horse," where she warns her ex not to try to come after her because she's gone and not coming back.
  • "Forever & Always" is an ironic dig at a dishonest ex.
  • "Breathe" where the singer laments the end of a love she thought was forever.
  • "The Other Side of the Door" is a song where the singer is frustrated about her love interest behaviors (implied that they cheated on her with a woman) and told them to leave but she secretly wants them to stay.
  • "You All Over Me" is a song lamenting about how the singer is not over her ex.
  • "Mr. Perfectly Fine" is a song about the narrator being hurt that her ex is moving over so quickly after their relationship and lamenting their shared history and potential future.
  • "We Were Happy" is about the narrator breaking up with a boy who she knew about to propose to her but she doesn't really know why besides that she "isn't in love anymore".
  • "Don't You" is another song where the narrator is spiteful that her ex moving on so quickly and ignoring their shared history together.
  • "Bye Bye Baby" is a sad song where the narrator says goodbye to the good times she had with her ex.
• Speak Now & Speak Now (Taylor's Version):
  • "Back To December" is an apology from the narrator her ex about how she treated them horribly and that she is in front of their door to ask for them back even though she understands if they can't forgive her.
  • "Haunted" is a barely-pre-breakup song, where the singer can tell something is going horribly wrong.
  • "Dear John," a scathing polemic to an older man who mistreated her but whom she finally escaped.
  • "The Story of Us" is another pre-breakup song about falling out of love.
  • "Last Kiss," where the singer laments the end of a love she thought would be forever.
  • "If This Was a Movie" is about the narrator wishing her ex would be back at her doorstep and saying sorry to her so they can work it out just like a movie.
  • "Foolish One" is about the narrator ignoring her instinct that there is something wrong with her current relationship that she ultimately regretted not listening to in the aftermath of her break up.
• Red & Red (Taylor's Version):
  • "I Knew You Were Trouble" is about the end of a relationship she claims to have known was doomed all along.
  • "I Almost Do" where the singer reminisces about a recent ex-lover she can barely keep herself from calling.
  • "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" is a poppy declaration to her on-again off-again boyfriend that this time it's, like, for real.
  • "Sad Beautiful Tragic" is a melancholy ballad about a lost love.
  • "Begin Again" is set between relationships—she favorably contrasts her new love interest with the man she has recently broken up with.
  • "The Last Time" is a duet between both parties of the failed relationship, both missing the other, but knowing deep down that it's not going to work out. She wants to just call it quits, while he insists on still trying.
  • Subverted in "Stay Stay Stay," where the singer expects her boyfriend to leave her—but then he doesn't.
  • "Better Man" is a sad lamentation about how while the narrator still loves her ex, she knows she needs to break up with him and move on because her ex was not a good person or boyfriend.
  • "Babe" is about the narrator's anger at her ex for cheating on her.
  • "I Bet You Think About Me" is a song where the narrator laments how much of a pretentious ass he was and bets that he would still think about her even now.
• 1989:
  • "All You Had To Do Was Stay," a melancholy song to a lover who shouldn't have left.
  • "I Wish You Would" is about her regret about her actions with her ex and how she wants them back.
  • "Clean" is about the relief of finally getting over a toxic relationship.
• reputation: A notable absence of them from this album, which is really surprising considering the rest of her discography. The only exception is "Getaway Car", where the narrator is using another relationship as an excuse to finally break up with her old unfulfilling one.
• Lover: Another album that lacks break-up songs, owing to the fact that the album primarily focuses on the relationship with her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn. There are a few exceptions, both of which are clearly not about Alwyn:
  • "I Forgot that You Existed" is about the narrator's apathy towards her ex. This song is clearly based on her ex Calvin Harris.
  • "Death by a Thousand Cuts" is about the pain the narrator feels after a break-up and how she is still madly in love with her ex to the point it is hurting her. This song is stated by Taylor to be based on a movie.
• folklore:
  • "exile," a duet between both parties to a failed relationship.
  • It's not clear whether "my tears ricochet" is about a breakup, a literal death, or something else entirely (such as, like some fans believe, Taylor's departure from Big Machine Records and long fight for ownership of her discography), but it can certainly be interpreted as one of these.
• evermore:
  • "champagne problems" is from the perspective of a woman who turns down her partner's marriage proposal, breaking his heart.
  • "happiness" is about the fallout of a breakup that's especially painful because the narrator knows her ex-boyfriend isn't fully to blame, nor is he a bad person, and even if it's over, the relationship brought them both love and joy for a long time. She's trying to be cordial about it and wish him well, but she's in too much pain at the moment to manage it.
  • "closure" is the narrator telling a former flame to get out of her life, she's not interested in staying friends and she just wants to move on.
  • "coney island" is a song about the two singer lamenting all the wrong they did to each other and how their relationship broke down.
  • "right where you left me" is about the narrator's being unable to move on from her ex and how the relationship has left her stuck at the age of 23 despite that it happened so long ago.
• Midnights: Being the last album that came out before her breakup with her boyfriend of 6 years Joe Alwyn, it isn't surprising that a lot of these break-up songs seem more recent than listeners initially assumed:
  • "Maroon" is a song about the messy legacy of a past relationship.
  • "Question...?" is about confronting a cheating partner after seeing them again.
  • "Bejeweled" is an about-to-break-up song, with the narrator dolling herself up and going out for a night on the town to spite her neglectful boyfriend.
  • "Midnight Rain" is a song about breaking up with a small-town boy because she was pursuing fame and he just wanted an ordinary life.
  • "Would've, Could've, Should've" reflects on a past relationship with an abusive older man, the narrator lamenting her lost innocence and how traumatized she still is.
  • "Hits Different" is about the narrator reeling from the aftermath of a break up and ranting about her hurt and disappointment.
  • "You're Losing Me" is an "about to break up" song, with the narrator sadly detailing how her relationship is falling apart and how she is falling out of love with her love interest even though she is desperately trying to save the relationship.