Driver FixRecommendedSound, Wi-Fi or graphics acting up? Check drivers firstFind missing or outdated drivers fast.Check DriversOctober DealsAmazon USOctober deal check: compare before you payAmazon US: current deals, useful picks and tech finds.Check DealsWindows FixRecommendedWindows errors stealing your time? Find the fix fastScan stability, cleanup and performance issues.Fix Now×
Skip to content
DocumentaryTube
Admit one · Blog

Taylor Swift’s Five Apple Music Playlists for the Stages of Heartbreak

Released in April 2024, Taylor Swift’s five Apple Music playlists frame songs from her catalog around denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
Opened Runtime3 min Written byDocumentaryTube Team
Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Taylor Swift released five Apple Music playlists in April 2024, each organized around a familiar label: denial, anger, bargaining, depression or acceptance. She chose songs from her own catalog and recorded an introductory message for each list. The project grew out of fan theories about The Tortured Poets Department; it is a creative framing of heartbreak and songwriting, not a clinical guide to grief.

What are Taylor Swift’s five playlists?

Each playlist pairs a stage label with a title drawn from Swift’s lyrics and public persona. The names and stage mappings were reported in contemporaneous coverage and in Universal Music Japan’s April 8, 2024 announcement.

Stage Playlist title What Swift’s message evokes
Denial “I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life” Getting swept up in an idea of someone or something and overlooking warning signs.
Anger “You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad Songs” Anger finding a constructive outlet through songwriting.
Bargaining “Am I Allowed to Cry?” Trying to make deals with yourself or someone you care about.
Depression “Old Habits Die Screaming” Writing from feelings of loneliness or hopelessness.
Acceptance “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” Finding acceptance and beginning to move forward after loss or heartbreak.

Swift described the themes in short spoken introductions. In excerpts quoted by Andrea Dresdale at Good Morning America, she calls denial “songs about getting so caught up in the idea of something that you have a hard time seeing the red flags,” and says anger’s “healthiest” expression in her life is writing a song about it. For bargaining, she refers to “trying to make deals with yourself or someone you care about”; for depression, “I’ll write a song because I feel lonely or hopeless.” On acceptance, she describes a point when “we finally find acceptance and can start moving forward from loss or heartbreak.”

How the playlists relate to The Tortured Poets Department

Apple Music’s introduction says fans had assembled clues and theorized that Swift’s forthcoming album would explore the five stages of heartbreak. Swift took interest in that theory and made playlists grouping her own songs around the themes. Contemporary coverage placed the release in the lead-up to the album, which arrived in April 2024.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
#1 Best Overall
Sale
The Life of a Showgirl[Sweat & Vanilla Perfume Orange Glitter Vinyl]
  • Taylor Swift's 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, will be released worldwide October 3, 2025

The chronology matters: the documented link is that the playlists responded to fan speculation. It does not establish that The Tortured Poets Department was conceived as a literal five-part narrative or follows the stages in sequence.

What songs are on the playlists?

The playlists collect songs from across Swift’s catalog, but their tracklists can change as Apple Music’s catalog and playlist pages change. Contemporary Teen Vogue coverage reported examples including “Lavender Haze” and “Cruel Summer” in denial; “Vigilante Shit” and “Bad Blood” in anger; “The Great War” and “Cornelia Street” in bargaining; and “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” and “Maroon” in depression.

Apple Music’s bargaining playlist page highlights “Soon You’ll Get Better,” “Say Don’t Go” and “this is me trying.” When the page was accessed for this article’s source material, it displayed 23 songs and a duration of 1 hour 28 minutes; those are page-level details, not a guaranteed current count or duration. See the Apple Music “Am I Allowed to Cry?” playlist for its current listing. Check the other live playlist pages for current availability and full tracklists.

Are the five stages a fixed map of grief?

No. Swift uses the labels as a creative framework for songs and emotional experiences. The Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation’s catalog of music references notes that the framework’s cultural resonance is not the same as empirical validation. The playlists therefore work best as an artistic lens on heartbreak, not a prescription for how anyone must grieve or a claim that people experience these feelings in one fixed order.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
Rank #3
Sale
Fearless Platinum Edition[2 LP]
  • 2 LP 180g Vinyl in Gatefold Jacket
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Support on Ko-Fi

Where did the announcement appear?

Universal Music Japan’s April 8, 2024 announcement said the limited playlists were available on Apple Music and that each began with a message from Swift. Its versions of the messages are translations; they should not be treated as an original English transcript. The contemporary English-language accounts from Teen Vogue and Good Morning America reported the release and quoted Swift’s messages in English.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 2
1989 [2 LP]
1989 [2 LP]
$24.99
SaleBestseller No. 3
Fearless Platinum Edition[2 LP]
Fearless Platinum Edition[2 LP]
2 LP 180g Vinyl in Gatefold Jacket
$24.99
Bestseller No. 4
Bestseller No. 5
Red[2 LP]
Red[2 LP]
$24.97
Best Value
Rank #4
1989 (Taylor's Version)[2 LP]
  • The 1989 album changed my life in countless ways, and it fills me with such excitement to announce that my version of it will be out October 27th

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

More from the Screening Room

  1. Rihanna no Super Bowl: veja a performance completa do intervaloAdmit one · BlogRihanna no Super Bowl: veja a performance completa do intervaloOpened08 OCT 2026Runtime1 min
  2. Why Justin Bieber Got Emotional Talking About Billie EilishAdmit one · BlogWhy Justin Bieber Got Emotional Talking About Billie EilishOpened08 OCT 2026Runtime2 min
  3. Kendrick Lamar Headlined the 2025 Super Bowl LIX Halftime ShowAdmit one · BlogKendrick Lamar Headlined the 2025 Super Bowl LIX Halftime ShowOpened08 OCT 2026Runtime2 min
Recommended PC Tool
Recommended PC Tool
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You DownFree scan - exact matches
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They SpreadFree repair scan

Two free Windows tools

One Free Minute Could Fix That PC

Before you go - each of these free tools takes about a minute and tackles what quietly slows a Windows PC down.

Special offer. View Outbyte info, uninstall instructions, EULA, and Privacy Policy.