14 Taylor Swift Songs That Reference Depression, According to Mental Health Experts
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Whether it’s a bad breakup, the loss of a close friend or simply being prone to it, depression can creep into our lives when we least expect it. While therapy and medication are relied upon as effective depression treatments, sometimes, you just have to turn on some music and get lost in sad lyrics when you’re feeling depressed. And while she’s often the queen of happy, peppy music, Taylor Swift also knows a thing or two about creating these sad songs you can lose yourself in—there are actually plenty of Taylor Swift songs that reference depression, according to mental health experts.
“Sad songs can be helpful when someone has been bottling their emotions up,” says adolescent therapist Dr. Courtney Conley. “They can help people release that pent-up negative or sad energy. People often feel alone or like no one understands what they are going through when they experience depression. Sad songs often resonate with people because artists put into words and music how someone is feeling or has felt. It allows them to feel understood and like they aren’t going through it alone.”
Alexa Bailey, LCSW, licensed clinical therapist, says that in particular, Taylor Swift “is a master at crafting emotional attachment and deep processing,” adding that in many of Swift’s songs, she sings about relational conflicts and heartbreak and uses these references to connect to deep emotions.
When you’re depressed, it’s actually not a bad thing to listen to sad songs like the ones from Taylor Swift. As Dr. Jenna DiLossi, clinical psychologist with Minding Your Mind, puts it, this type of music can feel very validating and allow people to feel seen.
“Depression can be so isolating and [create] a mental fog that makes it difficult for people to articulate their experience, even for people who tend to be psychologically minded,” she explains. “For people who aren’t always in touch with their thoughts and feelings, music and song lyrics can summarize how people feel and facilitate a sense of being less alone in their struggle.”
But sad music shouldn’t always be the answer. Bailey says that if someone is predisposed to rumination, at times, listening to sad music while feeling down can perpetuate negative thought patterns.
“A great way to balance this is by checking in with yourself for what your needs are and assessing if music is the right choice in that moment,” she says.
A mix of sorrowful and uplifting songs can be helpful as well. Dr. DiLossi says that sometimes, “we need to be deep in our ‘All Too Well’ feels, and sometimes, we need to ‘Shake It Off.’”
Dr. DiLossi adds that a big part of why Taylor Swift has achieved incredible (and continuous) success is that she’s so vulnerable in her music.
“She is able to beautifully capture so much of the human experience, the good, the bad and the ugly, in her lyrics,” she says. “The best artists are able to speak to people through their art, and Taylor does this so well.”
We asked these mental health experts (and enthusiastic “Swifties”!) to share any Taylor Swift lyrics that reference depression and why they’re tied to this mental health disorder. If you need to feel all the feels and let it all out, these are the songs to turn on.
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14 Taylor Swift Songs That Reference Depression
“This Is Me Trying”
“I've been having a hard time adjusting
I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting
I didn't know if you'd care if I came back
I have a lot of regrets about that.”
Dr. Conley says that these lyrics point toward being fine and then all of a sudden “rusting,” or changing for the worse. “People with depression feel like a negative version of themselves,” she says.
“Forever Winter”
“He seems fine most of the time, forcing smiles, and neverminds
His laugh is a symphony, when the lights go out, it's hard to breathe.”
“People with depression often have to put on a front,” Dr. Conley points out. “They pretend to be fine and worry about being a burden to others. Taylor alludes to this in her ‘Forever Winter’ lyrics.”
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“Dear Reader”
“Never take advice from someone who’s falling apart
So I wander through these nights
I prefer hiding in plain sight
My fourth drink in my hand
These desperate prayers of a cursed man
Spilling out to you for free.
But darling, darling, please
You wouldn’t take my word for it
If you knew who was talking
If you knew where I was walking
To a house, not a home, all alone ‘cause nobody’s there
My friends found friends who care
No one sees when you lose
When you’re playing solitaire.”
Dr. DiLossi says, “So much of this song speaks to how a person can have everything yet feel so alone. This happens often in people with depression who have ‘good lives’ by objective measures.”
“Fifteen (Taylor’s Version)”
“When all you wanted
Was to be wanted.”
Bailey says that while this song tends to be one of Taylor Swift’s more reflective songs, she believes it captures some of the thoughts and feelings of having depression as a teenager, “when the brain is still developing and attachment means safety, that the fear of not being accepted, of giving away parts of yourself in order to feel okay, becomes the motivation to find love and acceptance.”
“Clean”
“Hung my head as I lost the war
And the sky turned black like a perfect storm.”
Dr. Conley says that depression is commonly described as darkness. “Taylor discusses the sky or her world turning black like a perfect storm,” she says.
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“Mirrorball”
“I'm still a believer but I don't know why
I've never been a natural
All I do is try, try, try
I'm still on that trapeze
I'm still trying everything
To keep you looking at me
Because I'm a mirrorball
I'm a mirrorball
I'll show you every version of yourself
Tonight.”
“This song speaks to a person who desperately needs love and validation to feel worthy as a person, so much so that they will do anything to make others happy and interested in them,” Dr. DiLossi says. “It also highlights how something broken in a million pieces (a mirrorball) can be so beautiful. Depression often makes people feel unworthy, so it is not uncommon for people with depression to be perfectionists and super achievers.”
Bailey adds, “This whole song is a deep expression of trying to meet others’ expectations, trying to fit an image and feeling the fatigue of always having to try to be something for other people.”
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“Tied Together with a Smile”
“Seems the only one who doesn’t see your beauty
Is the face looking back at you
You walk around here thinking you’re not pretty
But that’s not true ‘cause I know you
Hold on, baby; you’re losing it
The water’s high, you’re jumping into it
And letting go, and no one knows
That you cry; but you don’t tell anyone
That you might not be the golden one
And you’re tied together with a smile
But you’re becoming undone.”
Bailey shares that these lyrics were written by Taylor Swift for a friend who was struggling with an eating disorder. She says, “I feel they capture the pain of trying to hold back the deep, dark feelings that you experience in depression. The mask that feels like the only protection at times, and the loneliness of suffering alone.”
Dr. DiLossi adds that these lyrics speak to hiding behind a smile in the midst of a silent struggle.
“This is often how depression can feel, especially when a person is known for being so successful and ‘perfect.’ People often feel so close to breaking,” she observes.
“Afterglow”
“I lived like an island
Punished you with silence
Went off like sirens, just crying
Why'd I have to break what I love so much
It's on your face, don't walk away, I need to say.”
“Taylor talks about her issues being all in her head,” Dr. Conley says. “She also talks about feeling like an island. People with depression feel alone and don’t know how to express their feelings to others. They are often irritable and have a hard time controlling their emotions.”
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“Labyrinth”
“It only feels this raw right now
Lost in the labyrinth of my mind
Break up, break free, break through, break down
You would break your back to make me break a smile
You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back
Just like that.”
Dr. DiLossi says that these lyrics speak to “the self-doubt and mental turmoil that can come on after a breakup,” adding, “It’s not uncommon for people to experience a depressive episode, or at the least, depressive symptoms, after a breakup or loss of a relationship.”
“Back to December”
“And then the cold came, the dark days
When fear crept into my mind.”
When pulled apart, Bailey believes that this song goes even deeper than one would think. She says, “This song can be seen as simply a song of regret for breaking up with a good person, but I think it also hits on the feelings of not trusting yourself when things get difficult. Depression can trigger a sense of losing trust in yourself because the thoughts sometimes don’t feel like your own, or you feel scared about being in your own brain, and the thought of going back to a simpler time before that fear can feel really enticing.”
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“The Archer”
“I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost
The room is on fire, invisible smoke…
All the king's horses, all the king's men
Couldn't put me together again.”
“The first part of this lyric refers to the darkness by waking at night and feelings of emptiness or being a shell of yourself: ‘I pace like a ghost’,” Dr. Conley says. “Invisible smoke indicates that the pain and suffering can’t be seen by others. Taylor talks about feeling broken. People with depression often feel broken and unfixable. Climbing out of depression is a daunting task and many people have trouble seeing a way out.”
Dr. DiLossi also believes that this song touches upon self-sabotage, especially in relationships, “a hallmark feature of depression,” she says.
“All Too Well (10-Minute Version)”
“I'm a crumpled-up piece of paper lying here
'Cause I remember it all, all, all
Too well.”
“There are so many lyrics from this 10-minute version that signal loss and grief and depression,” Bailey says. “One of the things Taylor does beautifully in this song is identify the very real feeling of losing yourself when you feel hopeless, forgotten and lost. There can be a sense of only remembering and playing back the hard moments, rehearsing the pain that has been felt before over and over again, and questioning if you deserved it. Many people have resonated with this song not because they’ve all dated an actor who hurt them, but because of the pain of remembering, feeling and wondering about their own sense of worth and acceptance. It’s a human feeling of being triggered by the past and the memories of hardship.”
“Anti-Hero”
“I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift
All of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room.”
As one of Taylor Swift’s more “obvious” songs about depression (particularly since the word “depression” appears in these lyrics), Dr. Conley says that within these words, she talks about the darkness and thinking about her past and the people she has hurt.
“Depression can keep people up at night thinking about past mistakes, self-criticism and more,” Dr. DiLossi says.
Bailey adds, “The rumination she describes is really powerful because when someone is experiencing depression, the mind becomes a space for mulling over the past and giving criticisms, somehow always painting the person struggling as the problem. But the reality is that depression is a disease, a chemical imbalance, a response to an unsafe or unstable environment, among many other causes. It’s not as simple as someone ‘choosing’ to be depressed. No one chooses it.”
“You’re Losing Me”
"Every mornin', I glared at you with storms in my eyes
How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dyin'?
I sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick
My face was gray, but you wouldn't admit that we were sick.”
Dr. DiLossi says that this song speaks to the pain, deep sadness and sense of loss that people experience in a romantic relationship when it comes to an end, or more so before it ends but the person knows that it’s over or the end is near. This can mimic the experience of depression.
Bailey says that there is “a lot of emotion” in this song, and specifically in these lines. She says, "What we see her detailing is the grief that can come with losing a person and often the depressive symptoms that can come with this loss, the isolation, avoidance and even physical symptoms with feeling ‘sick.’”
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health, suicide or substance use crisis or emotional distress, reach out 24/7 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) by dialing or texting 988 or using chat services at suicidepreventionlifeline.org to connect to a trained crisis counselor. You can also get crisis text support via the Crisis Text Line by texting NAMI to 741741.
Next up, find out how Taylor Swift helped Stevie Nicks grieve Christine McVie.
Sources
Dr. Courtney Conley, adolescent therapist
Alexa Bailey, LCSW, licensed clinical therapist
Dr. Jenna DiLossi, clinical psychologist with Minding Your Mind
