Why everyone is crying to Taylor’s breakup songs

The first release since the end of Swift’s six-year relationship was announced, “The Tortured Poets Department” captured the anger, sadness, longing, and confusion fans love in a good breakup song.

She sang about having held her breath since her love left her, her heart breaking when he pretended to put a ring on her wedding finger, and him being the loss of her life – the kind of pain listeners may turn away from in life but sometimes seek out in their music.

Experts say it is normal and often helpful to connect with heartbreaking music, and Swift even shared her own philosophy in an Instagram post about the album.

“This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page,” she said. “Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”