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The Black Dog (song)

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This article is about the Taylor Swift song. For other songs, see Black dog (disambiguation) § Music.
"The Black Dog"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album The Tortured Poets Department
ReleasedApril 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
GenrePost-industrial
Length3:58
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
  • Taylor Swift
Producer(s)
Lyric video
"The Black Dog" on YouTube

"The Black Dog" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). It was included as a bonus track for a physical edition of the album and as part of a double album edition subtitled The Anthology. Produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, "The Black Dog" is a slow-building post-industrial ballad. Its sparse piano-led production contains a dynamic shift in the chorus, which crescendos with vocal harmonies and thumping synths towards its conclusion. In the lyrics, Swift's character is heartbroken and resents an ex-partner after finding him with another woman at a bar called the Black Dog.

Music critics received "The Black Dog" with generally positive reviews, praising its engaging lyrics, Swift's vocals, the production, and chorus. Several reviewers considered it a highlight from the double album or Swift's discography. The song peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached the national charts of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and the United States. It received a gold certification in Australia. Swift performed "The Black Dog" three times on the Eras Tour in 2024, and its first demo recording was temporarily released as a digital-edition bonus track.

Background and composition

Taylor Swift began working on her eleventh original studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, shortly after finishing her previous album, Midnights (2022). She continued developing it during the US leg of the Eras Tour throughout 2023.[1] Conceiving the album amidst her heightened fame brought by the Eras Tour and intense media reports on her personal life,[2] Swift described it as a "lifeline" for her.[3] She wrote the song "The Black Dog" and produced it with Jack Antonoff; it was initially named "Old Habits Die Screaming" when Swift first recorded it.[4][5]

"The Black Dog"
The production slowly builds up in the first chorus (sampled) and briefly crescendos with thumping synth beats and multitracked vocal harmonies when Swift sings "Old habits die screaming".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"The Black Dog" is a post-industrial ballad that runs for 3 minutes and 58 seconds.[6][7][8] It features a sparse piano-led arrangement[9][10] that begins in a slow pace and builds up for the rest of the length.[11][12] Josh Kurp of Uproxx said that there was influences from Phoebe Bridgers due to how the song intensifies towards the end.[12] The chorus briefly shifts in dynamics—the instruments build up into a crescendo and incorporate multitracked vocal harmonies and thumping synth beats when Swift sings the final words of the chorus, "Old habits die screaming", a twist on the popular idiom, "Old habits die hard".[10][13][14] John Wohlmacher of Beats Per Minute and Lynn Sharpe of Screen Rant considered the moment explosive,[6][13] while Consequence's Mary Sirosky thought of it as "[bursting] through at full volume before peeling back".[15] For Bustle, Jake Viswanath described it as if Swift's album Folklore (2020) included pop rock.[16] Critics also identified Swift's vocals on the moment as "sing-shout[ing]" and gasping[17][18] and the instruments as surging guitars and drums.[15][16]

The lyrics depicts Swift pursuing her ex-partner after realizing that she can still track his phone.[17] She observes him at a bar called "The Black Dog", obsessing over what he could be doing there.[17] Swift sees him trying to seduce a girl who is too young to recognize a song by the Starting Line playing on the jukebox.[7] Heartbroken and deceived to the point of hiring a priest to get rid of her demons, she confesses that she has an inability to understand how he got over her.[19][20] In the climax, Swift wishes her ex-partner the worst time possible.[21] Critics and fans interpreted the song's title as a term for depression[a] or a pub in Vauxhall, London,[b] which gained attraction following its release.[25] Wohlmacher said that the narrative evoked the titular black dog in Harry Potter.[6] Rolling Stone's journalist Rob Sheffield believed that the song was about revenge led by a "quasi-stalker [...] whose friends really need to confiscate her phone for the night".[9] Jonathan Keefe from Slant Magazine thought the "Old habits die screaming" line alluded to the album's themes of "torture".[10] For Kaitlyn Huamani of the Los Angeles Times, the line implied that Swift is having a tough time moving on from the relationship.[26]

Release and commercial performance

On February 4, 2024, Swift announced The Tortured Poets Department at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards and its release date on April 19.[27] During the lead-up, four limited-time physical editions of the album were released one at a time for pre-order, each named after a corresponding bonus track—the last edition included "The Black Dog" and was named after it.[28] Two hours after The Tortured Poets Department was released, the song became digitally available as part of a double album edition subtitled The Anthology, where it appears as the 17th track.[29][30] The first demo recording of the song was also released on May 28 in a limited-time digital edition of the album.[31] On June 21, 2024, Swift performed the track as part of a mashup with her songs "Come Back... Be Here" (2012) and "Maroon" (2022) at the London stop of the Eras Tour. She sang it two more times in mashups with her song "Exile" (2020) at the tour's Warsaw stop on August 3, and with her song "Haunted" (2010) at the tour's New Orleans stop on October 25.[32]

Upon the release of The Anthology, "The Black Dog" opened and peaked of number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[33] In Australia, it reached number 25 on the ARIA Singles Chart and made Swift the artist with the most entries in a single week with 29.[34][35] It is also where the song received a gold certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[36] Elsewhere, "The Black Dog" peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Global 200[37] and debuted within the national charts of Canada (26),[38] New Zealand (26),[39] Portugal (67),[40] and Switzerland (95).[41] On other charts, the song reached Greece's International Top 100 Digital Singles chart (58),[42] Sweden's Heatseeker chart (1),[43] and the United Kingdom's audio streaming (30)[44] and sales charts (61).[45]

Critical reception

When it was released, "The Black Dog" garnered a positive reception from critics in reviews of the double album and in lists of Swift's and Antonoff's repertoires. The production received positive reviews. Sirosky considered the song a "welcome addition" to Swift's piano ballads and the momentary moments of change in volume as outstanding.[15] Nate Jones of Vulture opined that it had a "throwback vibe" which he enjoyed.[46] Kurp believed that the track builds up into a "cathartic" and rewarding conclusion,[12] while Willman lauded the progressive acension into an "emo climax" as the track's best part.[21] Neil McCormick from The Telegraph wrote that it contained a "big sound" that could have fit within the original album.[47] Tom Breihan of Stereogum found that the musical style from Swift's recent works complemented well with her "Nashville-honed storytelling chops".[48] For Keefe, he thought that Antonoff was successful in "[subverting] expectations" on the song in that he applied musical techniques that highlighted the dynamism of the production.[10]

The lyrical content of the song was a subject of praise. Critics found the story and its details clever,[49][10][50] compelling,[49] "comforting",[22] and strikingly relatable.[26] Callie Ahlgrim of Business Insider said that Swift's storytelling was wonderfully in her style and described it as "modern yet classic, aching yet righteous, existential yet specific", and she thought it presented her ability to transform the locations of depicted heartbreak "into sacred ground".[51] The concept was commended as well: Sheffield considered it a "classic Nashville-worthy premise",[7] Tyler Foggatt from The New Yorker stated that it was a remarkably simple one that could make someone mad,[19] and Jason Lipshutz from Billboard believed that it was "universal": "who hasn't wondered if they can trust their own memories, once someone else breaks that trust?"[20] For Willman, he said that the concept would immediately engage fans and added that the track was a great song regarding people's experiences with other songs.[21]

Swift's vocal performance on "The Black Dog" was positively received. Mary Kate Carr from The A.V. Club regarded it as one of the instances on the double album where Swift expresses genuine emotion.[18] Sharpe said that the small touches of the "fleeting burst of action" in the chorus and Swift's emotional gasping in the end were memorable enough to put the song as one of her favorite tracks from the double album.[13] Keefe wrote that the track showcased one of her most effective tropes of how she controls her vocal register and wording to emphasize emotion, which he deemed beneficial for some of its writing.[52] Viswanath thought it was a great track where Antonoff assisted Swift in letting her exasperation out,[16] and Foggatt wrote that it best exmplified her pettiness and egotism.[19] The chorus was also praised. Jones said that it had a "big shout-y hook", which he believed was generally absent on the double album and was going to be screamed at shows by millenials.[46] Sirosky viewed its melody to be in "classic Swift earworm style",[15] while McCormick opined it had a "punchy hook".[47] For The Hollywood Reporter's Ryan Fish, the chorus was an "epic, screeching" one that would relish fans live.[11]

Ahlgrim,[53] Carr,[18] Huamani,[26] Kurp,[12] and Sheffield regarded "The Black Dog" as a highlight from the double album,[7] while Slate's Carl Wilson considered it one of the "worthwhile" cuts from The Anthology.[17] Carr and Kurp additionally lamented on the song's status as a bonus track.[18][12] It was included in rankings of all 31 tracks from the double album by Fish (6),[11] Sharpe (9),[13] and Lipshutz (13).[20] In Swift's discography, Willman selected "The Black Dog" among her 10 best songs,[21] and Jones and Sheffield ranked it as 50th and 96th, respectively, on their lists of her worst-to-best tracks.[46][50] Ahlgrim viewed the song as one of Swift's finest breakup tracks,[51] while Kurp believed that it was one of the best songs she ever wrote.[54] For Entertainment Weekly's Allaire Nuss, it was one of the double album's tracks that belong within the higher ranks of Swift's catalog.[55] The editorial staff of Slant Magazine and Viswanath featured it on lists of Swift's and Antonoff's best collaborations with placements of 13th[10] and 50th,[16] respectively. Meanwhile, Consequence listed it as 245th on their ranking of Antonoff's worst-to-best-produced tracks.[15]

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for "The Black Dog"
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[34] 25
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[38] 26
Global 200 (Billboard)[37] 26
Greece International (IFPI)[42] 58
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[39] 26
Portugal (AFP)[40] 67
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[43] 1
Swiss Streaming (Schweizer Hitparade)[41] 95
UK Singles Sales (OCC)[45] 60
UK Streaming (OCC)[44] 31
US Billboard Hot 100[33] 25

Certification

Certification for "The Black Dog"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[36] Gold 35,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. ^ Attributed to The New Yorker's Tyler Foggatt,[19] Slate's Carl Wilson,[17] and Variety's Chris Willman[21]
  2. ^ Attributed to Bustle's Jake Viswanath,[16] Clash's Lauren Webb,[22] CNN's Alli Rosenbloom,[23] and Vogue Australia's Jonah Waterhouse and Nina Miyashita[24]

References

  1. ^ Blistein, Jon (February 7, 2024). "Taylor Swift Reveals Tortured Poets Department Back Up Plan in Case She Didn't Win a Grammy". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  2. ^ Sisario, Ben (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's Tortured Poets Arrives With a Promotional Blitz". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  3. ^ Wilkes, Emma (February 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift Says Writing New Album The Tortured Poets Department Was A 'Lifeline'". NME. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  4. ^ Rossingol, Derrick (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology: Here Are The Full Album Credits With Songwriters". Uproxx. Archived from the original on April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  5. ^ Reynolds, Abbie (June 3, 2024). "Inside Taylor Swift's Bonus Song 'The Black Dog' Lyrics, Meaning & More". Capital FM. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Wohlmacher, John (April 23, 2024). "Album Review: Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department". Beats Per Minute. Archived from the original on April 23, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d Sheffield, Rob (April 19, 2024). "Come for the Torture, Stay for the Poetry: This Might Be Taylor Swift's Most Personal Album Yet". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  8. ^ Swift, Taylor (April 19, 2024). "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology". AllMusic. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Sheffield, Rob (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift Busts Out the Quill Pen and Delivers an Epic Double Album with TTPD: The Anthology". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
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  34. ^ a b "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. April 29, 2024. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
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  55. ^ Nuss, Allaire (May 3, 2024). "Every Taylor Swift Album, Ranked". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
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