| The Black Dog | |
| Artist: | Taylor Swift |
| Album: | The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology |
| Genre: | Post-industrial |
| Label: | Republic |
| Producer: |
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"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 first included as a bonus track for a physical edition of the album and then released digitally 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 containing a sparse, piano-led production and a momentary shift in dynamics in the chorus. Its lyrics portray Swift's character tracking an ex-partner at a bar and experiencing heartbreak and resentment after finding him.
In reviews of The Anthology, "The Black Dog" was praised for the well-executed concept, the production, and vocal performance. It was included in rankings of Swift's discography and named one of the album's best songs and amongst her best. Commercially, "The Black Dog" charted at number 26 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and United States. Swift performed it at the London and Warsaw shows of her Eras Tour in mid–2024.
Taylor Swift began work on her eleventh original studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, shortly after finishing her previous album, Midnights (2022), and continued developing it during the U.S. leg of her Eras Tour in 2023.[1] She wrote "The Black Dog"—initially called "Old Habits Die Screaming" when first recording it—and handled the production with Jack Antonoff.[2]
"The Black Dog" is a post-industrial ballad that runs for 3 minutes and 58 seconds.[3] [4] [5] It features a piano instrumentation and a sparse arrangement,[6] [7] beginning in a slow pace and building up for the rest of the length.[8] [9] Josh Kurp of Uproxx said that there was influences from Phoebe Bridgers due to how the song intensifies towards the end. 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] [11] Mary Sirosky of Consequence described the moment as a combination of "energy, guitar, and drums [bursting] through at full volume before peeling back",[12] while Bustle Jake Viswanath thought of it as if Swift's album Folklore (2020) included pop rock.
Critics and fans noted that the title references the term for depression or a pub in Vauxhall, London. Beats Per Minute John Wohlmacher said that the narrative evoked the titular black dog in Harry Potter. The song depicts Swift pursuing her ex-partner after realizing that she can still track his phone. She observes him at a bar called "The Black Dog", obsessing over what he could be doing there. Swift sees him trying to seduce a girl who is too young to recognize a song by the Starting Line playing on the jukebox. 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.[13] In the climax, Swift wishes her ex-partner the worst time possible. On an Instagram post, Swift said that the song is about a "fleeting and fatalistic moment in time—one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure". Rolling Stone 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". Jonathan Keefe from Slant Magazine thought the "Old habits die screaming" line alluded to the album's themes of "torture". For Kaitlyn Huamani of the Los Angeles Times, the line implied that Swift is having a tough time moving on from the relationship.[14]
On February 4, 2024, Swift announced The Tortured Poets Department at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards and its release date on April 19.[15] During the lead-up, she released four limited-time physical editions of the album—each named after a corresponding bonus track—for pre-order, with the last one featuring "The Black Dog".[16] Two hours after The Tortured Poets Department was released, a double album edition subtitled The Anthology was surprise-released; "The Black Dog" is taken from The Anthology and is track number 17 from the album.[17] [18] The first demo recording of the song also became available on May 28 as part of a limited-time digital edition of the album.[19] On June 21, 2024, Swift performed the track as part of a mashup with her songs "Come Back... Be Here" (2012) and "Maroon" (2022) on the London stop of the Eras Tour. She sang it again in a mashup with her song "Exile" (2020) at the tour's Warsaw stop on August 3.[20]
Upon the release of The Anthology, "The Black Dog" opened at its peak of number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In Australia, it also reached number 25 on the ARIA Singles Chart and made her the artist with the most entries in a single week with 29.[21] Elsewhere, "The Black Dog" debuted and peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Global 200 and charted within the national charts of Canada (26), New Zealand (26), Portugal (67), and Switzerland (95). The song also reached number 58 on Greece's International Top 100 Digital Singles chart, number 1 on Sweden's Heatseeker chart, and number 31 and number 60 on the United Kingdom's respective audio streaming and sales charts.
In reviews of The Anthology, "The Black Dog" received positive comments from critics. Some selected it as one of the highlights from the double album. Kurp picked "The Black Dog" as one of the album's best tracks and highlighted how it leads into a cathartic and rewarding conclusion and how Swift intentionally excludes the best songs from the standard editions. Slate writer Carl Wilson considered the song one of the worthwhile cuts of The Anthology. Mary Kate Carr from The A.V. Club viewed "The Black Dog" as one of the best songs from the double album and one of the instances on it where Swift expresses genuine emotion, jokingly lamenting on why she included the song only as a bonus track.[22] Huamani also picked the song among the double album's best tracks, describing it as a "soft ballad" that contained a "startlingly relatable breakup experience".
Several critics praised the song's concept and its execution. Sheffield regarded the song as a "crucial bonus ballad" with a "classic Nashville-worthy premise". Callie Ahlgrim of Business Insider considered the story "moving, propulsive, and wholly distinct" and the details clever and compelling, and she recommended it for listening.[23] Tyler Foggatt from The New Yorker stated that the song could make someone mad over how simple the premise is and that it best exemplified Swift's pettiness and egotism. Lauren Webb of Clash found the song comforting of how she envisions herself a stalker who run after toxic and previous lovers. In a ranking of the double album, Jason Lipshutz from Billboard listed it at thirteen, believing that its premise, although having "distinct lyrical details", was universal: "who hasn't wondered if they can trust their own memories, once someone else breaks that trust?" Lynn Sharpe of Screen Rant placed the song at ninth on his ranking of the double album and said that the small details "leave enough of a mark" to put it within the top spots of her ranking.
A few commended the production and Swift's vocal performance. Ryan Fish of The Hollywood Reporter listed "The Black Dog" at sixth on his ranking of the double album, believing that the song featured an "epic, screeching" chorus and that it would make fans "go wild when they hear it live". Tom Breihan from Stereogum said that the song's musical style complemented well with Swift's "Nashville-honed storytelling chops".[24] Keefe wrote that the song showcased one of her most effective tricks of how she controls her vocal register and wording to emphasize emotion which he deemed elevated some of its writing.[25]
"The Black Dog" was featured in rankings of Swift's repertoire. Chris Willman of Variety placed it at number 10 in his ranking of Swift's 75 best songs, where he believed that the concept is immediately engaging and that the build-up was the best part of the song, saying it was continually "threatening" and lead into an "emo climax". Ahlgrim ranked it as seventh on her list of Swift's best breakup songs, where she said that the storytelling was "so exquisitely Swiftian" and described it as "modern yet classic, aching yet righteous, existential yet specific".[26] She has named it one of the double album's "God-tier songs".[27] Allaire Nuss from Entertainment Weekly called the song "understated, intimate funeral march for a love long gone" and picked it as one of the tracks that she thought belong within the higher ranks of Swift's discography.[28] Sheffield listed the track at number 96 on his ranking of her catalog and described it as a "cleverly crafted ballad" in which Swift mocks her own "post-breakup phone-stalker tendencies".[29]
Slant Magazines editorial staff picked "The Black Dog" as one of Swift and Antonoff's 20 best collaborations; Keefe commented that both Swift and Antonoff effectively "[subverted] expectations": the former by twisting a popular idiom and the latter by applying production techniques that highlighted the contrast between the verses and the choruses. Viswanath listed the track at 50th on his ranking of the duo's selected 80 collaborations and commended it as "great" where "Antonoff helps Swift pour out her post-breakup frustrations over epic guitar stabs".[30] In a ranking of Antonoff-produced tracks, Consequence placed the song at 245th—Sirosky considered it a welcome addition to Swift's piano ballads, the chorus an earworm, and the momentary moments of change in volume excellent.
The American band, The Starting Line, which was mentioned in the song's lyrics responded with a written note on Instagram praising Swift for memorialising the band's name.[31]
The song's title is also the name of a pub in Vauxhall, south London, which is heavily referenced in its lyrics.[32] According to its marketing manager, Amy Cowley, there was a sharp increase in its business following the song's release. She added that international customers have flocked to the place from countries including the United States, Spain, Germany, and Australia. The pub experienced such a high capacity of guests that some had to be turned away.[33]
| Peak position | |
| Australia (ARIA)[34] | 25 |
|---|---|
| Greece International (IFPI)[35] | 58 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[36] | 26 |
| Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[37] | 1 |
| Swiss Streaming (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] | 95 |
| UK Singles Sales (OCC)[39] | 60 |
| UK Streaming (OCC)[40] | 31 |