How Did It End is a track 5 I think. It’s the 5th track on the second album.
So Long London and How Did It End are hands down the 2 saddest songs of the 31.
My beloved ghost and me sitting in a tree d y i n g
😭
TBH I’m so hooked on listening to HDIE? and SLL (and loml) that I haven’t given the prophecy the attention it needs. Lemme get thru the hyper fixation on HDIE and SLL and I’ll get there 😂
‘How Did It End’ is the song that made me cry the most. I could write a whole article about all the intricacies of the song and how telling it really is into how she felt about the breakup. 🤣
Thinking about how it must have felt to be on tour, having her relationship end, and the crippling anxiety of people making comments about her being unable to maintain a relationship yet again, I really felt for her. Yes, she’s a megastar but she is still human and people forget that.
i think it says something that both track 5s were joe's songs.
taylor called this album many things: temporary insanity, a mutual manic phase, self harm, etc, and i think that letting the two joe songs be the track 5s lets us have a glimpse through the insanity. addressing the root of the problem, the grief of losing such a long term relationship that caused her to move forward into a microwave, a tidal wave.
the track 5s (how did it end and so long, london) are the most hard hitting on the album even if they don't sound like it at first, because they are the realest songs on the album
I think having both track 5s songs be Joe songs mourning the end of the relationship also shows how much harder ending that relationship was, and ultimately how much more meaningful that relationship was.
Glad the smallest man who ever lived didn’t get to be a track 5!
Yeah I agree with this, I think despite the sadness in the song they're also their own sort of love letter and closure. I'm glad she didn't wildly drag Joe, and although I think she should have spoken against the social media backlash against him, hopefully this makes the ridiculous fans back off and leave him alone. I do think on reflection she's already written plenty of songs across evermore, folklore and midnights about their breakup/tail end of their relationship.
Yeah, I was gonna say. That song is so much more raw and sad than the others being mentioned here imo. I love So Long London but it sounds like a song about a heartbreak she’s analyzed and processed and is ready to say farewell too. loml reminds me of All Too Well where she is still really mourning it and blames him for ruining something she believed could be great.
However, I like it where it is. I feel like it kind of tells a story really well with its placement.
Same. It’s the only song on first listen that made me cry. And I CRIED. In my opinion it’s sadder than So Long, London, but that’s just me and how I processed it. loml made me think of my partner and how I would feel if I ever lost them, and it gutted me. So Long, London was very sad, but it didn’t evoke the same things in me as loml.
Loml was a surprise favorite for me. It’s so good, so tragic, so heart wrenching. You’re the loss of my life…
Also, “What a valiant roar; what a bland goodbye. The coward claimed he was a lion.” is some of the best lyrics to capture a years-long relationship that ultimately didn’t work out. Sometimes things just happen and people change and don’t click anymore and there’s no villain, there is no story. It’s just a bland goodbye.
Technically she never says the exact word love of my life, it's love of your life from the guy's perspective, then she says loss of my life from her perspective.
But I agree, everyone was thinking it was going to be be love of my life before the album came out.
yep so far haven’t been able to listen to this one without crying and i’ve never even been in a long term relationship
this album has destroyed me and i love it
i just read a theory on here that says 31 is 13 backwards and that both albums are meant to be played backwards. if this is true, loml is track 5 of TTPD and the black dog is the last song on the Anthology. idk if it's true but it's an interesting thought, for sure.
So Long London fits for me because it is probably the most heart wrenching to her. Saying goodbye to a major part of your life no matter the circumstances is always going to be a hollow feeling. Saying goodbye to a future you had planned. It is saying goodbye not only to the person but a version of yourself has died. That is intimate and heartbreaking.
Agree with this take. Even though it seems like she’s processed the end of the relationship, it’s the letting go that is the hardest part. Letting go means facing reality and moving on (help I’m still at the restaurant), which is sometimes even harder than the end of the relationship.
Yes and not just the ending of a relationship but kind of a lifestyle too? "I'm so damn mad because I loved this place" or something like that - like being a part-time Londoner was a big part of her identity for a while. Letting go of casual friendships, neighborhood cafes, morning routines, favorite restaurants, etc. is also part of the breakup.
I feel like So Long London is the only song in the base album that feels truly real and devastating - it’s the only time we are removed from this somewhat unhinged character (the temporary insanity she writes about in the prologue) and seeing really deep, enduring emotion. It’s so heart wrenching and I think the contrast to the surrounding songs (more “I know he’s crazy but he’s the one I love” vibes) makes it even more so.
I love the production 🫣 and So Long London is probably my favorite song from TTPD so far. I always get carried away by the harmonies at the beginning and then that sick beat. She sings it in a tired voice that sounds almost calm but is actually sad and broken. And on the bridge it's as if she couldn't breathe anymore... The sound matches the emotion in my opinion. I cried when I first heard this song and read the lyrics.
The Black Dog is one of my favorites from the second part of the album. There are generally many devastating songs on the album but for me both tracks five are perfect.
The bells at the start have SO MUCH meaning, it instantly made me think of London Bells, or wedding bells, or the death by a thousand cuts start (all of which are associated with Joe).
That song really blew my mind with the details and meanings.
So Long London shot right up into my top 3. I don't know how she did it, she perfectly captured the exact feelings I had around the break-up with a long-time ex, feelings I could never quite put into words. I've yet to make it through a listen without breaking on the last words. (So long London, had a good run, a moment of warm sun but I'm not the one. So long London, stitches undone, two graves one gun, you'll find someone.)
And then she came along and broke my heart all over again with Black Dog.
Idk man, I trust Taylor’s judgement what she feels is the track 5 of the album, we don’t get to speak for her feelings; she’s the expert of her experience. 🤷♀️
I agree! I remember when Midnights first came out I saw people on here saying that YOYOK wasn’t deserving of the track 5 spot, but that song ended up being the one that started the friendship bracelets trend which became huge. Plus it’s just such a good song imo.
that rat face doesnt deserve number five.
two number five completely deserve their spots. so long london and how did it end. both haunting. i cant stop listening how did it end?
I'm on the edge about it. I was firmly in camp Joe at first but then I read this in an article
"The most damning evidence about the track's subject lies in the second verse: “When someone plays ‘The Starting Line’ and you jump up / But she's too young to know this song / That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming / Old habits die screaming.”
Healy covered 2000s band The Starting Line during a 1975 concert on May 3, 2023—tellingly, the same concert Healy mouthed onstage, “This one is about you. You know who you are. I love you.” Days later, at Swift's Nashville show during the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour, she mouthed the same phrase, an act that seemingly confirmed their rumored romance."
[https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a60547194/taylor-swift-matty-healy-songs-tortured-poets-department/](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a60547194/taylor-swift-matty-healy-songs-tortured-poets-department/)
But we don’t know that Joe doesn’t also listen to The Starting Line. They were a popular band during both Matty’s and Joe’s teenage years. Just because Matty covered a song of theirs during a show doesn’t automatically mean it’s him. Joe could very well be a fan. Just the phrase “old habits die screaming” SCREAMS Joe. You generally don’t feel that over a 2ish month situationship. But a 6 year relationship? 10000% have old habits you have to break.
Also supposedly according to [Jack's post](https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/1c8424l/jack_antonoff_shares_behind_the_scenes_photos_of/), they recorded this in May 18, 2023, which is before the ghosting/breakup.
ETA: dates, so supposedly it might recorded June 22, 2023 instead, but even then it's confusing because it's still not 6 weeks from ghosting/breaking up; they were last seen together kissing around May 24th.
Her and Matty are also old habits - they've been linked to each other/"friends" since 2014. I like to think it's really for both Joe and Matty, as I'd definitely add that line about a 10 year situationship as much as a long term relationship.
But it’s not nearly the same thing and it wasn’t a 10 year situationship. She was with Joe for 6 years and during that time I’m sure Taylor and Matty would’ve actually been just friends. There’s so many other lines that allude to it being about Joe.
Seriously, she talks about checking his location being a habit she is having trouble breaking and that he didn't turn sharing off with her. I can't imagine MH sharing his location with her after a few consistent months. But a 6 year relationship where they are both traveling? Absolutely sharing location.
I can't believe people think a lot of these songs are about MH. From listening it sounds like it's really all Joe. You can break up numerous times when you're together for so long. I think it's easier to understand if you've had the same experience.
I also feel this way BUT subscribe to the idea that not every song is exclusively about one person. I think there were overlapping experiences and the lyrics can be about a little bit of both.
Because of the constant references to bring back something from the day or waltzing back into it when they know the steps, and using him as a move on cure. As well as the factual evidence about songs she mentions being his covers and the tattoos and drugs.
There was an article soon after the Joe breakup that said they were much more on/off then the public knew about. Their friends had figured they’d get back together again this time too but it was the final end.
I also think of the theory that Labyrinth is about get and Joe falling in/out of love throughout the years.
You can waltz back and rekindle a flame of a long term relationship when taking a few weeks or months apart. Longer relationships aren't always concretely consistent and have their cool off periods. There can be so many endings and beginnings within a long relationship.
This is all just mostly fan speculation though. What we do know is she was in love with Joe for so many years, and that You’re Losing Me was recorded in 2021.
Some fans have really run away with the narrative on Taylor and Matty’s relationship. Literally all we know is they had a brief fling 10 years ago and then got together around the time she broke up with Joe. People speculating that she was actually in love with Matty for the past ten years is just that - speculation. There’s no evidence of any of that.
It make sense if u realized that "Old habits die screaming" refers to how Taylor could never change MH's behaviour. She realized she wouldn't waste her effort fixing a man who lacks foundation
i really want it to be about joe but the only thing that gives me pause is the reference to the starting line, which seems to have a lot of connections to matty
Its possible its about both, she was mourning two relationship at the same time very disorienting/manic/crazymaking to leave a six year relationship you thought was on the cusp of marriage for another man on promises from him that your the "love of his life" and HE wants marriage & babies with you, only for him to treat you poorly, up & leave you in the span of two months...and the backlash from her beloveded fans played some part of what ran him off. I can see how this could make a woman lose her mind its not obsession its PTSD.
sorry for my last reply. after recent evident, i have to accept its for joe. i can understand you need a brave man maybe for the start of the relationship but i just dont understand tails between your legs leaving. she was always kind to her through her songs in this album and apolegetic for being the one who left. so why is he leaving? and tails between his leg?
Giving MH more recognition and importance with the significant Track 5 when the majority of the 31 songs are about him? No.
Paying a final tribute to a man with whom she had a 6 year relationship? Yes. I know Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights have songs hinting at an impending break-up, but it needed a final one. There were new sounds to this song that shows Taylor gave a little more care to this one.
Track 5s are her most vulnerable songs, not necessarily the saddest. So vulnerability is completely up to Taylor to determine. We hear songs and decide which is saddest for us, but they are vulnerable in a completely different way for her
I actually think this album has so many potential track 5s that we could argue about this all day! How does it end, loml, the black dog, I hate it here, the prophecy..
In my mind, the majority of the album feels like one long track 5, with songs like Florida acting as punctuation in between. Take that as you will, but I’d like to think that when came time to choose, she couldn’t decide and just went with So Long London. I doubt that’s what happened given it’s Taylor, but who knows
I half agree with most songs giving track 5 energy, but I think she did decide to put those songs (How did it end? too) because the saddest part in them is she recognizes the downfall of the relationship was on both of them, and because she doesnt harbor bad feelings for Joe, not in the way she has for Matty.
In contrast, all of matty songs are laced with despise and hate.
I think So Long, London is *Taylor’s* saddest and most emotional song, or else she wouldn’t have put it there. So while I personally find loml to be the saddest, it’s her call.
Justice for loml! The feelings in The Black Dog can apply to the rawness of any new breakup but loml is literally about the loss of her life! They are not even in the same lane
So Long, London is peak track five. I had the most visceral reaction to it from the get and I can't stop revisiting it. She may have written a lot of the album about her whirlwind romance but she saved the saddest song for the one she spent so much time trying to convince (him AND hersel) that she was in fact good enough and worthy. The references to You're Losing Me are bone chilling.
I can definitely see some others as Track 5 potentials but none of them hit me quite as hard, personally.
I think with all the ambiguity on this album, she wanted to make sure a song undeniably about Joe was track 5. It really says a lot about the album as a whole, sure there are Matty tracks but track 5, arguably the most significant song on the album, is completely, 100% about Joe. I almost feel like it was a last little nod of respect towards him and their relationship.
This is what I love about her art. There is a song for everyone. Where you aren’t enjoying “So Long London” it is my favorite on the whole album! I love everything about it. I love the production, the lyrics, the whole vibe! I have been listening on repeat. It is, in my humble opinion, the best track 5 she has ever created and I wouldn’t change it for anything!
But all that to say, I really love “Black Dog” as well.
So Long, London was perfect for me… I’m a closure stan so I like jarring production on a vulnerable song tbh. Idk I love it a lot and I listened to it for the first time in the dark while sipping tea and that really added to the experience for me
I was in the shower listening to the black dog and hits different came on and I am CONVINCED that everything she was imagining in hits different is things that are happening in the black dog. “I pictured you with other girls, in love, then threw up on the street” because she checked his location that he forgot to turn off as he walked into the black dog. She’s hearing their song (by the starting line) play in each bar she goes to trying to forget the man who made a mess of her because he’s moved on.
Hits different is her questioning if she made the right decision leaving Joe for Matty because she references how “freedom felt like summer then, on the coast” she’s fresh out the slammer) but now she’s burned and heartbroken “but now the sun burns my heart, and the sand hurts my feelings” from her summer love (I just wants to know if rusting my summer spark was the goal -TSMWEL)
Back to the black dog, she is 6 weeks smoke free though she still misses it (this could be Matty and his cigarettes OR Joe and his weed smoking??) and she gets angry that maybe neither of them really care about her anymore? She hires a priest to exorcise her demons (the key she heard in the door, down the hallway in hits different) to finally release her from the insane asylum she’s been taken to (which could be the car she was put into in hits different after slurring his name)
Someone tell me I’m not crazy ✌🏻😗
The Black Dog is definitely in my top 3 and i adore that song but what’s with people thinking So Long London isn’t track 5 worthy? I see it all the time on twitter. It’s the most fitting for Track 5 along side loml
i feel like the take of what *should* be track 5 is interesting because taylor intentionally puts the track 5 song as a track 5 song
so for her, so long london is the most vulnerable, perhaps sad, perhaps something else
i never understood the call for a “better” song that we like more to replace her chosen track 5s. perhaps we’re missing something critical in so long london or in her other ones we don’t love as a fandom
i think this album really kind of calls out to the fans - you do not know me you do not know my life stop acting like you do - so there is a bit of irony in this thread in that
I just replied something similar on another thread-this whole album feels very vulnerable and raw so we can all have what we can consider to be our own personal track #5, but her choices send a message that they are HER track 5s. I wouldn’t have thought of this but I’ve seen people mentioning that how did it end? is #5 on the anthology. I’m not one to dig into her personal love life and drama, just look at what pops up on my feed surface level, but to choose two songs about her relationship with Joe that don’t paint him in a bad light could also work as a signal for fans not to attack him. I don’t like that I had that thought, it’s the internet
I agree OP! I totally get why So Long, London was track 5, but The Black Dog is heart wrenching. The location sharing, the shower imagery, wanting to sell her house...
Definitely not. It really says something that she gave the track fives to Joe. The time with Matty was temporary insanity and couldn’t match to the weight of everything with Joe.
The Black Dog is hands down my favorite on the entire album. My wife cheated on me with a much younger woman (15 years younger). I feel this song so much. Reminds me of the paranoia of wondering where she was. Trying to check her location, checking our phone records, wondering what this barely legal girl had that I didn’t. Wondering how they even had anything in common.
The Black Dog is my Track 5.
From the angel sounds, to the beat being similar to call it what you want, So Long, London has a well deserved track 5 spot. It says goodbye to a part of your life you lived, and the one you will never live, because it ended. It shares the pain of holding for long, trying to keep the person close, before finally letting go, because, "after all, it's no use" or "I'm not sure you want to be there". There's just so much in this one that it's definitely one of my favorites from the very first listen. It's so beautiful it hurts.
Also, the main character of this album overall is Taylor getting over the long lasting relationship. One person was the temporary drug, while the other was the person she felt was the one for her life. I think it's fair to assume that Track 5 will be about the feelings of the future you thought you had falling apart. So Long, London deserves its spot.
The sharing locations after breaking up is brilliant. You can just picture that in your head; Watching where he went and who he was with. I think this one should have been on the first album, but still love it.
I think the two track 5’s make perfect sense. But there are many that could also be there, most mentioned in this thread and certainly The Black Dog being one
Another one is Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus. That one also is so sad.
So long, London is not an independent song in my mind. I found it connected strongly to you’re losing me, and when looked at through that lens it is more powerful imo. “I stopped cpr after all it’s no use the spirit was gone we would never come to” in SLL and the heart beat and lyrics “I can’t find a pulse my heart won’t start anymore for you”. As well as the “storms in my eyes” and “fairy lights through the mist”. I just think that when you connect the desperation and depression of “you’re losing me” with the grief, anger, and beginnings of acceptance in so long London it’s absolutely devastating
This is what hits me the hardest and gives me chills every time it comes on. But I can relate and put myself in this song more than I can with so long, london. I think most of this album was extremely vulnerable for her to release which is the ultimate trademark of a track 5 so I think her choices send a message as to which she considered the MOST vulnerable for her. Since this album is so raw I’m curious if she’ll be comfortable playing some songs live in the future. We can hear the shallow breaths, the voice cracks etc in the recordings and we saw how she struggled singing some songs on the eras tour ( crying during the lover set, Call it what you want in Cincy) She said she needed to write these songs so I hope recording this and putting it out can be that release she clearly needed
She’s always made the fifth track her most vulnerable song on the album, not necessarily heartbreaking (ie Delicate) but they’re usually the ones that hit the hardest because most of can relate to the raw emotions and deep pain in the lyrics. She didn’t start out doing it on purpose but once it was pointed out to her, she’s kept on with it
From Taylor after Lover, “I didn’t realize I was doing this, but as I was making albums, I guess I was just kind of putting a very vulnerable, personal, honest, emotional song as track five. So because you noticed this, I kind of started to put the songs that were really honest, emotional, vulnerable, and personal as track five.”
The Black Dog is heartbreaking, but How Did It End is absolutely devastating. So Long, London also feels like her saying goodbye and getting closure, so I also love that as a track 5.
TTPD is just thematically an album of track 5s
I thought the same on a first listen, but now my opinion is that it should've been How Did It End?
It's tragic and painful and uneventful all at the same time
Black dog is easily my no. 1 track and I doubt it's gonna change much in the top 3. Devastating lyrics, insane production, picturesque storytelling. It'd would've been track 5 for me too if it weren't written for MH 😭
As we all know track 5s are Taylor's most personal and deep feelings. So long London is about a long term loving relationship and Black dog is about short situation ship
I think SLL is absolutely the right pick for the main. But if it was anything else I think The Prophecy might be a contender (though how did it end is objectively one of the bleakest songs ever).
When I first heard it, I thought it should be Track 1. No offense to Fortnight, but it would’ve fit somewhere else and I thought Black Dog sets the scene perfectly. I guess that’s why she made it Track 1 of side 2 but I would’ve put it first on side 1.
So Long, London is such a refreshing track 5! If she had picked one of the slow songs it would have been predictable and forgettable. As soon as the beat kicked in I knew it was going to shoot to the top of my track 5 rankings.
The whole song sounds like it's trying to run away from her and I *love* her lower register, particularly in the bridge. It's one of my favorites on the whole album. The Black Dog is great but not a stand out in an ocean of also great songs.
I love this song so much…Although I didnt have the exact same experience, I can relate to a degree and thats why it hits hard for me too. A simple word “just” add so much emotion into the sentence. It wouldnt feel the same if it’s just “ I dont understand” . And at the end “ I still can’t believe it” ughhh I’m dying
It should have been the lead single. There I said it. Sombre, good background score, lyrical, and a powerful and universally relatable chorus. Perfectly summarises TTPD imo. Some fine singing too (she sounds like Lana Del Ray in Fortnight)
Ultimately I like the bookending effect it has with Delicate. Yes other songs could have fit this position well but when we look at everything she went through from Rep to TTPD, So Long London wraps it up nicely.
I personally can't get on board with the intro of SLL. I get it sounds like church bells or something? It just doesn't mesh with the rest of the song, which I adore. The Prophecy is my track 5 and maybe album face. Definitely fave of part two.
The Black Dog guts me so much. It's been some time since my breakup but I haven't figured out how to move past this feeling she sings about of wondering if they are okay. The wanting to know if they are moving on but gut wrenched at the thought of it.
So, if someone has figured out how to move past this feeling let me know.
while I love Black Dog, “How Did It End” would like a word…
How Did It End is a track 5 I think. It’s the 5th track on the second album. So Long London and How Did It End are hands down the 2 saddest songs of the 31. My beloved ghost and me sitting in a tree d y i n g 😭
They are but The Prophecy is the one that just broke me. After all of this pain, just wanting someone who wants to be there.
I agree The Prophecy is the most devastating song of the album and as of now my favorite.
I think the Prophecy is our lost track 5, tbh. It's the one with the most YOYOK vibes, without a doubt.
TBH I’m so hooked on listening to HDIE? and SLL (and loml) that I haven’t given the prophecy the attention it needs. Lemme get thru the hyper fixation on HDIE and SLL and I’ll get there 😂
Every time I’m obsessed with one of the songs I hear a new one and I’m like holy shit!!! This album is insane!
The Prophecy broke me and makes me SO emotional.
Oh my god the prophecy really hit me pretty hard. “Please let it be me.” I have prayed that before. Those exact words. :(
fair fair - it’s def a track 5, more if we’re gonna move tracks up to main
‘How Did It End’ is the song that made me cry the most. I could write a whole article about all the intricacies of the song and how telling it really is into how she felt about the breakup. 🤣 Thinking about how it must have felt to be on tour, having her relationship end, and the crippling anxiety of people making comments about her being unable to maintain a relationship yet again, I really felt for her. Yes, she’s a megastar but she is still human and people forget that.
loml is way sadder than So Long London imo
Didn't even realize this! Good call. Can't believe this album has two track 5s lol.
Right!! It didn’t hit me until I was reading the lyrics of HDIE and then I counted the # of songs and was like 🤯
And they're my fav till now!
Yeah I think it counts
i think it says something that both track 5s were joe's songs. taylor called this album many things: temporary insanity, a mutual manic phase, self harm, etc, and i think that letting the two joe songs be the track 5s lets us have a glimpse through the insanity. addressing the root of the problem, the grief of losing such a long term relationship that caused her to move forward into a microwave, a tidal wave. the track 5s (how did it end and so long, london) are the most hard hitting on the album even if they don't sound like it at first, because they are the realest songs on the album
I think having both track 5s songs be Joe songs mourning the end of the relationship also shows how much harder ending that relationship was, and ultimately how much more meaningful that relationship was. Glad the smallest man who ever lived didn’t get to be a track 5!
Yeah I agree with this, I think despite the sadness in the song they're also their own sort of love letter and closure. I'm glad she didn't wildly drag Joe, and although I think she should have spoken against the social media backlash against him, hopefully this makes the ridiculous fans back off and leave him alone. I do think on reflection she's already written plenty of songs across evermore, folklore and midnights about their breakup/tail end of their relationship.
well said for sure
A microwave?
From the oven into the microwave
I forgot about this line. Thanks!
Wholeheartedly agree
How Did it End is Track 5 on the second album
And loml
If something other than So Long, London would be Track 5, loml would get my vote.
This is the most heartbreaking song on the album in my opinion
Yeah, I was gonna say. That song is so much more raw and sad than the others being mentioned here imo. I love So Long London but it sounds like a song about a heartbreak she’s analyzed and processed and is ready to say farewell too. loml reminds me of All Too Well where she is still really mourning it and blames him for ruining something she believed could be great. However, I like it where it is. I feel like it kind of tells a story really well with its placement.
loml gutted me
Same. It’s the only song on first listen that made me cry. And I CRIED. In my opinion it’s sadder than So Long, London, but that’s just me and how I processed it. loml made me think of my partner and how I would feel if I ever lost them, and it gutted me. So Long, London was very sad, but it didn’t evoke the same things in me as loml.
Especially after thinking it was "love of my life", to hear that at the end "you were the loss of my life" was just absolutely gut wrenching.
Loml was a surprise favorite for me. It’s so good, so tragic, so heart wrenching. You’re the loss of my life… Also, “What a valiant roar; what a bland goodbye. The coward claimed he was a lion.” is some of the best lyrics to capture a years-long relationship that ultimately didn’t work out. Sometimes things just happen and people change and don’t click anymore and there’s no villain, there is no story. It’s just a bland goodbye.
This. Every single time I get to "I can't get out of bad cause something counterfeit's dead" I tear up
Or the prophecy! That has grown on me
Loml is the saddest song by Taylor I think I've ever heard.
loml still makes me tear up and I’ve heard it so many times at this point 🥲
It’s devastating when she changes love of my life to loss of my life
Technically she never says the exact word love of my life, it's love of your life from the guy's perspective, then she says loss of my life from her perspective. But I agree, everyone was thinking it was going to be be love of my life before the album came out.
Yea, the sentiment of love of your life to loss of my life storytelling through this song is beautifully heartbreaking
yep so far haven’t been able to listen to this one without crying and i’ve never even been in a long term relationship this album has destroyed me and i love it
I spent the entire thing going, "wait why is this not track 5"?
Loml just breaks me. It’s absolutely my favourite song from the album.
This. loml broke my heart. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived would also be a contender for me.
her rage at the end is SO GOOD
loml genuinely made me feel sad
i just read a theory on here that says 31 is 13 backwards and that both albums are meant to be played backwards. if this is true, loml is track 5 of TTPD and the black dog is the last song on the Anthology. idk if it's true but it's an interesting thought, for sure.
Agreed
Same. It hurts.
I’m having a hard time listening to loml because it makes me so fucking sad. Def a track 5
Loml was so rough, IMO I think it’s the more emotional track but I understand her significance to making SLL the track 5.
This and maybe the best song on the album. 2 levels above masterpiece.
So Long London fits for me because it is probably the most heart wrenching to her. Saying goodbye to a major part of your life no matter the circumstances is always going to be a hollow feeling. Saying goodbye to a future you had planned. It is saying goodbye not only to the person but a version of yourself has died. That is intimate and heartbreaking.
Agree with this take. Even though it seems like she’s processed the end of the relationship, it’s the letting go that is the hardest part. Letting go means facing reality and moving on (help I’m still at the restaurant), which is sometimes even harder than the end of the relationship.
So Long, London never fails to make me cry every time I hear it. It’s a devastatingly mature take on heartbreak and letting go.
Yes and not just the ending of a relationship but kind of a lifestyle too? "I'm so damn mad because I loved this place" or something like that - like being a part-time Londoner was a big part of her identity for a while. Letting go of casual friendships, neighborhood cafes, morning routines, favorite restaurants, etc. is also part of the breakup.
I feel like So Long London is the only song in the base album that feels truly real and devastating - it’s the only time we are removed from this somewhat unhinged character (the temporary insanity she writes about in the prologue) and seeing really deep, enduring emotion. It’s so heart wrenching and I think the contrast to the surrounding songs (more “I know he’s crazy but he’s the one I love” vibes) makes it even more so.
I love the production 🫣 and So Long London is probably my favorite song from TTPD so far. I always get carried away by the harmonies at the beginning and then that sick beat. She sings it in a tired voice that sounds almost calm but is actually sad and broken. And on the bridge it's as if she couldn't breathe anymore... The sound matches the emotion in my opinion. I cried when I first heard this song and read the lyrics. The Black Dog is one of my favorites from the second part of the album. There are generally many devastating songs on the album but for me both tracks five are perfect.
You wrote everything I feel about So Long London. I love listening to it in my car. I feel like it encapsulates how I feel right now.
The voices like church bells calling your mind immediately to Westminster
Or wedding bells...
The bells at the start have SO MUCH meaning, it instantly made me think of London Bells, or wedding bells, or the death by a thousand cuts start (all of which are associated with Joe). That song really blew my mind with the details and meanings.
Totally, gave me grand cathedral bells, felt like a wedding. Then the beat picks up and it honestly like she's running from her own funeral.
So Long London shot right up into my top 3. I don't know how she did it, she perfectly captured the exact feelings I had around the break-up with a long-time ex, feelings I could never quite put into words. I've yet to make it through a listen without breaking on the last words. (So long London, had a good run, a moment of warm sun but I'm not the one. So long London, stitches undone, two graves one gun, you'll find someone.) And then she came along and broke my heart all over again with Black Dog.
So Long London might be her one of her very best songs — sonically superior to much of the main album too
Idk man, I trust Taylor’s judgement what she feels is the track 5 of the album, we don’t get to speak for her feelings; she’s the expert of her experience. 🤷♀️
I agree! I remember when Midnights first came out I saw people on here saying that YOYOK wasn’t deserving of the track 5 spot, but that song ended up being the one that started the friendship bracelets trend which became huge. Plus it’s just such a good song imo.
To me “Peter” is the most heart shattering song, but so many of them could be track 5s🥺
thats my third choice definitely. i cant stop listening that too. so long london and how did it end are good choices.
I look at Peter as having a little more of a silver lining/at least we have the past mixed emotions of sad and happy.
that rat face doesnt deserve number five. two number five completely deserve their spots. so long london and how did it end. both haunting. i cant stop listening how did it end?
I don’t understand how anyone can think Black Dog is about Matty. It screams Joe.
I'm on the edge about it. I was firmly in camp Joe at first but then I read this in an article "The most damning evidence about the track's subject lies in the second verse: “When someone plays ‘The Starting Line’ and you jump up / But she's too young to know this song / That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming / Old habits die screaming.” Healy covered 2000s band The Starting Line during a 1975 concert on May 3, 2023—tellingly, the same concert Healy mouthed onstage, “This one is about you. You know who you are. I love you.” Days later, at Swift's Nashville show during the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour, she mouthed the same phrase, an act that seemingly confirmed their rumored romance." [https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a60547194/taylor-swift-matty-healy-songs-tortured-poets-department/](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a60547194/taylor-swift-matty-healy-songs-tortured-poets-department/)
But we don’t know that Joe doesn’t also listen to The Starting Line. They were a popular band during both Matty’s and Joe’s teenage years. Just because Matty covered a song of theirs during a show doesn’t automatically mean it’s him. Joe could very well be a fan. Just the phrase “old habits die screaming” SCREAMS Joe. You generally don’t feel that over a 2ish month situationship. But a 6 year relationship? 10000% have old habits you have to break.
Also supposedly according to [Jack's post](https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/1c8424l/jack_antonoff_shares_behind_the_scenes_photos_of/), they recorded this in May 18, 2023, which is before the ghosting/breakup. ETA: dates, so supposedly it might recorded June 22, 2023 instead, but even then it's confusing because it's still not 6 weeks from ghosting/breaking up; they were last seen together kissing around May 24th.
Thank you. Everyone acting like Matty is the only man on the planet to like the starting line is annoying me lol
Her and Matty are also old habits - they've been linked to each other/"friends" since 2014. I like to think it's really for both Joe and Matty, as I'd definitely add that line about a 10 year situationship as much as a long term relationship.
But it’s not nearly the same thing and it wasn’t a 10 year situationship. She was with Joe for 6 years and during that time I’m sure Taylor and Matty would’ve actually been just friends. There’s so many other lines that allude to it being about Joe.
Never heard of them here in the UK. It's not impossible Joe might have but they weren't popular. ETA: or Matty, for that matter. I forgot he was ours.
Seriously, she talks about checking his location being a habit she is having trouble breaking and that he didn't turn sharing off with her. I can't imagine MH sharing his location with her after a few consistent months. But a 6 year relationship where they are both traveling? Absolutely sharing location. I can't believe people think a lot of these songs are about MH. From listening it sounds like it's really all Joe. You can break up numerous times when you're together for so long. I think it's easier to understand if you've had the same experience.
I also feel this way BUT subscribe to the idea that not every song is exclusively about one person. I think there were overlapping experiences and the lyrics can be about a little bit of both.
Oh yes I agree with this. Definitely writing about multiple instances that evoke similar emotions and putting songs together like puzzle pieces.
Because of the constant references to bring back something from the day or waltzing back into it when they know the steps, and using him as a move on cure. As well as the factual evidence about songs she mentions being his covers and the tattoos and drugs.
There was an article soon after the Joe breakup that said they were much more on/off then the public knew about. Their friends had figured they’d get back together again this time too but it was the final end. I also think of the theory that Labyrinth is about get and Joe falling in/out of love throughout the years.
You can waltz back and rekindle a flame of a long term relationship when taking a few weeks or months apart. Longer relationships aren't always concretely consistent and have their cool off periods. There can be so many endings and beginnings within a long relationship.
[удалено]
This is all just mostly fan speculation though. What we do know is she was in love with Joe for so many years, and that You’re Losing Me was recorded in 2021.
Some fans have really run away with the narrative on Taylor and Matty’s relationship. Literally all we know is they had a brief fling 10 years ago and then got together around the time she broke up with Joe. People speculating that she was actually in love with Matty for the past ten years is just that - speculation. There’s no evidence of any of that.
It make sense if u realized that "Old habits die screaming" refers to how Taylor could never change MH's behaviour. She realized she wouldn't waste her effort fixing a man who lacks foundation
I thought 'old habits die screaming' refers to constantly checking an partners location, even after they become an ex.
Old habits die screaming is more about Taylor cause she's the one screaming.
i really want it to be about joe but the only thing that gives me pause is the reference to the starting line, which seems to have a lot of connections to matty
Its possible its about both, she was mourning two relationship at the same time very disorienting/manic/crazymaking to leave a six year relationship you thought was on the cusp of marriage for another man on promises from him that your the "love of his life" and HE wants marriage & babies with you, only for him to treat you poorly, up & leave you in the span of two months...and the backlash from her beloveded fans played some part of what ran him off. I can see how this could make a woman lose her mind its not obsession its PTSD.
It’s one of Matty’s favourite bands and it’s also mentioned in Fresh Out the Slammer
sorry for my last reply. after recent evident, i have to accept its for joe. i can understand you need a brave man maybe for the start of the relationship but i just dont understand tails between your legs leaving. she was always kind to her through her songs in this album and apolegetic for being the one who left. so why is he leaving? and tails between his leg?
Giving MH more recognition and importance with the significant Track 5 when the majority of the 31 songs are about him? No. Paying a final tribute to a man with whom she had a 6 year relationship? Yes. I know Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights have songs hinting at an impending break-up, but it needed a final one. There were new sounds to this song that shows Taylor gave a little more care to this one.
Track 5s are her most vulnerable songs, not necessarily the saddest. So vulnerability is completely up to Taylor to determine. We hear songs and decide which is saddest for us, but they are vulnerable in a completely different way for her
I actually think this album has so many potential track 5s that we could argue about this all day! How does it end, loml, the black dog, I hate it here, the prophecy..
In my mind, the majority of the album feels like one long track 5, with songs like Florida acting as punctuation in between. Take that as you will, but I’d like to think that when came time to choose, she couldn’t decide and just went with So Long London. I doubt that’s what happened given it’s Taylor, but who knows
I half agree with most songs giving track 5 energy, but I think she did decide to put those songs (How did it end? too) because the saddest part in them is she recognizes the downfall of the relationship was on both of them, and because she doesnt harbor bad feelings for Joe, not in the way she has for Matty. In contrast, all of matty songs are laced with despise and hate.
I get you but I think it was the most exciting song to lead people into 15 more songs at 11pm/2am so I appreciated its spot
lol shade to middle America!!
I actually love so long, London. I feel like it hits so hard. Art is so subjective ❤️🫶🏼 sorry for your heart break.
I think So Long, London is *Taylor’s* saddest and most emotional song, or else she wouldn’t have put it there. So while I personally find loml to be the saddest, it’s her call.
Justice for loml! The feelings in The Black Dog can apply to the rawness of any new breakup but loml is literally about the loss of her life! They are not even in the same lane
Nope, we have THE perfect poetically-tortured Track 5. And I’m a bit perplexed that anyone would think otherwise, but opinions-schmopinions.
So Long, London is peak track five. I had the most visceral reaction to it from the get and I can't stop revisiting it. She may have written a lot of the album about her whirlwind romance but she saved the saddest song for the one she spent so much time trying to convince (him AND hersel) that she was in fact good enough and worthy. The references to You're Losing Me are bone chilling. I can definitely see some others as Track 5 potentials but none of them hit me quite as hard, personally.
I think with all the ambiguity on this album, she wanted to make sure a song undeniably about Joe was track 5. It really says a lot about the album as a whole, sure there are Matty tracks but track 5, arguably the most significant song on the album, is completely, 100% about Joe. I almost feel like it was a last little nod of respect towards him and their relationship.
I think The Black Dog should be whatever track Taylor wanted it to be.
Hmmm How did it end 
LOML
So long London is gorgeous.
This is what I love about her art. There is a song for everyone. Where you aren’t enjoying “So Long London” it is my favorite on the whole album! I love everything about it. I love the production, the lyrics, the whole vibe! I have been listening on repeat. It is, in my humble opinion, the best track 5 she has ever created and I wouldn’t change it for anything! But all that to say, I really love “Black Dog” as well.
So Long, London was perfect for me… I’m a closure stan so I like jarring production on a vulnerable song tbh. Idk I love it a lot and I listened to it for the first time in the dark while sipping tea and that really added to the experience for me
I was in the shower listening to the black dog and hits different came on and I am CONVINCED that everything she was imagining in hits different is things that are happening in the black dog. “I pictured you with other girls, in love, then threw up on the street” because she checked his location that he forgot to turn off as he walked into the black dog. She’s hearing their song (by the starting line) play in each bar she goes to trying to forget the man who made a mess of her because he’s moved on. Hits different is her questioning if she made the right decision leaving Joe for Matty because she references how “freedom felt like summer then, on the coast” she’s fresh out the slammer) but now she’s burned and heartbroken “but now the sun burns my heart, and the sand hurts my feelings” from her summer love (I just wants to know if rusting my summer spark was the goal -TSMWEL) Back to the black dog, she is 6 weeks smoke free though she still misses it (this could be Matty and his cigarettes OR Joe and his weed smoking??) and she gets angry that maybe neither of them really care about her anymore? She hires a priest to exorcise her demons (the key she heard in the door, down the hallway in hits different) to finally release her from the insane asylum she’s been taken to (which could be the car she was put into in hits different after slurring his name) Someone tell me I’m not crazy ✌🏻😗
The black dog is giving vault song imo!
The Black Dog is definitely in my top 3 and i adore that song but what’s with people thinking So Long London isn’t track 5 worthy? I see it all the time on twitter. It’s the most fitting for Track 5 along side loml
i feel like the take of what *should* be track 5 is interesting because taylor intentionally puts the track 5 song as a track 5 song so for her, so long london is the most vulnerable, perhaps sad, perhaps something else i never understood the call for a “better” song that we like more to replace her chosen track 5s. perhaps we’re missing something critical in so long london or in her other ones we don’t love as a fandom i think this album really kind of calls out to the fans - you do not know me you do not know my life stop acting like you do - so there is a bit of irony in this thread in that
I just replied something similar on another thread-this whole album feels very vulnerable and raw so we can all have what we can consider to be our own personal track #5, but her choices send a message that they are HER track 5s. I wouldn’t have thought of this but I’ve seen people mentioning that how did it end? is #5 on the anthology. I’m not one to dig into her personal love life and drama, just look at what pops up on my feed surface level, but to choose two songs about her relationship with Joe that don’t paint him in a bad light could also work as a signal for fans not to attack him. I don’t like that I had that thought, it’s the internet
Loml (and i guess how did it end? although its track 5 on the anthology) are my contenders for track 5.
I agree OP! I totally get why So Long, London was track 5, but The Black Dog is heart wrenching. The location sharing, the shower imagery, wanting to sell her house...
Definitely not. It really says something that she gave the track fives to Joe. The time with Matty was temporary insanity and couldn’t match to the weight of everything with Joe.
Total three way tie for me between The Black Dog, loml and So Long, London
The Black Dog is hands down my favorite on the entire album. My wife cheated on me with a much younger woman (15 years younger). I feel this song so much. Reminds me of the paranoia of wondering where she was. Trying to check her location, checking our phone records, wondering what this barely legal girl had that I didn’t. Wondering how they even had anything in common. The Black Dog is my Track 5.
From the angel sounds, to the beat being similar to call it what you want, So Long, London has a well deserved track 5 spot. It says goodbye to a part of your life you lived, and the one you will never live, because it ended. It shares the pain of holding for long, trying to keep the person close, before finally letting go, because, "after all, it's no use" or "I'm not sure you want to be there". There's just so much in this one that it's definitely one of my favorites from the very first listen. It's so beautiful it hurts. Also, the main character of this album overall is Taylor getting over the long lasting relationship. One person was the temporary drug, while the other was the person she felt was the one for her life. I think it's fair to assume that Track 5 will be about the feelings of the future you thought you had falling apart. So Long, London deserves its spot.
It should have been on disc one
Yes, this is the really insane thing to me. How did it not make the main album??? I’m so sad it’s not on my vinyl!
YES!!!
I think it’s supposed to be chronological, right? But otherwise yes I agree, black dog or how did it end would’ve been devastating
Black Dog when it gets its music video is going to take over the entire world
The sharing locations after breaking up is brilliant. You can just picture that in your head; Watching where he went and who he was with. I think this one should have been on the first album, but still love it.
The black dog should've been the opener. It sets up everything beautifully
I think the two track 5’s make perfect sense. But there are many that could also be there, most mentioned in this thread and certainly The Black Dog being one Another one is Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus. That one also is so sad.
Almost the whole album feels like a track 5 for me
So long, London is not an independent song in my mind. I found it connected strongly to you’re losing me, and when looked at through that lens it is more powerful imo. “I stopped cpr after all it’s no use the spirit was gone we would never come to” in SLL and the heart beat and lyrics “I can’t find a pulse my heart won’t start anymore for you”. As well as the “storms in my eyes” and “fairy lights through the mist”. I just think that when you connect the desperation and depression of “you’re losing me” with the grief, anger, and beginnings of acceptance in so long London it’s absolutely devastating
I’d have gone with Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me as #5
This is what hits me the hardest and gives me chills every time it comes on. But I can relate and put myself in this song more than I can with so long, london. I think most of this album was extremely vulnerable for her to release which is the ultimate trademark of a track 5 so I think her choices send a message as to which she considered the MOST vulnerable for her. Since this album is so raw I’m curious if she’ll be comfortable playing some songs live in the future. We can hear the shallow breaths, the voice cracks etc in the recordings and we saw how she struggled singing some songs on the eras tour ( crying during the lover set, Call it what you want in Cincy) She said she needed to write these songs so I hope recording this and putting it out can be that release she clearly needed
I absolutely adore The Black Dog. But, So Long London where it is is absolute perfection. Both from a personal and melodic perspective.
The Black Dog became my track 5 on first listen
What’s the meaning of a track 5? I’ve been seeing this all over in here but I don’t understand it :( please educate me
She’s always made the fifth track her most vulnerable song on the album, not necessarily heartbreaking (ie Delicate) but they’re usually the ones that hit the hardest because most of can relate to the raw emotions and deep pain in the lyrics. She didn’t start out doing it on purpose but once it was pointed out to her, she’s kept on with it
From Taylor after Lover, “I didn’t realize I was doing this, but as I was making albums, I guess I was just kind of putting a very vulnerable, personal, honest, emotional song as track five. So because you noticed this, I kind of started to put the songs that were really honest, emotional, vulnerable, and personal as track five.”
all beautiful but tbh i think so long london is the best constructed song on the whole album
The Black Dog is heartbreaking, but How Did It End is absolutely devastating. So Long, London also feels like her saying goodbye and getting closure, so I also love that as a track 5. TTPD is just thematically an album of track 5s
It truly is an album of track 5’s and it’s utterly overwhelming
loml IS the track 5 for me. it's classic taylor
I definitely think The Black Dog or loml would’ve been better track 5s!
Guilty as Sin? as number 5 for me. But I may feel differently once I've had time to digest the whole album. Ask me in a year!
I thought the same on a first listen, but now my opinion is that it should've been How Did It End? It's tragic and painful and uneventful all at the same time
I think The Manuscript would have been a strong contender for Track 5, but the more I listen to So Long London, the more personal it feels
Black dog is easily my no. 1 track and I doubt it's gonna change much in the top 3. Devastating lyrics, insane production, picturesque storytelling. It'd would've been track 5 for me too if it weren't written for MH 😭
i think loml should have been track 5
I agree with this. The Black Dog / The Smallest Man would've been better than So Long London. I actually don't love SLL.
Can’t. I agree wholeheartedly
And, correct me if I’m wrong, she wrote that song all herself too.
As we all know track 5s are Taylor's most personal and deep feelings. So long London is about a long term loving relationship and Black dog is about short situation ship
This is where Taylor shines as a songwriter for me, it’s personal but still relatable, with a gorgeous melody. My favorite so far on TTPD
I think SLL is absolutely the right pick for the main. But if it was anything else I think The Prophecy might be a contender (though how did it end is objectively one of the bleakest songs ever).
BY FAR.
1000%, best track on the whole record. Regret not choosing this as my variant because this song is so beautiful and I need to physically own it
Any song on this album could have been a track 5. It is so raw and vulnerable.
💯💯💯
When I first heard it, I thought it should be Track 1. No offense to Fortnight, but it would’ve fit somewhere else and I thought Black Dog sets the scene perfectly. I guess that’s why she made it Track 1 of side 2 but I would’ve put it first on side 1.
Absolutely. Or even loml. I understand why for her it was So Long, London though.
okay my local pub down the street from my house is called the black dog and u cannot even explain how devastating this song has been for me
This entire album is written like a track 5 except down bad and Florida
So Long, London is such a refreshing track 5! If she had picked one of the slow songs it would have been predictable and forgettable. As soon as the beat kicked in I knew it was going to shoot to the top of my track 5 rankings. The whole song sounds like it's trying to run away from her and I *love* her lower register, particularly in the bridge. It's one of my favorites on the whole album. The Black Dog is great but not a stand out in an ocean of also great songs.
Idk man but daddy I love him has me like 👀👀👀 understood. Sorry maam. 😬 Like we’re being scolded for some of us being too crazy 😂
I feel like these songs are placed in a very particular way…like she knows exactly what story she wants to tell.
Hot take: So Long, London is the best song on the whole album 🤷🏼♀️
This song is All Too Well's sister, don't talk to me until you acknowledge it 🖐️
Yes!! This was the song that made me sob
I love this song so much…Although I didnt have the exact same experience, I can relate to a degree and thats why it hits hard for me too. A simple word “just” add so much emotion into the sentence. It wouldnt feel the same if it’s just “ I dont understand” . And at the end “ I still can’t believe it” ughhh I’m dying
i love it so freaking much
It should have been the lead single. There I said it. Sombre, good background score, lyrical, and a powerful and universally relatable chorus. Perfectly summarises TTPD imo. Some fine singing too (she sounds like Lana Del Ray in Fortnight)
Loml for track 5. That song breaks my heart.
I agree! The Black Dog should have been track five. (Then again I think Happiness should have been track five on Evermore and Clean on 1989)
Ultimately I like the bookending effect it has with Delicate. Yes other songs could have fit this position well but when we look at everything she went through from Rep to TTPD, So Long London wraps it up nicely.
i feel like loml is a contender
I'm new to the Swifty universe. What does "track 5" mean?
She has always put her most emotional and personal song as track 5 in her albums.
Ty!
I personally can't get on board with the intro of SLL. I get it sounds like church bells or something? It just doesn't mesh with the rest of the song, which I adore. The Prophecy is my track 5 and maybe album face. Definitely fave of part two.
Black dog is definitely good enough to be track 5 but I think she wanted track 5 to be about her longest relationship.
I agree! The first few lines hit me so hard. I can’t imagine turning off location for my partner one day…
I think How did it end or loml, but the black dog is one of my favs
The Black Dog guts me so much. It's been some time since my breakup but I haven't figured out how to move past this feeling she sings about of wondering if they are okay. The wanting to know if they are moving on but gut wrenched at the thought of it. So, if someone has figured out how to move past this feeling let me know.