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Draft:The Black Dog (song)

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"The Black Dog"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology
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" (also known as "Old Habits Die Screaming") is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from the double album edition of her eleventh studio album The Tortured Poets Department, subtitled The Anthology (2024).

"The Black Dog" was first released as a bonus track as part of a physical edition of The Tortured Poets Department, before it became available as a track from The Anthology. A demo version was also included in a digital edition of the album. Upon release, "The Black Dog" charted at number 26 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and the United States. Swift performed it at a London show of her Eras Tour (2023–2024).

Background and composition[edit]

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]

Taylor Swift started writing songs for her eleventh original studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, shortly after finishing her previous album, Midnights (2022), and continued working on it during the U.S. leg of her Eras Tour in 2023.[24] One of the songs she wrote was "The Black Dog", which she first called as "Old Habits Die Screaming" when conceiving it and handled the production with Jack Antonoff.[25][26] It is a post-industrial ballad driven by piano instrumentation.[4][9][13] Lasting for 3 minutes and 58 seconds,[27] the song begins in a slow pace before building into a dynamic chorus and continues to build for the rest of the length.[15][1] Josh Kurp of Uproxx said that there was influences from Phoebe Bridgers and attributed it to how the song builds up.[1] Chris Willman from Variety commented that it had an "emo climax".[17]

The song incorporates thumping synth beats when Swift sings "Old habits die screaming".[21]

Release and commercial performance[edit]

On February 4, 2024, Swift announced The Tortured Poets Department at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards and its release date on April 19.[28] 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".[29] Two hours after the standard album 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.[30][25] The first demo recording of the song also became available on May 28 as part of 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) on the London stop of the Eras Tour.[32]

Upon the release of The Anthology, "The Black Dog" opened at its peak of number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[33] 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.[34][35] Elsewhere, "The Black Dog" debuted and peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Global 200[36] and charted within the countries of Canada (26),[37] New Zealand (26),[38] Portugal (67),[39] Switzerland (95).[40] The song also reached the United Kingdom's streaming[41] and sales charts with respective peaks of number 31 and number 60,[42] Sweden's Heatseeker chart at number one,[43] and Greece's International Top 100 Digital Singles chart at number 58.[44]

Reception[edit]

Personnel[edit]

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for "The Black Dog"
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[34] 25
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[37] 26
Global 200 (Billboard)[36] 26
Greece International (IFPI)[44] 58
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[38] 26
Portugal (AFP)[39] 67
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[43] 1
Swiss Streaming (Schweizer Hitparade)[40] 95
UK Singles Sales (OCC)[42] 60
UK Streaming (OCC)[41] 31
US Billboard Hot 100[33] 25

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Kurp, Josh (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department Is Another Classic". Uproxx. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  2. ^ Wilson, Carl (April 19, 2024). "The Problem with Taylor Swift's New Album". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  3. ^ Breihan, Tom (April 19, 2024). "Premature Evaluation: Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department". Stereogum. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  4. ^ a b 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. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  5. ^ Ahlgrim, Callie (April 26, 2024). "The 15 Bonus Tracks from Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department Could Be Their Own Near-Perfect Album". Business Insider. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  6. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (April 22, 2024). "Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  7. ^ Snapes, Laura (April 19, 2024). "Breakups, Fantasies and Her Most Cutting Lyrics: Inside Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  8. ^ Foggatt, Tyler (April 19, 2024). "It's Taylor Swift Day, Again". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved June 27, 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. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  10. ^ Webb, Lauren (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department". Clash. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  11. ^ Kate Carr, Mary (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department Is Stuck in the Past". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  12. ^ Rosenbloom, Alli (April 20, 2024). "The Tortured Poets Department: A Track-by-Track Listener's Guide to Taylor Swift's 31-Song Double Album". CNN. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Wohlmacher, John (April 23, 2024). "Album Review: Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  14. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department: All 31 Tracks Ranked — 'The Black Dog'". Billboard. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Fish, Ryan (April 22, 2024). "Every Song on Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department,' Ranked". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  16. ^ Miyashita, Nina; Waterhouse, Jonah (April 24, 2024). "All the Hidden Meanings in Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" Album". Vogue Australia. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Willman, Chris (April 29, 2024). "Taylor Swift's 75 Best Songs, Ranked". Variety. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  18. ^ Nuss, Allaire (May 3, 2024). "Every Taylor Swift Album, Ranked". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  19. ^ Huamani, Kaitlyn (April 20, 2024). "The Best Songs from Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets Department' Double Album". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  20. ^ Ahlgrim, Callie (April 28, 2024). "Taylor Swift's 15 Best Breakup Songs, Ranked". Business Insider. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  21. ^ a b Mylrea, Hannah (April 24, 2024). "Taylor Swift: Every Single Album Ranked and Rated". NME. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  22. ^ Ahlgrim, Callie (April 27, 2024). "Every Taylor Swift Album, Ranked from Worst to Best". Business Insider. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  23. ^ Sheffield, Rob (April 25, 2024). "All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked: 'The Black Dog' (2024)". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ a b 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.
  26. ^ Reynolds, Abbie (June 3, 2024). "Inside Taylor Swift's Bonus Song 'The Black Dog' Lyrics, Meaning & More". Capital FM. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  27. ^ Swift, Taylor (April 19, 2024). "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology". AllMusic. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  28. ^ West, Bryan (April 21, 2024). "Taylor Swift Makes Grammys History with Fourth Album of the Year Win for Midnights". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 5, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  29. ^ Hughes, Amy (March 4, 2024). "'The Black Dog': Taylor Swift Announces Final Variant of Upcoming Tortured Poets Department". Q. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  30. ^ Longeretta, Emily; Jackson, Angelique; Woerner, Meredith (April 18, 2024). "Taylor Swift Drops 15 Surprise Songs, Announces The Tortured Poets Department Is a Double Album". Variety. Archived from the original on April 20, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  31. ^ Paul, Larisha (May 17, 2024). "Taylor Swift Expands Tortured Poets Department (Again) with Limited Edition First Draft Phone Memos". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  32. ^ Smith, Katie Louise (June 25, 2024). "Here's Every Surprise Song Performed on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour". Capital FM. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  33. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  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.
  35. ^ Gbogbo, Mawunyo (April 29, 2024). "Taylor Swift's New Album The Tortured Poets Department Smashes Chart Records in the US, UK and Australia". ABC News. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  36. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  37. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  38. ^ a b "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. April 29, 2024. Archived from the original on April 26, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  39. ^ a b "Taylor Swift – Thank You Aimee". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  40. ^ a b "Streaming Top 100". Schweizer Hitparade. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  41. ^ a b "Official Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  42. ^ a b "Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on April 26, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  43. ^ a b "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 17". Sverigetopplistan. Archived from the original on April 26, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  44. ^ a b "IFPI Charts". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
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