This Taylor Swift Song Was a Darkly Fitting Choice for ‘It Ends With Us’

It Ends With Us is currently one of the most popular books and film adaptations out there. As if the film’s premiere weren’t enough of a cultural moment already, it turns out that Taylor Swift has a song in the movie!

It Ends With Us is a New York Times bestseller book written by Colleen Hoover. The book first came out in 2016 and had its popularity supercharged by the #BookTok community, which is an unorganized scattering of book reviewers on TikTok who praise or scathe newly released books. Despite its popularity, the book has garnered criticism about how it handles the story’s serious subject matter. The story of Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid’s abusive relationship was adapted into a film starring Blake Lively and released on August 9, 2024.

Taylor Swift’s song “My Tears Ricochet” features prominently throughout the film and in the trailer. Swift’s real-life BFF Blake Lively, who plays Lily in the film and is the movie’s executive producer, personally picked the song, most likely because of how well the lyrics fit with the film.

As Lively told The Hollywood Reporter, “All of her songs are great, we could have put any song up there. We could have done like a voice memo song, it would have been the best song to have ever been in a movie.”

The lyrics of “My Tears Ricochet” do mirror the dark themes of the film well:

We gather here, we line up, weepin’ in a sunlit room
And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes too
Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe
All the hell you gave me?
‘Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you
‘Til my dying day

Taylor Swift, “My Tears Ricochet”

Reviews for the movie have been mixed so far. Some fans have said that the movie doesn’t go as far as the book does in critiquing domestic abuse, while others have argued the source material isn’t all that good of a critique to begin with. This debate has been ongoing for quite some time now. Some say the book illustrates the importance of breaking domestic abuse cycles, while others see the book as romanticizing abuse. So far, the film adaptation is not escaping the same debate.

It Ends With Us the movie is currently playing in theaters and the book is sold at major bookstore chains and online retailers.