Draft:Loml

"Loml" (stylized in lowercase) is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). The song was written and produced by Swift and longtime collaborator Aaron Dessner. A soft piano ballad, the song's lyrics mourn the loss of a short-lived relationship that leaves a long-lasting mark. The song received positive reviews from critics upon release, praising its emotional storytelling.

Background and lyrics
Swift revealed The Tortured Poets Department at the Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024, while accepting the award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights (2022). Swift revealed she worked on the album in secret through 2022 and 2023.

"Loml" is a piano ballad that mourns a long-lasting love that is lost. Although the acronym "Loml" commonly means "love of my life", the phrase is not explicitly clarified, leading to fans speculating a different phrase. At the end of the song, it's revealed that "Loml" means "loss of my life". The song speaks of a short-lived relationship. Swift chasities her ex-lover for cowardice and abandonment, feeling that she sacrificed her romance and wish for a stable relationship. Swift also describe getting blinded by the promise of a fruitful relationship.

Swift opens up "Loml" by introducing a relationship that was supposed to be a fruitful one, before explaining how it went downhill. The male character in the relationship promises a fake "Heaven" for Swift's character, which she describes as being sent down to Hell.

Release and critical reception
Republic Records released it on April 19, 2024; "Loml" is twelfth on the track list. During the first show in Paris, "Loml" made its live debut in the Eras Tour along with a new The Tortured Poets Department set in the setlist, albeit as a surprise song. A variant containing this performance was released on May 24, 2024, alongside variants containing acoustic performances of "My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys" and a mashup of "The Alchemy" and "Treacherous".

Lian Brooks of Glamour described "Loml" as a song that "really has [everyone] bawling". Several critics connected the song to Taylor's previous relationship with English actor Joe Alwyn, while Jessica Sager of Parade connected it to Matty Healy instead. Callie Alghrim of Business Insider connected the song to several of Swift's songs from Folklore (2020), while also describing the song as a spiritual successor of "The 1". Alex Hopper of American Songwriter compared it to fellow Folklore track "Invisible String" and "Hits Different" (2022) instead. Teen Vogue applauded the song for being "way more storytelling, less rhythmically constrained".

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Tortured Poets Department.


 * Taylor Swift – lead vocals, songwriter, producer
 * Aaron Dessner – producer, songwriter, piano, synthesizers, keyboards
 * Glenn Kotche — drums, percussion
 * Laura Smith — vocal engineering
 * Christopher Rowe — vocal engineering
 * Michael Riddleberger – recording
 * Serban Ghenea – mixing
 * Bryce Bordone – mix engineering
 * Randy Merrill – mastering
 * Ryan Smith – vinyl mastering