Guys, it's been nearly THREE years since we got a new album from Taylor Swift, and I for one am seriously counting down the seconds until Reputation is released.
So, in my humble but very educated opinion, here are some of the best and most overlooked Taylor tracks for your pure enjoyment.
I know that country music isn't for everyone, so I'm going to start this list with her more recent ~pop~ music, and lean you into her more country-inspired stuff slowly. There's a Spotify playlist at the end of this post for your convenience.
LET'S DO THIS...
1. All You Had To Do Was Stay
Possibly one of the biggest bangers on 1989, the chorus is catchy as hell and pretty much impossible not to sing along to. Fun fact: I took a "All You Had To Do Was Slay" poster to her concert. Clever, I know.
Perfect for: Screaming along to while you're driving in your car with all the windows down.
2. Wonderland
This is a 1989 bonus track for reasons that I'll never understand, as it is so album-worthy. With Alice In Wonderland-themed lyrics, it's all about falling into the rabbit hole of intense love that comes with a new relationship.
Perfect for: Playing on full volume after a break-up, once you've gotten past all the sadness and can happily reminisce.
3. Clean
4. You Are In Love
What is it with this girl making all of her best songs bonus tracks? This is a much more slowed down one, with beautiful vocals and lyrics that somehow manage to work their way into your bloodstream and make you feel everything.
Perfect for: Listening to in the dark on a low volume. Sounds weird but trust me, it's great.
5. Starlight
This is a classic love song about two teens in the '40s falling in love in the way only teenagers can. She wrote this song about Bobby and Ethel Kennedy after seeing a photo of them dancing together, which makes things even better.
Perfect for: Singing along to while reminiscing about your first ~Big Love~.
6. All Too Well
7. Stay Stay Stay
Switching gears totally from "All Too Well", this song will never fail to put a smile on my face. It's a high-key bop and makes me believe that love actually does exist.
Perfect for: Blasting when you're in a good mood and feeling loved-up.
8. Holy Ground
This song is MY ANTHEM. God, I love it so much. There's something about this song that just makes you want to go outside in the sun, spin around, and forget about everything. She sang this when I saw her live last year and I nearly dropped dead, it was so good.
Perfect for: Having a dance therapy session, letting loose, and just shaking everything off.
9. The Lucky One
This song is basically a reflection on fame and how you can go from being adored one minute to being dragged to hell the next. It makes me feel like at any minute Taylor might throw in the towel and go plant a rose garden somewhere.
Perfect for: Calming your mind when you're having an existential crisis.
10. The Last Time
11. Safe & Sound
Not found on any of Taylor's albums, this song was written for the Hunger Games soundtrack. A duet with The Civil Wars, her vocals on this track are PERFECT. They just make me want to give her a hug and pat her hair? That might just be me...
Perfect for: Listening to just before you fall asleep.
12. Sparks Fly
Taylor originally wrote this song when she was 16, before she got famous, and for years all we had of it was a low-quality YouTube live version of the song. Then, like an angel on Earth, she recorded it and included it as a track on Speak Now. It's SO GOOD, guys.
Perfect for: Listening to while you walk down the street, hands in your pockets, pretending you're in a movie.
13. Last Kiss
14. Enchanted
This song really captures the magical, fairytale feeling that I associate with a lot of Taylor's old music. It reads like a diary entry, and I can just imagine her writing this at 1am in her pyjamas, with a fluffy pen.
Perfect for: Listening to after you see a hot person on the train and imagine your lives together.
15. Haunted
This song is like "Enchanted"'s evil twin, and I love it so much. It was almost a hint of the Dark Taylor that we're getting now, and is all minor chords and moody strings sections.
Perfect for: Screaming and head-banging when you're in a bad mood.
16. Hey Stephen
17. White Horse
Do you remember being 16 and when someone wronged you, you had really vivid daydreams about performing a song in front of a whole crowd, with poignant lyrics calling them out for everything they ever did to you? Well, "White Horse" was the song I always dreamed of singing to a certain person in a school assembly, because the melodies are beautiful but the lyrics are damning as hell.
Perfect for: Performing to an audience of no one in your bedroom.
18. You're Not Sorry
Damn, young Taylor had some feelings. This dramatic ballad brings in a sweeping strings section, and I hope whoever she wrote this song about feels really, really bad for what they did.
Perfect for: Singing along, totally off-key, while inventing a melodramatic interpretive dance routine to go along with it.
19. The Other Side of the Door
This song was included on the Platinum edition of Fearless which I HIGHLY recommend you check out for some stellar B-sides (or whatever B-sides are called now). If you mention this song to any Swiftie, I guarantee they'll yell back at you: "WITH YOUR FACE AND THE BEAUTIFUL EYES AND THE CONVERSATION WITH THE LITTLE WHITE LIES AND A FADED PICURE OF A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT YOU CARRIED ME FROM YOUR CAR TO THE STAIRS." Try it out.
Perfect for: Sing-yelling after you've had five wines.
20. Picture To Burn
21. Breathe
Remember Colbie Caillait who sang "Bubbly"? Well this is a duet between the two of them and it's beautiful and pure and sounds the same way a soft fluffy blanket feels.
Perfect for: Listening to as a passenger on a road trip, while looking out the window at passing fields and reflecting on the meaning of life.
22. Stay Beautiful
If you asked me to name one song that perfectly sums up the vibe of Taylor's debut album, this one would be it. It's so bright and cheerful and just makes me think of teenage Taylor spreading light to everyone she meets.
Perfect for: Singing along to with all your girlfriends.
23. I'd Lie
This song was never included on an album and every time I think about that it just makes me sad. Something about the lyrics and music just work their way inside you and fill you with joy. I didn't fully understand it when I first heard it, but as I got older and fell in love and knew what that felt like, this song just got better and better. "Doesn't he know that I've had him memorised for so long" is real as hell.
Perfect for: Playing on full-blast on your car stereo in the middle of summer, with all your windows down.
Happy listening, my loves.
