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- Tim McGraw. This introductory, career-establishing single certainly counts as a simple pleasure now, against all the more sophisticated writing she’s done since.
- You're on Your Own, Kid. In case there was any doubt that it’s unresolved childhood loneliness and rejection that make the greatest breeding ground for uber-driven superstars, Swift clears it all up for us by effectively conceding as much in this childhood origin story for her ambition and independence.
- Enchanted. Swift takes a backstage introduction to an indie-pop dude she had a crush on and turns it into something that feels like an epic moment at a royal ball.
- Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince. Swift has been surprisingly unafraid to boldly speak out about political matters in recent years, after being criticized for staying quiet in her early career.
- Rania Aniftos
- "Look What You Made Me Do" (Reputation, 2017) Why It’s Era-Defining: Sure, “Look What You Made Me Do” is polarizing — there’s a reason it’s No. 100 on this list — but you can bet every fan who calls themself a Swiftie remembers where they were when the music video for the Reputation lead single dropped.
- "Forever and Always" (Fearless, 2008) Why It’s Era-Defining: The scathing ode to teenage heartbreak came amid Swift’s string of famous heartthrob boyfriends, whom she’d later write songs about.
- "Dress" (Reputation, 2017) Why It’s Era-Defining: As confrontational as Reputation was in spots, the album’s real jaw-dropping moment came with “Dress,” the most explicitly seductive song to appear on a Taylor Swift LP to date.
- "Haunted" (Speak Now, 2010) Why It’s Era-Defining: “Haunted” is one of Swift’s deep cuts that’s most fiercely loved by longtime fans. Mysterious and whimsical, it captures a darker strain of the magical themes the country-pop star perhaps unintentionally infused in the Speak Now era — and just as delightfully, it summarizes Bella Swan’s POV in New Moon of the Twilight saga with perfect accuracy.
- 4 min
- Rob Sheffield
- “Bad Blood” (2014) Melodically parched, lyrically unfinished, rhythmically clunky – this was a mighty strange pick for a single from an album as loaded as 1989.
- “Santa Baby” (2007) Yes, she made a Christmas album, which is full of contenders for the basement of this list. But an oldie about a gold digger wooing Little Saint Nick was perhaps a dubious pick for a singer still in her teens.
- “A Place in This World” (2006) Apprentice work from the debut, when she was still learning the ropes as a country songwriter. Yet, the seeds of greatness are already there.
- “Christmas Must Be Something More” (2007) A hymn about how Jesus is the reason for the season, with the hook, “So here’s to the birthday boy who saved our lives.”
Apr 18, 2024 · From the heartbeat background to the biting lyrics, “You’re Losing Me” is some of Swift’s best work. Best Lyric: Fighting in only your army Frontlines, don’t you ignore me
- Back to December
- Love Story
- Tim Mcgraw
- Gorgeous
- Safe and Sound
- Wildest Dreams
- Red
- Me!
- Better Man
- Everything Has Changed
“Back To December” is one of the most tender ballads Taylor Swift has ever recorded. Its yearning elegance sadly saw it side-lined on many international charts, but Taylor’s US fans took the song to heart, lifting it to a No.6 Billboard peak and a respectable showing on the Adult Contemporary chart. It’s hard to believe that this confessional, know...
The idea of an artist rerecording their back catalog as a means of re-establishing control isn’t entirely new, but Taylor Swift’s campaign to reassert control has taken the concept to a new level. In issuing a new version of her most recognized early hit “Love Story (Taylor’s Version),” she had a political point to make as much as a musical one. Ta...
While still at high school, Taylor Swift wrote ”Tim McGraw,” a tender ballad that plays to her belief that music offers the tonic to most of life’s ills. It’s a theme Taylor would return to many times in the years ahead, with the veteran country star’s music this time offering her the support she sought amid an early romantic crisis and providing i...
After the edgier “Look What You Made Me Do” from Reputation, “Gorgeous” emerged as a midtempo ballad that harks back to a sweeter, more accessible Taylor Swift. Pop radio immediately embraced the Max Martin/Shellback collaboration and taken together both singles showcased Reputationas a bold, new canvass for Taylor’s stylistic diversity.
Launching in 2011, The Hunger Gameswas a huge international film franchise based on a trio of best-selling novels. Artists were clamoring to get their work onto the soundtracks, but Taylor’s rocky contribution, and one of her two soundtrack contributions, with “Safe And Sound,” recorded with alternative country act The Civil Wars, showed that Taylo...
Following the high-octane power-pop of 1989’s initial releases, “Wildest Dreams,” promoted in August 2015, was a timely diversion into calmer waters. The ethereal dream-pop anthem, showcased in an Out Of Africa-inspired video co-starring Scott Eastwood, presented Taylor at her most seductive. It was another big hit and, in remixed form, became her ...
Pushed as Red’s second promotional single, the album’s title track was a return to her Nashville roots, dished up with a neat, contemporary pop twist. By this stage, Taylor was only really competing with herself on the country charts, and “Red” actually got stuck behind one of her own tracks near the top of the US Hot Country Songs listings.
When, just 18 months after the provocative Reputation, Taylor Swift emerged with another new song, “ME!,” it was a perfectly pitched step back in time: 60s-referencing bubblegum, anthemic 21st-century power-pop, and evergreen country that perfectly suited her. A contribution from Panic! At The Disco’s Brendon Urie added the ballast to rough up the ...
Written by Taylor Swift for the US group Little Big Town, and issued as a country chart-topping single in 2016, Taylor issued her own version of “Better Man” for the 2021 Red (Taylor’s Version) album as part of her campaign to re-establish the creative control of her earlier work. It’s a gloriously melodic gem that captures all the bittersweet emot...
It’s a sad reality that so many strong female icons still end up getting characterized by the men they may or may not be involved with. Taylor’s love life has generated an extraordinary – and frankly unwelcome – wider interest, but at least her relationship with Ed Sheeran was centered on the work they collaborated on. “Everything Has Changed” also...
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Apr 12, 2024 · From "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" to "Blank Space" and "My Tears Ricochet," these are the best Taylor Swift songs ever, according to Cosmopolitan editors.
Oct 27, 2023 · These are the 30 best Taylor Swift songs in order, including "All Too Well," "Cruel Summer," "Daylight," "Love Story," "Out of the Woods," and more.
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