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She was a precocious teenager, and the ultimate embodiment of white privilege.
Shes beenfeminisms worst nightmare, andan advocate for victims of sexual assault.
Some people say shes a goddess of the alt-right.Other people say shes Jewish.
If the word on her has shifted since her debut, its because weve changed, not her.
What sort of real life can stand up against fantasies like these?
So, uh, I dont recommend you listen to this list top to bottom.
But I do recommend sampling as many of these songs as you see fit.
I count at least ten stone-cold classics in her discography.
Others might see more.
No matter how high your defenses, I guarantee youll find at least one that breaks them down.
Songwriting is an important part of Swifts spellbook, so covers are treated more harshly than originals.
*This post was originally published in November 2017.
It has been updated to include Swifts subsequent releases.
Additionally, some rankings have changed to reflect the authors evolving taste.
To Swifts credit, it took her six records to get to this point.
But the villain costume sits uneasily on Swifts shoulders, and even worse, the songwriting just isnt there.
(I do dig the gleeful Cuz shes dead!
Its pure college-campus coffeehouse.
Or as she puts it: What if happiness came in a cardboard box?
/ Then I think there is something we all forgot.
Better Than Revenge,Speak Now(2010):A nasty little song that has not aged well.
American Girl, Non-album digital single (2009):Why would you cover this song and make itslower?
Otherwise, this is a by-the-numbers holiday cover, complete with sleigh bells in the mix.
Points for ambition, but sometimes you just want to hear the old standards the way you remember them.
Worst of all is this duet with po-faced Ulsterman Gary Lightbody, which feels about ten minutes long.
The show you / know you rhymes mark this as an early effort.
But when they misfire, the results can be brutal.
In an admirable bit of dedication, she also showed up to play it in the films climax.
Its as cute as a study-hall MASH game, and just as easily disposable.
Though her backing vocals are very pleasant, this is 100 percent a Tim McGraw song.
They won 36 gold medals!
Me!,Lover(2019):Well, what did we expect?
The run-up to Me!
was preceded by aweeks-long guessing gameabout what precisely would be the nature of Swifts April 26 announcement.
Would she come out?
Would shecome outandreveal she had once dated Karlie Kloss?
Cut to the fateful day, and the news was …
Swift, who is a pop singer, was releasing a new pop song.
After the Sturm und Drang of theReputationera, Me!
is a return to anodyne sweetness, a mission statement that says, Im through making mission statements.
The only silver lining?
Shes better at rapping here than on …Ready for It?
With only one take to get it right, she did not let the people of Haiti down.
Swift asks the audience at the beginning of this live track.
The crowd, not being idiots, responds with an enthusiastic yes.
A spirited vocal performance in the outro saves the song from feeling like homework.
7 in D Major.
Was Swift a teenage girl whose moment was ruined by an older man who couldnt control himself?
Or was she a white woman playing the victim to demonize an outspoken black man?
Both are correct, which is why everyones spent so much time arguing about it.
(Fairly or not, the comparison toWests own artistic responsehardly earns any points in the songs favor.)
Like Starlight, its a young persons vision of lifelong love, skipping straight from proposal to old age.
The two would collaborate on much of Swifts first two albums.
We wrote and figured out that it really worked.
Shed say a line and Id say, What if we say it like this?
Its kind of like editing.
This early ballad about a friend with bulimia sees Swift and Rose experimenting with metaphor.
Most of them work.
(She says its a Joni Mitchell quote, but I havent been able to find it.)
Its like if Bad Blood contained actual human emotions.
Here, he brings a sprightly arrangement to Swiftsode to an achingly good-looking man.
She treats it with a delicate respect, like shes handling her grandmothers china.
It shouldnt work, but it does.
If you had forgotten that this song came out in 2001, she keeps the line about Tae Bo.
(Youd be forgiven for preferringthe actual first draft, which is slightly more open and real.)
Perhaps too much you get the sense it might work better as a Bleachers song.
Haunted,Speak Now(2010):In which Swift tries her hand at Evanescence-style goth-rock.
This Love,1989(2014):Began life as a poem before evolving into an atmospheric1989deep cut.
Like an imperfectly poached egg, its shapeless but still quite appetizing.
Wonderland,1989: Deluxe Edition(2014):A deranged bonus track that sees Swift doing the absolute most.
As she puts it, Its all fun and games til somebody loses their MIND!
As if to reassure nervous country fans, the fiddle goes absolutely nuts.
You probably shouldnt take it as an instruction manual unless youre Harry Styles.
[A dozen Hozier fans storm out of the room.]
(Theres even a martial drumbeat.)
Its likeTrue Love Waits,but with more kissing in the rain.
here came to its writer in a dream.
Inspiration works in mysterious ways.
Still, even if this song never rises above cuteness, it isincrediblycute.
I think Dadll get over the tattoos.
Everything Has Changed,Red(2012):We good to go?
For many American listeners, this was the first introduction to a redheaded crooner named Ed Sheeran.
The production and vocals are appropriately restrained sometimes, simplicity works.
Clean,1989(2014):Co-written with Imogen Heap, who contributes backup vocals.
This is1989s big end-of-album-catharsis song, and the water imagery of the lyrics goes well with the drip-drip-drip production.
The high point comes when she contemplates forgiving a hater, then bursts into an incredulous guffaw.
Reader, I laughed out loud.
Jump Then Fall,Fearless: Platinum Edition(2006):An effervescent banjo-driven love song.
(Possibly because shes been a child before.)
Probably ranked too high, but this is my list and Ill do what I want.
Getaway Car,Reputation(2017):Another very Antonoff-y track, but Im not mad at it.
As a slice of gothic pop-star paranoia, it gives a much-needed bit of edge to1989.
Then it turns out shes been uninvited oops so she decides to hide in the curtains.
Finally, at a pivotal moment she stands up in front of everyone and protests the impending union.
Luckily the guy is cool with it, so we get a happy ending!
All this nonsense undercuts the admittedly charming chorus, but its hard not to smile at the unabashed silliness.
22,Red(2012):Another collaboration with Martin and Shellback, another absurdly catchy single.
If youve ever been alone on Christmas, this is your song.
The way the whole song starts and stops is an obvious trick, but I like it.
Almost left off the album, but savedthanks to Shonda Rhimes.
It just makes the listener feel like the writer and the artist care about the song,Rose toldBillboard.
I hadnt talked to him in two-and-a-half years,she told the WashingtonPost.
He was like: Hey, hows it going?
And Im like: Wow, youre late?
Good to see you?)
Would any other albums Taylor be asking, Is it cool that I said all that?
(It works so well shed repeat the trick on1989andReputation.)
Shake It Off,1989(2014):Swifts second No.
(Never mind thatRedhad its own sugary singles.)
By the time shes twanging a line about dating all her exs friends, things have gotten downright rowdy.
The exuberance of the lyrics is matched in the way she tumbles from line to line into the chorus.
Am I shooting from the hip?
she once askedGQwhen confronted with the word.
Would any of this have happened if I was?
… you’ve got the option to be accidentally successful for three or four years.
But careers take hard work.
Still, there would have been no getting anywhere with it if the song werent good.
Is that a raga chant?
Dear John,Speak Now(2010):Ive never named names, Swift once toldGQ.
That may technically be true, but she came pretty dang close with this seven-minute epic.
But somehow, the overstuffing works here; its the audio equivalent of the lyrics synesthesia.
The lovely back-and-forth vocals in the outro help boost this past the similar Begin Again.
And to top it off, the track marks the introduction of Swifts colloquial style Where is thisGOoO-ING?
that would serve her so well in the years to come.
Hey Stephen,Fearless(2008):Who knew so many words rhymed withStephen?
They all come so naturally here.
For once, the mid-song laugh is entirely appropriate.
Bumped up a few spots for the invigorating double-time bridge, the best on1989.
Another surprise: that she never tried to sound like this again.
(Thompson gets a co-writing credit.)
One of the most empathetic songs in Swifts catalogue, as well as her most reliable tearjerker.
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,Red(2012):Flash back to 2012.
Carly Rae Jepsen had a No.
Freaking Gotye had a No.
And yet Swift, arguably the biggest pop star in the country, had never had a No.
(You Belong With Me and Today Was a Fairytale had both peaked at No.
(But nice job with that Green Day cover, Andy.)
Who wouldnt want to write their name?
(For an increasing number, the thinking about it isall theyre doing.)
Virgins need love songs, too.
She had a story and she wanted to say something specific.
She had alotof information, Rose toldRolling Stonelater.
I just let her go.
Just like the scarf, you cant get rid of this song.
He was completely on the defensive saying, No, baby …
I had to get off the phone really quickly …
I tried to call you right back … Of course I love you.
Baby, Im so sorry,she recalled.
She was just yelling at him!
I felt so bad for him at that moment.
Out of that feeling, a classic was born.
