It is fall, or as I like to call it, the season of cookie baker, candle lover and chorus queen Taylor Swift. Grab some headphones, your favorite cardigan and a maple latte and turn on your favorite Taylor Swift album.
“Our Song”- Taylor Swift
This song slaps and still holds up 14 years later
If “Our Song” is your favorite, you probably love Old Taylor and haven’t been as big of a fan since 1989 dropped. You might be a hopeless romantic who likes to fantasize about a boy you saw once at Lakeside, or you are still dating your high school boyfriend, trying to make long-distance work. There is no in between.
“Change”- Fearless
This song is about fighting battles against people bigger than yourself.
This song might be your pump-up song or the song you play when life gets you down or you just listen to it to complete the immaculate album that is Fearless.
“Long Live”- Speak Now
“Long Live” is a love letter to her fans, thanking them for “all the magic [the fans] made” and how Taylor’s legacy will live on (kind of like the award: Artist of the Decade).
If “Long Live” is your favorite album closer, you are a diehard Swiftie. You defend the underappreciated Speak Now album and are in love with Taylor’s storytelling songwriting abilities. You probably begged for this to be your senior sendoff song and probably captioned your graduation post with lyrics from this song.
“Begin Again”- Red
If “Begin Again” is your favorite song, you have a wall around your emotions that people need to break down brick by brick. You have been hurt in the past and are cautious of getting hurt but are still exploring options of being with others. You like to spend time alone, but when your valued friends call up, you are so down to hang out.
“Clean”- 1989
What I love most about “Clean” is that the song can be applied to any situation: a breakup, sobriety, getting out of any bad situation, or anything really. When in a place where drowning feels so normal, getting out is the most freeing experience. I am sorry if you repeatedly relate to the song. However, as we learned on folklore, “if you never bleed/you never grow,” and that our damaging experiences can make us into stronger people.
If “Clean” is your favorite album closer, you probably give great advice. You are a seasoned pro at life and all your friends wish they were a sage like you. Sometimes you keep your emotions bottled up until they burst. You are a private person who spends so much time helping others, that you forget about yourself.
“Clean” is such a good song to sing with the volume at max and all of the windows down at night (following “All Too Well” of course) and is much cheaper than therapy. 10/10 recommend.
“New Year’s Day”- reputation
Unpopular opinion but “Call It What You Want” should have been the reputation album closer. The song just sums up the entire era: Taylor’s “castle crumbling,” but her finding Joe and becoming the bada** woman she is! However, “New Year’s Day” does have a soft close out that makes it such a good love song, and I understand why it is track #15.
If “New Year’s Day” is your favorite album closer, you are searching for a realistic love. You want a partner who will do the boring things with you like clean up bottles after the New Year’s party and will be on the opposite end of the couch as you both scroll through TikTok individually, but at least you are together.
“Daylight”- Lover
“Daylight” is a great closer for Lover because after Taylor’s failed relationships, heartbreaks, and bad boys, she is happy again. “Daylight” has obvious references to “Red” as she sings “I used to believe love would be/Burning red/But it’s golden/Daylight,” but I like to think of it as “Begin Again” 2.0. After Jerk Gyllenhaal tore her down, she found that love doesn’t only “break and burn and end,” but it also shines golden.
If “Daylight” is your favorite album closer, you are probably in a happy relationship. This could either be your first relationship and you are just so happy to have finally found someone, or your boo is the first in a long time to make you feel loved and that they could be the 1.
“hoax”- folklore
If “hoax” is your favorite, you might need a therapist. “hoax” is by far the saddest song Taylor has ever written. It makes me believe that Taylor and Joe broke up briefly during her rollercoaster year of 2016, and she is still in pain as evidenced by:
“you knew it still hurts from underneath my scars/from when they pulled me apart/but what you did was just as dark.”
“hoax” is similar to Lover’s “Death By A Thousand Cuts” in the way that Taylor writes that if she and Joe ever broke up, she would have a hard time loving again as any love would be a “hoax” and hurt like a “thousand cuts.”
The soft outro and her voice on the edge of tears makes “hoax” the perfect closing song. With references to kingdoms, drums, blue and faith, “hoax” ties in her past three albums and her relationship with Joe. Not only does the song allow fans into Taylor’s life (especially now that she is more private), but it also closes out the album’s storyline of James, Betty, and James’s mistress over the summer.
Okay so maybe you need a therapist if “hoax” is your favorite album closer (or your favorite song on this no-skip album), but you might just see the deeper meaning behind everything and are usually right about people when you first meet them.
Now go forth and blast Ms. Swift in the middle of the woods, in the bathroom while getting ready for Saturday game days, or while decorating pumpkins with your friends.