Taylor Swift has been one of my favorite artists since her debut album and, of course, she’s been a staple in all of my playlists. And since she’s going to be dropping yet another album very soon, what better time to share my favorite songs off of each of her albums? You’ll notice there’s one from every album except Reputation; the reason for this is I only listened to it one time three years ago, so I don’t know any of the songs enough to include them. Without further ado, here we go!
- “The Outside,” Taylor Swift
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There are so many amazing songs on her debut album, but personally, this one is the most fun to sing. It tells less of a story than some of the other songs, but I feel like the chorus reflects something we’ve all felt at one time or another: “How could I ever try to be better? / Nobody ever lets me in.” All-around a great song, and one of my absolute favorites of hers.
- “The Way I Loved You,” Fearless
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Okay, who hasn’t sung to this one like your heart is being torn from your chest? I haven’t even been in a relationship before, but this is still one of those songs I go to when I’ve had a bad day so I can get out all of the negative energy. Try it if you haven’t before and you’ll see what I mean.
- “Long Live,” Speak Now
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I didn’t appreciate this song at first, but now that I’ve graduated high school myself, I am fully in love with it. Not only does it remind me of high school, but it also reminds me of the end of practically all of the books I’ve ever read. I find it amazing that the feeling from it can be applied to so many different books, video games and a million other media forms. but It’s so universal to want to keep the memories going even after the adventure is over.
- “State of Grace,” Red
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It might seem like I’m cheating a bit since this is the first song of this album, but I’m absolutely serious! “State of Grace” is amazing—both the original version and the acoustic version—and the sound is different from what you would expect by the title. One of my favorite songs to sing along to for sure!
- “Clean,” 1989
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I definitely think this song is underrated; I hardly ever hear it talked about, but the opening was what really sealed it for me. The lyrics are just so well-written, telling a story about getting someone out of your system. Out of all of them, my favorite lyrics are “The drought was the very worst / When the flowers that we’d grown together died of thirst.”
- “Paper Rings,” Lover
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The energy! The lyrics! The storytelling! What’s not to love about this song? I relate so much to the opening lines of the chorus “I like shiny things but I’d marry you with paper rings”—that I find it impossible to leave this off of most of my playlists. It’s one of those songs that has that replayability factor, where you feel like you could listen to it again and again for days at a time, with just the right amount of romance.
- “invisible string,” folklore
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I’ve always been a sucker for soulmate-like stories, and “invisible string” hits everything I love. Who hasn’t gone somewhere, wondering if they would meet someone? How awesome is the imagery and storytelling in this song? It’s incredible, and hits everything I love in a story, let alone a song. Not to mention, the vibes are calming; it’s a song I could hear again and again in an attempt to soothe my nerves, and gives me hope for meeting a soulmate of my own.
- “right where you left me,” evermore
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This one is one of evermore’s bonus tracks (the other being “it’s time to go”), yet it’s still my favorite on the album. There are so many gems in evermore and I could go on and on about how much I love all of them. The country-like sound and the feeling of just being stuck in one moment in time hits hard, especially if you’ve been in that sort of situation. Highly recommend this to everyone; it’s amazing!
I am looking forward to hearing Fearless (Taylor’s Version) when it drops, especially with the songs that didn’t make the cut the first time around. I hope these song recommendations keep you occupied until then as well!