I’ll admit it — I am the ultimate annoying Taylor Swift fan. My friends refuse to give me the aux in the car because they know it will result in nonstop playing of the seven albums from Queen Swift. There are always songs that do not get the love they deserve, even from the annoying stans like myself. Check out these songs from each of Taylor’s albums to hear some jammers that are all too underrated.
- Taylor Swift – “Cold as You”
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“Every smile you fake is so condescending, counting all the scars you’ve made.”
Realizing someone is not the person you thought they were comes with a string of emotions. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but Taylor perfectly encompasses this realization in this masterpiece from her debut album. Her self-titled album is filled with some great songs that are often overlooked due to the growth we have seen in her music, but this sad song takes the cake for her first era’s most underrated song.
- Fearless – “Breathe”
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“Never a clean break, no one here to save me.”
Fearless was the era when I fell in love with Taylor and her music. Of all the songs on this album, the most overlooked has to be “Breathe.” She sang this song at the Miami stop on the Reputation tour and no one in the arena around me knew the lyrics. This song, featuring Colbie Caillat, focuses on the heartbreak where no one is really at fault. It’s one of Taylor’s most beautiful love-gone-wrong songs and it’s paid dust.
- Speak Now – “Innocent”
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“Wasn’t it beautiful runnin’ wild ‘til you fell asleep? Before the monsters caught up to you?”
Speak Now is such an underrated album in general. In my opinion, every single song on this album needs more credit. However, of all of them, “Innocent” takes the cake for the most underrated. Taylor has said that this song is to (rather than about) Kanye West. Taylor wrote this song after he stirred controversy at the 2009 MTV VMA’s, grabbing the microphone from Taylor when she was accepting her award for Best Female Video. This song reflects her feelings toward Kanye and the incident itself while directing the song at him.
- Red – “Girl at Home”
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“Want to see you pick up your phone and tell her you’re coming home.”
Taylor really went hard with this one. Although this song is constantly ridiculed, I genuinely believe it is one of her most underrated bops. The whole song focuses on a man trying to make advances, yet Taylor knows that it’s wrong to be with him when he’s already taken (she was once in the girlfriend’s shoes, as evidenced in the lyrics “if I hadn’t once been just like her”). The Red album is known for its masterpieces, yet this song is never included. More love for Taylor’s hit about respecting other women and not going after taken men!
- 1989 – “You Are In Love”
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“You keep his shirt and he keeps his word.”
This may be a controversial opinion, but “You Are In Love” is Taylor’s most romantic song. This song is all about realizing you and your partner have fallen in love with each other. There are all these subtle clues Taylor mentions throughout the song when suddenly she realizes it’s “true love.” This song isn’t underrated in the traditional sense of no one talks about it, but I think it needs more love than it’s getting, especially after the Lover album debuted. This song is cute, romantic and just makes for a good listen.
- Reputation – “Dancing With Our Hands Tied”
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“I’m a mess, but I’m the mess that you wanted.”
The Reputation era was one all about Taylor just wanting to live her life. This song is no exception, focusing on the possibility of a relationship doomed to fail because of all the pressure on it. It’s a tragically beautiful song. Taylor just wants to live her life and be happy, but because everyone is always judging her, it’s hard to do. Reputation was an incredible era with so many great songs, but this one gets my vote for most underrated due to the meaning behind it that no one talks about.
- Lover – “Death by a Thousand Cuts”
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“Gave you so much, but it wasn’t enough.”
I may be biased because this is one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs to date, but “Death by a Thousand Cuts” deserves so much more love. This song has an upbeat tune, accompanied by some heavy lyrics. The song talks about having a really hard time getting over an ex because they encompassed so many little parts of your life (“my time, my wine, my spirit, my trust”). If any of you have gone through a breakup with someone you thought was your forever, this song will really speak to you. With Lover only being a couple of months old, hopefully there is time for everyone to see the beauty that is this song.
If you love Taylor as much as I do — or even just like her a bit — these songs deserve all the love in the world. Taylor’s entire discography is a bop, but these songs hold a special place in my heart (and playlist).