As a general rule, when a popular artist such as Taylor Swift, Drake, or even Noah Kahan releases an album, there always seems to be one or two songs that get the most attention and everyone suddenly knows it. It’s everywhere on Tik Tok or the radio, and eventually we get tired of it and move on to the next viral song. While these types of songs are no doubt amazing, I’ve always felt that the types of songs that get the most hype don’t always end up being the song I love the most on an album, and there’s always songs I wish got more recognition than they ended up getting.
Since 2006 when Taylor Swift’s first album debuted, I have been a consistent listener, and dare I say, have developed a slight obsession for her ability to write lyrics that speak to my soul. For me, this is the most important part of a song and I think many other people can say the same. Swift has this strange, almost magical ability to string everything I’ve felt into words when I seemed to have failed to. I would bet my life that most everyone has heard of her infamous songs over the years such as “Blank Space”, “Love Story”, “Teardrops on my Guitar”, “22”, “I Knew You Were Trouble” and so many more. But to me, these songs do not even scratch the surface of the depths to which her talent goes. With this being said, I want to share a song from each of her albums that I believe deserve more praise, and truly reflect the amazing lyricist she is.
Taylor Swift Debut
At the young age of 16, Taylor Swift perfectly captured the feeling of young love and how it feels to fall for someone you grew up with in “Mary’s Song (Oh my my my).” This song has been my favorite on debut ever since I fell back in love with this album all over again over a decade after it came out. Listening to the words, I can hear the innocence in her voice, yet her mature outlook on life shines through in how she wrote these lyrics and how well she is able to tell a story. “While Teardrops On My Guitar” and “Our Song” are beautifully written as well, I wish more people dove deeper into this nostalgic album and discovered the innocence, yet awareness Taylor had about love at such a young age.
Fearless
Being on her deluxe album, “Come In With The Rain” did not receive a ton of popularity when it was first released. Ultimately, this song reflects the feeling of not wanting to give up on someone, but knowing there’s nothing left of whatever there was. I found this song to be fascinating as Swift is not begging the person she wants back, but feels as though she has exhausted every avenue of salvaging what they used to be and what they had. “Come In With The Rain” reflects the feeling of letting fate take over, and if it comes in with the rain, then it was meant to be yours. This song can be applied to many different aspects of life, but the message and powerful lyrics is why I wish more people appreciated this song on the “Fearless” album.
Red
Confession: When I was in 8th grade, I listened to “The Last Time (ft. Gary Lightbody)” every single day on the bus. Oh, and it was the only song I listened to that year because it was all I had on my iPod touch. Looking back, it’s a bit concerning that at the young age of 13-years-old or 14-years-old I listened to such a devastating song. But, I give my younger self props for recognizing a great song when I heard one. This song is potentially the most overlooked song on this entire album and I have never understood why. It’s similarly soul crushing the same way “All Too Well” is, yet the fact that this song is a duet with Gary Lightbody makes the pain of a struggling relationship more real. Swift captures the feeling of forgiving someone so many times that you eventually find yourself saying that “this is The Last Time” way too many times. I wish more people loved this song like I do and found that the feelings she captures is something most of us have gone through and recognized.
1989
“1989” truly helped shape Taylor’s career significantly and many people know her because of the songs on this album. It marked the beginning of demonstrating that she can write more than just country music, and she wanted to mix up her sounds and genre. Between “Blank Space”, “Out Of The Wood”s, “Style”, “All You Had To Do Was Stay”, “Shake It Off”, “Wildest Dreams” and “Bad Blood” (just to name a few), there are certainly songs on this album that got overlooked because of their popularity. The song “Clean” happens to be one of them and as much as it pains me to say, I can understand why it is overlooked. Personally, I love this song and its unique sounds are what make it stand out to me, but it can be hard to love it if it’s not what you’re used to hearing. Using different sounds and drifting from her typical genre she used to write, “Clean” offers a rather dark, yet somehow accurate comparison between getting over an ex, and the process of cleaning yourself from a toxic type of love. Through lyrics, Taylor manages to tell the story of someone getting over someone they loved and tells it through the lens of addiction. I find this connection she makes between love and addiction to be insightful, and she truly captures the feeling of love acting as a drug. Despite its dark connection, this song really does have a beautiful message as well as sounds we had never heard from Swift until this song.
Reputation
“Reputation” shocked us all and I can confidently say it was one of Taylor’s best eras, in my opinion. The album encapsulates the feeling of proving people wrong and entering a state of devil-may-care and rebellion. While I love the overall vibe of this album, the song “New Years Day” will always hold a special place in my heart. To me, ending the album with this slow, yet happy song demonstrates how the people who care about you most will help you pick up the pieces after your chaotic and rebellious phase (or after a New Years Eve party), and I think that’s a beautiful example of a juxtaposition in this album.
Lover
If I’m keeping with the consistent theme of honesty, I have to confess that “Lover” is not my favorite album. This doesn’t mean I hate it, but finding an underrated song that I love proved to be a challenge. With this being said, “Death By A Thousand Cuts” is not appreciated enough compared to the other songs on this album. It tells the beautiful story of dying by something slowly killing you until it becomes unbearable. This song became one of my favorites on the album after I gave it a few more listens and I think more people could resonate with it if they did the same thing.
folklore
I watched “The Long Pond Studio Sessions” on Disney+ shortly after this record came out, and it shifted my perspective on a lot of the songs I didn’t originally love. When I heard her idea for writing “this is me trying”, it inspired me to give it another try. This song tells the story of someone recovering from addiction and the battles they overcome daily, yet no one pats them on the back when they do. The person in this song consistently puts in the work to be better and try harder, even when no one can see the difference. Seeing this song from this perspective gave it a whole new meaning to me, and I appreciated the overall message now that I understood it. I haven’t met a lot of people who give this song the recognition it deserves, but I hope eventually they will.
evermore
“Happiness” is one of the saddest sounding songs on this album, but oddly enough, it gives you the most hope if you listen closely. This song truly does emphasize the idea that in order to fall in love with a song, you need to not just listen to it, but digest the words in an attempt to grasp them. I’ve always loved the idea about realizing you will be okay after someone leaves your life because you were okay before you met them, but I especially love the way Swift writes it. She also understands that some people do not listen to music for a catchy beat, but to analyze the lyrics and how it speaks to them, which I think she kept in mind when writing “Happiness”.
Midnights
Ending with Swift’s newest album, it was hard to pick just one song that I believe to be underrated. The album itself has only been out for nearly three weeks, which I don’t think has been enough time for people to establish their favorites and forget about the other songs on this album. With this in mind, there is a song that has potential to be overlooked as time goes on (in my opinion) and that song is “Labyrinth”. This was one of the songs on this album where I had to use a dictionary to understand it as Swift uses an array of complex words that I would not consider to be a part of my everyday vocabulary. She writes about the complex maze we call our minds and how they can often stop us from moving on from someone. Her vocals and overall melody of this song are amazing and I hope more people soon realize how amazingly accurate and well written “Labyrinth” is.