We ranked every Taylor Swift song, including her latest, “Only the Young,” from MissAmericana
Photo: James White In this business, there are two subjects that will boost your page views like nothing else: Game of Thrones and Taylor Swift. One of them is a massive, multimillion-dollar enterprise filled with violence and betrayal, and the other aired on HBO.
145. “Look What You Made Me Do,” Reputation : “There’s a mistake that I see artists make when they’re on their fourth or fifth record, and they think innovation is more important than solid songwriting,” Swift told New York back in 2013. “The most terrible letdown as a listener for me is when I’m listening to a song and I see what they were trying to do.” To Swift’s credit, it took her six records to get to this point.
139. “Santa Baby,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection : Before Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” there was only one holiday song about falling in love with Santa, and for some reason, we spent decades making all our young female singers cover it. Swift’s version leans out of the awkwardness by leaning into the materialism; she puts most of her vocal emphasis on the nice presents she hopes Santa will bring her.
135. “Invisible,” Taylor Swift: Special Edition : A bonus track from the debut that plays like a proto–”You Belong With Me.” The “show you” / “know you” rhymes mark this as an early effort. 131. “White Christmas,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection : The most bluegrass of Swift’s Christmas tunes, this gentle rendition sees Swift’s vocals cede center stage to the mandolin and fiddle.
127. “Superman,” Speak Now: Deluxe Edition : A bonus track that’s not gonna make anyone forget Five for Fighting any time soon. 123. “The Lucky One,” Red : A plight-of-fame ballad from the back half of Red, with details that never rise above cliché and a melody that borrows from the one Swift cooked up for “Untouchable.”
119. “Last Christmas,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection : Swift does George Michael proud with this reverent cover of the Wham! classic. 115. “Beautiful Eyes,” Beautiful Eyes EP : The title track of Swift’s early-career EP finds the young songwriter getting a lot of mileage out of one single vowel sound: Besides the eyes of the title, we’ve got I, why, fly, cry, lullaby, even sometimes. A spirited vocal performance in the outro saves the song from feeling like homework.
111. “Starlight,” Red : Never forget that one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2012 contains a piece of Ethel Kennedy fanfiction. The real story of Bobby and Ethel has more rough spots than you’ll find in this resolutely rose-colored track, but that’s what happens when you spend a summer hanging in Hyannis Port.
107. “A Perfectly Good Heart,” Taylor Swift: Special Edition : A pleading breakup song with one killer turn of phrase and not much else. 103. “Dancing With Our Hands Tied,” Reputation : Reputation sags a bit in the middle, never more than on this forgettable ’80s-inspired track. 99. “Come Back … Be Here,” Red: Deluxe Edition : A vulnerable track about long-distance love, with simple sentiments overwhelmed by extravagant production.
95. “Nashville,” Speak Now World Tour – Live; Target edition DVD : Swift gives some shine to singer-songwriter David Mead with a cover of his 2004 ballad. She treats it with a delicate respect, like she’s handling her grandmother’s china. 91. “The Other Side of the Door,” Fearless: Platinum Edition : A bonus track saved from mediocrity by a gutsy outro that hints that Swift, like any good millennial, was a big fan of “Semi-Charmed Life.”
87. “Cold As You,” Taylor Swift : A dead-serious breakup song that proved the teenage Swift could produce barbs sharper than most adults: “You come away with a great little story / Of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you.” Jesus. 83. “Daylight,” Lover : When it comes to ending an album on a note of catharsis and elemental imagery, I prefer “Clean.” And when it comes to employing this specific melody and cadence in a refrain, I prefer Beyoncé’s “Halo.” But I do love a good spoken-word mission statement!
79. “I’m Only Me When I’m With You,” Taylor Swift: Special Edition : A rollicking pop-rock tune that recalls early Kelly Clarkson. As if to reassure nervous country fans, the fiddle goes absolutely nuts. 75. “How You Get the Girl,” 1989 : The breeziest and least complicated of Swift’s guy-standing-on-a-doorstep songs, which contributed to the feeling that 1989 was something of an emotional regression. You probably shouldn’t take it as an instruction manual unless you’re Harry Styles.
71. “New Romantics,” 1989: Deluxe Edition : Like “22,” an attempt at writing a big generational anthem. That it was left off the album proper suggests Swift didn’t think it quite got there, though it did its job of extending the singles cycle of 1989 a few more months. Despite what anyone says about “Welcome to New York,” the line here about waiting for “trains that just aren’t coming” indicates its writer has had at least one authentic New York experience.
67. “Stay Stay Stay,” Red : Swift broke out her southern accent one last time for this attempt at homespun folk, which is marred by production that’s so clean it’s practically antiseptic. In an alternate universe where a less-ambitious Swift took a 9-to-5 job writing ad jingles, this one soundtracked a TV spot for the new AT&T family plan.
63. “Afterglow,” Lover : If I didn’t know better, I’d say this one was a leftover from the Reputation sessions. Still, the airy vibe and heavy drums recall Swift’s 2017 output with the fear and paranoia swapped out for honesty and accountability. 59. “You Are in Love,” 1989: Deluxe Edition : The best of Swift’s songs idealizing someone else’s love story , this bonus track sketches Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham’s relationship in flashes of moments. The production and vocals are appropriately restrained — sometimes, simplicity works.
55. “I Almost Do,” Red : The kind of plaintive breakup song Swift could write in her sleep at this point in her career, with standout guitar work and impressive vulnerability in both lyrics and performance. 51. “The Moment I Knew,” Red: Deluxe Edition : An epic account of being stood up that makes a terrible birthday party seem like something approximating the Fall of Troy. If you’re the type of person who stays up at night remembering every inconsiderate thing you’ve ever done, the level of excruciating detail here is like a needle to the heart.
47. “Should’ve Said No,” Taylor Swift : Written in a rush of emotion near the end of recording for the debut, what this early single lacks in nuance it makes up for in backbone. I appreciate the way the end of each verse holds out hope for the cheating ex — “given ooonnne chaaance, it was a moment of weeaaknesssss” — before the chorus slams the door in the dumb lunk’s face.
43. “Holy Ground,” Red : This chugging rocker nails the feeling of reconnecting with an ex and romanticizing the times you shared, and it livens up the back half of Red a bit. Probably ranked too high, but this is my list and I’ll do what I want. 39. “I Know Places,” 1989 : No attempts of universality here — this trip-hop song about trying to find a place to make out when you’re a massive celebrity is only relatable to a couple dozen people. No matter. As a slice of gothic pop-star paranoia, it gives a much-needed bit of edge to 1989. Bumped up a couple of spots for the line about vultures, which I can only assume is a shout-out.
35. “Cruel Summer,” Lover : The Bananarama song comes from 1993, but this feels more 1989, with a big, sexy hook that ranks among Swift’s strongest. We’re back in the realm of late-night hookups with dreamy bad boys, and there’s a yearning here I really enjoy — not just the ache of falling for someone you weren’t supposed to but also the nostalgia of someone in a settled relationship reminiscing about those uncertain early days.
31. “I Knew You Were Trouble,” Red : The guiding principle on much of Red seems to have been to throw absolutely every idea a person could think of into a song and see what worked. Here, we go from Kelly Clarkson verses to a roller-coaster chorus to a dubstep breakdown that dates the song as surely as radiocarbon — then back again. It shouldn’t hang together, but the adventurous vocals and vivid lyrics keep the track from going off the rails.
27. “Lover,” Lover : She’s gone alt-country. The title track from Swift’s seventh album turned out to be a self-consciously muted ballad about slowing down and settling down into an adult relationship. With a vibe like that, who better to evoke than the patron saint of weary 30-somethings, Jenny Lewis? It’s trodding ground she’d already covered in “New Year’s Day,” but by this point in Swift’s career, I’d much rather hear her mine this vein than release an umpteenth singsongy single.
23. “Picture to Burn,” Taylor Swift : Swift’s breakup songs rarely get more acidic than they do in this country hit. By the time she’s twanging a line about dating all her ex’s friends, things have gotten downright rowdy. The original lyrics — “Go and tell your friends that I’m obsessive and crazy / That’s fine, I’ll tell mine you’re gay” — show how far standards for acceptable speech in nice young people have shifted in the past decade.
19. “Dear John,” Speak Now : “I’ve never named names,” Swift once told GQ. “The fact that I’ve never confirmed who those songs are about makes me feel like there is still one card I’m holding.” That may technically be true, but she came pretty dang close with this seven-minute epic.
15. “Style,” 1989 : The much-ballyhooed ’80s sound on 1989 often turned out to just mean Swift was using more synths than usual, but she nailed the vibe on this slinky single, which could have soundtracked a particularly romantic episode of Miami Vice. Despite the dress-up games in the chorus, this is one of the rare Swift love songs to feel truly adult: Both she and the guy have been down this road too many times to bullshit anymore.
11. “Wildest Dreams,” 1989 : Swift is in full control of her instrument here, with so much yearning in her voice that you’d swear every breath was about to be her last. For a singer often slammed as being sexless, those sighs in the chorus tell us everything we need to know. Bumped up a few spots for the invigorating double-time bridge, the best on 1989.
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