nick64
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Post by nick64 on Nov 27, 2018 18:16:40 GMT -5
I'll just start off with if you're not interested or don't want to be tagged, just let me know. Same if you want to be added. franklin Taylor. austin 14887fan Hefty Hanna Bwol Choco Unhinged deepston KeepDeanWeird Glove Slap Duca  Dylan :) Exclusive Troublemaker ry4n ificanthaveyou .indulgecountry @ioshirai Zeebz born Keelzit @mirza nickd Okay pnobelysk @steveic Au$tin Hurricane Lee tryexp Wave. Eloqueen⢠Janhova's Witness ...Ready for It? Nick Ranks and Reviews the Work of a Lyrical Legend
Over the past 12 years, Taylor Swift has established herself as arguably the best and, at the very least, most popular lyrical storyteller of our generation. Known primarily for her lyrics, she has written or co-written every single song on her 6 albums, plus all of her stand alone and soundtrack singles, and even wrote 4 songs for other artists. Over the course of her career, she has written and commercially released, in some form, 117 songs. My personal mission is to rank all of these (including the 4 by other artists). When doing so, I will be focusing specifically on lyrics and melody, taking into account specific lines, imagery, and overall story. My personal love for the song will not be taken into account, and other aspects such as vocals and production will only be potentially mentioned in the write ups, with no bearing on placement unless something about them specifically enhances the lyrics. Regardless of personal opinions of her, it's almost universally accepted that the girl can write really well, fleshing her songs out with lots of detailed imagery and personal connections. So I'm sure this will not be an easy task, but I'm really looking forward to it. If you're interested, feel free to send me which songs you think are her best work with some comments, and I'll attach them to my posts. Should be starting in a week or so! Are you ready for it?
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born
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Post by born on Nov 27, 2018 18:20:56 GMT -5
Oh my God I actually just started ranking all of the TS songs this week. Iâm so looking forward to this! Best notification I got all day.
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Post by maine on Nov 27, 2018 18:35:30 GMT -5
Untag please!
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NeRD
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Post by NeRD on Nov 27, 2018 20:28:38 GMT -5
Lawd how long did this take you to do?
You can untag me.
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Okay
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Post by Okay on Nov 27, 2018 21:41:45 GMT -5
I'm interested!
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nick64
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Post by nick64 on Nov 27, 2018 21:45:17 GMT -5
Lawd how long did this take you to do? You can untag me. Lol just a couple of days for the rankings. Just listening to the songs carefully with lyrics in front of me and some Genius referencing. The review parts will be done progressively. And okay no problem!
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Keelzit
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Post by Keelzit on Nov 28, 2018 8:11:23 GMT -5
I'd do it if it was for her post-Speak Now albums only but I don't have time to rank almost 100 songs. I'll still check out the results though.
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nick64
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Post by nick64 on Nov 28, 2018 11:38:07 GMT -5
I'd do it if it was for her post-Speak Now albums only but I don't have time to rank almost 100 songs. I'll still check out the results though. Itâs not a rankdown. Just my own list with reviews.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2018 14:29:44 GMT -5
I'd like to be tagged in this
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nick64
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Post by nick64 on Dec 16, 2018 1:44:31 GMT -5
Finally ready to begin this. I made two of the songs âbonusesâ, because their situations are a little unique, making them hard to compare to the rest of her songwriting career. This DOES NOT mean that I consider them her worst written songs. BONUS: Untouchable
Co-writers: Cary Barlowe, Nathan Barlowe, Tommy Lee James Album: Fearless (Platinum Edition), Track 2 Hidden Message: We always want what we canât reach Likely Subject: unknown Best Line: âItâs half full and I wonât wait here all dayâSo I decided to make this one a bonus because itâs a bit of a tricky situation. The song is technically a cover (the original is a rock song by a rather obscure band called Luna Halo), her only one to make it to an official studio album. However, she tweaked some lines and changed the arrangement enough to garner herself a writing credit, so technically it qualifies. Regardless, the song is pretty well written, using sky and night time imagery to explain her feelings for a guy. But the changes she made werenât enough to fairly keep this as a normal entry. BONUS: Both of Us (with B.o.B)
Co-writers: Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr., Jamieson Jones, Ammar Malik, Lukasz Gottwald, Henry Walter Album: Strange Clouds (B.o.B), Track 4 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: the world as a whole Best Line: the chorus by defaultI made this hip-pop song a bonus because itâs hard to consider it a Taylor Swift song. Her only contribution is the two-line chorus: âI wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both of us / Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of usâ. Itâs not a bad couplet by any means, but itâs not a full song, and itâs not special enough to warrant a high placement. B.o.Bâs raps are solid and have a great message about overcoming societyâs obstacles together. Taylor is a good fit for the chorus, but her contribution isnât enough to compare it to her solo work. Okay, on to the real list now. With 115 songs left, I will do 5 today, then 10 for each future update. 115. Bad Blood
Single Remix f/Kendrick Lamar:
Co-writers: Max Martin, Shellback Album: 1989, Track 8 Hidden Message: She made friends and enemies Likely Subject: Katy Perry Best Line: âBand-Aids donât fix bullet holesâTaylor Swift and Katy Perry had some drama a few years back due to a situation in which Katy supposedly tried to sabotage Taylorâs tour by stealing her backup dancers. This beef resulted in what I consider the first song on any Taylor Swift album to be truly written badly. âBad Bloodâ is simply not a good composition. Itâs whiny and overdramatic. With maybe one or two exceptions, the lines are not clever and touch on almost every backstab cliche in the books. Katy would eventually respond with âSwish Swishâ, another song that really wasnât great, but was at least somewhat inspired. The single remix of âBad Bloodâ replaced Taylorâs verses with Kendrick Lamar raps, a wise decision. But in the end, the songâs a mess that doesnât hold up to the rest of her work. 114. End Game (f/Ed Sheeran & Future)
Co-writers: Max Martin, Shellback, Ed Sheeran, Nayvadius Wilburn Album: Reputation, Track 2 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: Joe Alwyn Best Line: âAnd I bury hatches but I keep maps of where I put âemââEnd Gameâ is the only song on any of Taylorâs albums to feature a guest rapper. This is a move typically reserved for songs that are intended to be singles, and itâs quite obvious that that was the intention here. This is pure hitmaker fluff. Thematically, she tackles both of the albumâs main themes (her reputation and a mature love), but says nothing that isnât said better on one of the other tracks. The chorus is simply âI wanna be your end game / first string / A-Teamâ, and the post-chorus is mostly an annoying chant about big reputations. Taylor raps on her verse, but with the exception of my best line choice, completely phones it in with unclever cliches. After just proving she can do it well one track prior, thatâs a big shame. The only real saving grace here is the pre-chorus, which manages to show real vulnerability and does a much better job of painting her desire. Future and Edâs raps are both passable. 113. Look What You Made Me Do
Co-writers: Jack Antonoff, Richard Fairbrass, Fred Fairbrass, Rob Manzoli
Album: Reputation, Track 6 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, the media Best Line: âYou asked me for a place to sleep, locked me out, and threw a feastâI donât really consider âLook What You Made Me Doâ a song. Itâs a business tactic. With the media starting to turn against her, she needed something that would make noise, and thatâs what this song is. Itâs a carefully crafted bait-and-switch meant to draw attention, shock, and create interest. She blasts all of her haters, specifically the famous ones, and claims that sheâs become someone new because of them. She claims that the old Taylor is dead, but that was just a bluff to create shock-value. The song doesnât fit in with the rest of the album at all, and pulls you out of the album-wide story sheâs telling. Most of the lines fall short, but the big problem here is how soulless it feels. Even when Taylor releases a bad song, you can tell she put passion into it. The only thing I feel from this one is corporate greed. It just doesn't feel genuine. The only reason it isnât last is because some of the lines are clever enough to have meaning to dissect, making them at least more interesting than the last two choices. 112. Best Days of Your Life Given to Kellie Pickler
Co-writers: Kellie Pickler Album: Kellie Pickler (Kellie Pickler), Track 7 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: unknown Best Line: âSo Iâve got my pride and sheâs got youâTaylor has rarely written for other artists, only having done it four times in twelve years. The first of these, Kellie Picklerâs biggest hit, didnât get things off to a good start. âBest Days of Your Lifeâ is one of those supposedly empowering âscrew youâ breakup anthems that have the potential to be a lot of fun. That potential is totally wasted here, with one of the blandest things Taylor has put to paper. The lines arenât clever or funny. They express no personality or charisma, and don't really make a statement. And I canât remember a single line, even though I switched from the Genius tab just ten seconds ago. Iâm glad Taylor didnât record this one herself, because itâs drier than the Sahara (a cliche that actually isnât used here!). 111. Change
Co-writers: none Album: Fearless, Track 13 Hidden Message: You made things change for me Likely Subject: Big Machine Best Line: âAnd itâs a sad picture, the final blow hits youââChangeâ is a song Taylor wrote and left unfinished upon being the first signee of new independent label Big Machine. It thanks them for their help and praises all theyâve accomplished together. She finished it after accepting her first award and seeing manager Scott Borchetta cry. It later became a promotional single for the 2008 Olympics, as well as her first Top 10 hit. Sweet story aside, the song itself is pretty basic. She paints her and her team as boxers to portray the obstacles theyâve overcome, but fails to create an actual picture with unclear imagery and inspirational cliches. None of the lyrics are memorable. Thereâs nothing particularly special about it, except the repetitive âHallelujahâ line in the chorus, which feels awkward and out of place. And slightly off topic, but the vocals here are a career worst, and sheâs drowned out by the production, meaning you have to listen closely to understand what sheâs saying, thus drawing more attention to the bad vocals. Itâs the song of hers I struggle most to listen to. Album Tallies: Taylor Swift - 14/14 remaining (100%) Fearless - 16/18 remaining (88.9%) Speak Now - 17/17 remaining (100%) Red - 19/19 remaining (100%) 1989 - 15/16 remaining (93.8%) Reputation - 13/15 remaining (86.7%) Others - 16/18 remaining (88.9%) Next update will feature significantly less singles. And just for the record, I donât dislike âBad Bloodâ, âEnd Gameâ, and âLook What You Made Me Doâ. I find them all enjoyable and they even all finished in Year Top 100s of mine. But I canât really call them good⌠Let me know if you want to be added to or removed from this list franklin Taylor. austin 14887fan Hefty Hanna Bwol Choco Unhinged deepston KeepDeanWeird Glove Slap Duca Dylan :) Exclusive Troublemaker ry4n ificanthaveyou .indulgecountry @ioshirai Zeebz born Keelzit @mirza nickd Okay pnobelysk @steveic Au$tin Hurricane Lee tryexp Wave. Eloqueen⢠Janhova's Witness
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Hefty Hanna
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Post by Hefty Hanna on Dec 16, 2018 1:52:01 GMT -5
omg I love âUntouchableâ but didnât know she pulled a BeyoncĂŠ on that! (Adore B but still a little bitter about Jon McLaughlinâs âSmack Into Youâ)
I agree with these songs being so low so far, although I do think âBad Bloodâ is a well-constructed pop song despite the lyrics.
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nick64
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Post by nick64 on Dec 16, 2018 1:56:08 GMT -5
omg I love âUntouchableâ but didnât know she pulled a BeyoncĂŠ on that! (Adore B but still a little bitter about Jon McLaughlinâs âSmack Into Youâ) I agree with these songs being so low so far, although I do think âBad Bloodâ is a well-constructed pop song despite the lyrics. Yeah if I was focusing on more than lyrics, I would've moved it up quite a bit. And "Change" would've probably been last. "Untouchable" is so beautiful, I was really disappointed when I read it was just a cover.
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Dec 16, 2018 2:16:11 GMT -5
I guess "Best Days of Your Life" doesn't have the strongest lyrics but I never really pay much attention to them because Kellie Pickler's voice and charisma sells everything so well and the production and melody are also so catchy and strong. It probably wouldn't have been as good if Taylor kept it for herself because I can't imagine her singing it with half the personality. Still, not one of my top favorites from Kellie Pickler's discography either though, honestly. Glad she got a nice hit with it though and the music video was a hoot.
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Mylo13 đ
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Post by Mylo13 đ on Dec 16, 2018 2:44:54 GMT -5
:O TAG ME PLEASE I'm into this haha
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Au$tin
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Post by Au$tin on Dec 16, 2018 2:46:09 GMT -5
I keep having to remind myself that you're solely ranking the lyrics here, because as I kept scrolling I was like, "ugh, but this song is a bop," but then I read your descriptions and I'm like, "oh, yeah, they're fun, but I guess they're not wonderfully written by any means."
So, hot take, I love "Bad Blood" and think it's one of the highlights of 1989, but I do agree it's shrouded in cliches and basic white girl pettiness. I think its saving grace is the melody and production. (Which, side note, melody seems to not be considered in your rankings. Which, I get it, you're going solely for lyrics, but melody is also part of songwriting and I'm assuming a big part of what Taylor does, but I understand tackling both is a HUGE task.) Would I rank it dead last? Not sure, probably not, but I get it.
The others I'm pretty much in agreement with. I'd put LWYMMD a bit higher, but it's not a loss to see it out already. Change is definitely a last place contender for me, so A+ pick there.
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Okay
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Post by Okay on Dec 16, 2018 9:52:48 GMT -5
I agree with all these songs except for End Game. The lyrics are pretty sweet and I only hate it because it's boring.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2018 10:34:48 GMT -5
I mean I love End Game & LWYMMD but I completely understand why its low
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born
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Post by born on Dec 16, 2018 11:01:08 GMT -5
I love 4/5 these (the Taylor leads obviously) but I can see why most are in the bottom 5. However, âEnd Gameâ has a lot of word play and clever songwriting in all of the verses so I gotta say, it deserved better.
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Troublemaker
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Post by Troublemaker on Dec 16, 2018 12:09:32 GMT -5
I may never understand the hate for LWYMMD
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Post by Leo â on Dec 16, 2018 12:19:37 GMT -5
Glad Trash Blood is dead last. That song isn't good in any sense.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2018 15:06:59 GMT -5
I thought LWYMMD was cleverly and just really well written, but I can see your argument.
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nick64
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Post by nick64 on Dec 16, 2018 15:43:37 GMT -5
Love seeing passion from both ends. I promise I will continue to make decisions that will piss some of you off I guess "Best Days of Your Life" doesn't have the strongest lyrics but I never really pay much attention to them because Kellie Pickler's voice and charisma sells everything so well and the production and melody are also so catchy and strong. It probably wouldn't have been as good if Taylor kept it for herself because I can't imagine her singing it with half the personality. Still, not one of my top favorites from Kellie Pickler's discography either though, honestly. Glad she got a nice hit with it though and the music video was a hoot. Completely agree that Kellie gives it her all and elevates it to listenable. I just wish the foundation for it was stronger, because with that performance, this could've been an all time great sendoff anthem. I keep having to remind myself that you're solely ranking the lyrics here, because as I kept scrolling I was like, "ugh, but this song is a bop," but then I read your descriptions and I'm like, "oh, yeah, they're fun, but I guess they're not wonderfully written by any means." So, hot take, I love "Bad Blood" and think it's one of the highlights of 1989, but I do agree it's shrouded in cliches and basic white girl pettiness. I think its saving grace is the melody and production. (Which, side note, melody seems to not be considered in your rankings. Which, I get it, you're going solely for lyrics, but melody is also part of songwriting and I'm assuming a big part of what Taylor does, but I understand tackling both is a HUGE task.) Would I rank it dead last? Not sure, probably not, but I get it. The others I'm pretty much in agreement with. I'd put LWYMMD a bit higher, but it's not a loss to see it out already. Change is definitely a last place contender for me, so A+ pick there. Melody definitely plays a huge role in songwriting, but like you said, it's a big task, and I'm not sure I'd be able to find the right balance between lyric and melody when determining rankings. If melody became a bigger factor here, this would probably end up just becoming "My Favorite Taylor Swift Songs" list, which wouldn't be a bad thing necessarily, but I wanted to try something with a little more criticism than I'm used to (but yes, I know it's still just my opinion in the end). That said, there are a few songs in her discography that use little melodic tricks, such as a change up at a specific lyric or a shift in tone or tempo with shifting feelings. Things like this, which work with the lyrics beyond just creating a catchy pop melody, were considered and will be mentioned. As I move forward though, I will try my best to give melody some justice within the reviews, especially once the songs start getting really good.
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samođŚ
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Post by samođŚ on Dec 16, 2018 15:48:17 GMT -5
Agree with this so far. LWYMMD is the only song she's ever made that I hate, but I'm not a big fan of anything revealed so far.
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nickd
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Post by nickd on Dec 17, 2018 0:10:42 GMT -5
End Game's chorus lyrics are generic but "I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me" and "I bury hatchets but keep maps of where I put em" are pretty iconic.
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nick64
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Post by nick64 on Dec 30, 2018 0:06:50 GMT -5
110. Beautiful Eyes
Co-writers: n/a Album: Beautiful Eyes (EP), Track 1 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: unknown Best Line: âLet me love you, kiss you, oh baby, let me miss youâââBeautiful Eyesâ is one of the first songs Taylor wrote that received a commercial released, having originally appeared on a demo CD before being released as a part of a 2008 EP of the same name, meant to tide fans over before Fearless. She was only 14 and it shows. This is one of the most barebone songs in her discography, essentially just stating in different ways that she wants to look into some boyâs eyes. Picking a best line was hard because there really isnât anything that stands out. Almost the whole song leans on the same rhymed syllable, which gets off to a brutal start when she rhymes âeyesâ and âeyesâ. âBeautiful Eyesâ is the work of an adolescent practicing her craft. It canât be faulted for that, but it also canât hold up against her other work. 109. Welcome to New York
Co-writers: Ryan Tedder, Noel Zancanella Album: 1989, Track 1 Hidden Message: We begin our story in New York Likely Subject: New York City Best Line: âKaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coatsâ1989 is notable for being Taylorâs first official pop album without any country. Itâs a new chapter in her career, and as the first track on the album, âWelcome to New Yorkâ attempts to introduce that by describing a new chapter in her life: her move to New York. It sonically works as an album intro, but as an ode to New York, itâs quite a letdown. Aside from a quick line showing her support for the LGBT community (a line which comes across tacky in how on-the-nose it is), there isnât much in the way of ambition here, and it fails to capture the heart of the city in the way other NYC anthems have. The main issue, however, is that she settles for broad generalizations about the city, instead of talking about her experience, and what NYC means to her specifically. That's where Taylor has always shined most. Itâs a shame that the first track of Taylorâs new sound had to be such a meh start, but at least it gets much better from here. 108. Youâll Always Find Your Way Back Home Given to Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana
Co-writers: Martin Johnson Album: Hannah Montana: The Movie, Track 1 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: Herself, Hannah Montana Best Line: âBack home, where the real you is the superstarâTaylor contributed two songs to the soundtrack of the Hannah Montana movie. One of them, âCrazierâ, she sang herself, while the other, âYouâll Always Find Your Way Back Homeâ, was given to the title character. Itâs clear why she picked the former to attach her own name too. This does not feel like a song written by Taylor Swift and the guy from Boys Like Girls. It starts out with some promise by describing a rainy Monday morning, but quickly slides into your everyday Disney treacle. Itâs a song about staying true to your roots for a movie meant for nine-year-old girls, so thereâs nothing wrong with being cheesy. But intentionally or not, it still doesnât meet her standards. 107. Iâm Only Me When Iâm With You
Co-writers: Robert Ellis Orrall, Angelo Petraglia Album: Taylor Swift (Deluxe Edition), Track 12 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: Abigail Anderson - her best friend Best Line: âDonât wanna fly if youâre still on the groundââIâm Only Me When Iâm With Youâ suffers from the same early years problems that hold back âBeautiful Eyesâ. While this one is a bit of a step up from that, thanks to some more focus and better imagery, her age still shows. The song is supposedly an ode to her best friend, although certain lines about a boy and a girl in the second verse make that questionable. Itâs cute, but itâs very cliche-ridden, and the song suffers from unintentional repetition (the words âcrazyâ, âtrueâ, and âtryingâ all appear twice in the same two unrelated lines). The songwriting also affects the melody here. Some of the lines are so long and wordy that her attempts to make them fit into the chorus come off clunky and forced, which hurts the overall listening experience. She still has a long way to go at this point in her career. 106. Superman
Co-writers: none Album: Speak Now (Deluxe Edition), Track 17 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: John Mayer Best Line: âSomethinâ in his deep brown eyes has me sayinâ / Heâs not all bad like his reputationâOver the course of her career, Taylor has written many songs that use a work of fiction or a real-life historical figure as a metaphor for her own relationships. Many of these are very good, which will be revealed later, but âSupermanâ has to be her weakest attempt at it...by far. I wasnât surprised to hear that her inspiration for the song was just thinking that a guy leaving a room was like watching Superman fly away. The song comes across as if sheâs just trying to make this Superman/Lois Lane metaphor work. The lyrics are entirely forgettable, not particularly clever, and sometimes cringeworthy (âtall, dark, and Supermanâ...how corny can you get, Tay?). The song lacks focus too, trying to touch on his appearance, her regrets, his responsibilities, her dedication, her fears, and itâs just messy. At the end, she flips the song on its head by making it about a breakup. This would save the songâs placement if she pulled it off, but interpreting the previous lyrics from a breakup perspective requires a lot of reaching. Sorry, Taylor. Stick to the fairytales. 105. A Perfectly Good Heart
Co-writers: Brett James, Troy Verges Album: Taylor Swift (Deluxe Edition), Track 14 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: unknown Best Line: âWhy would you wanna make the very first scar?ââA Perfectly Good Heartâ is the result of a teenage girl trying to come to terms with her very first heartbreak. The question-filled chorus admittedly succeeds at making you feel her youth and pain. When youâre that young, a heartbreak is painful and confusing, and you may genuinely find yourself asking these questions. Aside from that sincerity, however, there isnât much to love here. Thereâs one verse and a simple chorus, both of which includes some cliches and beginner-level rhyme schemes. Thereâs also a two line bridge, which gives us the line âItâs not unbroken anymoreâ. Itâs a clunky phrase, but seems to be practice for the wordplay sheâd include in the future. Overall, this is just another example of early Swift trying to figure it all out. 104. Christmas Must Be Something More
Co-writers: none Album: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (EP), Track 5 Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: Jesus Christ Best Line: âWhat if happiness came in a cardboard box?ââChristmas Must Be Something Moreâ is pretty easily the preachiest song Taylor has ever written. One of two original songs for her Christmas EP, this track finds Taylor calling out materialism and âhundred-mile-an-hour livesâ, feeling that the celebration of the birth of Christ has been lost to presents and decorations. Now whether or not you find her statement accurate is entirely subjective, but my personal issue with the song is that it takes such a cheap approach to the topic. She calls out carols, wreaths, presents, wishes, and even snow, but rather than try to find the importance and true meaning to these traditions, her answer is simply âjust celebrate Jesusâ. Christmas can have meaning without having to sacrifice what has made it such an exciting time of year for even those who arenât religious. You need nuance for a topic like this, and the lack of it here causes her to come across as judgmental and insincere, despite a handful of well-written lines. 103. The Other Side of the Door
Co-writers: none Album: Fearless (Platinum Edition), Track 6 Hidden Message: Iâll never tell what I was really thinking when I slammed the door Likely Subject: unknown Best Line: âAnd I broke down crying, was she worth this mess?ââThe Other Side of the Doorâ is one of the five bonus tracks released for the Platinum Edition of Fearless, and I can kinda see why it didnât make the cut for the standard. It may not be her worst, but this may just be her most forgettable song. There are a lot of cliches that have become so common in Taylorâs songs that theyâve become a part of her brand. The chorus of this one is a checklist of almost all of them (throwing pebbles at windows, screaming about love, standing in the rain, doors), and the verses pick up the scraps. This is a very basic tale about the aftermath of a bad fight, in which you donât really mean what you say and want the other person to turn around. The feelings are here, and there are some solid lines, but aside from an outro that instantly outshines everything before it, this is pretty dry (despite the rain). 102. This Is What You Came For Given to Calvin Harris f/Rihanna
Co-writers: Calvin Harris Album: n/a Hidden Message: n/a Likely Subject: Calvin Harris Best Line: âAnd everybodyâs watching her, but sheâs looking at youâAlright, Iâll try my best to justify this one. This standalone single meant to light up the charts again with a Calvin-Rihanna reunion (which it succeeded at, I might add) is possibly more famous for Nils Sjoberg. Wanting to avoid their relationship overshadowing the song itself, Calvin and Taylor decided to give the latter credit under a pseudonym. This almost immediately backfired, but thatâs beside the point. The song reflects on the pair, describing a girl in the spotlight who has a very special kind of relationship with her guy. The sole verse is intriguing, and you want to hear more, but âThis Is What You Came Forâ suffers from the same problem of many Calvin songs: the lyrics are incomplete. The chorus and production take center stage, and they donât give room to flesh out the story theyâre telling. Itâs good, but itâs not enough. Weâre nearly at the point in this list where the lyrical pros are starting to outweigh the cons within songs, so I really canât bring myself to put this any higher. 101. Stay Beautiful
Co-writers: Liz Rose Album: Taylor Swift, Track 8 Hidden Message: Shake Nâ Bake Likely Subject: Corey Robinson - her 4th grade crush Best Line: âItâs hard to make a conversation when heâs taking my breath awayâTaylor was only 16 when her debut album was released, so the songs of that album come from the perspective of someone who was, at most, in 10th grade. Think about how you felt about your crushes back then. Thatâs essentially what âStay Beautifulâ is. In one of her few songs to feature name drops, Taylor sings her praises of âCoreyâ, some amazing guy who has no idea that every girl, especially Taylor, loves him. Itâs a sweet song with some cute lyrics, and she even shows enough wisdom to know that they probably wonât be each otherâs future. So why so low? While some of it may be smart and sweet, the rest is cliched and not very memorable. The topics on her debut are surprisingly diverse, but âStay Beautifulâ basically copies the themes of âTeardrops on My Guitarâ, which does them better. You also wonât remember it as the âhappyâ song on the album, because a closer like âOur Songâ will stick much better. In the end, itâs album filler. Album Tallies: Taylor Swift - 11/14 remaining (78.6%) Fearless - 15/18 remaining (83.3%) Speak Now - 16/17 remaining (94.1%) Red - 19/19 remaining (100%) 1989 - 14/16 remaining (87.5%) Reputation - 13/15 remaining (86.7%) Others - 12/18 remaining (66.7%) So as we enter the Top 100, Red is the only album with all of its songs remaining. And with that being her heftiest album at 19 songs, I'd say that's a pretty impressive accomplishment. Let me know if you want to be added to or removed from this list franklin Taylor. austin 14887fan Hefty Hanna Bwol Choco Unhinged deepston KeepDeanWeird Glove Slap Duca Dylan :) Exclusive Troublemaker ry4n ificanthaveyou .indulgecountry @ioshirai Zeebz born Keelzit @mirza Mylo13 đ nickd Okay pnobelysk @steveic Au$tin Hurricane Lee tryexp Wave. Eloqueen⢠Janhova's Witness
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Mylo13 đ
Diamond Member
@grapefanatic
Wishing everyone an amazing day and life đ
Joined: July 2017
Posts: 10,091
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Post by Mylo13 đ on Dec 30, 2018 0:19:17 GMT -5
Ayyy nice work! Agree with a few of these picks, but I'm especially happy to see her best album still all in haha.
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Okay
New Member
Joined: November 2018
Posts: 421
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Post by Okay on Dec 30, 2018 0:25:33 GMT -5
Holy crap, I never noticed the "small town boy and girl" line in I'm Only Me When I'm With You.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 2:38:37 GMT -5
Yeah the writing on the Red album is great stuff
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Choco
Diamond Member
lavender haze
Joined: February 2009
Posts: 27,011
My Charts
Pronouns: he/him
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Post by Choco on Dec 30, 2018 9:46:53 GMT -5
I love, love, love, the Red album, but there's a couple clunkers there that can leave now too.
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insen_13
Platinum Member
Gave you too much but it wasn't enough
Joined: June 2018
Posts: 1,452
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Post by insen_13 on Dec 30, 2018 10:23:38 GMT -5
I wanna be tagged... đđđ I love this â¤â¤â¤
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