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All 229 of Taylor Swift’s Songs, Ranked

From teen country tracks to synth-pop anthems and rare covers, a comprehensive assessment of her one-of-a-kind songbook through the Midnights era.

Taylor Swift

Ranking all 129 of Taylor Swift's songs (from "Tim McGraw" to the 'Reputation' era, Rob Sheffield writes, "the weirdest and most fascinating thing about Taylor Swift will always be her music."

Taylor Swift the celebrity is such a magnet for attention, she can distract from TAYLOR SWIFT THE artist. But Swift was a songwriter before she was a star, and she’ll be a songwriter long after she graduates from that racket. It’s in her music where she’s made her mark on history — as a performer, record-crafter, guitar hero and all-around pop mastermind, with songs that can leave you breathless or with a nasty scar. She was soaring on the level of the all-time greats before she was old enough to rent a car, with the crafty guile of a Carole King and the reckless heart of a Paul Westerberg — and she hasn’t exactly slowed down since then.

So with all due respect to Taylor the myth, the icon, the red-carpet tabloid staple, let’s celebrate the real Taylor — the songwriter she was born to be. Let’s break it down: all 229 tunes, counted from the bottom to the top. The hits, the flops, the deep cuts, the covers, from her raw 2006 debut as a teen country ingenue right up to Midnights

Every fan would compile a different list—that’s the beauty of it. She’s got at least 5 or 6 dozen songs that seem to belong in her Top Ten. But they’re not ranked by popularity, sales or supposed celebrity quotient — just the level of Taylor genius on display, from the perspective of a fan who generally does not give a rat’s nads who the songs are “really” about. All that matters is whether they’re about you and me. (I guarantee you are a more fascinating human than the Twilight guy, though I’m probably not.)

Since Taylor loves nothing more than causing chaos in our lives, she’s re-recording her albums, including the outtakes she left in the vault before. So far, she’s up to Fearless and Red. For the Taylor’s Version remakes, both versions count as the same song. It’s a tribute to her fierce creative energy — in the past couple years she’s released an avalanche of new music, with more on the way. God help us all.

Sister Tay may be the last true rock star on the planet, making brilliant moves (or catastrophic gaffes, because that’s what rock stars do). These are the songs that sum up her wit, her empathy, her flair for emotional excess, her girls-to-the-front bravado, her urge to ransack every corner of pop history, her determination to turn any chorus into a ridiculous spectacle. So let’s step back from the image and pay homage to her one-of-a-kind songbook — because the weirdest and most fascinating thing about Taylor Swift will always be her music.

From Rolling Stone US

139

“Glitch” (2022)

An understated electro-ballad produced with Sounwave, giving thanks for some benevolent fluke of the universe (did some bird flap its wings over in Asia?) that has resulted in a functional romantic situationship. “2,910 days of our love blackout”—that’s six years, or approximately how long Swift has been with Joe Alwyn. And she released it on the 12,000th day of her life? Hardcore. Lifted high by Midnights’ loveliest back-up vocals.Best line: “I was supposed to sweat you out, in search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else’s playground.”

138

“Haunted” (2010)

Enchanted to meet you, Goth Taylor. We’ll meet again.Best line: “Something keeps me holding on to nothing.”

137

“Today Was a Fairytale” (2011)

Don’t let the title scare you away – it’s a plainspoken and genuinely touching play-by-play recap of a worthwhile date. In fact, “Today Was a Fairytale” and “If This Was a Movie” should trade titles, since this one feels realer and would make a better movie. It could rank higher, except she hugely improved it when she rewrote it as “Begin Again.” (Docked a couple notches for coming from the soundtrack of Valentine’s Day, which is the most dog-vomit flick Jessica Alba has ever made, and I say that as someone who paid money to see The Love Guru.)Best line: “I wore a dress/You wore a dark gray T-shirt.”

136

“The Other Side of the Door” (2008)

Again with the slamming doors. Tay, Tay — even the great songwriters can get away with exactly one slamming door per career. And just to be on the safe side, she throws in pouring rain, photo albums, a little black dress (which rhymes with “mess” and “confess”), a guy throwing pebbles at her window… In other words, this would be the ultimate Swift song — except there are over a hundred better ones. But “The Other Side of the Door” gets a boost from the Taylor’s Version remake — of all the Fearless tunes, this one improves most drastically on the original. Her mature voice tackles the melody in ways her teen voice couldn’t, sprucing up a dud into a keeper. This is the biggest sonic upgrade in the Taylor’s Version project. So far.Best line: “Me and my stupid pride, sitting here alone/Going through the photographs, staring at the phone.”

135

“Can’t Stop Loving You” (2019)

When Taylor stopped into the BBC’s Live Lounge, she had a surprise up her sleeve: This Eighties pop aficionado busted out a Phil Collins cover, against all odds. “Can’t Stop Loving You” is a 1970s obscurity that Phil turned into a sleeper hit in 2002. As Taylor explained, “I remember driving around Nashville when I first had my driver’s license just screaming the words to this song.” It’s perfect for her — for one thing, it’s about crying in the back of a taxi. If Taylor wants to keep digging into the Phil catalog, maybe she’ll cover “I Don’t Care Anymore.”Best line: “Got your leaving smile.”

134

“Speak Now” (2010)

In real-life weddings, the preacher hardly ever invites the groom’s ex up to interrupt the ceremony. But if you’re a fan of Tay in stalker mode, this is priceless – crouching behind the curtains in the back of the church, waiting to pounce. “Horrified looks from everyone in the room” – you don’t say.Best line: “It seems I was uninvited by your lovely bride-to-be.”

133

“It’s Time to Go” (2021)

Taylor sings about a bad situation where she realizes when it’s time to give up and move on — not exactly her specialty. There’s different types of betrayal going on in this song, but the big moment is when she vows, “He’s got my past behind frozen glass, but I’ve got me.” (It’s like Hall & Oates sang: “The strong give up and move on, while the weak give up and stay.” Tay has so much in common with Hall & Oates.)Best line: “Fifteen years, fifteen million tears, begging till my knees bled.”

132

“Run,” With Ed Sheeran (2021)

This Ed Sheeran duet from the Red vault is about two outlaw lovers making an upstate escape in the car — it makes a clever contrast with the drive in “All Too Well (10-Minute Version),” with Taylor at the wheel. This song also has the album’s second-most-memorable cameo from a keychain. Not as dramatic as “Everything Has Changed,” but every bit as intimate. (And if I’m not mistaken, it’s about something good that starts in a getaway car.)Best line: “I could see this view a hundred times/Pale blue sky reflected in your eyes.”

131

<strong>“Lavender Haze</strong>” (2022)

A Nineties R&B trip through the “Lavender Haze,” with two lovers in their own private world, tuning out society and gender roles and social media, blocking out the noise, leaving it all at their door. It’s a kind of love story she’s kept singing about her whole career, from “Ours” to “Holy Ground” to “Call It What You Want.” Taylor rejects “the 1950s shit they want from me,” where “the only kind of girl they see is a one-night or a wife.” Intriguing footnote: At her NYC commencement speech in May, Dr. Swift revealed, “I had a phase where, for the entirety of 2012, I dressed like a 1950s housewife.”Best line: “Staring at the ceiling with you/You don’t ever say too much/And you don’t really read into my melancholia.”

130

“The 1” (2020)

The one Folklore track that sounds like a continuation of Lover, with its languid finger-snapping Motown slink. “Roaring Twenties, tossing pennies in the pool” — Taylor’s long-term relationship with The Great Gatsby just keeps on giving. She closes the book on her twenties, while kissing off this “not exactly roaring at the moment” decade.Best line: “In my defense I have none, for digging up the grave another time.”