Happy New Year!
We made it and now we can officially ring in 2022 in one of my favorite ways—by blasting Taylor Swift until my mom screams at me to turn the music down to which I reply yes (but only because she pays more than half the bills and rent is too expensive for me to move out).
Let it be known that this was one of the hardest lists I've ever had to make, but alas, someone's gotta do it. As a Swiftie since the beginning, one of the most dreaded questions you can ask me is: what's your favorite T.S. song? How am I supposed to answer that? I can't—but I can make a list of my top 22 (mixed in with everyone's favorite hits).
And so, here it is:
22. 22 (Taylor's Version)
It only felt fitting to put 22 (Taylor's Version) at number 22. I was happy, free, confused, and lonely in 2021 and I'm sure I will be again this year. Cheers!
Standout lyric: It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight, to fall in love with strangers
21. New Year's Day
This soft piano ballad is an ode to gentle, new beginnings but also to forever friendships and relationships.
Standout lyric: Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere
20. Our Song
Yeehaw
Standout lyric: Our song is the slamming screen door sneaking out late tapping on your window when you're on the phone and you talk reeeeeal slow
19. Love Story (Taylor's Version)
Shakespeare's been real quiet since Taylor wrote this.
Standout lyric: I love you and that's all I really know
(Speaking of Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet, the sequel to These Violent Delights by Chole Gong, titled Our Violent Ends, is now available for check out at the four Union County Library locations and on Libby.)
18. Enchanted
One of the biggest TikTok songs in 2021, Enchanted is finally getting the recognition it deserves. And yes, I am one of those obnoxious people who say I listened to it before it went viral because it's true: I was! Since 2010 to be exact.
Standout lyric: Please don't be in love with someone else, please don't have somebody waiting on you
17. Superstar
Everyone has that T.S. favorite that others are like 'huh?' about and here's mine. It's a wistful, beautiful song that reminds me of misty mornings and a sense of longing.
Standout lyric: Misty morning comes again and I can't help but wish I could see your face
16. This Love
One of the quieter, softer songs of 1989, this one feels like drifting out to sea only to be reeled back in by beautiful vocals. The production is haunting.
Standout lyric: Lantern, burning, flickered in the night only you, but you were still gone, gone, gone
15. Style
Pop perfection.
Standout lyric: And I got that red lip, classic, thing that you like and when we go crashing down we come back every time
14. The Very First Night (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)
THE perfect driving song.
Standout lyric: But don't forget about the night out in L.A., danced in the kitchen, chased me down through the hallway, no one knows about the words that we whispered, no one knows how much I miss you
13. Cornelia Street
Perhaps one of the softest love songs Taylor's ever written, this one belongs at spot thirteen--and we all know how big of a deal that is.
Standout lyric: We bless the rains on Cornelia Street, memorize the creaks in the floor, back when we were card sharks playing games, I thought you were leading me on
12. Cowboy Like Me
TWO SWINDLERS TRYING TO SWINDLE EACH OTHER BUT FALLING IN LOVE INSTEAD?
Standout lyric: You're a bandit like me, eyes full of stars, hustling for the good life never thought I'd meet you here, it could be love, we could be the way forward and I know I'll pay for it
11. Treacherous (Taylor's Version)
I don't know, staring at the ceiling while listening to this song is a vibe.
Standout lyric: I hear the sound of my own voice asking you to stay, all we are is skin and bone trained to get along, forever going with the flow but you're friction
10. cardigan (and willow!)
Yes, this is a sneak, but both cardigan and willow deserve to be on this list. They're cozy, warm, and gorgeous.
Standout lyric(s): Cause I knew you tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy & As if you were a mythical thing like you were a trophy or a champion ring, and there was one prize I'd cheat to win
9. this is me trying
Ouch but same
Standout lyric: And my words shoot to kill when I'm mad, I have a lot of regrets about that, I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere, fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here, pouring out my heart to a stranger but I didn't pour the whisky
8. Delicate
Reputation is one of my favorite T.S. albums, only equal to evermore, and Delicate is a song that just gets better and better every listen.
Standout lyric: My reputation's never been worse so you must like me for me
7. Forever Winter (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)
An important, comforting song.
Standout lyric: I call, just checking up on him, he's up 3AM pacing, he says, "It's not just a phase I'm in," my voice comes out begging: "All this time I didn't know you were breaking down, I'd fall to pieces on the floor if you weren't around."
6. gold rush
Lyricism and literary devices at their finest.
Standout lyric: Walk past, quick brush, I don't like slow motion double vision in rose blush, I don't like that falling feels like flying 'til the bone crush, everybody wants you, but I don't like a gold rush
5. Cruel Summer
I WILL scream these lyrics at the top of my lungs and I WILL pretend I am sneaking into a garden gate after a rendezvous
Standout lyric: And I scream for whatever it's worth: I LOVE YOU AIN'T THAT THE WORST THING YOU EVER HEARD? He looks up grinning like a devil it's NEW--
4. Champagne Problems
Why does she like hurting us so much? Ouchie ouch ouch
Standout lyric: The. Entire. Bridge.
3. evermore (feat. Bon Iver)
If you were, by chance, to ask me that previously mentioned dreaded question, this would *maybe* be my answer. It's not number one on this list, but overall it has a hold on me. It's the most wistful, winter song I've ever heard and I love winter and wistfulness.
Standout lyric: And when I was shipwrecked, I thought of you, in the cracks of light, I dreamed of you, and it was real enough to get me through (out on waves being tossed), but I swear, you were there
2. Call It What You Want
I'll defend this song with my life. Basically saying 'I don't care what anyone says about us anymore, let them,' this song is my personal favorite love song.
Standout lyric: I'm laughing with my lover, making forts under covers, trust him like a brother, yeah you know I did one thing right, starry eyes sparking up my darkest night
And finally...
1. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)
Are we surprised? No, because this song is an actual masterpiece. Frame it and my ears in the Lourve. In all seriousness though, this song is top-tier writing and storytelling, and the short film makes me cry in the best way possible.
Standout lyric: The. Entire. Song.
If you want to listen to my top 22 Taylor Swift songs check out this Spotify playlist so you can cry and swoon with me. While you're there feel free to check out the other playlists made by UCPL.Teens.
And 2021, I'll remember you all too well.
- Taylor