This song is a great portrayal of not knowing what to do with your life. The meaning behind this song in particular— about how you can’t find a place in the world because you’re still searching for it— is what makes it so beautiful. The guitar following her voice throughout the chorus and the drums that kick in just after her vocals and remain in the background for the rest of the chorus, provide a perfect blend for Swift’s voice to rest on.

See You Again follows the narrator as they search for their love in their dreams, but knows it isn’t real. Narratively, Tyler the Creator nailed it. The overlapping vocals from both Tyler and Kali Uchis provide a rich and emotional story that the listener can easily see themselves in. The bass is melt–your–car–speakers good, and overall, this song knows how to grab your attention and keep it.

Fearless is a great opening song for the album’s re-release. An imaginative tune about the best first date that she’s never had, the guitar follows the climbs and dives of Swift’s voice, really honing on the emotion throughout. Incredibly relatable and a song that sets the tone for the rest of the album, Fearless is in my constant rotation.

A metaphor for the easy way to riches in life, Kendrick Lamar shines a light on the struggle to get to a life of riches in a society plagued by poverty. Even if the lyrics aren’t your thing, the universal beat is something you can listen to no matter how you’re feeling.

From the re-release of “Speak Now,” Timeless is a happy slow song that displays Swift’s grandparents’ love story. She talks about love and how it can last forever and how you can grow old together if the commitment is really there. It’s a beautiful portrait that emphasizes just how strong love can be between two people. 

Spliced into two parts, one with J Cole, and the other with Kendrick Lamar, Forbidden Fruit races through the intricate web of capitalism and profiting off the people. The first section of the song delves into wealth and the destructive nature of celebrity culture, while the second half, featuring Kendrick Lamar, discusses the impact of slavery and the long lasting effects of racism. 

All Too Well (10 Minute Version) was originally released as a 5 minute song, but as the re-records came out, Swift put out the jam-packed 10 minute version. The song is slow in terms of instrumentals and vocals, but fast paced in narrative. Swift talks about a past (toxic) relationship that spanned only three months, and how she can remember everything she endured “all too well.” This song shows how people can be affected by even short relationships and how they can remember everything, and that’s why I love it.

Rihanna sings about the obsessiveness of her ex and how her feelings for him were strictly physical. Not only are the lyrics harsh but fair, the beat is surreal, somehow otherworldly, and it just makes me love this song even more. 

My personal favorite off of the 1989 re-release, Out Of The Woods is a song that talks about a relationship gone bad and the effort that goes into fighting for it. The instrumentals follow Swift’s voice as she barrels through the song, much in the same way that you have to push through the rough patches to maintain a solid connection.

A narrative walk down memory lane, Cupid Chokehold / Breakfast in America is a song that follows the narrator on a quest for the perfect girl. The song’s compilation is genius, a sign of classic storytelling as we follow the narrator through his past breakups until he stops looking and finds the one. 

The Reputation album from which this track hails is about love and revenge. This song, a perfect summary of the album itself, about how Swift has done something bad but if she could do it all again, she would. The instrumentals are upbeat and very fun to sing along to— almost making you want to do something bad yourself.

A song about self acceptance and reassurance, Rae encourages the listener to not listen to societal pressure and to be themselves. I love the soft beat and the blend of the acoustic guitar in the background, it gives the song a warm and cozy vibe, like a mom consoling her child.

Double standards and hypocritical language are everywhere in not only the music industry, but every industry. This song is Swift’s recognition that if she were a man, she would be the man; as in, she wouldn’t face near the amount of critique she does now and would in fact be praised for a few of the things she faces backlash for. With a catchy, optimistic beat, this feminist track is my personal favorite off of the 2019 Lover album.

With a hypnotic beat, Billie Jean is believed by fans to be about a series of letters sent to Jackson in 1981 by a woman claiming that he was the father of her twins. While Jackson continuously denied this story until his death in 2009, he did confirm that the song is more about groupie culture, something he and his brothers were “plagued with” while touring. Despite the confusing backstory, Billie Jean provides listeners with a catchy beat and a fun soundtrack to dance to.

Peace is a song that shows a relationship where if you’re with someone there’s a chance that they could never give you peace. Sometimes there’s many issues in relationships where it can be difficult to continue, but that person will do their best for the other person.

Hey Ya! Has an upbeat and distorted beat in the background while making a commentary about the relationships back in the early 2000s.

Evermore is a song about being depressed and anxious. The piano in this is very somber and slow. “Staring out an open window, catching my death.” This shows how sad the song is, and just how great it is in lyricism.

No scrubs By TLC is a song about kicking a scrub to the curb and getting a real man. The song starts with explaining what a scrub is, and how they will try to pick up women.

 See you again is a very well written song about love. It shows great lyricism and the instruments sound very well together. My favorite part is when Tyler and Kali Uchis’s voices mix together and overlap. 

I personally don’t really like this song. I also don’t really relate to the song. The guitar in the background is really calming, and I understand why people would listen to this if they were feeling upset. 

This song has a very nice beat in it. It also shows great lyrics about the riches in life. I enjoyed this song to an extent.

I like the vocals of this song. If the song came on while I was relaxing I wouldn’t change it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to try and listen to this song.

Forbidden Fruit is a song about the destruction of fame. The beat in this song is very fun and jumpy. The way he sings this song is fun and I enjoyed listening to this. 

I liked the story of this song. This song is very emotional and the country track in the background really accentuates the impact.

I really enjoyed listening to this song because I have had this song in my playlists for a while. The lyrics can be very catchy which I like. I also just really love this album so it’s an amazing song. 

I really liked this song. I put it on and started to do some work, the background noise was really nice. I really liked the story in the song and the story for why she made the song.

Cupid Chokehold is such a good song. This song talks about how he finds the right girl for him. I really enjoy the beat of this song. The lyrics are really cute, and are fun to sing along to.

I genuinely hate this song any time I have ever heard it, I just want to turn it off. I have heard this song so much, and the song just gets really annoying when she keeps repeating, “Are we out of the woods yet?”

The lyrics in this song are very upbeat and fun, which I really enjoy about this song. The beat in this music makes you want to just dance. 

The intro to this song is sick. Then when it builds up to the beat drop you feel powerful. If I was feeling upset and this song came on it would definitely hype me up.

Billie Jean is a very well written song. I really like how the lyrics tell a story throughout it. The drums in the music are very upbeat. This is the type of song that makes you want to dance. 

This song isn’t for me but the beat is low key good, and I definitely let this song play if it came on. But the song feels like it would get annoying really quick.

I don’t enjoy this song as much as the others because it’s just not something I listen to. I do think that the music is very upbeat, but it’s just not something I like.

I didn’t really like this song. Her vocals in the song are really good but I didn’t really connect with her lyrics.

This song is more of a slow paced song which makes it very good. I feel like I would listen to this if I just wanted to be in a more relaxing space. 

I like it. Evermore sounds like when you’re at the beginning of a church service and everyone is singing together. The piano is very calming and Taylor Swift’s vocals are perfect for this kind of song.