Why Red is better than 1989 {Ranking My Favorite Taylor Swift Songs}

It is no secret that Taylor Swift is Queen of the music world, at least for this generation. She has come out with more hit singles than anyone I can recall off the top of my head. And yes, I was a hater at first (actually, I still kind of loathe her) but god dammit her songs are catchy! Either way, I have gotten into this debate at least a dozen times; Red vs. 1989. I am obviously on the side that Red was a better album. I completely acknowledge that both albums have some jams, but I still feel as though Red had more, and of a better quality. What follows will be analysis of specific albums, complete with a ranked listing of some of my favorite songs from that album. At the end, I will attempt to give you my Top 5 10 songs!

Taylor Swift (2006)

1. Our Song
2. Teardrops On My Guitar

So like I kind of hinted at earlier, I was NOT a Taylor Swift fan for quite a while. In fact, I didn’t hear these songs until I was starting to like her (back around the time Red came out). Unfortunately these are two of the only songs on this album that I know (I know two more, but don’t like them nearly as much as these). This was back when Taylor still felt country! So I can appreciate these two as her starting point. Our Song is still my favorite of the two, it’s just so cute and sounds oh so country.

I’ve heard every album, listened to the radio,
Waiting for something to come along,
That was as good as our song

 

Fearless (2008)

1. Love Story
2. You Belong With Me

Again, another short list because these were all songs that came out before I started listening to her music. It’s funny because I knew this one song called Girl Next Door by Saving Jane before I heard You Belong With Me, so when I heard that for the first time I was a little annoyed thinking Saving Jane was ripped off! But I still kinda like You Belong with Me? It’s complicated, obviously, and it doesn’t help that the music video is super well known. Either way, the fact that it sounded so similarly to a song I listened to in middle school bumps it from my top spot for this album.

 

Speak Now (2010) 

1. Sparks Fly
2. Mean
3. Ours
4. Mine
5. Back To December

Now we are getting somewhere! Five songs from this album made my list. This was a tough one because especially for the top three, they each had their own significance in different parts of my life. I remember when the video came out for Ours and I was soooo excited because it had Zack Gilford from Friday Night Lights in it. That definitely put the song on my radar. Mean also got me through a particularly bad breakup/relationship (as a Taylor Swift song does). But the winner for this album has to go to Sparks Fly. It reminds me of a specific guy, and it’s a fond memory so it sticks with me a little better than the others.

My mind forgets to remind me, your a bad idea
You touch me once and it’s really something
You find I’m even better than you, imagined I would be
I’m on my guard for the rest of the world
But with you I know its no good
And I could wait patiently
But I really wish you would

 

Miscellaneous 

1. Today Was A Fairy tale (Valentine’s Day)
2. Safe and Sound (Hunger Games movie soundtrack)
3. I Don’t Want to Live Forever (Fifty Shades of Grey movie soundtrack)

These were all songs that I liked off sole albums or movie soundtracks. Today Was A Fairy Tale is a classic, I feel like everyone knows that one, so it takes the top spot with ease. But I do recall being obsessed with Safe and Sound after hearing it on the Hunger Games soundtrack. One of my sorority sisters actually sang it in a talent show and made us all fall in love (obviously). Doesn’t it just sound so haunting and beautiful?

 

Reputation (2017)

1. End Game
2. Ready For It?
3. Delicate
4. Look What You Made Me Do

This is Taylor’s most recent album, and one I feel many people were not super impressed with. For the last few years it seems like Tay has been ducking the press, and really not making many headlines. Then this album dropped, and it sounds really different (but not?) from her other stuff. I mean it’s still catchy Taylor Swift but I wasn’t super impressed, especially after following the two heavy hitters in her career. This was a clear winner for me, End Game featuring the one and only Ed Sheeran is no question. That’s all anyone wants to be, is someone’s end game, right? Someone who puts them first above everyone else. It’s a relatable concept and I’m sold. These two work really well together actually. I would be on board with any duets they put out (at least I think so).

 

1989 (2014)

1. Wildest Dreams
2. Blank Space
3. Style
4. Shake It Off
5. Bad Blood
6. Out of the Woods
7. I Wish You Would*

I will say this, ya girl had some hits off this dang album! This was definitely the best way you could have come back after such a heavy hitting album like Red. I know that overall, many people prefer these songs over others, and I can totally see that (Wildest Dreams is one of my all time favorite songs) but I just don’t think it was AS good as Red. But I will say, this album had a strong vibe, and I was feeling it. To me, many of the songs like Wildest Dreams, & Style felt old school Hollywood, very “Great Gatsby” if you will. Shake It Off, Blank Space and Bad Blood felt very new Hollywood, and I thought that they played really nicely together.

 

Red (2012)

1. All Too Well
2. Red
3. Everything Has Changed
4. 22
5. I Knew Your Were Trouble
6. We Will Never Ever Get Back Together
7. State of Grace
8. The Lucky One
9. Stay Stay Stay
10. Holy Ground

I mean is anyone else surprised that nearly the entire album is on my list? I remember this on repeat my entire junior year in my best friend’s car. SO many of these songs have such a significance to me. It was a much more singer/songwriter feel than her other ones (with exception to her earliest stuff I suppose) and I loved it so much. It felt so real, and raw, and I related to it so much. I remember blasting 22 because it came out the same year I turned 22. I remember getting dumped by a guy that year, and all my sorority sisters walking passed him in the cafeteria singing We Will Never Get Back Together. I laugh every time I hear the stupid remake of I Knew You Were Trouble with the goat scream. I can picture Taylor singing All Too Well at some awards show, getting so emotional and banging on the piano. Everything Has Changed is another Ed Sheeran duet, that just makes you fall in love. I have such fond memories of this album, and I think that is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Often times, you associate music with points in your life, the way a movie plays the perfect song for a specific scene, and they stay with you. This album stays with me, and probably will for a long time.

Oh, your sweet disposition and my wide-eyed gaze.
We’re singing in the car, getting lost upstate.
The Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place,
And I can picture it after all these days.

And I know it’s long gone,
And that magic’s not here no more,
And I might be okay,
But I’m not fine at all.

And now, what we’ve all been waiting for:

My Top 10 Taylor Swift Songs

1. Wildest Dreams
2. All Too Well
3. Red
4. Blank Space
5. Everything Has Changed
6. Sparks Fly
7. Love Story
8. Mean
9. Today Was A Fairy Tale
10. I Knew You Were Trouble

I am definitely not her biggest fan (far from it) but dang does she put out some good music. This was a fun post to put together, maybe I will do a few more with other artists/bands!

Me thinking about doing song rankings for other artists like…

 

Anything But Books Tag

Saw this on Dragon Waffles. She has got some of the cutest graphics, and really unique posts! I love just about everything she puts out, so I highly recommend you get your tush over to her page, and check it out :]

Anywho, let’s get down to business!

 

NAME A CARTOON YOU LOVE.

Hmm cartoons eh? I don’t really watch many cartoons anymore but I suppose this counts?

 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG RIGHT NOW?

This is always so very difficult for me to answer. There are the songs I love, the songs I can’t stop singing (or get out of my head) and there are the songs that I’ll always love, and could listen to at all times. Then you have to take into account my mood. Just the other days, I watched one of those React videos on Youtube, and just HAD to listen to 2000s Pop Punk for the rest of the day. SO this is really a loaded question, but I will try my best to answer accordingly…

Perfect by Ed Sheeran is my absolute favorite song right now, without a doubt, although, his new duet with Andrea Bocelli (Perfect Symphony) is also to die for…

Oddly enough, because I watched Beauty and the Beast again recently, I have been obsessed with Evermore as performed by Dan Stevens. Although, Josh Groban does a wonderful version for the album, I still like Dan’s just a touch more.

The Rest of Our Life by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill is another one of my favs right now. So sweet, it makes me tear up every time I hear it.

And let’s not forget that cutie Kane Brown! What Ifs is a great country song. I am so excited to see him break out into the country scene and completely shatter stereotypes. He is killin it right now, and I look forward to more music from him.

 

Then of course, because it is Christmas, I have been listening to holiday music; these are some of my favs right now. (It will pretty clear in a second that I like more traditional sounding songs around the holidays- I am not sure why it just puts me in the holiday spirit.)

Hallelujah – Pentatonix

Little Drummer Boy – Pentatonix

Believe – Josh Groban

O Holy Night – Josh Groban

 

WHAT COULD YOU DO FOR HOURS THAT ISN’T READING?

Unfortunately, I could probably watch Youtube videos until my eyes glaze over. It is so mindless (like watching TV!) and I have fallen into that trap quite a few times lately. I don’t like to do it, but it does happen occasionally.

 

WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU LOVE TO DO THAT YOUR FOLLOWERS WOULD BE SURPRISED BY?

Be surprised by? This is a tough one. I love to plan things. In high school, being the only girl in a small group almost automatically made me the planner (no one ever “cared” enough about what we were doing to take initiative) so I got that taste a while ago. In college I was in a sorority, which required LOTS of planning, and further developed my attention to details. I just love making schedules, planning trips/events, probably because I don’t do it a whole lot anymore. It drives me crazy trying to coordinate plans with people because most of the time, they don’t have the same drive as I do.

I don’t know if you are necessarily surprised by my love for planning, but it was the only thing I could think of at the moment.

 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE UNNECESSARILY SPECIFIC THING TO LEARN ABOUT?

I like to learn new things in general. Being a librarian, sometimes I get some really out there questions. Often when that happens, I find myself on a bender looking into the deepest corners of the internet in order to find more out about that subject. I am actually still looking for the answer to this stumper; A mom came in about two weeks ago looking for an old movie (on VHS) that she used to check out for her son all the time. He is about 17 now, and they checked it out a lot when he was much younger, so it is a bit older (if you couldn’t already tell that from the fact that it was a VHS tape they used to check out). She had no idea what it was about, the title, or really any details about it, other than it contained a bunch of in-adamant objects doing “tasks.” She said one of them could have been a paper clip, or pencil, etc. She couldn’t remember if it was animated or not either.

 

WHAT IS SOMETHING UNUSUAL THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO DO?

Another tough one. I know how to take minutes at an important meeting? I was the secretary for 3-4 semesters in college for my sorority and part of my position was to take the chapter meeting minutes. So I guess you can say I know how to type quickly (while people are talking) and in short hand- but with enough detail so that you get the jist of what was discussed.

 

NAME SOMETHING YOU MADE LAST YEAR AND SHOW US IF YOU CAN.

This is the only thing that is throwing me for a loop right now. I know, as a children’s librarian, I have created a lot of things over the course of a year, but none that I can recall immediately, or even take a photo of. i’m sorry :[

 

WHAT IS YOUR MOST RECENT PERSONAL PROJECT?

My book blog is my most recent personal project. I have been working so hard on it since October, but I have also taken a lot of blogger advice in that I don’t take it too seriously. I love blogging; writing reviews/discussions, coming up with ideas for posts, tags, etc. But I have not let it become a 3rd job- although I do dedicate a lot of time, and thought to it. I have no set posting schedule and I don’t really monitor my numbers as closely as some, but I do dedicate a lot of time to it, mostly because I welcome the distraction. Granted, I am only active since October, so I am sure as time goes on, I will adjust and grow my blog a bit more, but for now, it is my safe (bookish) space where I can fangirl with other like-minded people.

 

TELL US SOMETHING YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN.

As funny as it sounds, I think about my blog often. I am always thinking about things to post, what needs to get done, how I am going to “review” my books differently than other bloggers. Right now, my life revolves around books. Quite frankly, I could think of worse ways to spend my time, so I am not all that upset about it.

 

GIVE US SOMETHING THAT IS YOUR FAVORITE.

• The smell of wood burning
• Harry Potter (anything)
• Books/Reading
• Spending time with my family

SAY THE FIRST THING THAT POPS INTO YOUR HEAD.

Watermelon. I have no idea why, but there you go.

 

Month of Gratitude- Day 7 & 8

Shocking, I missed ANOTHER day of gratitude. At least I am making them up, and not just pretending they didn’t happen. Either way, I have got two more days of thankfulness for you this evening. For those who don’t know by now what these posts are about, here is a brief reminder;

Since this is the month of thanks, I thought I would join a fellow college acquaintance of mine in a #30daysofgratitude. I saw her post about it on Facebook and felt inspired. It just seemed like a worthy challenge to partake in this month and truthfully, it forces me to blog every day (or at least try to) regardless of how much (or little) that I read.

Now, without further ado, here are my 7th and 8th days of gratitude:

 

 

Day #7- I am thankful today, for my own space.

I was one of the fortunate people who went away to college, and actually enjoyed it. I lived on my own (well, more like lived among friends) for 4.5 years and it was bliss. Which ultimately made it incredibly difficult to move back in with my parents when college was over. I mean, I live on Long Island. It is almost impossible to live on your own, at my age, especially only making minimum wage.

Today (Nov. 7th) marked the end of my 2nd year living in an apartment with my boyfriend. Honestly, that just blows my mind how quickly that passed. We are already heading into our third year of living together. And I have to say, reflecting on this day, that I am so very thankful for my own space. While I will always be close to my family, and I love being around them/dislike being alone, having my own apartment definitely has it’s perks. I am glad to share a special space with my boyfriend Eric (and our dog Oliver). I know how lucky I am to be able to do that right now. I know a lot of people my age are really struggling to get their own (separate) lives started, only made harder by ridiculous living expenses. So today, I am thankful that I have been lucky enough to start my independent life with a space all my own (and not under my parents, or a relative’s roof).

Day #8- I am thankful today, for music.

I mean this is pretty cliche. Music speaks when we don’t have the words. It fills the silence. It makes us think, and feel, and inspires us in so many different ways. It touches everyone differently. Whether you are lyrically driven, or just enjoy a good beat, songs really have so much more power than we realize. It is used in advertising, movies, and games. We learn, even at a very young age, using music. Certain songs/artists have gotten me through tough times in my life. They have embedded themselves in good memories, and allow me to transcend to another time almost immediately, as if it was happening right in front of me all over again.

I really don’t feel like I need to defend this gratitude. I know that at least one reader understands my love, and appreciation of music. I will however share a few of my favorite songs right now. Enjoy :]

For more of my posts on #30daysofgratitude see the following:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 & 4

Day 5 & 6

What are you thankful for today?

Thinking about doing your own Month of Gratitude challenge? PLEASE link your daily posts in the comments of mine so that I can see what we all have to love about this wonderful life.