Taylor Swift‘s ability to capture the zeitgeist while simultaneously coating her music with a timeless shine has made the singer one of the great songwriters of our time. By joining the vivid storytelling of her country roots and the addictive hooks and production of pop music she’s infused her lyrics with poignancy and catchiness that makes them hard to shake off.
While the Grammy-winning musician has earned quite a reputation for writing about relationships, her loyal followers will know this article could be about several other topics. When making this list, it became clear to me that most of her greatest work is about herself, and not her significant others, as she so sharply self-examines both her evolution and the things that have stayed unmoving.
It’s that same deep self-knowledge that has allowed Swift to write some of the most disarming songs about love and its countless paradoxes. Whether it’s in the details and vivid scene-setting, or the unexpected brevity of all-encompassing sentences, the singer’s love repertoire will resonate just as strongly with those who have felt similar emotions and those who are still hoping to one day.
16. “Our song is the slamming screen door / Sneakin’ out late, tapping on your window / When we’re on the phone, and you talk real slow / ‘Cause it’s late, and your mama don’t know”
– “Our Song,” Taylor Swift
Listening to Taylor Swift’s self-titled debut album you would never guess she was 16, 15, or younger when she wrote these songs. Although “Our Song” is far from having the most introspective writing on it, its concept is as fun as it is clever.
In it, Swift plays with the idea of couples claiming a song as theirs by describing the sounds that have defined the early stages of a new relationship, from slamming doors and hushed voices to her lover’s laughter and first date mumblings. In retrospect, the singer has now created the soundtrack to countless strangers’ love stories through her distinct ability to write the soundtracks to her own.
15. “I’m gonna love you when our hair is turnin’ gray / We’ll have a cardboard box of photos of the life we’ve made / And you’ll say, ‘Oh my, we really were timeless'”
– “Timeless (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault],” Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
The Speak Now vault track “Timeless” reimagines Swift and her significant other across different points in history, from the 30s and 50s to the 1500s, posing that in whatever timeline or universe, the two would have found each other. Their love, she writes, is not bound by time or circumstance, but by fate. What makes this song, written by a young Swift, even more adorably genius is the way she sets the scene for her musings — the song begins when she encounters an antique shop and decides to go in. Every object inside takes her to a different era as she imagines how she would have found her lover in each of them.
It’s worth listening to the whole thing, but, as always happens in the songwriter’s poems, it’s the punchline that truly, well, packs a punch. Years go by since that day in the antique shop, and the artifacts are now photos of the couple in a cardboard box that they browse as an elderly couple. “We really were timeless,” Swift’s muse would say.
14. “So you were never a saint / And I’ve loved in shades of wrong / We learn to live with the pain / Mosaic broken hearts / But this love is brave and wild”
– “State of Grace (Taylor’s Version),” Red (Taylor’s Version)
“State of Grace” is a classic Taylor Swift love song. Although not as precisely painted as other elements in this list and vaguer as a result, the track is still filled with potent love declarations. In this beautiful song from Red, love offers respite from the chaos of the outside world as Swift describes the feeling of being in love as a “state of grace.”
The lyric “mosaic broken hearts” is a stand-out, and has stuck with fans since the song came out over a decade ago. The idea that two people, who have been beaten down by life, love each other despite and because of their scars is recurrent in Swift’s catalog, but “State of Grace” was possibly the first song to call on it.
13. “If I could dance with you again / I’d kiss you as the lights went out / Swayin’ as the room burned down / I’d hold you as the water rushes in”
– “Dancing with Our Hands Tied,” Reputation
“Dancing with Our Hands Tied” was reportedly written after Swift was paparazzied for one of the first times since she had left the spotlight and moved to the UK with her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn. According to fans who attended one of the Secret Sessions for her album reputation, Swift said the photographers shouted rude comments at her, which, after so many months of peace, took a toll. This inspired her to write a song about how anyone, and especially someone as private as Alwyn, could stick around for that kind of life.
The song is the ultimate testament to braving the storm with your significant other and sticking together despite any outside threats. The title alludes to that act of defying the enemy and soldiering on, while these specific lyrics warrant emphasis due to Swift’s signature vivid storytelling and use of metaphor.
12. “Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay? You could stay”
– “The Archer,” Lover
Entering a relationship means voluntarily accepting to be seen for all you are, and that can be a terrifying experience. So terrifying, in fact, that it has kept infinite great love stories from ever happening. The public scrutiny Swift has been subjected to from such an early age must only make this whole process worse, but through her lyrics, it’s evident that the need to love and be loved trumps all else.
In “The Archer,” “You could stay” is both a hopeful sentiment for the future and an observation of relief made in hindsight. The song explores the worst habits of its narrator as it deconstructs Swift’s public persona as a “catch” for her beauty and her glamorous lifestyle. It’s a strikingly vulnerable track exploring imposter syndrome and the fear of disappointing your significant other, but it concludes with the narrator quite literally releasing the tension she held inside as she realizes the one she loves has now seen it all and is choosing to stay. And I struggle to find a more powerful representation of love than that.
11. “Clear blue water / High tide came and brought you in / And I could go on and on, on and on and I will / Skies grew darker / Currents swept you out again / And you were just gone and gone, gone and gone”
– “This Love (Taylor’s Version),” 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift has plenty of lyrics to feed the delusions of those of us who believe in soulmates, but “This Love” might contain her most poignant. In this verse, Swift equates an elusive love to the movements of the tide, and what’s more fascinating is that through the metric and symmetry of “on and on” and “gone and gone”, she makes the lyrics sound like waves coming and going, too.
Sonically, “This Love” is just as beautiful as the content of its lyrics, transporting the listener to some ethereal plane of existence where the one that got away just can’t stay away.
10. “Now you hang from my lips / Like the Gardens of Babylon / With your boots beneath my bed / Forever is the sweetest con”
– “Cowboy Like Me,” Evermore
The variety of stories in Taylor Swift’s collection of songs and poems is fascinating, and listening to one of them often feels like being told a folk tale that’s only completed through the links and images they originate in your mind. As everyone creates their own ideas about the characters she is singing about, the relationship each listener has with a given song becomes as idiosyncratic as it is communal.
“Cowboy Like Me” is a distinct example of this, with Swift singing about two hustlers who refuse to create any meaningful relationships and are only interested in cheating life to become as rich as possible as fast as possible. What they didn’t expect, however, was that they would cross paths with someone who would make them rethink their entire approach. There’s something inherently sexy and passionate about being the only person who could “lock” a bandit “down.” “Forever is the sweetest con” captures all these feelings stunningly.
9. “I’ll tell you the truth, but never goodbye”
– “Daylight,” Lover
Anyone who thinks Taylor Swift’s idea of love is an idyllic utopic dream where everything comes easily could not be more wrong. It’s curious, then, that in one of her most classicly romantic songs, “Daylight,” the lyrics that best encapsulate the most basic premise of a lasting, committed relationship are not the ones where she describes love as “golden,” but the ones where she promises both honesty and resilience.
This specific line is so succinct, yet it says so much. There is no love without sincerity, truth, and openness, but there’s also something beautiful about how, in the same breath, Swift reassures her partner that regardless of revelations to come and possible arguments, she’s entirely committed, loyal, and dedicated to them.
8. “Uh-oh, I’m fallin’ in love / Oh no, I’m fallin’ in love again / Oh, I’m fallin’ in love / I thought the plane was goin’ down / How’d you turn it right around?”
– “Labyrinth,” Midnights
“Labyrinth” is easily one of the most underrated tracks in Swift’s 10th studio album Midnights. The themes of feeling too fragile and wounded to be able to fully trust someone again are recurrent in Swift’s discography, and like in “The Archer” before it, this song’s beautiful statement about love comes from the decision to take that final step and just fall, trusting that the other person is there to catch you.
The lyrics in the song’s chorus paint a vivid picture of the narrator’s inner struggle and evolution in the simplest yet most effective of ways. “Uh-oh” represents the first realization that you’re catching feelings, “Oh no” is the moment when you enter panic mode and start picturing all the ways it could go wrong, and “Oh” is acceptance. The plane is no longer crashing.
7. “But the monsters turned out to be just trees / When the sun came up you were looking at me”
– “Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version),” 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
“Out of the Woods” is also about the anxiety and panic that can plague the first stage of a relationship. The repetitiveness in the question that composes the chorus — “Are we out of the woods yet?” — is symbolic of these feelings, leading up to the bridge finally offering an answer.
The high-octane beat is reflective of the ardent passion that its subjects experience with a crescendo that finally erupts with the lyrics above. “The monsters turned out to be just trees” is such a visually clear metaphor for the moment when you cross that initial line, with all these dramatic scenarios in your mind of what’s awaiting you on the other side, only to find out it’s safe. “When the sun came up you were looking at me,” we made it, we survived.
6. “And you’ll save all your dirtiest jokes for me / And at every table, I’ll save you a seat, lover”
– “Lover,” Lover
The meaning of love isn’t in grand gestures and big speeches, it’s in the little things. It’s in being the first person your partner wants to tell a joke to, the one they most want to make laugh, and the only one they feel comfortable being a little racier in their humor with. It’s in always making space in your life for them, always remembering to save them a seat before you save one for anyone else.
Obviously, “Lover” might be Swift’s most romantic song yet — it’s in the title — but it’s the specificity and domestic nature of its lyrics that lies the true romance. Relationships are the day-to-day, not the individual great big moments.
5. “And you understand now / Why they lost their minds and fought the wars / And why I’ve spent my whole life trying to put it into words”
– “You Are in Love (Taylor’s Version),” 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
This list could be composed solely of lyrics from “You Are In Love” and the assessment that they were the 16 most gorgeous lyrics Taylor Swift has ever written about love would still stand. Disregard the fact that this song is about Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham (who are now broken up) for a second, because it’s such a beautiful reflection about the process of falling in love that could apply to anyone.
This particular verse stands out from the rest as a meta-lyric where Swift, while making an assessment about who she is as a songwriter, simultaneously creates a lyric that is a more powerful statement about love as a source of inspiration and life than anything else she could have written. The fact that she says she’s still only trying to put it into words, in the middle of a song that actively and undeniably proves she’s succeeded, is just absolutely genius.
4. “Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors / And smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other / And the voices that implore, “You should be doing more” / To you, I can admit that I’m just too soft for all of it”
– “Sweet Nothing,” Midnights
Love is free of judgment and full of compassion. That’s the message of Swift’s “Sweet Nothing” — a song that sounds like a lullaby and opens with a reference to a traditional children’s game, “I spy with my little eye,” with the cheeky twist of adding “tired” to the mix to reflect the inherent weariness of adulthood.
The song maintains this air of innocence throughout to describe a relationship as a safe space from the threats of the outside world. And, as it tends to happen in the singer’s music, the bridge is the highlight and the clearest representation of a given song’s theme. “To you, I can admit that I’m just too soft for all of it” is reminiscent of another lyric on Midnights, from the song “Mastermind,” where Swift says “This is the first time I’ve felt the need to confess.” They both convey a rare type of trust, intimacy, and connection that you can only find in true love.
3. “You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter / You are the best thing that’s ever been mine”
– “Mine (Taylor’s Version),” Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
In “Mine,” Swift once again writes a fictional love story that somehow feels as genuine as the songs she extracts from her diary. The narrator is the child of divorced parents who grew up hearing them argue, dispelling her of any positive notions of love. For someone to be able to tear down your walls and make you believe in the possibility of lasting connection again is a beautiful thing.
Still, more than just the meaning, it’s the way Swift plays with words in these lyrics that make them so wonderful. The expression “careless man’s careful daughter” is extremely insightful all on its own, but the fact that the narrator’s lover has managed to make her feel confident enough to free fall, trust and take risks again despite her trauma, i.e. to be a “rebel,” is as definitive a statement about love as can be.
2. “You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi / I can tell that it’s gonna be a long road / I’ll be there if you’re the toast of the town, babe / Or if you strike out and you’re crawling home”
– “New Year’s Day,” Reputation
In a lot of her songs, some of which have found a place in this list, Swift is searching for that unconditional type of love that won’t get scared at the sight of a rough patch. In “New Year’s Day,” however, she’s the one offering it.
Through the contrast of New Year’s Eve as a day typically filled with parties, excess, and excitement, versus New Year’s Day which holds such a specific feeling of dread, as well as the hangover from the night before, and the mess left by the guests that you now have to clean up, Swift perfectly encapsulates what it is to be there for your partner through thick and thin. “I’ll be there if you’re the toast of the town babe, or if you strike out and you’re crawling home” and “I want your midnights, but I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year’s Day” are such moving, vivid representations of the level of complicity and partnership that define the greatest of relationships.
1. “All these people think love’s for show / But I would die for you in secret”
– “Peace,” Folklore
Are you there when it counts? When no one’s looking? When the act and not what people make of it is the sole motivator? In a world where privacy is virtually obsolete and ostentation is the order of the day, to be able to make sacrifices for someone without expecting anything in return or a big shower of praise is the ultimate act of love. And no, this doesn’t mean that a relationship should be one-sided, or that we shouldn’t be appreciative, every day, of the person we share life with, but to make the statement that you would die for someone in secret is love in its purest form. It’s love for love itself.
Moreover, the electrifying sentiment that you and your partner hold something between you that is exclusively yours, and no one else’s, present in the vibrant dichotomy between “for show” and “secret” is perhaps the most arrestingly beautiful proclamation of love there is.
Published: Dec 15, 2023 09:02 am