Taylor Swift: an icon, an empowerer, everyone’s guilty pleasure. However, for the majority of her career, I was indifferent to her. I listened to her songs when they came on the radio, but never dove into her other, less popular songs. I have to admit–I was that high schooler who insisted on listening to indie-alt songs and songs that “nobody else would know,” and while I still adore my underground Indie Music, I fell under T.Swift’s spell after my sister bought us tickets for her 2018 Reputation Tour.
Therefore, to honor Taylor Swift’s creativity, here are my favorite, less popular Swift songs.
- “Dear John”
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In this song, undoubtedly about fellow Connecticut-kid John Mayer, Swift acknowledges the vulnerability and naivety that comes with being 19. While not only digging at Mayer for his tendency to play women, Swift also calls him out for his depraved decision to go after a nineteen year-old girl. She creatively integrates Mayer’s signature electric-guitar sound and tells a story that, in my opinion, college-aged women should take a closer listen to. This song received a lot of attention and humiliated Mayer; however, it was popular for the chaos it created rather than its importance.
- “Clean”
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“Clean” is the final song off of 1989 and quite different from the rest of this upbeat and fun album (with songs like “Shake it Off” and “Bad Blood”). In “Clean,” Swift begins with lyrics such as “The drought was the very worst,” and “You’re still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore,” representing the heartbreak and pain of a broken relationship (not necessarily specified if it was love or a friend). However, her lyrics begin to transition into her “washing off” the negative emotions and thoughts once targeted towards her. Swift elegantly closes the song with the words “And by morning, gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean.” This song is perfect for anyone trying to eliminate any negative relationships in their life: boy/girlfriends, toxic-friendships, the negative voice in your head or anything that is preventing you from being your best self.
- “Call it What You Want”
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Off of her Reputation album, “Call It What You Want” embodies the story of how one person can bring light to negative scenarios. In this song, Swift alludes to the storm of things that can happen to a person–“all my flowers grew back as thorns, windows boarded up after the storm.” However, she quickly responds to this lyric with “he built a fire just to keep me warm,” crediting her “baby”–various theories on who this is–for helping her get through the turmoil and rumors.
- “Daylight”
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This song is off of her newest album, Lover, and what ultimately made me appreciate the song was her closing statement at the end:
“I wanna be defined by the things that I love
Not the things I hate
Not the things I’m afraid of,
The things that haunt me in the middle of the night, I
I just think that you are what you love.”
In addition to these closing words, Swift sings about how love should be–she even hints at her younger self’s vision of what love was supposed to be. Swift sings: “I once believed Love would be burning red, but it’s golden, like Daylight.” This not only references her song “Red,” but also illustrates what she now believes Love should feel/look/be like: golden.
- “Forever & Always”–Piano Version
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The original version of this song may not fall under the “underrated” category–its upbeat, and was well loved off of Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” album. However, the piano version is an exclusive off of her Platinum version of the album. On the original track, Swift sings about a recent split with a fun, fast tone; but this song has a much more emotional and raw sound when its taken to the piano. If you are a fan of the original, definitely give the piano version a try.
- “If This Was a Movie”
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This song is off of Swift’s Speak Now album and is one of those songs that is just easy to listen to. No in-depth analysis is super necessary for the lyrics, they are fairly clear on their own: Swift sings about a break-up and her desire for the person to have a dramatic apology and return to her like in the movies. Personally, I believe I am drawn to the song because it’s a better version of Hannah Montana’s “If We Were a Movie.”
- “Tied Together With a Smile”
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This song is off of Swift’s first album and not her typical break-up or lovesong. Swift revealed to the media that this song was about a friend who was bulimic and anorexic. Ultimately, she sings about how this friend does not see herself as beautiful and struggles yet puts out a front that everything is okay. While this song only scratches the surface of a solution to a personal struggle, it definitely is a little reminder that it’s okay to not be okay; but it is also a reminder to reach out for help when you need it.