Casual listeners may scoff at the title of this article, chafing that the words “Taylor Swift” and “underrated” do not belong in the same sentence. However, many of these listeners know little of Taylor Swift’s discography, besides smash singles such as "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "Black Space", songs that were crafted for radio, and exactly what makes her so successful. True, her popular singles may be what initially draws in listeners, but her introspective lyrics about life—versatile, descriptive and often poetic, able to encompass any emotion—are what builds her fanbase. It’s these shadowed-out songs, some of them even underrated amongst fans, that should get a more limelight. Here, in no particular order, are eleven underrated Taylor Swift songs you should listen to!

1. Treacherous

Appearing on 2012’s Red, "Treacherous" is a beautiful, longing ballad about wanting somebody but knowing that the path to him or her, for whatever reason, is dangerous—but choosing heart over head and taking that rocky route anyways. Musically, it is neither quite country nor pop, but it’s rather folksy, with a lot of indie influences, starting off quietly, understated, and crescendoing to an echoing, elevated bridge full of yearning. A shift from the suppressed desire of the verses (“I can’t decide if it’s a choice getting swept away”) to a newfound activeness is clear; Swift croons, “Two headlights shine through the sleepless night/ And I will get you, get you alone.”

Best Lyric: “All we are is skin and bone, trained to get along/ Forever going with the flow, but you’re friction.”

2. Cold As You

From her humble debut album, “Cold As You” is a country song with a lot of piano and strings, but it’s an emotionally scathing, unapologetic ballad about scorned love that has hurt you so much--and it’s at this moment, feeling more isolated than ever, you decide to let go. Swift’s regret is palpable as she calls herself “A mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you”. Containing the best lyrics off her debut and even her entire discography, it’s especially exceptional considering how young Swift was when she composed it.

Best Lyric: “Every smile you fake is so condescending, counting all the scars you’ve made”

3. Never Grow Up

A stripped-down, cozy, almost lullaby-like ballad led by acoustic guitar, “Never Grow Up” reflects upon childhood. Its theme, the emergence into adulthood and consequential erasure of innocence that none can escape, is universal. The simple productions lends emphasis to Swift’s earnest vocals and shining lyrics. Swift shifts perspectives throughout the song, from a mother in the first verse, to talking to her childhood self in the second verse, to reflecting on her current state of mind after moving out from her parents at the end of the song. Through it, she reminds millions of fans to not to grow up too fast and to treasure youth and innocence before it breaks.

Best Lyric: "No one's ever burned you/ Nothing's ever left you scarred/ And even though you want to/ Just try to never grow up"

4. Haunted

“Haunted” is a big piece with a huge, multi-layered production and full orchestra. It has some of her best vocal performance on the entire “Speak Now” album, especially seen in the long, drawn-out note held out after the final chorus. Even without being too illustrative, the song sets up an amazing dark scenery and atmosphere—I envision an eerie, brooding forest. “Haunted” is a call of desperation, about the moment when you realize the person that you love seems to have gone cold, to be slipping away when they are right before you.

Best Lyric: “Something keeps me holding onto nothing”

5. Innocent

“Innocent” always gets overshadowed in its backstory, rather than concentrating on the song itself as its own entity and masterpiece. It conveys that despite many mistakes you might make in life, it is okay and never too late to find your own path again. With a haunting melody and pulsing bridge, Swift shows both vulnerability in her representation of how life can throw you down and strength in her courageous message of persisting through difficulty.

Best Lyric: “Time turns flames to embers”

6. State Of Grace

Led with drums and bursting with soaring vocals, “State of Grace” is the perfect opening track to 2012’s Red. Though five minutes long, it often plays with different textures, instrumentation and vocal effects, and it’s not very wordy—but it’s a succinct statement that love is not black or white, that you have to fight for it and play it correctly in order for it to work and pay off. It showcases a new maturity for Swift not seen in previous albums such as “Speak Now”, which had an fairytale realm about it, and portrays real personal and artistic growth.

Best Lyric: “So you were never a saint, and I’ve loved in shades of wrong/ We learn to live with the pain, mosaic broken hearts”

7. This Love

The sole song on 1989 produced by Nathan Chapman, Swift’s longtime producer since her debut, “This Love” is a beautiful, romantic ballad about letting something go for it to return to you. Wistful and nostalgic, the songs contains some of her most colorful lyrics ever, full of water imagery and metaphors. The instrumentation builds up throughout the song, from just a guitar floating through sustained chords, to throbbing drums and a repeating “This love, this love, this love, this love” that infuse the song with an acute sense of yearning. The layered vocals, especially apparent when listening to the song through earbuds, lend it an atmospheric feeling.

Best Lyric: “Your smile, my ghost, I fell to my knees”

8. I Wish You Would

With an 80's-pop instrumentation featuring a snare drum, “I Wish You Would”, a partnership with Jack Antonoff, was clearly one of the influences in titling 1989. It’s a fast-paced piece, complex in both song structure and production. Swift employs a shift from her lover’s perspective in the first verse, to her own perspective in the second verse, and weaves them together in the bridge to tell a story that climaxes in the third verse, after the bridge.

Best Lyric: “We’re a crooked love in a straight line down”

9. Wonderland

The entirety of “Wonderland”, a bonus track off 1989, is an extended metaphor relating Alice in Wonderland to her own love story. With an electronic edge that comes to the forefront in the repeating “eh, eh, eh” of the post-chorus, “Wonderland” recalls the beautiful frenzy of rushing into a whirlwind relationship that is doomed from the start, with people watching from all sides. It’s energetic, frantic and manic, but finds beauty in those times in life with heightened uncertainty and emotion. The slightly more hushed bridge creates drama as Swift finally declares, “In the end, in wonderland, we both went mad.”

Best Lyric: “We found wonderland/ You and I got lost in it/ And life was never worse but never better”

10. Holy Ground

Swift gets a lot of flack for writing “horribly vindictive” break-up songs, but with “Holy Ground” it is evident that these accusations are false—"Holy Ground” is an ode to the good times with an ex, about looking back on a relationship and viewing it as the great experience it was rather than sobbing into pillows about it and eating away your feelings. It’s an upbeat, rock-influenced stomper that is hard not to dance along to.