I've been a Taylor Swift fan from the beginning. Like the REAL beginning. If any of you remember drawing the number 13 on your hand in green, putting up the hand heart for all of your photos, or sporting that blonde wig and plastic guitar (no shame), you'll understand what I'm talking about. I like to think that I have a different view of Taylor's music after literally growing up applying her songs to my life (to the point where I've actually convinced myself that we go through all of the same things because she's just THAT relatable). I literally count down the days until each new album comes out, so after much waiting, I was super excited to hear the new sound on her album Lover. I know everyone has different views on songs, but if you need any inspiration on which ones to listen to, here are my thoughts!
1. Lover
Yeah, I know, super cliché to choose the song the album is named after as my #1, but it honestly was my favorite song. I'm a sucker for a good romance, and this slow ballad gives you all of those ~romantic~ feels about your crush. It talks about spending "forever and ever" together, I mean, c'mon. Super duper cute song, and definitely a great one to start with if you're cheesy like me.
2. Cornelia Street
Not only are the words of this song strung together really well, it also has a beat that just makes you want to bop your head (I always listen to this one walking around campus). It tells a story about a relationship that she has while she's living on Cornelia Street, which literally makes me want to find out if this street exists because this song makes me feel like I've been there. And for my ~original~ Swiftie gang, there's a part that sounds JUST like the melody of Invisible.
3. Paper Rings
Super good pick-me-up song and another romantic one (sorry, I have a thing for romantic songs, hence my Taylor Swift obsession). This one tells the typical story of a young, broke couple who is willing to love each other even with paper wedding rings (actually super adorable and relatable for all of my broke college couples). It also has an awesome beat that makes you want to dance around your room like a 7-year old (yeah, can't say I'm not guilty of this).
4. Soon You'll Get Better
This one is definitely a slower one, but I really liked it because she doesn't write many songs about illness and loss (maybe Ronan but that's about it). It's written with a lot of raw and real emotion, and for anyone who has ever spent time in the hospital beside someone they love it's a relatable one. It also features the Dixie Chicks, which brings you back to her country days. This one makes me tear up every single time, but I think that's just a testament to how beautiful the song is.
5. London Boy
This song has a real "pop" music vibe to it (a change for all of us who are still stuck in her country era), but I love the London references and the way her voice sounds in this song. And besides, everyone knows how irresistable that English accent is, so this song is basically every girl's dream song.
6. Afterglow
I really loved the beat of this song, and it's written super well. It talks about fighting with someone you love being like "boxing with no gloves" and lots of other great comparisons that everyone can relate to. The tune is super catchy and cute and the comparison to the "afterglow" after a fight with someone you love is so true.
7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
This song will totally bring you back to high school. It talks about loving someone at 16, whispers in the hallway, and prom dresses, giving me real flashbacks to being in high school. I really like the chill vibes that I get from this song, and it's a fun one to study or hang out to. The only reason it wasn't higher on the list was I'm not a fan of the bridge, but overall it's a good head bopper.
8. I Forgot That You Existed
This song has a nice "pop" vibe just like London Boy, but it's still got a slow vibe to it. It's a great comeback song for anyone coming off a breakup into the recovery period, literally talking about feeling "indifferent" to the person she used to love. It gives a sense of empowerment in a low-key way, just saying that she doesn't need him to the point that she forgets he was even there in the first place.
9. Daylight
I like how slow the vibe of this song is, and it's a ballad which is always a plus. I love how she talks about the love she found being "Daylight" (super cute way to refer to love but not surprised because she's always the best at talking about love). The song has a little bit of a flat tune that makes me sleepy, but the lyrics are written really well and her voice sounds great.
10. Cruel Summer
This one feels like something you'd listen to in your room with the lights down low on a cool summer night. It talks about keeping a relationship secret for the summer and all of the pain that it brings, which is a kind of ~depressing~ topic, but the song feels like it should be upbeat which is a little conflicting. I really love the vibe from this song, and the line "I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you" is just pure gold. I just didn't really like that it didn't sound like as sad of a song as it really was.
11. I Think He Knows
I like the beat of this song, it has me bopping my head as I'm walking between classes or sitting in my room. It is a little bit of an odd song, she talks about being in love with someone to the point of being obsessed with him (it seems like he's into her too?). The song overall is a little strange to understand, but I really liked the beat of it and the fact that it's a love song.
12. The Man
This is such a ~girl power~ song, and I really like the beat that it has. It talks about how being a man would help Taylor to get more things done and gain respect from people (because we can see that the media definitely doesn't always respect her). I don't love her comparison of running because I don't really think it applies (maybe a word like working would have fit better?), and honestly the beat isn't my favorite, but it definitely promotes feminism which is great to hear from Taylor.
13. Death By A Thousand Cuts
Same thing with this song, it sounds like it should be super angry and aggressive but it sounds like a love song. I guess it could be compared with her coping with the breakups, it's just confusing that she sounds so happy while talking about being cut a thousand times over the pain from her breakup. However, it's written really well and puts the end of a relationship into words that no one else could.
14. The Archer
This song feels like something out of the sky (weird, but listen to it and you'll definitely get the same vibe), it is definitely one of those sad moving forward breakup songs. It is a little ~depressing~, but super catchy (it's been stuck in my head all week). I felt like it was a little repetitive and some of it didn't make total sense (she talks about being prey to an archer), but overall a nice song to listen to while you're chilling around.
15. False God
I just felt that this song was very slow and didn't have much of a story to it. It didn't have that "classic Taylor" descriptive writing in it, and it didn't showcase her voice in the way I feel like it should be. She maintains a pretty monotone voice the whole time, and this song just didn't stand out to me.
16. It's Nice To Have a Friend
This song kind of gave me Melanie Martinez vibes (nothing against her music, it just isn't really Taylor's vibe). I thought the trumpets in it were a unique edition, but the song kind of sounded creepy and just kept repeating that "it's nice to have a friend". It wasn't one of my favorites, but it'll definitely get stuck in your head.
17. Me!
I liked this song, but it just didn't sound like Taylor to me. It sounds like something out of a children's movie and I was a little disappointed that it was the first single. It has an easy beat to bop to and I love that Brendon Urie from Panic! At the Disco is featured, but it just didn't cut it for me as one of the top songs.
18. You Need to Calm Down
Similar to Me!, I just really didn't feel like this song fit on the album. I felt like Taylor was trying really hard to play into the "pop" atmosphere and include a lot of pop culture references in there, and the beat just wasn't enjoyable to listen to. Overall, this was my least favorite, but I love Taylor and it's still a quality song and a quality album!