All Taylor Swift fans can agree on one thing . . . they LOVE Taylor Swift; But exactly how different are their opinions on her music? Twenty-two of the school’s top fans were polled so you can find out JUST how different these Taylor Swift fans actually are (as well as learn some Taylor Swift facts along the way)!
Taylor Swift (Debut)
Taylor Swift’s Debut, the start of her rise to fame, was October 24, 2006. While still being Taylor Swift’s start, this album was voted “Least Favorite Album” by the majority of the group. Now, don’t get ahead of yourself, before you go telling people Debut is the “WORST”; That doesn’t mean these fans don’t love her any less. The majority of the group mentioned while voting “If I HAVE to choose it would be Debut.” Two fans even voted her Debut album as her most underrated album. When voting on “Favorite Song of the Album”, “Our Song” won with five mentions. Fans are grateful to Taylor Swift for starting when she did, but they are even more grateful and proud of where their favorite small-town Tennessee singer is now.
Fearless
November 11, 2008, Fearless came out into the world. Taylor’s Version of Fearless was introduced to the world on April 9, 2021. TV, also known as Taylor’s Version, came into fruition as Taylor’s way to reclaim her music from Ithaca Holdings. Big Machine Records, the first record company Swift signed with, had sold her master recordings to Shamrock Holdings and eventually, it was sold to Ithaca Holdings. Scooter Braun, owner of Swift’s master recordings reaps profit whenever a song written and sung by Taylor Swift is played or bought on all streaming platforms. So to reclaim what was once hers Taylor Swift had set on the activity of rerecording every single song from each album owned by Braun. To make things more exciting for fans, Swift adjusted some lyrics and added numerous “From the Vault” songs. Songs from The Vault are songs that were written for a specific album but were never released. Fans were super excited about this release and could not wait for Reputation to get its chance. It seemed to be a love story between “Fearless” and “Forever and Always” which tied for most mentions for “Favorite Song of the Album.” Third, to be rerecorded was Speak Now.
Speak Now
Speak Now is arguably MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE album, yet our voters seemed to disagree voting for this album “The Most Overrated Album.” Our voters spoke and didn’t forever hold their peace when voting for their “Favorite Song of the Album” though. There was yet another tie between “Enchanted” and “Back To December.” Only one mention of “Haunted” from the album out of twenty-two votes, however. If I could choose, I would also choose “Haunted.” Taylor explained this song’s meaning on her website: “‘Haunted’ is about the moment that you realize the person you’re in love with is drifting and fading.’” Each song written by Taylor Swift has a story and fans feel they can relate to the messages she sends throughout her songs on her albums. Many fans believe that lyricism is something they’ve never seen in another artist before. Writer Hanna Seariac commented on this saying, “Swift draws on common sayings and uses different types of rhyme to create lyrics that sound rhetorically interesting, but also narrate something deeper than a basic story: they narrate a deep emotion.” her 2022 article titled, “The literary and lyrical genius of Taylor Swift.” Taylor’s Version of Speak Now was released July 7th, 2023 with six Vault Tracks. I was enchanted to hear every single one of these new tracks, specifically “Foolish One” and “When Emma Falls in Love.” While Speak Now was the third to be rereleased, Red, was the second to be rereleased.
Red
I don’t know about you but I feel almost all 22 of our voters said “All too Well,” specifically the ten-minute version, was their “Favorite Song of the Album.” This answer tripled every other response. Other songs that received two votes each were “Holy Ground,” “I Bet You Think About Me,” and “Nothing New.” Taylor Swift’s song lengths are nothing compared to the ten minutes of “All Too Well” song. “All Too Well” was a pivotal release for Swift. The song carried a deep emotional depth and included powerful storytelling. The song was about her ex, Jake Gyllenhaal. Taylor Swift had not been given a break between her love life and her twelve publically known exes. People often attack Swift for using her experience with love as a catalyst for her music. However, recently Taylor could not be any happier with her new boyfriend, Football Star on the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce. Their love story began when Kelce mentioned Taylor Swift in his podcast, “New Heights,” explaining how he made a friendship bracelet with his digits on it to shoot his shot but Swift didn’t receive it. Following this event Kelce answered alleged questions of speculations on his and Swift’s relationship.
In the podcast interview with Pat McAfee on the Pat McAfee Show, Kelce quipped, “‘I threw the ball in her court and, you know, I told her, ‘I’ve seen you rock the stage at Arrowhead. Since then everything has changed for Taylor Swift. It’s really great to see Taylor Swift happy with a better man.
1989
On October 27th, 2023 Taylor Swift released Taylor’s version of 1989. 1989 is a reference to her birth year! Swift told People magazine, “1989 was inspired by her move to New York City and various relationships during that period in her life.” 1989 was about her rebirth, while she was born in 1989, 2014 was when she experienced the most change in the type of music she produced for the music industry. 1989 was her first full-fledged pop album as she transitioned from country music. “The 1989 album changed my life in countless ways,” Swift wrote on Instagram as she announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The song “Shake It Off” from 1989 remains to be a pivotal moment for Swift. It was the first song back then to blow up as big as it did. While the majority of the twenty-two voters said “Shake it Off” was the most overrated song, they still appreciate it. One voter said, “I really love that song, it was just too . . . overplayed.” The “Favorite Song of the Album,” however, was “Is it Over Now?” and “Now that we don’t talk”
Reputation
Reputation is soon to come out in Taylor’s Version, Fans can’t wait. Reputation is about your comeback, “Entering your villain era,” some might say. Reputation was Taylor’s comeback. She released the album in 2017, not too soon after the drama with the Kardashian family started up again. The bad blood first started long ago in 2009 when Kanye took over Taylor Swift’s speech at the MTV VMAs when she was accepting her hard-won award. Fans don’t blame Taylor for her reaction to something as upsetting as that, and we are so glad she decided to clap back. There are four songs that fit the situation with Kim and Kanye . . . “I Did Something Bad,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Call It What You Want,” and “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.” Surprisingly none of these songs were the “Favorite Song of the Album,” “Getaway Car” was chosen most out of our 22. Reputation was and still is an iconic album for all the “snakes” of the world.
Lover
It’s a good thing Taylor didn’t stay in hiding because then she was able to release Lover. Lover holds some of the most popular songs Taylor has ever written. Those being “Cruel Summer” and “Lover.” The majority of our 22 voters said “Death by a Thousand Cuts” was their “Favorite Song of the Album though. This album was also specifically special because it was the first studio album Swift released under Republic Records, making it the first album she had full ownership of. Taylor Swift is the queen of dropping hints and “Easter eggs”; everything Swift does is almost always for a reason. Sometimes fans catch onto these little hints and other times they are way off the mark. Prior to the release of Lover Taylor did a plethora of things.
According to a 2019 USA Today article titled, “Taylor Swift’s Lover Easter Eggs: Which Fan Theories Were Right and Which Were Way Off?” writer, Hanna Yasharoof, explores those clues. Some of the easiest to notice was that the “color scheme of her photos transitioned from the dark tones associated with her “Reputation” era to new candy-colored filters.” The more difficult conclusion was that “You Need to Calm Down” music video features a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference. Adam Lambert is seen giving Ellen DeGeneres a forearm tattoo that reads “CRUEL SUMMER.” While the song, “You Need to Calm Down,” was a tale as old as time to fans, it was a sign that Taylor Swift was a mastermind, she cleverly hides her “Easter eggs.”
Folklore
Folklore was voted “Favorite Album” by our voters. The “Favorite Song of the Album” was “Illicit Affairs.” Folklore seemed to have something every other album was missing that fans just loved. Every other album contained strong vocals and an upbeat mix. Taylor Swift said “Folklore is wistful and full of escapism,” she shared. “Sad, beautiful, tragic. Like a photo album full of imagery, and all the stories behind that imagery.” Folklore is singsongy, and it is sad, and full of heart. Taylor Swift actually won Album Of The Year for Folklore at the 63rd GRAMMY Awards. Taylor is no novice to award acceptances. She has twelve Grammys, 14 MTV Video Music Awards, and plenty of Billboard toppers. According to Billboard’s data, Swift is the number one female musician with the most charted songs. She has 137 top-40 songs, 85 top-20 songs, 49 top-10 songs, 38 top-10 debuts, 31 top-five songs, and 6 number-one debuts. 2023 was the year of Taylor. She was the most listened-to female artist of the year. She’s come a long way from her small town in Tennessee.
Evermore
Evermore was voted “Most Underrated” by our voters and that was made clear to me when there were three songs tied for the “Favorite Song of the Album,” Those three songs were “Champagne Problems,” “No Body No Crime,” and “Tolerate it.” Evermore is super similar to Folklore. Swift wrote in her Instagram caption that Evermore was considered a “sister record” to Folklore.
According to Forbes, “Just three days after Evermore became officially available on vinyl, it had already broken the all-time record for the largest one-week sales count for a title on the format.” Evermore sold 102,000 copies on vinyl “Thanks to intense interest in the title, the singer herself, and a lengthy pre-order period.” Thinking about these numbers often makes me wonder how much money Swift generates from a single album.
Stats say, “Her Folklore and Evermore albums helped her make $23.8 million in 2020.” That’s a lot of money, but it’s only a portion of Taylor Swift’s net worth. Taylor Swift’s net worth is an astonishing 1.1 billion. Kanye’s net worth is $400 million. I think that has to say something.
Midnights
October 21st, 2022, Midnights was released. People had a lot to say about Midnights; Unfortunately, not all of it was good. One critic said, “It’s an underwhelming album and one of her worst lyrically.” Although, our voters had an easy time choosing their “Favorite Song of the Album” and they said “Would’ve, Should’ve, Could’ve,” I believe they chose this song because it was nowhere near played as often as “Antihero.” That song was ingrained into everyone’s car radio systems for months after its release. Still, it beautifully captures Swift’s insecurities and relates to so many young women and their own similar plight for self-love; So it’s clear why “Antihero” was so loved. Every Taylor naysayer always says, “Every song Taylor writes is about a man she broke up with,” yet most haven’t taken the chance to explore songs such as “Antihero,” “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” “Long Live,” “The Last Great American Dynasty,” and more. But there are also heartfelt songs of Taylors that are about men she has dated, “All Too Well,” “Dear John,” and “The Great War”. The great war for Swift fans though was getting tickets to her Eras tour. In a way, Midnights was the start of The Eras Tour. On November 1, Taylor Swift announced “The Eras Tour” on Good Morning America and through her social media accounts. The Eras Tour was her sixth concert tour.
Taylor Swift described it as “a journey through the musical eras of [her] career.” The Eras Tour was the best way to relive all the magic of Taylor’s albums.
For the most underrated song out of all the albums each individual had a different answer. One person wrote, “ALL VAULT SONGS,” another wrote, “Better Man,” and there were also, “Cruel Summer,” “Exile,” “Happiness,” “Haunted,” “How You Get The Girl,” “Marjorie,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Mine,” “Nothing New,” “Out of the Woods,” “Seven,” “Starlight,” “Superman,” “That’s When,” “The Alcott,” “The Last Great American Dynasty,” “The Very First Night,” “Tolerate It,” and “You are in Love.”
There are a lot of things Swifties don’t agree on, but when it comes to how amazing Taylor Swift is, every Swiftie can agree that Taylor Swift is the icon of the century.
