if you love taylor swift as much as i do, then i’m sure you have cried at least once (or 20 times) while listening to her new album. and if you know me, you know this is all i will be listening to for the next two months. taylor swift is by far my favorite artist. her range is incredible and she has a song to fit every single aspect of life. i can’t even put my love for her into words. but, as requested, i am going to try my best in this blog post. i’ve listened to taylor for as long as i can remember. i was just a little girl singing karaoke of “I’m Only Me When I’m With You” on the wii. i was dreaming about my third grade crush while listening to “Love Story”. i have felt every emotion with t swift. eight albums have been apart of my life for longer than most people have. so, i’m here to thank those albums by talking about each one and what they meant to me. lets start at the beginning.

TAYLOR SWIFT

her very first album. i was only 4 when this album came out, so most of my memories with this album come later in life. i remember getting my first guitar at 6 years old. i opened up the case and it was this beautiful red color. i was obsessed. i instantly saw myself being just like taylor swift. my poor 6 year old self, if only she knew i had absolutely no singing voice. it would break her little spirits. but you better believe i tried at that age. i wrote sad break up songs about loves that i’ve never had. i got in my feels everytime i listened to “Teardrops On My Guitar” (not gonna lie, that song still makes me heartbroken everytime i listen to it). “Tim McGraw” became a big bop for me when i moved to kansas. it was very fitting when the cute lil’ country side came out of me. “Picture To Burn” and “Should’ve Said No” made me so angry at my crush who literally did nothing to make me mad. Don’t even get me on “Our Song”. you guys better believe i knew every word to that song and sang my little heart out to it every time it came on. i will still belt any of these songs when they come on.

FEARLESS

these are when my first memories of taylor started forming. i remember playing the cd of this album when i got it. that cd now sits in my car, and i will still put it in and play it. i vividly remember watching the music videos to “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” and being completely in love. i had the worst crushes at a young age because of these songs. then when i was 14 and 15, i listened to “Fifteen” religiously. that song guaranteed that i would never get with a senior boy because i was so scared of being heartbroken. i firmly believe that song set me on the course for my high school love life. it was my first “idea” of what high school would be like. then this album came back again recently in february of this year. i drove around at night listening to “White Horse” on repeat. i was so hurt during this time in my life. it was the first time i felt that type of pain that crushes on top of your lungs. this song kept me in reality. it kept me from wanting to go back to before, and reminded me that sometimes it’s better to move forward instead of trying to keep something going that isn’t there. this album will always be one of my favs. i have such a strong amount of love for it.

SPEAK NOW

i probably have the least amount of memories with this album. i was still hooked on “Fearless” when this one was released. however, “Mean” and “Ours” made a huge appearance in my childhood. “Ours” is such a cute happy song. i remember bouncing around in my room with pure joy while listening to this song. “Mean” gave me sooo much confidence. i was never scared of bullies growing up all because of this song. I have a feeling that a lot more of these songs will come back to me the further i get in life. when i go through my first breakup, i already know i will listen to “Last Kiss” religiously. but let’s not forget one of my favorites: “Better Than Revenge”. this song has so. much. power. this song puts every mean girl to shame. if you’re ever have problems with a girl, listen to this song. i promise you will feel better.

RED

does anybody else remember the controversy of this album?? or was i the only 10 year old obsessed with celebrity drama? is it country?? is she switching to pop?? while everyone was questioning it, i was loving it. for christmas i got tickets to go see her concert for this album. i listened to this album nonstop for 6 months until her concert. the most common ones, “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” had me screaming at the top of my lungs. then there’s “All Too Well” which still BREAKS. MY. HEART. i remember her playing this song in concert so vividly. such a beautiful and heart wrenching song. and of course, i still wait for the day when i can sing “22” every day for 365 days and relate to it. “Everything Has Changed” grew my love for Ed Sheeran. that collab was such a strong one.

1989

this album is no joke all i listened to for a solid two years. we had the cd in the car and we just let it play and play. i think when this album came out, i was finally at an age where music meant a lot to me. i was able to interpret the lyrics and really comprehend it all. honestly, every single song on this album makes me happy. i could listen to this album on repeat for the rest of my life and be perfectly satisfied. “Welcome To New York” and “Wildest Dreams” are certified bops. obviously “Shake It Off” had me dancing every single time it came on. “All You Had To Do Was Stay” and “How You Get The Girl” are probably my two favorite songs on this album. i don’t even know why but i am still so obsessed with these two songs. “You Are In Love” just brings my heart so much love. it’s the kind of love i wanna have when i’m older, and i want nothing less. i have a hoodie from this album that i still wear consistently and i’m not planning on stopping.

REPUTATION

MY. FAVORITE. ALBUM. i know every single word on this album. i know what and who every song is about. i even know the order of the songs. a lot of people are shocked when i say this is my favorite album, but this album came out exactly when i needed it. i remember sitting in class with so much anxiety when she deleted all of her posts and there were cryptic videos of snakes. when she released “Look What You Made Me Do” i. was. shook. it was nothing like anything she’d released before. i loved it. i craved it. i listened to it nonstop. the drama between her and kanye fed my soul. i’m sorry, but taylor 100% won that fight. but this song was her last straw, and the strength she had to put her foot down inspired me. i was going through a hard time with friends and this album gave me the “i don’t need them” attitude to get me through it. i bought a ridiculous amount of merch from this album to secure that i was able to get access to tickets, and wow. i will never forget the feeling i got standing in the stadium when she came out singing “Ready For It”. and when she was singing “Dress” and said “say my name and everything just stops”, the whole stadium went dark and silent. i had instant chills and my breath was taken away. this whole album is such an important thing to me, and it made my already deep rooted love for taylor even stronger.

LOVER

i love this album, but i don’t feel like i’ve gotten a deep connection with it yet. i’ve had the crushes that i can relate her early songs to, but i’ve never had a strong love. i’ve never been in a relationship, so i don’t think i’ve felt a lot of the emotions that are in this album. however, i don’t love this album any less than the others. i simply get to wait in anticipation for when i can listen to these songs with a new perspective. when “Me” first came out, i don’t think it got the love it deserved. a lot of people had a bad taste with it, but i bopped so hard. it took me back to the days of “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and it made me so happy. i waited all summer for the full album to come out. “London Boy” and “I Think He Knows” were probably my first two favorites on the album. then i got a strong love for “False God”. i got a deep feeling of want from that song. i want to feel that type of love that she talks about in that song. i hope i one day get to experience it. now, “I Forgot That You Existed” brings me back to a good mood whenever i’m feeling down. how can you not start bopping to that song?

FOLKLORE

the album none of us saw coming. i’ve been sitting here for an hour writing this blog post, and i still don’t know what to say about this album. i can’t even put my feelings into words right now. this album has so much emotion to it. i love all 16 songs. this album put emotions into words that i didn’t even realize i was feeling. some lyrics that hit close to home are “I’m still trying everything to get you laughing at me (mirrorball)”, “you showed me colors you know i can’t see with anyone else (illicit affairs)”, “My words shoot to kill when i’m mad, i have a lot of regrets about that (this is me trying)”, “I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace (my tears ricochet)”. i have no words for how amazing those lyrics are. i am in awe of this entire album. it truly is a masterpiece. then there is “exile”. This is my favorite song to ever exist. the words, the harmony, the opposition in this song grip my heart in a way nothing else ever has. i will never get over how beautifully written this album is. so now that i have officially made it through album, i’m going to go back to listening to FOLKLORE on repeat. i suggest you do the same because the emotions truly are unmatched.