1/3 - Breaking Down Taylor Swift's Discography and Its Impact

The impact of Taylor Swift’s music is certainly apparent to the general public. Her vastly dedicated fanbase, expansive career, genre-switching, and songwriting acclaim have made her one of the most successful musical artists of the 21st century. This is a deep dive into her different eras and the profound impact that her music has had on me, personally. Her debut album, Taylor Swift, introduced the world to the sixteen-year-old, beautiful, blond, songwriting genius that is Taylor Swift, with her debuting as a country act. Her first released single was titled Tim McGraw, which introduced her songwriting gift to music listeners everywhere. Her stark talent at such a young age was evident from the beginning. I was born in 2003, so I was only three years old when her first album was released, and I didn’t discover how much I genuinely connected with her music, until later on. With that being said, I consider myself to be a highly dedicated fan now and have done much research about her, her songwriting process, and I adored watching the Miss Americana documentary, as well as the Reputation Stadium Tour film, and the long pond studio sessions Disney+ special. I also write poetry myself, and all of her lyrics are just so eloquently poetic in a way that can truly invoke emotion.

I am going to cover a select few of my top picks from each of her studio albums. Considering that she has ten albums and I am infatuated with almost her entire discography, I’m going to be writing four different articles, this first one focusing on her first three albums Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (2008/2021), and Speak Now (2010), I am going to do a separate article regarding Red (Taylor’s Version), 1989 (2014), reputation (2017), and Lover (2019), and another for folklore (2020), evermore (2020), and Midnights (2022)—the most recent three albums are three of my favorite albums of all time.

As for the albums Fearless and Red, I am going to be focusing more on the (Taylor’s Version)s of those albums, including The Vault tracks. Swift has been re-recording her first six albums, which she released under her contract with Big Machine Records, due to the masters of her first six albums being sold by Scooter Braun in 2020, which, when Swift attempted to negotiate, was met with a strict NDA. Thus, out of principle, she has encouraged her fans to stream her (Taylor’s Version)s of those albums, as they are released, of which her fans have been immensely supportive. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) were released in 2021. I'll be starting from her eponymous debut album (2006), to Fearless (originally released in 2008), to Speak Now (2010). I also want to preface this by saying that I adore every single one of her songs (maybe with the exception of ME! or You Need to Calm Down, from Lover), and this is extremely narrowed down to only five of my favorite songs from each album.

Beginning with Taylor Swift, which I believe is severely underrated, by the way, my top picks include Picture To Burn, Our Song, Tied Together with a Smile, I’m Only Me When I’m With You, and Invisible. Picture To Burn has a catchy beat, enticing instrumentals, strong vocals, and immaculate songwriting. I actually don’t even like country music, but her music is so captivating. I memorized the words to that song after listening to it about three times because it’s so catchy and makes me want to scream the words at the top of my lungs, despite my living about thirty minutes from where Taylor Swift was born, in Pennsylvania (not rural). She has that effect with her music–the lyrics are genius and the instrumentals allow you to really remember them and sing along. Our Song is similar to Picture To Burn, in that it’s country and I don’t necessarily relate to that aspect of it, but I was once a sixteen-year-old girl and the words do resonate with me that way, as well as the catchy beat that engrains the song in your brain for days.

Tied Together with a Smile is cogently relatable to me, as someone who struggles with self-esteem. The music and lyrics are delicate and emotive, and you can sense the authenticity when she sings it. I’m Only Me When I’m With You is a country-pop track, essentially about young love. As someone still relatively young, and in a long-term relationship, the lyrics certainly pertain to my own life, the instrumental tracking, vocals, and lyrics are beautifully cohesive, like most of her music. Invisible simply encompasses emotions of youthful heartbreak and angst, with Swift’s powerful songwriting and emotional vocals, I love this underrated song.

Those are a few of my top picks from her debut album, which I actually didn’t discover the raw beauty of until after Midnights was released, which I am ashamed of. She was fifteen/sixteen when she wrote these songs, which is just incredible. I very much admire her, her perseverance, her talent, her authenticity, and her strength while others have tried to shut her down. Today, she’s a global superstar with massive success and continues to regularly release music, with critical acclaim each time. Next, I’m going to discuss Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

Fearless was originally released in 2008; however, Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in April 2021, which includes The Vault tracks that were not on the original album. I will be discussing the latter. I adore this album, truly, the Grammy she earned from this album was well-deserved. Taylor Swift has always been unique in the fact that she’s writing from the perspective of whatever age she is while writing. She was just 18 years old when she released the original album and just 19 when she won the Grammy for Album of the Year. I adore this album, it’s one of my favorites, so it was difficult to narrow it down to just my top five favorites. However, the top five standouts to me are Love Story (Taylor’s Version), Hey Stephen (Taylor’s Version), White Horse (Taylor’s Version), Breathe (feat. Colbie Caillat)(Taylor’s Version), and You All Over Me (feat. Maren Morris)(Taylor’s Version)(From The Vault). Honorable mentions: You Belong With Me (Taylor’s Version), Bye Bye Baby (Taylor’s Version), Jump Then Fall (Taylor’s Version), and Tell Me Why (Taylor’s Version).

Starting with Love Story (Taylor’s Version), this bop was certainly popular when it was first released, and again when it was re-released. This beautiful and catchy musical story displays Swift’s apparent and palpable ability to articulate stories through her music and to emote appropriate vocals to correspond with the emotions of the story, especially since she writes all of her own music. Love Story (Taylor’s Version) uses the story of Romeo and Juliet and poetic, storytelling elements to capture a beautiful story, with a positive twist ending to truly raise one’s spirits, along with that upbeat musical tracking everyone knows. Hey Stephen (Taylor’s Version) including an earworm-level catchy beat (those “mhmm-mhmm-mh, mh-mh”s will never leave my brain), eloquent storytelling, and yet another uplifting story concept. I just love this song. And this album. And Dr. Blondie herself. That’s all.

White Horse (Taylor’s Version) is a somber tune about a boy crushing her hopes for their future together. She had this idea of a “fairytale”, “Hollywood” story with this relationship, but “maybe [she] was naïve” and young, and couldn’t anticipate the eventual heartbreak and inability for another chance. It’s just a gorgeous song, and the line “I’m gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well”, is so beautiful considering she has now been in a committed and loving relationship since 2016. Breathe (feat. Colbie Caillat)(Taylor’s Version) is a beautiful ballad with stunning vocalizations from both Taylor and Colbie. The lyrics are almost cathartic to listen to her sing, and this song is crisp, lovely, and underrated. You All Over Me (feat. Maren Morris) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault) is another song to invoke visceral feelings. Maren Morris’ stunning backing vocals mixed with Taylor's vocals, the deep, emotional lyrics about lingering feelings for a past relationship, everything about this song tugs at the heartstrings.

All in all, I am constantly in awe of this woman and the abilities she has possessed since she was fourteen years old. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) introduces people to the Taylor Swift that is still rooted in country but you can definitely hear elements of pop and folk music— genres she’d pursue later. She’s always been unique and innovative, and watching her thrive and shine because of her immense talent, immerses me in real hope. Her songwriting abilities have always been evident and she has been smart enough to use her talent to bring her success. Next, I will be discussing Speak Now (2010), one of her most cohesive bodies of work.

Speak Now is the third studio album released by Taylor Swift. She was the age I am now when she wrote and released this masterpiece. She wrote every song entirely herself, and most of the songwriting was done while Swift was promoting Fearless. This album is one of her most loved albums by fans, due to the cohesion, articulate songwriting, realistic lyrics from the perspective of a 20-year-old young woman, strong and emotional vocal performances, and personal narrative storytelling. While I adore the album as a whole, my top five picks would have to be Speak Now, Dear John, Mean, Better Than Revenge, and Long Live.

The album’s title track, Speak Now, follows the story of a girl—the narrator—who stops a wedding because she is in love with the groom, and they run away together. A reference to the story of this song and Swift herself appeared in an episode of New Girl called “Elaine’s Big Day”, with Swift portraying Elaine—the girl who shows up at Cece and Shivrang’s wedding, confesses her love for him, and they run away together. I thought that was clever. The catchy beat, hook, fluid lyrics, and enigmatic story make this song top-tier. Dear John is a scathing track, reportedly about her rumored ex, John Mayer, who dated in 2010, when she was 19 and he was 32. Dear John is 6 minutes and 43 seconds long, and every second of it is engaging. One can simply hear the pain in her voice as she reminisces about this toxic relationship and how much she regrets it. “Don’t you think 19’s too young to be played by your dark, twisted games, when I loved you so, I should’ve known”, will forever be one of my favorite of her lyrics. This song is also particularly adored by fans for its lyrical power, authenticity, vocal power, and classy shade that was thrown at John Mayer. Mean was written about a critic who wrote about her and basically said nothing constructive and just chose to tear down a young, extremely talented, female singer-songwriter. Instead of a petty comeback, she wrote a Grammy award-winning song about the “liar, and pathetic, and alone in life, and mean” critic. The optimistic outlook on something usually perceived as negative, and the catchy hook/beat make this song a never-skip song (like most of this album…or her discography).

Better Than Revenge is a rock, revenge anthem about vengeance for a romantic rival. It’s the only song on the album that alludes to anything sexual with the line “she’s not a saint, and she’s not what you think, she’s an actress, and she’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress”. I absolutely adore the power of this song, with its storytelling and lyricism, vocals, instrumentals, and meaning. 10/10 track. And last, but certainly not least, is Long Live. Long Live is essentially an ode to her fans, and it is just beautiful. I cry almost every time I hear that song. Her emotional vocals, articulate and deep lyrics, and the intensity of this song make it a fan favorite. Overall, Speak Now is a genuine masterpiece, entirely written and co-produced by the artist herself. It’s one of the most anticipated (Taylor’s Version) re-releases.

All in all, Taylor Swift is a force to be reckon with. She is one of the most prominent faces of the modern music industry. I will continue to expand on her musical genius and its impact on me, as well as millions of fans worldwide, in the next two articles–the first being in regards to Red (Taylor’s Version) (originally 2012, rereleased 2021), 1989 (2014), reputation (2017), and Lover (2019); the second being in regards to folklore (2020), evermore (2020), and Midnights (2022). Thank you for making it to the end, and thank you to Taylor Swift for producing some of the most profound, relatable, enticing, and powerful music I’ve ever heard, and for making such a positive, comforting impact on my life. I love you, Dr. Blondie!