So you’re telling me I’m gonna have to relisten to a lot of music, including all of tortured poets department, midnights, folklore, evermore, and all of her previous work again. This will take a while.

Above is what I was originally gonna start this post by lamenting. However, re-listening to her work again has really been a pleasure, especially while paying more attention to the lyrics in her latest album TTPD.

The songs will be ranked from S-F scale based on how much I like it. The album rankings wont rely on the individual song rankings, but will instead be ranked in a similar way to the individual songs: by how much I like them.

We’ll start with TTPD.

The Tortured Poets Departments (2024)

Best song on this album: Guilty as Sin

Runner Up: Florida!!!

This album is like if Taylor Swift wrote an amazing book of poetry, then transposed it into an album. It’s hard to passively listen to, but if you do listen in, you’ll really enjoy every song (or almost every song).

There are some songs on the album that you can passively listen to and really enjoy; those songs really round out the album.

That’s not to say it’s her best work, but it is art that if you pay attention to, is really beautiful.

That said, some of the lyrics seem like poetry that’s been forced to fit a certain melody, some vocal inflections feel over used; a little more variety of emotion in the album would’ve been nice.

Also some songs seem a little out of touch.

Disclaimer: This ranking reflects how much I enjoyed listening to each song. Also, I don’t have the time to research the full context to every single song, which may affect my opinion of it on the rating scale.

I need to re-rank the B songs here later.

• S: Fortnight, Down Bad, So Long London, Florida!!!, Guilty as Sin, I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, So High School
• A: Peter, The Tortured Poets Department, My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys, I Can Fix Him (No Really I can), Clara Bow, The Albatross, imgonnagetyouback, I Hate It Here, thanK you aIMee, The Manuscript
• B: But Daddy I Love Him, Fresh Out The Slammer, loml, The Alchemy, The Black Dog, Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus, How Did It End?, I Look in People’s Windows, The Prophecy, Cassandra, The Bolter, Robin
• C: Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me (with 31 songs a flop was inevitable)

Moving onto Midnights…

Midnights (2022)

Nice! :)

Best song on this album: Bewjeweled

Runner Up: Vigilante Shit

I’ll note that I’m listening to each album in reverse order of release date. Starting from most recent to least recent.

This means that I’m coming into this review of Midnights from a perspective of having just listened to all 31 tracks on TTPD.

I think this album has less really really good songs but also less underwhelming songs (The album is half the size, after all!). All of the songs whelmed me, and some were really really good.

• S: Lavender Haze, Anti-Hero, Vigilante Shit, Bejeweled, Karma
• A: Maroon, You’re On Your Own Kid, Midnight Rain, Snow On The Beach, Question… ?, Labyrinth, Sweet Nothing, Mastermind

Overall, I’d say this album whelmed me, but it definitely could’ve been a lot better. I felt great about the album on first listen, but on subsequent listens, it didn’t enamour me.

Folklore (2020)

Best song on this album: betty

Runner Up: my tears ricochet

Coming from Midnights, honestly I’d say Folklore is really refreshing! I gotta say that listening to this one really constrasts with the previous two I listened to above, because it has much more musical pull, and still great lyrically.

• S: the 1, cardigan, the last great american dynasty, my tears ricochet, mirrorball, betty, seven, august, illicit affairs, invisible string, hoax
• A: mad woman, exile, this is me trying
• B: peace
• C: epiphany

Evermore (2020)

Best song on this album: no body, no crime

Runner Up: willow

• S: willow, champagne problems, no body no crime, happiness, long story short
• A: gold rush, ’tis the damn season, tolerate it, dorothea, ivy, cowboy like me, marjorie
• B: coney island, closure, evermore

Lover (2019)

ZERO skips

Best song on this album: Paper Rings

Runner Up: Soon You’ll Get Better

• S: I Forgot That You Existed, Cruel Summer, Lover, The Man, I Think He Knows, Miss America && The Heartbreak Prince, Paper Rings, Death By A Thousand Cuts, Soon You’ll Get Better, False God, You Need To Calm Down, ME!, Daylight
• A: The Archer, Cornelia Street, London Boy, Afterglow, It’s Nice To Have a Friend

Reputation (2017)

Tbh, this album and lover might be tying for first place. Every song on this album is amazing.

Best song on this album: Dancing With Our Hands Tied

Runner Up: Getaway Car

• S: …Ready For It?, End Game, I Did Something Bad, Don’t Blame Me, Delicate, Look What You Made Me Do, So It Goes…, Gorgeous, Getaway Car, King Of My Heart, Dancing With Our Hands Tied, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, New Year’s Day
• A: Call It What You Want

1989 (2014)

Best song on this album: Wonderland

Runner Up: New Romantics

• S: Blank Space, Style, Out Of The Woods, All You Had To Do Was Stay, I Wish You Would, Wildest Dreams, How You Get The Girl, This Love, Wonderland I Know Places, Clean, Wonderland, New Romantics
• A: Welcome To New York, Shake It Off, Bad Blood, You Are In Love

Red (2012)

It’s very very difficult to pick the best song and runner up on this one

Best song on this album: All Too Well

Runner Up: Come Back… Be Here

• S: State Of Grace, Red, I Knew You Were Trouble, All Too Well, I Almost Do, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Stay Stay Stay, The Last Time, Holy Ground, Sad Beautiful Tragic, Girl At Home, Come Back… Be Here, The Moment I Knew, Starlight, Everything Has Changed, Begin Again, The Lucky One, I Knew You Were Trouble,
• A: Treacherous, Ronan

Speak Now (2010)

Best song on this album: Enchanted

Runner Up: Ours

• S: Mine, Sparks Fly, Back To December, Speak Now, Dear John, Mean, The Story Of Us, Never Grow Up, Enchanted, Innocent, Haunted, Ours,
• A: Last Kiss, Long Live, Superman

Fearless (2008)

Best song on this album: Hey Stephen

Runner Up: You Belong With Me

This album has some of her best work.

• S: Fearless, Fifteen, Love Story, Hey Stephen, White Horse, You Belong With Me, Breathe, Tell Me Why, You’re Not Sorry, The Way I Loved You, Forever & Always, The Best Day, Jump Then Fall, Untouchable, Come In With The Rain,
• A: Change, Superstar, The Other Side Of The Door, Today Was A Fairytale

Debut (2006)

Best song on this album: Our Song

Runner Up: Should’ve Said No

• S: Picture To Burn, Should’ve Said No, Our Song, Mary’s Song, I’m Only Me When I’m With You, Invisible, A Perfectly Good Heart
• A: Tim McGraw, Teardrops On My Guitar, Cold As You, The Outside, Tied Together With a Smile, Stay Beautiful
• B: A Place In This World

Albums Ranked

At this point I can’t say I have a favourite album. The S Tier albums are all as good as eachother, that feels like a more whole answer than choosing a favourite.

Disclaimer: all of her albums are really good

S-Tier

In S Tier are Lover, Reputation, Speak Now, Red, Fearless, and Folklore

Honestly, I can’t rate these in any specific order. They are all very good in their own ways and to rate them in an order would be to take away some essence from them that I don’t want to take away.

A-Tier

1. 1989
2. The Tortured Poets Department

B-Tier

1. Evermore
2. Midnights
3. Debut

I’ve definitely changed my perspective on my Taylor Swift ranking in this post while re-listening to her entire discography.

This is definitely subject to change but I think this is a good representation.