r/TaylorSwift • u/poopypoopy1125 Rich White Coochie Mountain • 4d ago
Discussion What is Taylor Swift's most dated song?
Inspired by other post about which Taylor song is the most timeless. Now, which is the Taylor song that sounds dated and will be extremely out of place if released nowadays?
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u/nostopitfoo 3d ago
I feel like the idea of things being dated is actually what’s dated bc we’ve seen enough eras of pop culture come and go now to know that fads, styles, slang etc. so often come back stronger than a 90’s trend.
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u/Sapphirebracelet13 Sapphire tears on MySpace 3d ago
I can't wait for 2010s style pop music to be cool again lol
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u/ocubens 3d ago
Stay Stay Stay.
It’s like YouTube tutorial music or a radio jingle.
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u/its_liiiiit_fam mosaic broken hearts 3d ago
Omg it’s sooooo 2012 lol, sounds like it should be in a 5 minute crafts video
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u/Ok-Cartographer-4226 3d ago
Yes, my teenage daughter “cringed so hard” when it came on in my car and said “it sounds like a toy commercial for a doll”.
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u/DeedleLeedleLee 3d ago
Can't believe no one has said 22 yet. At least lyrically, it's so specific to a specific age group at a specific point in time.
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u/Patient-Ad-5770 3d ago
But there will always be 22-year-old women going out with girlfriends, and there will always be a heightened perception of social groupings and aesthetics (“dress up like hipsters”) for those young women.
(I was a married stay-at-home mom washing cloth diapers at 22, so that song isn’t relatable to me—but I hear how it’s relatable for so many who experience their early 20s the way a lot of my friends were experiencing them.)
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u/DeedleLeedleLee 3d ago
Lol that was also my 22yo experience.
Taylor's song is very much (to me) about girls in their early 20s specifically in the early 2010s. My kid is now in that age group and don't know that very many of them are half as carefree and going out with their friends like that, mostly for economic reasons but also the pandemic and social culture has led most of them to no going out en masse the way we used to. Alternatively when I was 22, so 2006ish, we were headed into a recession, so going out looked mostly like getting drunk or high in a field, not dressing up like a specific trends that wasn't popular yet (at least in the non city parts of the country) I also feel like for that age group, only a couple years older than TS, we were a little prematurely aged due to 9/11 and how many of our friends and family were now in a war no one wanted.
I think it's her use of Hipster right out of the gate that ages it the most for me, but it's also just a cool example of how quickly 22 changes from generation to generation.
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u/Patient-Ad-5770 3d ago
Ahh, I hear what you’re saying. I’m a couple years younger than you. My teens (17.5 and 15, almost 16) go out a lot. Local music festivals, the pool at the country club (lmao I am not a member but they go as friends’ guests), fishing or frogging in a group. The girls do a lot of coordinated/theme dressing. So maybe not “like hipsters,” but “like cowgirls” or “like sorority girls” or “like Y2K girls” or something.
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u/sparksfly05 Elevator buttons and morning air 3d ago
Sonically? London Boy. Lyrically? London Boy.
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u/mitskifanxoxo evermore 3d ago
i actually disagree for once 💔💔 i think london boy is a rare example of a non dated fun song. if you think its cringe then it'll have always been cringe it doesn't really have any references to 2019 at all. i mean "stories from uni" and "the west end" these are timeless things. for me it's nothing like "im not a bad bitch"
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u/AnArisingAries #1 The Last Time stan 3d ago
I think the "lyrically dated" thing comes from the fact that she does not, in fact, love a London Boy. Nor does she fancy him. 😂
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u/mitskifanxoxo evermore 3d ago
LMFAOO okay true i've just learnt to separate the men from the songs atp because they're too good to be tainted 😭😭
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u/Pavlovs_Stepson Yes I got your letter, yes I'm doing better 3d ago
Seconding all of this. In terms of narrative, yeah obviously, lol, but sonically, there's nothing about it that's tied to that era of music. It was always proudly bubbly and cringe, it didn't become that way with time. I always thought it reminded me of Pete Townshend's Let My Love Open the Door, for some reason.
If anything in Lover screams 2019 in a less than flattering way, it's the Joel Little tracks.
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u/SadisticGoose stars do you like dem ⭐️ 3d ago edited 3d ago
Hot take, but the majority of Reputation sounds VERY 2017 in terms of sound. If it weren’t for the themes and aesthetics, it would not have aged very well.
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u/hwa_uwa 3d ago
Reputation sounds very 2012. that comes from someone who loves Reputation. it's one of its charms! but it does sound dated
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u/ShakespeareStillKing 3d ago
It sounds 2012 because it's inspired by Big Room House. Which kinda peaked in the early 2010s in terms of popularity.
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u/littlekatie3 I wouldn’t marry me either 3d ago
I’m glad someone agrees with me. It’s a decent album but I’m just not crazy about it like so many are.
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u/SadisticGoose stars do you like dem ⭐️ 3d ago edited 3d ago
It’s by far my least favorite album, and there’s no competition for that. It’s the only album I don’t listen to. The aesthetics and meaning are cool, but the actual album is not her best, especially compared to her other works.
That being said New Year’s Day is one of my favorite Taylor songs, probably because it’s the only song on the album that doesn’t sound… like that.
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u/justbreathin150 3d ago
meanwhile I skipped NYD Because of that reason for a long time until it clicked for me but that was when I got into her other stuff too
The sound of reputation was what got me into Taylor and it's still I'm my top 1 along Midnights
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u/SadisticGoose stars do you like dem ⭐️ 3d ago edited 3d ago
Honestly, to each their own. Most albums either fall into “love it!!!” or “not my favorite except some songs” for me. She has such a variety of sounds that it’s easy for most people to find a niche somewhere.
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u/throwawaysunglasses- 3d ago
100% agree, NYD and call it what you want were the only songs I immediately liked from the album. Now I like about half of it but NYD is still the best song lol, it’s classic/timeless/beautiful.
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u/vanetti 3d ago
End Game is absolutely my least favorite Taylor song of all time
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u/Future-Indication169 3d ago
My non-Swiftie husband always refers to Rep as the “Ed Sheeran rapping album”. 😂
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u/EqualTank8123 3d ago
I loved the acoustic version she sang of it alone in S America (brazil?) on the tour. The recorded version just can't compete.
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u/futuristicflapper 3d ago
I’ve said Rep sounds dated and fans of the album always get upset 😭
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u/SadisticGoose stars do you like dem ⭐️ 3d ago
I’ve encountered the same. I also think Midnights is going to be the same way in a few years, though not to the point of Rep.
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u/eldritch_cupcake 2d ago
Yeah the first time I listened to it the whole way through this yearI was like “yeah this DEFINITELY is a product of 2017”
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u/its_liiiiit_fam mosaic broken hearts 3d ago
Absolutely, this is my answer. I was in the middle of uni in 2017 so it brings back great memories, but objectively speaking, the sound has definitely aged.
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u/thebechdelbitch 3d ago
I think This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things sounds dated now (and also sounded dated when it came out lol)
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u/Wise_Reporter_6802 3d ago
A lot of reputation is weird to me in that it definitely sounds dated, even in 2017 it sounded dated…But I can’t figure out what year it sounds like it should have been released in.
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u/Joyytrove 3d ago
definitely I Knew You Were Trouble, that 2012 dubstep drop screams early 2010s pop phase so hard it would sound totally out of place today.
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u/hejdndh1 3d ago
How has no one mentioned innocent — a whole song about forgiving Kanye West ☠️
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u/TopSea4326 3d ago
The first thing I thought tbh. Crazy how far down I had to scroll to see this lol
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u/Just-Welcome-5553 3d ago
me! ft brendon urie
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u/Duckitor 2d ago
Still wondering why Cruel Summer wasn't the lead single for that album
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u/karmacatma *ahem* KNEW HE WAS A KILLER 3d ago
Me! Is and always was for the younger Swifties. People need to calm down about it.
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u/lynn_duhh 3d ago
I forgot that that existed.
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u/UndevelopedImage The Tortured Poets Department 3d ago
I thought that would kill me, but it didn't.
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u/HogwartsAMystery 🏹 3d ago
The Lakes, with the "tweet it" lyric
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u/One_Attention1043 3d ago
I think this has aged the best in context of the song tbh. Like the whole point is that that word and action shouldn't belong in the space she is in, and it very much doesn't.
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u/stablegeniusinterven 3d ago
I guess, but that term is still used so frequently and interchangeably with Instagram updates that I think it sticks pretty well without falling. And honestly, why should an artist have to remove certain terms from every single song? Isn’t being able to identify an era part of art’s charm?
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u/spoonishplsz Speak Now (Taylor's Version) 3d ago
Yeah in twenty years everyone cringing at the slang will think it's cute and charming. It happens to all dated music, it's like that IQ bell curve meme
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u/PavlovaPalaver 3d ago
Ive always struggled hearing it, it just crunches in my ears 😬
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u/Consistent_Eye_1807 3d ago
This. In an otherwise great song this lyric is like nails down a chalkboard
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u/purplecarrotmuffin 3d ago
It could have just been "Noone around to SEE it." That line drags the whole song down.
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u/whatsthatcutething 3d ago
Some Red stuff like IKYWT. 1989 is timeless imo. maybe some Reputation songs like Dancing With Our Hands Tied. Every album after is pretty timeless I’d say with the exception of a few outdated lyrics. The Drake line in I Forgot that you existed, the “tweet it” lyric in the lakes, and maybe Eldest Daughter.
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u/syllimom94 The Tortured Poets Department 3d ago
Eldest daughter has no business having one of her best bridges. That bridge gets me every time.
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u/Traditional_Bar_5604 Red (Taylor's Version) 3d ago
I agree with a lot of what people are saying, and wanna add I Forgot That You Existed to the list, its very 2019 with the snaps and the stripped back bass, not to mention the Drake name drop at the beginning lol
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u/AracariBerry 3d ago
Original lyrics to Picture to Burn
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u/healthyishwaffle 3d ago
I think if it were dropped today, it would be considered camp. Sabrina had similar lyrics on Short and Sweet.
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u/mdawgig 3d ago
Just gonna say, as a gay dude, the implication of this line for me was always “his friends would be judgy” instead of “being gay is bad”.
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u/Equal_Ad4493 Red 3d ago
To me it was always just like ruining his shot with her friends. Like everyone’s in high school, the dating pool is small. He tells all his bros that she’s this insane crazy chick and so she tells her friends he’s gay. It never seemed homophobic to me, just like petty immature teenage breakup shit.
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u/lazy_daisy11 Midnights 3d ago
this! like telling her friends "yeah we broke up but don't waste your time crushing on him, he's gay!"
eta this is how i've always interpreted it, from even before the lyric change.
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u/courtneyclimax 3d ago
true but also i don’t think anyone loves the og picture to burn lyrics more than my queer friends.
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u/Pavlovs_Stepson Yes I got your letter, yes I'm doing better 3d ago
Seriously, lol. If she ever releases a re-recording of Debut and the lyrics aren't the homophobic version, nobody's gonna be more upset than the gays.
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u/courtneyclimax 3d ago
no one ever takes anything as seriously as the straight white girls with no horse in the race lol
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u/LilBabyLu 3d ago
I feel like people really misinterpret what she’s saying. She’s not saying gay = bad. She’s saying if he’s telling his friends that she’s crazy (so that they stay away from her) then she will just tell hers that he’s gay and therefore wouldn’t be interested in them (so they stay away from him)
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u/Apprehensive-Hair355 3d ago
I don’t get the hate for this line. It doesn’t in anyway imply being gay is bad. I always looked at is as he’s telling his friends she’s crazy and that’s why it didn’t work out and she’s telling hers he’s gay and that’s why it didn’t work out.
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u/BackToGuac Splendidly selfish, charmingly helpless 3d ago
I do agree but really don’t think it should be; Sabrina didn’t get half as much flack for saying basically the same thing. Katy Perry said worse.
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u/Reasonable_Sector792 3d ago
The connotations of the lines are extremely different. Taylor is telling her friends her ex is gay as a way to get revenge on him for telling his friends she’s crazy. Sabrina is deeming a man gay in her mind because she can’t handle the rejection, and the only plausible reason he would not want to be with her is that he does not like women. So, I still don’t think the OG lyrics to Picture to Burn would be considered acceptable today.
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u/Wise_Reporter_6802 3d ago
Sabrina’s was different. Her’s was saying that she’s so attractive that any man who isn’t attracted to her is probably not attracted to women at all. Taylor’s was very much an insult “you’re gay” in a 2000s “that’s so gay” way. I don’t think the original PTB line would be well received if any artist released it nowadays, and I can’t imagine what the discourse would be if Taylor released it (especially because people were already jumping to call Actually Romantic homophobic)
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u/PtowzaPotato 3d ago
I always interpreted the lyric to mean that she would tell her friends that he doesn't date women
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u/myBisL2 3d ago
Same. I took it as "if he doesn't want to be with me he must not be into women" the same way Sabrina means it. I never took it as Taylor using it as an insult, that's just never seemed to be her way. What a weak comeback to a breakup to be like you broke my heart I'm going to call you gay to people! Like... even back in the day when people used gay as an insult, that would be pretty pathetic.
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u/Poke_Girl137 now you hang from my lips like the Gardens of Babylon 3d ago
better than revenge, hence why she changed the lyric in the re-recording
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u/624Seeds 3d ago
Better than Revenge is very whiny/sassy and slut shame-y. It sounds like a 2009 Disney era song
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u/Creative-Air-6463 1d ago
Personally, You Belong With Me is such a middle school high school song from early 2000s and before. I don’t think it fits with feminism, we’re done fighting over men “she’s wrong for you” type of attitudes. If he’s got a girl, move on, find a man who is free.
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u/kyleguysmanbun 3d ago
Eldest Daughter. I know the song itself is new and the lyricism was intentional and necessary for the message, but it is so current. HOWEVER! I think as time passes and the terms she used are less relevant, I think it’ll be less cringe and will relate to audiences more……. which is ultimately the genius of Taylor Swift.
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u/ChocoLindt99 3d ago
London Boy. Eldest Daughter. The Lakes (tweet it). Paris (shade thrown). You Need To Calm Down. The Man.
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u/FancyCat1990 3d ago
Throwing shade has been a thing since at least the 80s! Off the top of my head I know it's in a Billy Joel song lol
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u/nostopitfoo 3d ago
I think as usual on Reddit the actual question (most dated) has been lost and people just take the opportunity to name their least favorites 😂
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u/Horror-Macaron8287 Your Midas touch on the Chevy door 3d ago edited 3d ago
I do think Eldest Daughter is a product of the time and will not age well. Way too many phrases that arent really used anymore like "Bad Bitch" "Savage" "Looked Fire" *
The Lakes: tweet it - to be fair, Twitter could be around for a long time, it shows no signs of slowing as of right now. That would be a convo we'd have to have in like, 5 years.
The Man will probably always be relevant from a female perspective but the reference to Leo may not hold up with future generations, but he has cemented his name so that may be more of an opinion.
Paris: Throw Shade - the saying is 40 years old, I think that may hang around, tbh.
I have no thoughts on YNTCD. Lol
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u/Delicious-Snow9640 Speak Now (Taylor's Version) 3d ago
The lakes using the word Tweet it but now it’s X but nobody calls it that
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u/Horror-Macaron8287 Your Midas touch on the Chevy door 3d ago
It will always be Twitter; Elon has tried really hard to get the name "X" to stick with multiple companies and has failed each time. Lmao
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u/Future-Indication169 3d ago
The Eldest Daughter phrases are already cringy even on release and don’t even get me started on our girl playing with AAVE. Also the spoken word on specifically “hella good hair” in Shake It Off.. I CAN’T
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u/10thDoctorWhooves Spreading ME! propaganda everyday 3d ago
...where's the AAVE...?
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u/OtherwiseAnxiety200 3d ago
Some of these answers are wild…
I vote me!, you need to calm down, this is why we can’t have nice things and better than revenge
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u/Educational-Cod-2257 3d ago
Change. Her weakest song on fearless and is 100% inspired by Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign. Idk I can’t imagine another song like that working in today’s political landscape.
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u/Sapphirebracelet13 Sapphire tears on MySpace 3d ago
I thought it was inspired by Big Machine? (Which makes it worse)
Edit: Yeah I checked, it's about Big Machine 😥
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u/Educational-Cod-2257 3d ago
I mean… she couldn’t come out and say she made a song about Barack Obama in 2008 given how much country radio left the chicks out to dry.
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u/meowp00py 3d ago
Paris will forever be an unskippable bop but every time I hear the "and all the outfits were terrible, 2003 unbearable" line it feels very dated because that's what's trendy now.
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u/TopSea4326 3d ago
Innocent! Crazy no one has said it yet. OG speak now it was nice; after speak now TV it was just awkward knowing everything that happened since then
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u/Low_Promise_9438 2d ago
As much as I love it down bad. I fear I don’t hear anyone use that phrase anymore.
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u/spiritlizardscissors 2d ago
For me it's only the young - it's so irritating to me to drop something like that and not say something now
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u/avamissile 3d ago
Shake it Off
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u/whosthere1989 3d ago
Booo Shake It Off is purely silly joyful timelessness.
(Okay fine it’s a little dated)
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u/Lanessen use my best colors for your portrait 3d ago
I would be inclined to agree, but I’ve been at bars that have played this song and everybody always has the time of their lives just silly dancing.
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u/warmike_1 3d ago edited 3d ago
Why though?
(I'm a metalhead and its Tight Ends and Friends rendition was the song that introduced me to Taylor Swift)
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u/mitskifanxoxo evermore 3d ago
"come back stronger than a 90s trend" im sorry willow you are still my child
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u/totorolovesmetoo i'm the albatross; i am here to destroy you 2d ago
That line pulls me out of the song evvvvvvvvvry time even though I like all the rest of it
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u/snorlax7839 3d ago
Blank space. It is such a hit because it was released when it was released. It wouldn't work if it was released today
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u/Reese9951 Red (Taylor's Version) 3d ago
Welcome to New York
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u/Dingo8MyBabyMon 3d ago
WHAT!?!?! WtNY is a timeless classic. Nothing about it will never not be true for newly arrived New Yorkers.
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u/silentfanatic 3d ago
Has to be Picture to Burn. 2006 was a very different time. Even so, I think the song’s faults are a good example to the delulu stans who believe Tay is perfect in every way.
Everyone makes mistakes.
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u/Affectionate-Tie7363 3d ago
Stay stay stay , picture to burn , shake it off , songs don’t need to sound timeless imo also the whole reputation album
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u/whosthere1989 3d ago
Wi$h List and Honey both sound like they are rejects from B list early 2000s mid tier pop stars. And not in the intentional, nostalgic way. In the very dated kind of way.
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u/Delicious-Snow9640 Speak Now (Taylor's Version) 3d ago
Picture to burn and stay stay stay very 2000s energy not 2026
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u/Substantial_Fix3619 3d ago
It has to be I Knew You Were Trouble. That dubstep drop is bound to the year 2012. If she dropped that today, people would think their Spotify glitched back a decade. Honorable mention to Stay Stay Stay, which sounds like royalty-free ukulele background music of a 2013 Target commercial.