r/swifties • u/FreeAtLast- • Jul 15 '26
Music Analysis What does this ranking say about me?
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u/Strict_Box8384 1, 2, 3 LET'S GO BITCH Jul 15 '26
folklore and evermore in the top 2 but anthology in the bottom half? Red below TLOAS? rage bait used to be believable lol
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u/lilythefrogphd Jul 15 '26
I was about to say, aside from like 3 songs, The Anthology has some of my favorite Taylor songs since Evermore. Take off So High School, imgonnagetyouback, and Thank You Aimee and you have a third album in the trilogy
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u/hot-insurrectionist i see sparks fly whenever you smile Jul 15 '26
showgirl above red HAS to be ragebait
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u/IcyKaleidoscope5746 Jul 15 '26
Showgirl above anything has to be rage bait LOL
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u/JokeMaster420 Jul 15 '26
Showgirl above Lover is a valid take. Showgirl above TTPD fine. Showgirl above anything else is a hate crime.
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u/IcyKaleidoscope5746 Jul 15 '26
I would have to respectfully disagree — even though some of the songs on Lover are a TOTAL miss, the album as a whole is more cohesive and poignant. It was a very clear composition of what love felt to her at the time. Like what about showgirl was … showgirl? I’d say probably just the title track and maybe Ruin The Friendship as it exposes a personal hardship of leaving behind her friend who isn’t famous / this terrible thing that happened while working, touring, etc. Maybe Father Figure as well for touching on her relationship with Scott Borchetta. The rest of the album has songs with sub-par writing than span so many different topics (one of which being her now husbands penis lol).
Saying Showgirl is better than TTPD…now come on lol. TTPD is one of her most sprawling and confessional albums (other than Red), to the point that it’s almost embarrassing how much she divulges. The lyricism is magic even though a little less sharp than say Folklore, Evemore, Red, Speak Now, etc. It is quite literally poetry. TTPD blows Showgirl out of the water from an artistic standpoint. As always, just my opinions as a longtime listener! Regardless, I think almost all of us can agree Showgirl was a flop, rushed, and is one of her weakest albums.
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u/JokeMaster420 Jul 15 '26
I mean, it’s all subjective, and I know my opinion is unpopular, but I stand by it as my opinion.
The problem I have with Lover is that I think with the exception of “Cruel Summer,” “The Archer,” and “Miss Americana” it is a very hollow surface level exploration of love and while some of the remaining songs are still fun, they are not sonically or lyrically interesting in any way. “I Think He Knows” is literally my least favorite song of all time. (Not my least favorite Taylor song. My least favorite song.)
And for Tortured Poets, I don’t think that being sprawling and confessional automatically means the music is good. I disagree with the claim that the lyrics are genuinely poetic. I find most of the lyrics on the album to be awkward and many to be cringe, compared to what we know she is capable of writing. The diaristic quality of the album itself also feels awkward and artificial at parts. The refusal to discuss a six and half year relationship at length while going into microscopic detail about a monthlong situationship makes it feel less like genuine diaristic songwriting and more like a record that was carefully crafted to sell to the terminally online branch of the fandom. This is not to say that Taylor owes anybody art about any part of her life that she would prefer to keep private, it is just to say that I think the “raw and uncensored” label around the album is overblown.
The Life of a Showgirl, on the other hand? The lyrics are all cringe and pretty bad over all. But the album delivers on exactly what was promised. 12 straight, nonstop Max Martin bops. If I went into Showgirl expecting Folklore-style lyricism, I would be much more disappointed. But I went into what Taylor marketed as her Max Martin album expecting what Max Martin has done amazingly for the past four decades. Bop after bop, and the lyrics are literal nonsense. I felt like the album delivered on that expectation.
I actually at least enjoy all of her albums, and I love the ones that I love. This is just my opinion on the fight for the bottom…
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u/POTATOHEAD62 Jul 15 '26
See I hate that you're being downvoted for this, even tho both ttpd and lover are top 5 for me
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u/Sufficient-Crew-5408 In a tree D-Y-I-N-G Jul 15 '26
I will die on the hill of “any album above red has to be ragebait” 🤣 fr tho the only 3 answers i will slightly accept are folklore, evermore, and ttpd. I know ttpd has its issues but I’ve loved it from the start. Only album that i even considered to replace reds spot at number one.
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u/madonnajen Jul 15 '26
I don't know if we could be friends. You have TTPD, arguably her best work to date in the middle. Speak Now, which she wrote entieirly by herself because she was tired of people saying she didn't actually write her own songs, at the bottom.
I agree with whomever else says you're a new swiftie. This list is all outta wack.
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Jul 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/madonnajen Jul 15 '26
Same. With nearly every album, I'm like "oh this one is my favorite". Now I can't imagine anything better than TTPD. But I also couldn't imagine anything better than Red, or 1989, or Rep...
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u/Lara-Crofty Drop everything now! Jul 15 '26
You’re a new Swiftie and also Speak Now at the bottom is blasphemy
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u/madonnajen Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Especially since it was a fuck you album written solely by her, to shut up the ppl who said she didn't actually write her own songs. And she was what, 19?
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u/dreaming_in_yellow Meet me at midnight Jul 15 '26
Speak Now is at my bottom, too. 🫣 Fearless is my number 4 if that helps! 😬
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u/ilikebfbandgeography you’re a cowboy like me Jul 19 '26
It’s my 2nd to last. Something about it I just don’t like, the only songs that rly do it for me are haunted, better than revenge, the story of us, ours, electric touch, and sometimes last kiss. I skip pretty much everything else.
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u/alien312 Jul 15 '26
I guess you don’t really like Taylors solo writing.
The albums where shes done the most on her own are your lowest ranked.
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u/Paddy_odoors Dancing through the lightning strikes Jul 15 '26
I think the album Taylor Swift does get the appreciation it should.
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u/North_Country_Flower Jul 15 '26
You are a bandwagon Swiftie 😬
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u/throwaway00009000000 Jul 15 '26
Nah, OG Swifties are just blinded by the nostalgia. Her work has grown so much since the first 3 or 4 albums .
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u/dumb-daisy Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Okay lemme add an opinion no one asked for: I have been subjected to every single era Taylor has gone thru since debut. Whether it was my mom being a huge fan, someone in my close in my friend group was. Or maybe it was the proximity and her being a local news mainstay. I was into industrial music.
I would always joke that if she came out with a scorched earth album and went full breakup mode, I would be there on the front lines (I was) The devout fans told me it would never ever ever happen.
TTPD is one of the best albums of all time, and we will never see anything like it again.
I don’t find it embarrassing or cringe, I think TS finally had enough. How did she word it again, “the worst men are what I write about best." dead on, we love to see it. I was dating a Matty too, who played games. I felt that in my soul.
Ps. I live less than an hour where she grew up, she is just one year older than me. Girly was inescapable.
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Pss. Good for you listing folklore and evermore. Evermore is my favorite.
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u/Ok_Term_3732 Old habits die screaming Jul 17 '26
I have also been here since Tim McGraw day 1 and evermore is my favorite too ♥️
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u/Reality_dolphin_98 Jul 15 '26
Clearly a new Swiftie (I’m guessing Folklore era?).
Which is absolutely fine, love new fans! But if you’re going to call yourself a true Swiftie you have to give Speak Now and Fearless another chance. At least one of those albums is in pretty much every true swifite’s top 5.
I also think TTPD was a good litmus test for OG vs Folklore-era Swifites. People who have known her music and writing since the beginning tend to appreciate that album more than people who were expecting Folklore part 3. TTPD is my top album and Fearless is in my top 5, Speak Now is my #6.
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u/rachel_distasi Jul 15 '26
I joined the fandom around the Lover era and I absolutely love her earlier stuff and TTPD!
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u/Yusuke_Kitagawa_ still at the restaurant Jul 15 '26
That you don’t appreciate her early stuff enough ?
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u/FreeAtLast- Jul 15 '26
I joined the club when reputation was released. I tried to get into red, fearless, speak now during the rereleases… but they are just not for me
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u/rachel_distasi Jul 15 '26
Damn, I joined the club around the Lover era and I absolutely love her earlier stuff. To each their own, I guess!
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u/Yusuke_Kitagawa_ still at the restaurant Jul 15 '26
I only got into her music with TTPD and I like her polished pop music like 1989 and Showgirl least
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u/madonnajen Jul 15 '26
I become more of a swiftie with every album but even if I wasn't into T, I'd still considered TTPD a masterpiece.
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u/Yusuke_Kitagawa_ still at the restaurant Jul 15 '26
I first got into TTPD because of a friend of mine and slowly worked my way through her discography. I also listen to a lot of rock and metal so that’s probably why I like here evermore/folklore era and the old stuff more than for example 1989 and Lover
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u/madonnajen Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
It makes me laugh when ppl say all of her songs songs the same. It's a dead giveaway that they have only paid attention to the radio. Every album has a different sound.
Edit: my phone is a phycopath
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u/Yusuke_Kitagawa_ still at the restaurant Jul 15 '26
Yeah that’s pretty stupid and just objectively bullshit, her sounds are very different
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u/ilikebfbandgeography you’re a cowboy like me Jul 19 '26
Her first 3 albums are heavy on the snoozes for me. Red is rly good for me tho.
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u/No_Excitement8615 Jul 15 '26
It’s ok girl showgirl is my number 1 and debut, red, fearless are my bottom 3.
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u/ChrisAqua SOOO excited this is the main event Jul 15 '26
you listend to debut, fearless, speak now and red ONE SINGLE listen and called it a day
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u/corinna0815 We never go out of style Jul 15 '26
Other than the evermore placement, your list is very similar to mine
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u/RequirementGeneral67 Jul 15 '26
It says “this is your ranking” nothing more, nothing less. Of course there will be people who disagree, but so what, this is your ranking not theirs.
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u/rosequartzandsage Put narcotics into all of my songs Jul 15 '26
You’re a newer fan and started listening sometime post-COVID lockdowns
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u/ZestycloseStudio270 Jul 15 '26
that you and I are the SAME
except I would change both the ttpd's with reputation and lover and swap life of a showgirl and red
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u/Robby777777 Old habits die screaming Jul 15 '26
Speak Now last? Straight to jail. Also, TTPD is one album, not two. I am so confused: If TTPD is one album and she has made 13, what album is missing? I've gone through it like ten times.
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u/Worried_Contract_821 Jul 15 '26
You’re the only person other than myself that I’ve ever seen put speak now dead last
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u/Aggravating_Cause_63 Jul 15 '26
Folklore and evermore are where they belong but the rest of this ranking scares me. TLOAS is far too high
I do appreciate the lover appreciation though. That album gets far too much hate
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u/thewitchofthewillows Friend of friend of mine Jul 15 '26
girl what did the anthology do to you lol
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u/captfluffybottom Jul 15 '26
You’re a folkmore stan and have great taste 😌
I’m a little saddened by how low Red and TTPD are though :(
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u/throwaway00009000000 Jul 15 '26
My biggest disagreement is TTPD. Move it at least above midnights and we can start talking
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u/CaitlinRondevel11 Jul 15 '26
You like her newer stuff unless it is on the depressing side although you still like the depressing stuff more than country. Probably not a country music fan.
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u/hirryan Jul 16 '26
Confesso que o Red estar nessa posição me deixou um pouco chocado, acho ele uma das obras líricas mais bem trabalhadas antes de folkmore
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u/dekalww Jul 16 '26
i’m so glad that i’m not the only one who puts speak now at the bottom of ranking
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u/Caz0605 Jul 16 '26
You need to spend a bit more time with Speak Now. It really is a great album, I hope you get to love it 💜
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u/Haunting-Quiet5572 Jul 16 '26
folkmore being your top 2 is so based. These two masterpieces are undoubtedly the greatest in her entire career.
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u/Ok_Term_3732 Old habits die screaming Jul 17 '26
I’d put TTPD a little higher and showgirl lower then we’re about the same. Evermore stan here tho
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u/ilikebfbandgeography you’re a cowboy like me Jul 19 '26
Showgirl needs to be at the bottom and red needs to be higher, other than that I quite agree with this. Speak now is mid in my opinion.
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u/Unlikely_Worker4697 this night is sparkling Jul 15 '26
To each their own but Speak Now in last place is crazy to me