If you follow Taylor Swift on Instagram, you may have seen her recent post celebrating tens years since her first ever album dropped when she was just sixteen. Since then she has gone on to bring out four more albums, win ten Grammy Awards (the only female artist to ever win Album of the Year twice), and have four very successful world tours.
Taylor Swift is the person who inspired me to begin playing guitar, and I first started listening to her music in 2007. Whilst I'm not one of these fans that is constantly talking about her or have a Tumblr account dedicated to her, I would definitely be lying if I said that she hasn't had such a huge influence on my life. I have always been in love with her songwriting ability; the way she tells a story and understands human experiences and emotions, the way in which her songs are so catchy that I'll find myself humming the melodies for weeks after hearing them, and how it's so easy to relate to her lyrics.
Unlike a lot of artists in the charts these days, Taylor is heavily involved in the creative process of writing and creating her music (and the secret messages she hides in her lyric books about the true meaning of her songs are genius). Her album 'Speak Now' was written in its entirety by her, and her alone. That is a rarity in itself. She is one of the best songwriters of our time and, to celebrate her tenth anniversary of being in the music business, I have decided to pull together my top five favourite songs from each of her albums (including a bonus post with my favourite songs she's done that have not featured on her own albums).
Love her or hate her, enjoy her singing or not, you have to admit that she knows how to write a damn good song.
[Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Bonus Post] <----- will link to them when they are posted on my blog.
Taylor Swift is the person who inspired me to begin playing guitar, and I first started listening to her music in 2007. Whilst I'm not one of these fans that is constantly talking about her or have a Tumblr account dedicated to her, I would definitely be lying if I said that she hasn't had such a huge influence on my life. I have always been in love with her songwriting ability; the way she tells a story and understands human experiences and emotions, the way in which her songs are so catchy that I'll find myself humming the melodies for weeks after hearing them, and how it's so easy to relate to her lyrics.
Unlike a lot of artists in the charts these days, Taylor is heavily involved in the creative process of writing and creating her music (and the secret messages she hides in her lyric books about the true meaning of her songs are genius). Her album 'Speak Now' was written in its entirety by her, and her alone. That is a rarity in itself. She is one of the best songwriters of our time and, to celebrate her tenth anniversary of being in the music business, I have decided to pull together my top five favourite songs from each of her albums (including a bonus post with my favourite songs she's done that have not featured on her own albums).
Love her or hate her, enjoy her singing or not, you have to admit that she knows how to write a damn good song.
[Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Bonus Post] <----- will link to them when they are posted on my blog.
Album: "Taylor Swift" (2006)
Teardrops On My Guitar Okay, so this was actually the first Taylor Swift song I ever heard so, while it's not one of my absolute favourites, it's very special to me personally. The song talks about her unrequited love for a boy and evokes the powerful imagery of a young girl crying over her guitar as she writes this song. Favourite line: "He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart" Tied Together With a Smile When I was younger, this song meant so much to me. The lyrics are beautiful. It's about a person who doesn't think they're good enough and they mask their unhappiness by parading around with a smile on in public, but they're reaching their breaking point and it's starting to show on the outside. In the song Taylor is basically saying bad things can happen and life isn't perfect, but that's okay. She points out how absurd this idea of being 'perfect' is and highlights how insecurities can make a person suffer. Favourite line: "The water's high, you're jumping into it and letting go." Should've Said No This song is so fierce! Taylor has said that she wrote this song about an ex-boyfriend who cheated on her and damn I bet he feels like a fool now. Luckily for her, she was able to create a truly awesome song about the entire experience. On the album this song sounds amazing, but when she performed it live on her Fearless tour it was absolutely insane! (Check out the video at the side). The part from the bridge until the end is ten times better than the studio version. Favourite line: "You should've thought twice before you let it all go." Mary's Song (Oh My My My) This song is one of the best for showcasing Taylor Swift's incredible story-telling ability. Her and Liz Rose make one of the best song-writing teams, in terms of being able to emotionally relate to people. Taylor stated that she wrote this song about an elderly couple who lived nearby to her that had been married for years. This song is relationship goals. Favourite line: "And I'll be eighty-seven, you'll be eighty-nine I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky Oh, my, my, my." Invisible My favourite thing about this song is it's beautiful melody. In terms of the story, it's pretty similar to 'Teardrops on My Guitar' but I personally prefer this song out of the two just because it's more stripped back which truly heightens the emotion in the experience she's trying to tell. Favourite line: "Like shadows in a faded light Oh, we’re invisible." | |
Let me know what your favourite Taylor Swift songs are from her self-titled album by commenting below!
"Anytime someone tells me that I can't do something, I want to do it more." - Taylor Swift