Five Of Taylor Swifts Best Songs

Taylor Swift has certainly become an icon in recent years, with the initial fame greeting her in 2007 with her initial songs never ceasing. On the contrary, her newest album, 1989, has recently been dubbed the biggest album of 2014. What is it about this girl that's so irresistible to the public? As a big fan of her music ever since Tim McGraw emerged on country music radio, I can attest her music is so popular due to how universal the lyrics and themes of her songs are.

Swift doesn't paint a portrait of life being an idyllic romping ground for partying like many songs, especially in pop, do in modern times. There's a surprising amount of depth that can be found in many of her tunes, where the harsh realities of life are more than acknowledged within the lyrics she belts out. But it's that kind of harshness that she sings about that helps emphasize the more euphoric moments found in certain more upbeat songs like Shake It Off. Her discography feels like a slice of reality; moments of joy are there, but so are moments of sorrow. And all those emotions are brought to vivid life through sharp lyrics and Swifts flexible vocals that can effectively cover anything from glee to pathos.

It's within that aforementioned discography that one can find five notable songs that epitomize the kind quality that can be found in Taylor Swifts music. In no particular order, here are five of Taylor Swifts best songs.

Fifteen: Being a teenager is at once a freeing, yet constraining experience. You've got all these new emotions in your being, emotions you wanna utilize to their maximum potential. And yet, school and parents hold you back, making for a confounding experience. Taylor Swifts song looking at the emotions that come at the age of fifteen has a wistful, yet knowledgeable attitude to it. It reassures listeners in those pivotal teenage years that their feelings in this age, such as a romantic interest leaving you, are natural, but also notes rightfully that there's more out there in the world. "In your life you'll do greater things than dating the boy on the football team" she croons, delivering that passage in a cultivated manner that's at once reassuring and captivating.

Love Story: A simple romantic story between a boy, a girl and her disapproving father is a well-worn story, dating back to the age of Shakespeare, as the song itself references. But the song, backed up by a guitar melody that sends a sense of urgency through the proceedings, smartly centers around a couples desire to be together against the odds, making it the sort of underdog story that's impossible not to enjoy. And the final verse, depicting the girl running into the boy again after his lengthy absence, has this perfect buildup that crescendos into a masterful romantic finale that wipes out any potential cynicism over the tune.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Taylor Swift is adept at the more emotional songs, that's a well known truth like the sky is blue or water is wet. But her more upbeat music manages to have high quality moments, especially in this giddy explosion of freedom. Yes, freedom, freedom from a relationship the main character in the song has reasonably found to be unsatisfactory for ages. But with the romance in the past, Swift brings to life boundless energy through snappy lyrics that are a potent mixture of anger and jubilation. The music video though, I freely admit, I can't explain.

Teardrops On My Guitar: Romance is the backbone of many of Taylor Swifts songs, and this early release from the artist (only her second publicly released single) demonstrated her capabilities as both a singer and a songwriter (a task she shared with Liz Rose). This entity tackles a topic we all know all too well; unrequited love. This is the kind of reality Swift is great at conveying; the song doesn't end with her getting the boy or finding someone else to love. It concludes with more sorrow, as her sole hope is "..to put his picture down and maybe get some sleep at night." It's always reassuring to see any form of media recognize feelings of loneliness, letting us all know that those emotions do exist, and they do matter.

Ours: This may be my favorite song of Swifts. Sure, it's not a record breaking seller, nor is the scope of its story massive. But it's a nicely simple and intimate tune that consists of Swift reassuring her boyfriend that other peoples opinions about their relationship don't matter. The simple instrumental arrangement (mainly consisting of a guitar in some segments of the song) help get the primary idea of the song across in a super potent manner. That idea is one of Self-confidence and self-esteem, both of which are a massive issue in the world, and I myself have difficult not obsessing over what random strangers, let alone people I know extremely well, think of me, so it's awesome to see Swift make a song about pushing those fears aside and embracing the now. That's not an easy task, but as Ours demonstrates, all that really matters is the ones you love and care about.

Perhaps the most important recurring feature in these songs is how the crux of their lyrics revolve around topics that are well known to both me and many people around the world. Taylor Swift is excellent at bringing those topics to life in a manner that's pleasing on both a quality and emotional level. That being said, I do wish I could figure out what in the hell is going on in that We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together music video!