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You are here: Home / Music / Taylor Swift Music Recommendations

Taylor Swift Music Recommendations

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A few months ago I asked for suggestions for good Taylor Swift songs because I had never listened to her.

I have had a dozen tabs open with songs you had suggested, but that’s not practical, so I decided to make a playlist.  Now I’m finally ready to listen, and I am looking for suggestions for really good Taylor Swift songs to add to the playlist.

Playlist so far.

What else would you guys recommend?

As long as I get some good Taylor Swift recommendations I’ll be happy, so don’t feel like you’re limited to Taylor Swift.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  3. 3.

    Rachel bakes

    From my 17 year old:

    “Look what you made me do”

    ”welcome to New York “

    ”we are never getting back together”

    ”mean “

    ”our song”

    ”my tears ricochet “

  4. 4.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Who?

    Just kidding. A little. There’s a Disney ad I see featuring her and those few seconds my main reaction is, I don’t get why she’s such a huge deal. But I understand I’m old and out of touch. Also, I’m an idiot for trying to draw any kind of conclusion from 10 seconds.

    Also don’t get why Billie Eilish is a big deal.

    /curmudgeon

    I’ll listen to the playlist and try to get educated. Probably better than the random 70s soundtracks that keep popping up in my brain, much to the puzzlement of both my wife and myself.

  5. 5.

    Mousebumples

    I also recommend the Eras Tour (on Disney+), if you just want to experience the music and her showwomanship.

  7. 7.

    Brooklyn Dodger

    Just getting familiar with her songs. I like “Karma.”

    Thanks for the tip of “All Too Well”, I’ll check it out.

  8. 8.

    Princess

    You definitely need “Karma” “You Need to Calm Down” and “Look What You Made me Do.”

  11. 11.

    Rob

    @Suzanne: Absolutely! When I had that CD in the car and the 10-minute version was coming up, I made sure that kleenex were handy in the front of the car.

  13. 13.

    Manyakitty

    @TerryTime: but will they let you listen in order or will they shuffle it? Not that it matters in this case, probably, but I am enraged that you can’t just look up a song and hear it without paying for yet another one of their scam unlimited programs. Ridiculous. Amazon is one of the main contributors to the enshittification of everything. I’m still so pissed that they’re charging more for less and less and less that I’m just about ready to deal with the inconvenience and give Bezos the boot.

  14. 14.

    Ivan X

    I try to be helpful where and when I can. This is not gonna be one of those situations.

  16. 16.

    clay

    She’s done some notable collaborations. Check out “The Alcott” by The National, which she co-wrote and sings on.

  17. 17.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    My sense of Taylor Swift is that she’s not so much a great musician but just very, very good at tapping into the zeitgeist.  Instead of listening to her, I’d watch her music videos, google blank space, style, look what you made me do, bejewelled, wildest dreams.

    wildest dreams is a good example of what I mean:  the story told by the video does not track the lyrics but isn’t incompatible with them either; instead, it just tells a completely different story from the one you’d expect from just hearing the song.  I think her music videos much more clever & interesting than her songs, which are undeniably banal.

  18. 18.

    Craig

    Fairly clueless. I’ve tried to not be a “whatever” person about her. Don’t really know pop music anymore. My old friend that bonded with me over Norwegian Black Metal in the 90s has been going off on her since around 2019, complementing the production and writing. This week I learned that I have heard her, I just didn’t know it. Shake It Off is a catchy as hell song. I might watch The Eras Tour tonight. I think I prefer Billie Eilish, but whatever, there’s more to life than punk rock, metal and hip-hop.

  20. 20.

    SpaceUnit

    I would recognize exactly two Taylor Swift songs, but I’m planning to watch the concert on Disney at some point.

    If old school rock is more your cup of tea The Warning released another banger last week.  Those girls are just killing it right now.  Hell You call a Dream (live)

    You’re welcome.

  26. 26.

    Mel

    It’s not Taylor Swift, but give a listen to The Revivalists “Wish I Knew You”. Such a great band, and such a terrific song.

    Also well worth a listen: LP’s  “Lost on You”, and Susan Tedeschi’s gorgeous, bluesy tune “You Need to Be With Me”.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @Ivan X: Well, then I wrote the last line of the post just for you!

    As long as I get some good Taylor Swift recommendations I’ll be happy, so don’t feel like you’re limited to Taylor Swift.

  30. 30.

    Jackie

    WaterGirl, if you have Disney Plus, her movie concert is available to watch. If you’re wanting to understand the Taylor Swift phenomenon, that may be fun.

  31. 31.

    Prescott Cactus

    Thanks Watergirl !

    I’ve never listened to one of songs. This will be interesting. Am I stuck with The Who and the Pearl Jams forever? No problem if I was…

    Just in case, are these going to be available on 8-tracks or only cassettes ?

  32. 32.

    West of the Rockies

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Billie has a very distinctive voice and visual style.   I love her and Phineas.   I really dig Lil Nas X.  Gaustad is extremely talented, too.  Music is in good hands.

  34. 34.

    Mike S

    The Disney Folklore The Long Pond sessions documentary is quite good. Its fun to watch her process of writing. I’m a fan.

    I like this song from Folklore.

  38. 38.

    JoyceH

    I don’t have Disney Plus, but have been wondering about it. I like quite a number of the Disney animated movies and would like to see them again – Moana, Brave, the Princess and the Frog, Tangled, etc. I assume they have other stuff there so – what other stuff do they have?

  40. 40.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Suzanne: ​

    Her best song is “All Too Well”, and the ten-minute version is incredible.

    This. I can’t remember the last time a song has had quite that much of an effect on me on first listening. Thanks for recommending it in the first Taylor Swift thread.

    ETA:

    @Rachel bakes:

    ”we are never getting back together”

    Yeah, that’s another good one.

  41. 41.

    gwangung

    @JoyceH: Everybody knows about Star Wars and Marvel, but if you’re old enough to remember all the cheesy low level comedies Disney used to produce. particularly the ones that somehow became nostalgia bait later, they’re still making them. And they’re on Disney Plus.

  44. 44.

    JoyceH

    Hey, I’m dating myself, but does anyone else remember when the weekly Disney TV show was originally called The Wonderful World of Color? My sister and I would go over to the neighbor lady’s house to watch it on her color TV. (Once color became standard, it was renamed The Wonderful World of Disney.)

  47. 47.

    Craig

    @JoyceH: I went down a YouTube Disney rabbit hole awhile ago looking for Donald in Mathmagicland and came across the first episode where Walt shows off the color. Pretty cool.

  51. 51.

    Mousebumples

    @JoyceH: when I had disney+ last, I went through a Disney Channel Original Movie rabbit hole – Brink!, Johnny Tsunami, Motocrossed, etc. Didn’t see The Famous Jett Jackson movie, to my dismay.

    (For the record, I don’t consider any of these to be Great Works of Film, but the nostalgia factor is high, as I watched those on Disney when I was in high school)

    They have a bunch of Disney stuff (surprise, lol), and also Hamilton, i believe.

  52. 52.

    Hoosier X

    How has nobody mentioned The New Romantics yet?

    I’m sixty years old and I’m male, and I’ve got three of her albums that I listen to frequently.

  54. 54.

    Princess

    @Suzanne: Wow. That was amazing. Thank you. When she comes out at the end in the bookstore with all the young women hanging on her every word…

  56. 56.

    Jager

    I have 4 nieces, they all grew up with Taylor, a teacher-coach, a dentist, a marketing genius, and a neo-natal doc. Just like Taylor, they’ve gone from smart kids to brilliant women.

  58. 58.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Jager: My Swiftie niece turned 21 today. She is a junior in college and majoring in elementary education.

    She and her mom are flying back from FL today.  I suggested that she get shitfaced on the plane.  I might be a bad influence.

  62. 62.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: BTW you meantioned on an earlier thread that because you didn’t watch the “weather” part of broadcast TV anymore, you were now unaware of when a rainstorm was part of a larger system.

    I use the storm radar app from the weather channel to watch the weather, which not only tells you about larger systems, it also lets you known when rain is predicted to be more or less intense in the next few hours:

    apps.apple.com/us/app/storm-radar-weather-tracker/id1216396545

  63. 63.

    Gwangung

    @JoyceH: if you have even the slightest yen, Disney plus will scratch it. Rogue one and Andor are universally praised. A lot of the others have their pluses.

    you can catch stuff like American born Chinese, one if those series that gets a lot of praise, but not enough viewers for a second season…

  65. 65.

    Bg

    Soon You’ll Get Better, Taylor Swift and The [Dixie] Chicks, really captures what it feels like when someone you love has vancer

  67. 67.

    Central Planning

    You could watch the Eras tour. Probably her most popular songs across her career.

  70. 70.

    Time Travelin

    @Suzanne: As the bass player in my old man cover band, I dread it for is repetitive nature. Once we start playing it becomes somewhat meditative

  71. 71.

    Emmyelle

    A fun thing to do: make yourself a Track 5 playlist, with the fifth song from every album. Because Taylor is a genius, nothing is random or unintentional. Track five means something. It’s nice to actually compare the track five songs on each album. My personal favorite is my tears ricochet. They’re all good. I suggest doing the same with track two.

    Personally, I don’t think there are any bad Taylor Swift songs. Some are way better and some are less good. It can take a while to find your groove. My daughter introduced me to Reputation when it came out, and at the time the only song I liked was New Year’s Day. Now I love most of it. When folklore and evermore came out, I went full Swiftie. Since then I’ve been listening to the entire collection and I’ve come to appreciate things that I skipped over before.

     

    All Too Well 10 minute version is probably my favorite if I could say that I have a favorite.

    Listen to 22 and Nothing New back to back. I promise you that next time someone says “All her songs are the same” you will tell them to fuck right off.

  74. 74.

    Emmyelle

    Also, if you’re digging into folklore, I would suggest listening to the three songs of the high school love triangle trilogy altogether as a unit. The three songs are August, Betty,  and cardigan. Each one is from the point of view of a person who is involved in a high school love triangle. Each one is a different style. If you forced me to pick a favorite, I would say it’s August. But you have to listen to them all as a whole. The style of each one is actually really important to conveying the point of view . Taking together it’s a musical masterpiece

  75. 75.

    BruceFromOhio

    All Too Well and Snow On The Beach. Vigilante Shit is a hoot.

    And search for the lyrics, there’s a lot going on there.

    I don’t dress for women

    I don’t dress for men

    Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge

  76. 76.

    JWR

    I’m sure I’ve heard bits of this or that Taylor Swift song, probably on SNL, and the only thing I can remember about them is that she sure knows how to write a hook! Also that she’s not my bowl of cherries.

    Now, here’s some 1972, comin’ right at you!

    Jo Jo Gunne – Babylon

    Babylon is from the album featuring Jo Jo Gunne’s Greatest Hit, Run, Run, Run

  79. 79.

    206inKY

    1. this is why we can’t have nice things

    2. london boy

    3. blank space

    4. dress

    5. false god

    6. vigilante shit

    7. champagne problems

    8. the 1

    9. midnight rain

    10. new year’s day

    11. maroon

    12. lover

  80. 80.

    Curtis

    I’m a fan of her later albums (1989 and on) so my recs are from those, but she does have some gems on her early stuff too.

    1. Slut!
    2. Maroon
    3. The 1
    4. Cardigan
    5. Cruel Summer
    6. Anti Hero
    7. Delicate
    8. The Last Great American Dynasty
    9.  Champagne Problems
  82. 82.

    way2blue

    Better Man (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]

    (It’s my only Taylor Swift song.)  Have you seen Netflix / Ms Americana?  Has some great unscripted scenes.

  83. 83.

    BigJimSlade

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Why is (fill in the blank) a big deal… just think back to when you were young and ask that same question about who was big then. For instance, the BeeGees were a big deal. So why not Swift and Eilish?

  84. 84.

    Jack the Cold Warrior

    I never paid much attention to Taylor Swift, pegging her as another “Pop Tart” like Britney Spears.

    Then a fellow Veteran FB Friend, a retired Army Master Sergeant sent me the link to her video “Marjorie” about her opera singer grandmother.

    It was amazing.

    I then begin checking out her recent works and found the video for “Epiphany”, which is an ode to her Marine Corp Grandfather, veteran of WW2 battles Guadalcanal, Okinawa, and others. The song compares the sacrifices of soldiers to the sacrifices of first responders, nurses, doctors and other caregivers during the COVID pandemic.

    It Blew me Away.

    So now, as a child of 60’s and 70’s music I find myself diving into Taylor Swifts entire Playlist and enjoying it all.

  85. 85.

    NeenerNeener

    Thanks for the song links, Watergirl. Now I understand why people think Anti Hero is about Meghan Markle.

  86. 86.

    Bunter

    I don’t know if this is so late you won’t see it, but “You’re Losing Me” is another one to listen to, with tissues at hand.

  87. 87.

    Robert A Savell

    In my humble opinion (and also that of my quite talented songwriting daughter) Florence Welch is the most amazing songwriter of this generation. But Taylor is a strong second. Not as poetic as our pre-Raphaelite banshee, but she’s a first rate storyteller and damn can she write a hook. Also, quite the sense of humor. Personal favorite album- Folklore.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    Thanks for all the songs!  I have 3 pages (double spaced) of songs to add to the playlist.  Will let you know once I get them all added!

  89. 89.

    wonkie

    I’ve tried to listen to her, but the songs didn’t seem to have a melody and there was too much general noise involved. I did see how the story in the song would resonate. The story was about a woman telling a man that she could see who he really was from her view from the floor (he had decked her.) A powerful story. So, based on my limited acquaintance, I see her as a storyteller for people who haven’t felt like their stories mattered. This is all tentative since, clearly, I haven’t heard the right songs.

    I am underwhelmed by Beyonce’s Texas Hold ‘Em but someone mentioned Daddy Stories and I gave it a listen. Now I have a Beyonce song on my Spotify “liked” list.

    For anyone looking for a strong melody, interesting lyrics, and a fluidly expressive voice, try Amy Speace.

  90. 90.

    Ciotog

    Style

    Mastermind

    Wildest Dreams

    The Man

    …Ready For It

    The 1

    No Body No Crime

    Blank Space

    Bejeweled

    Lavender Haze

    Anti-Hero

    Invisible String

    Champagne Problems

    Evermore

    Safe & Sound

    I really started to like her when she released her folkier pandemic albums, folklore and evermore. But once my kid started liking her, I got into almost all of her eras.

  91. 91.

    boba

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    You are not alone in asking “who.” The frau is a professor and if one is not mentioned in scientific literature, she doesn’t know the person.  And indeed IRL once I mentioned TS to her, her reply was: who?

    Mind you, I also would not recognize any TS songs, as I rarely listen to contemporary music nor watch any TV.  One of the few benefits of advanced age is blissful ignorance.

  92. 92.

    dnfree

    @Mousebumples: I absolutely second the recommendation to watch the tour on Disney+ if you possibly can.  We did, and not only does it give you the flavor of each “Era”, it shows you the relationship with her fans.  We watched the whole thing, even the acoustic part that came after we thought the show was over.  The melodies (to our elderly ears) weren’t distinctive, but the lyrics, and her performance of the lyrics, is the point.  Her facial expressions tell you exactly what she means.

  93. 93.

    Maxim

    The Eras tour on Disney+ is definitely worth watching. I’ve recently been listening to her entire catalog, because I couldn’t name or identify more than a couple of her songs, but I’ve had it on as background while I work, so I’m still getting well enough acquainted to be able to name favorites. Most of them have already been mentioned.

  94. 94.

    Mark-nc

    Some of my favorites:  Style, Willow, Cardigan, Wildest Dreams, Delicate, Back to December

  95. 95.

    nickdag

    Thanks for posting this! I wasn’t very familiar with TS until recently, and I gotta say that I’m enjoying several of her songs already (Wildest Dreams, Delicate, Blank Space, You Need to Calm Down).

    Many of these I discovered when going on a music discovery binge of various artists. To my surprise, I found *all* my ear worms over the next few days were her songs. They truly are catchy.

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