A Ranking of Every Song on Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’
By Kara Johnson
It’s an end of an era and the start of a new one. But just because one era has ended doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate it. We love every Taylor Swift era we’ve been a part of. The most recent one holds a special place in our hearts for all of us. The 1989 era was a magical time of happiness, dance parties and lit up arenas. Everything about the era gave us all reminders that it was okay to stand your ground, shake things off and be happy with your life. It was a beautiful thing to know that our favorite girl had found herself and she was teaching us to find ourselves too and she still is.
We look back on 1989 a lot and we reflect on the beautiful and magical times we had celebrating such a phenomenal album. But our celebration of the album didn’t stop when the era ended. It’s continuing on. We’re still celebrating today and while the reputation era is upon us, we look back on the era previous and remember. We remember by listening to the songs that we’ve memorized and have fallen in love with and we remember by telling you our ranking of each track on the album (yes, including the deluxe songs) from least favorite to our absolute favorite. So, read on and see what we chose from this masterpiece of a tracklist that took us forever to decide on:
16. Bad Blood
This is our least favorite track on the album. It’s not because it isn’t good because it is. It just doesn’t seem to fit into the mold of what we call 1989. But it’s relatable, nonetheless but lyrically not her best.
Choice Lyrics: “Still got scars on my back from your knives” and “Band-aids don’t fix bullet holes”
15. How You Get The Girl
One of the least personal tracks on the album but one that serves as good advice for one who simply needs to learn how to get the girl. It’s a cheesy song but it always tends to get stuck in your head, so even if you don’t love it, you still love it.
Choice Lyrics: “Tell her how you must’ve lost your mind / and left her all alone and never told her why”
14. Shake It Off
It’s the dance anthem of the record and the most empowering when it comes to wanting to shake things off. The volume can’t get loud enough when you’re driving in your car. It’s a good, catchy song but there are more tracks on the album that deserve a better ranking than this one. Oh well, we hope the song can just, you know, shake it off.
Choice Lyrics: “I never miss a beat, I’m lightning on my feet /
And that’s what they don’t see, that’s what they don’t see /
I’m dancing on my own, I make the moves up as I go /
And that’s what they don’t know, that’s what they don’t know”
13. Welcome To New York
New York is lucky they have anthem about their great city from the best pop star in the world. It’s a catchy song and the more you listen to it, the more you want to travel to New York City. It’s a power anthem, which is helpful when you work out at the gym every morning.
Choice Lyrics: “Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats”
12. Style
The powerful pop hooks and incredibly witty lyrics is what makes this song wonderful. It’s a classic song that fits the 80’s music vibe, giving us that ‘Grease’ feeling. Not to mention, the music video is phenomenally produced and didn’t get enough credit.
Choice Lyrics: “So it goes, he can’t keep his wild eyes on the road”
11. I Wish You Would
The beat is something you fall in love with the instant you hear it. Lyrically, it’s profound but it doesn’t grab you like the other tracks on the album. But the beat, you will always listen because of the beat.
Choice Lyrics: “We were a crooked love / In a straight line down /Makes you wanna run and hide / But it made us turn right back around”
10. You Are In Love
This is quite possibly one of the cutest love songs Swift has ever written. The track is just stunning through and through from the lyricism to the melody. It’s beautiful and is perfect for any kind of wedding.
Choice Lyrics: “You understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars /
And why I’ve spent my whole life try to put it into words”
9. Wildest Dreams
Did you know that in the track is Swift’s literal heartbeat? If you didn’t, we suggest you look in the liner notes because it’s true. She recorded her own heartbeat for the song and if that’s not beautiful, we don’t know what is. It has an ethereal feel and showcases how Swift feels about love now. It’s brilliant and beautiful.
Choice Lyrics: “Say you’ll remember me / Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset babe / Red lips and rosy cheeks”
8. Blank Space
There is something so brilliant about this song that you can’t stop listening. Perhaps it’s the character she plays, which is the character the media plays her out to be. It’s a satirical joke, which is what makes it so brilliant.
Choice Lyrics: “Cherry lips, crystal skies / I could show you incredible things / stolen kisses, pretty lies”
7. This Love
This song is hauntingly beautiful in every sense of the word. If you haven’t heard it live, we suggest you look for a live version on YouTube. It’s a fantastic song and one of the ballads on the album. You can also learn a thing or two about yourself in the track.
Choice Lyrics: “When you’re young / you just run / but you come back to what you need”
6. All You Had To Do Was Stay
The chorus, the verses, and the screech is literally what makes this song unforgettable. Swift penned this song after a dream she had when all she could say in the dream was a loud “stay” when wanting her lover to come back inside. It’s a brilliant piece of art that doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves.
Choice Lyrics: ” “People like you always want back the love they pushed aside/ But people like me are gone forever when you say goodbye”
5. Wonderland
This song gives us serious Alice in Wonderland vibes. It’s brilliant and deserves to be in the top 5 for the lyricism and symbolism alone. We believe the song should have made the cut to make it on the actual album. It’s a masterpiece through and through and portrays a sense of anxiety in a way only Swift can do. Brilliant.
Choice Lyrics: “I reached for you but you were gone / I knew I had to go back home
/ You search the world for something else to make you feel like what we had /
And in the end in wonderland, we both went mad.”
4. Clean
The hidden message in the song says everything. “She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything”. It’s a beautiful track about moving on and letting go of something that once held you down. Not to mention, she wrote the song with Imogen Heap and that’s always something to celebrate.
Choice Lyrics: “You’re still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore/ Hung my head, as I lost the war, and the sky turns black like a perfect storm”
3. I Know Places
There’s that feeling of anxiety once again. Anxiety seems to be a prevalent theme throughout the album, and it’s something that Swift portrays perfectly. The dark sense of foreboding is evident in the song, letting us know that eventually the two who are heading will get caught. The imagery is phenomenal.
Choice Lyrics: “‘Cause they got the cages, they got the boxes (I I I I, I I I I)
And guns, they are the hunters, we are the foxes and we run”
2. Out Of The Woods
The stress, anxiety, imagery, and production of the song gives it the number 2 spot. “Out of the Woods” is probably one of the greatest songs in Swift’s discography. From the beat to the intense chorus, this song deserves a thousand Grammy’s. She really outdid herself with this one.
Choice Lyrics: “The rest of the world was black and white/ But we were in screaming color”
1.New Romantics
This is by far the greatest track on the album. The lyrics, the beat, and the vocals are perfect. Everything about this track displays the artist that is Taylor Swift. We learn a lot about her lyricism and vocal range in this song and it’s something we often take for granted. We can’t after hearing this. We just can’t. It’s far too perfect to pass up.
Choice Lyrics: “We cry tears of mascara in the bathroom / Honey, life is just a classroom”
What do you think of our list? Did we get it right? Let us know your favorites from 1989 by sounding off in the comments below or by tweeting us @FansOfTaylorFS