Taylor Swift is making the rounds with her Eras tour and each stop seems more extensive and better. Anyone who attends the concert always raves about how great it is.
Sadly, some fans such as myself weren’t able to snag tickets. That’s why I was happy to be able to look back into Taylor Swift’s discography and be able to look at her albums and their accompanying singles.
Moving onto the next round of this, we’re moving onto 1989. This is Taylor Swift’s 5th album and her first album that wasn’t known for being country. While some can argue when Taylor made the jump, it’s honestly a moot point as Taylor Swift doesn’t fit into one specific genre as evidenced by her long career.
1989 felt like the quintessential Taylor album though as it’s named after the year Taylor was born and felt like a reemerging of Taylor Swift. The album was released in 2014 and ended up having 7 singles during this era. Honestly, that’s a pretty hefty amount of songs so I don’t want to talk too much more so let’s not waste any more time and rank the singles from Taylor Swift’s 1989.
Let’s start this list off with an unexpected single featured on 1989.
7. “New Romantics”
To me, the most unexpected single from 1989 is easily “New Romantics.” Of all the songs that could have been chosen, that was the one. It still has me shaking my head considering it was the last single featured from the album. Even so, I can see why so many people loved it because it’s a really fun and catchy song. It’s a lot of fun and has some great lyrics, but I don’t feel like it had as much staying presence as a single or is even remembered as one.
6. “Shake It Off”
This next song, it physically hurts me to put it this low as it was the song everyone was singing from the album. However, I couldn’t put “Shake It Off” higher than #6 on my list and that’s honestly an awful feeling.
Regardless, the singles from 1989 were just so good that I couldn’t fit in before now. With that being said, this is another one of those dancey, fun pop songs that we’ve come to know and love from Taylor Swift. As awesome as the music video is, this one also had a lawsuit attached to it for years which is thankfully resolved now.
Even so, the rest of this album was full of so many great songs and it was an embarrassment of riches so “Shake It Off” ended up towards the bottom. Either way, it’s still a solid single and I can see why it was picked.
5. “Out Of The Woods”
As for the #5 on my list, I’m going with “Out Of The Woods.” As I said, the rest of these singles are just so good that I couldn’t bear to put “Out of The Woods” any higher than this but it’s such an amazing song. Additionally, it felt unlike anything Taylor Swift had done before so it was a nice change of pace.
“Out Of The Woods” is one of those songs that can be interpreted in so many ways, too. You can relate to it as someone leaving a relationship, losing a friend, or just dealing with something in your personal life. It’s just such a relatable song and one that I know will always make you dance when you hear it.
The beat for “Out Of The Woods” is just so undeniably great and let’s not even get started on the bridge. While it might not be high up on my list, I can’t even act like this one isn’t a good song and just ended up getting the short end of the stick with these singles and this album as a whole.
4. “Style”
Moving onto the middle of the list, this is where things got incredibly tough. 1989 has so many great songs that I had to shuffle so many things around. However, I ended up deciding to put “Style” at #4 on the list. Technically, I’d consider this within the middle of the ground because it’s a solid single.
I won’t deny that “Style” is a catchy song and has one of my favorite choruses from the entire album. Even so, I feel like it isn’t nearly as dancey and fun as her other offerings. Regardless, I don’t think it’s a bad song. It’s another one that I feel can be interpreted in many different ways as it can be about a friendship or a relationship.
No matter which way you decide to relate to it, there is no denying that “Style” has yet to go out of style.
3. “Wildest Dreams”
Coming in at #3, this is one that we already have a “Taylor’s Version” of and that’s “Wildest Dreams.” Somehow, it sounds even more beautiful and after Taylor’s re-recording, I ended up bumping it up higher on my list. In particular, the song feels like such a dreamy experience which makes sense with the title.
I also feel like “Wildest Dreams” had its moment of being a trend on TikTok and that’s a testament to the staying power of this song. It’s just such a romantic and dreamy song that you won’t be able to listen to it just once. I mean the song is about ending a relationship and then talking about ending up in their dreams. I don’t know about you, but I feel like that is so iconic.
Just getting this small taste of what “Wildest Dreams” sounds like makes me even more excited to see the re-recorded version of 1989.
2. “Bad Blood”
Coming into the top two songs from 1989, I already knew my #1 which we’ll talk about in a moment but after listening to “Bad Blood,” I knew it had to be #2. There is something so iconic about this song being featured on 1989. To me, it feels like the predecessor to her Reputation era, and that small taste was everything.
Essentially, this song is about having a beef with someone you used to be close to and it’s just something we all can relate to. Coupled with the iconic music video featuring some of Taylor’s famous friends and a feature from Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood” is one of those songs you can blast in the car or just dance around in your room and it will always get you hype.
As I said, this one feels like a better fit on Reputation but I can see why it ended up being on1989. Even though the story of this song has now evolved, it was all everyone was talking about when the album was released and I feel like that’s everything you need to know about Taylor Swift and being a marketing genius.
1. “Blank Space”
That only leaves one song left to be in the top spot and that’s “Blank Space.” This feels like the ultimate middle finger to everyone talking about Taylor and her dating life. Even though it was the second single from the album, I feel like it could have been a lead single. Regardless, it’s a song that pokes fun at herself and the media in the classiest way which is what she’s known for.
In particular, though, I love how this song evolves and end up becoming a bit unhinged and I adore that. The way she wrote this song and produced is just a chef’s kiss. Accompanied by the amazing music video, this is everything we had been wanting for Taylor and she gave it to us in spades.
While it might not be everyone’s #1, there was no way I was ranking “Blank Space” anything longer than #1. It’s just such an iconic song and every time I hear it at work, I can’t help but sing and dance along. “Blank Space” is such a catchy and fun song that pokes fun at everything while also giving the power back to Taylor which we love.
How would you rank all the singles from 1989 by Taylor Swift? Share with us in the comments!