Taylor Swift is an icon, a red-carpet tabloid staple, and perhaps the most successful female pop star in history. But beneath all that, she’s a poet who’s mastered the craft of writing lyrics that are both wry and achingly human. Her music mines the richest detail from a life lived largely in public, from Proustian flashbacks (the sultry Cardigan) to outcast widows and doomed relationships. Here, we look back at her most affecting songs, from her raw 2006 debut as a teen country ingenue right up to 2024’s Midnights and beyond.
Taylor’s mother is an opera singer, and she grew up singing with her family at local events, winning talent shows and singing competitions along the way. She picked up the guitar at age 12, and started writing her own songs. Then at 16, a computer repairman taught her the ins and outs of recording software, and she began experimenting with production techniques in her bedroom.
She released her first two EPs, “The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection” and “Beautiful Eyes”, which both earned acclaim at the CMAs, ACMs, and AMAs. By the time she was 20, she had nabbed three Grammy Awards and made history as the youngest female artist to win Album of the Year. This was the beginning of a reign that would see her dominate the music industry and become the most popular female artist in the world.
During the summer of 2009, she embarked on her Fearless Tour and grossed over $63 million, making her the highest-earning touring female artist in history. She also starred as Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, which earned her a Golden Globe nod and a Grammy nomination.
On her fourth album, RED, Swift pulled back from the bed-like sonics of her previous record, and focused on deeply personal stories of isolation and loneliness. Featuring guest turns from Post Malone, Florence + the Machine and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, the resulting LP was a dark, intimate, emotionally charged study of heightened emotions, and her most raw and honest work to date.
‘Style’ was a hit upon release, and it remains one of the most iconic songs from the album. It’s a sultry song about the physical attraction of a person and the confusion and uncertainty that comes with it. It’s an anthem for those who feel like they don’t belong.
It may be her most playful track, but it’s also an incisive and poignant commentary on the ways we are judged by the media and the people around us. With a beat that makes you want to dance and a chorus of soaring vocal harmonies, it’s an irresistible earworm.
