It makes me so angry to see people disrespecting Taylor’s previous work just because something new and shiny came along. As a fandom, we do the same thing to her albums that she talked about the public doing to women in music.
Debut? She wrote some of those songs in MIDDLE SCHOOL. She had her first number one hit on a song she sang at her high school talent show. Those lyrics? Already show the intricate turns of phrase we all loved in later albums. And some of them hit harder now, as a full adult, than they did when I heard them thirteen years ago.
Fearless? First of all, she won the Grammy for album of the year. Album of the fucking year. There are flat bops and country ballads and somehow she made high school English class into one of the most iconic songs of all time. Had she stopped here, people would call this album a masterpiece, and no one would disagree with them.
Speak Now? Every. Single. Song. Is. 100%. Taylor. From the cheeky title song to the haunting portrayal of someone too young escaping a damaging relationship, she wrote it all, on her own, and the songs on that album are the ones that took me from casual fan to hardcore stan. She didn’t get much critical love, but she has some fan favorites and enduring themes.
Red? Red deserved a Grammy. We’ve said that since the moment the Grammy voters snubbed her. Fuck a sonically cohesive, her rollercoaster of emotions perfectly captured being 22, being an adult but feeling like you don’t belong there. Having deep meaningful love and watching it end, quietly and desperately and learning that sometimes it isn’t a clean break, it’s the back and forth and begging and wishing and saying goodbye. But there is also joy and celebration and self-reflection. There are also new beginnings.
1989? Proved that one woman in her early twenties could be so strategic in her songwriting, she could set out to write the perfect pop album with the Grammy for Album of the Year in her sights and get it. And she could do that without sacrificing the heart and soul of her work or the lyrical twists that the fans love. 1989 catapulted her into legendary status.
Reputation? This was a record she NEEDED to make. The emotional catharsis or angry rock anthems and the delicate undertone of new love and finding the quiet moments amidst the chaos show incredible strength AND vulnerability and show that the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Her tour sold out stadiums, some for multiple nights. She signaled a resurgence and most importantly, she is an album about healing.
Lover? She’s the new kid on the block. The adored one because she’s new and glittery. But she’ll stand the test of time when I pull this back out when TS8 is getting all the love and the old albums are getting dumped on because she shows the truth of love. That it isn’t just happily ever after. There are fights and flaws and moonlight swims and outsiders who try to tear you down and family members you NEED in your life and rights you support and that’s all part of loving and being loved. There are sonic experiments on the album, and each experiment leads to growth. Which is why I know the same cycle will happen again, a few years from now.
We can love the new album, and the growth it shows, without losing our love for the albums that came before. The beautiful thing about love is that it is endless. You can love them all, always. You can feel one more strongly than another because of the place you are in on your life. But the growth on the new album doesn’t negate all of the reasons you loved the old one. They ALL stand the test of time.
