You've seen the headlines. You've heard the song. You've watched the video.
The Old Taylor Swift is dead.
If you're not a pop culture follower, let me give you a quick debrief. Taylor Swift released her new song "Look What You Made Me Do" along with a clever, punchy video indicating that the old Taylor "is dead." While we are totally excited to see what the new Taylor has to offer, it's good to reflect on the iconic songs the old Taylor brought us. You know, the Taylor that the new Taylor stood on top of and belted her new persona.
Yeah, those Taylors.
1. "A Perfectly Good Heart" - 2006
This is a classic Taylor Swift song. Yes, early Taylor Swift featured songs of her high school experiences -- mean girls, guys who don't know you exist, and first heartbreaks. "A Perfectly Good Heart" is a good poetic summary of her type of music during this time. It also represents her innocence as a songwriter and a human. Being only in high school when this album came out, her cries into the void are much sweeter since at this age it's rare anyone has had the life experience handling emotional issues. This Taylor Swift classic was not one of her chart toppers, but it's still a pretty nostalgic song.
2. "Invisible" - 2006
Sticking with the first album era, this was another taste of her first original reputation about to come. Taylor Swift was known for her songs about young relationships and that title stuck for albums after as well. "Invisible", again, not another chart topper, but a truly strong representation of how her slow, sappy songs were giving her a name for herself. This song is especially good to listen to after thinking about that football player in high school who probably didn't even know your name.
3. "The Way I Loved You" - 2008
Moving on to the Fearless album, it was the era of sparkly dresses and fairy tales. At this point in time, Taylor was known for her extravagant storytelling stages and celebrity romances. Still being a young songwriter, Taylor's songs again were mostly about what she knew best -- love. She craved for happily ever after, and all of her songs were dedicated to it. As "The Way I Loved You" describes a roller coaster kind of rush.
4. "Forever and Always" - 2008
5. "Untouchable" - 2008
The Fearless era, concluding with one of her first headliner tours, was a sugar-coated, romance type of time -- a much simpler time, if you will. The only thing that mattered were the dresses that sparkled and poetic lyrics, such as the ones featured in "Untouchable".
6. "Mine" - 2010
Welcome to the Speak Now era of Taylor Swift. This is her most theatrical era, but she wasn't role playing fairy-tales; she wanted real life love. "Mine" was her first single for this album with a music video featuring her meeting a guy and raising a family with him. Most of her songs in this album highlighted real life aspirations and issues, like someone marrying the wrong girl.
7. "Dear John" - 2010
One of Taylor's first grown-up "relationship gone wrong" heartbreakers was "Dear John". She wasn't mad anymore that a boy didn't like her or didn't see her, she was actually hurt. While the aspirational and future romance themes were alive and thriving in this album, this was a glimpse of adulthood experiences. It was no longer a high school school yard game anymore.
8. "Last Kiss" - 2010
This is a sad, cry in your bedroom type of song. A grand example of Taylor Swift's lyrical imagery and ability to tell a story.
9. "Holy Ground" - 2012
The alarm flare album alerting pop music of her presence, Red was Taylor's first pop influenced album. "Holy Ground" is a face paced lyric piece, setting the foundation of her music ventures yet to come. Ditched the curls and sparkles for some waves and high waisted shorts -- also ditched the banjos for some electronic beats.
10. "Sad Beautiful Tragic" - 2012
Still clinging on to those old school roots, Taylor's album Red still included her same style sad songs about relationships. Perhaps though, this one was one of her best executed musically.
11. Treacherous - 2012
As mentioned, Taylor has always been a well-crafted lyricists. "Treacherous" was another song that transposed her songs into more than just beautiful lyrics, but beautiful music. The evolution and musical story of the song is one of her best to date.
12. l Know Places - 2014
And our final stage of the "old" Taylor, 1989. She cut her hair and morphed into pop music mode. Goodbye guitar playing hair flipping and hello new pop icon. No more Nashville sad songs, only New York City club beats. The music from the album blew up, almost becoming a generational phenomena."I Know Places" was the strongest example of her new life experiences being exposed through her music.
13. New Romantics - 2014
A national anthem, truly.
It's time to jam out to these old Taylor Swift classics before new Taylor Swift rises and changes the game for her music. Do we have a countdown to the new album yet?
