Red has become my favorite album, but it wasn’t immediately that. I feel in love with Red when I started playing it and singing it on the piano. Part of it could have been when it came out, I hadn’t had the experiences to relate to a lot of the album yet.

And then I did.

But it also could be that it’s lyrically and musically an incredible album. I sat on this one for too long, but it’s my favorite album of hers. Folklore, Evermore, and 1989 round out my top albums.

So it’s not surprising that this album was the hardest for me to rank. It also is one where a few songs shuffled nearly every time I listened to it. And then when I decided it was settled, she re-released two new songs from this decade that she made for soundtracks, and made me have to rethink it.

I’ll note where it’s the case, but yeah a lot of songs here that could easily move depending on day.

I listen to the clean version to the extent that matters.

33. Girl At Home (TV). This is the rare miss by Taylor. The redo of this song ruined it for me. The background music doesn’t fit and ruined it for me. It made it unlistenable. It ruined the song completely for me. Hence why it’s rated last.

32. Message In A Bottle. I enjoy this one, but it’s not my preferred vibe. I can see why it didn’t make the cut, but I also enjoy this one. It’s probably a song of hers I’d rate on the lower end of her songs, but I still like it. I think I would have liked this one more if it had been released when it was written. But I enjoy it.

31. The Very First Night. I like this one. Other than #33, I sincerely enjoy every song on this album. It’s my favorite decade of hers top to bottom, it’s an excellent one. It’s the rare era where she didn’t miss as far as I’m concerned.

30. Ronan. One of her saddest songs. I think most people know this is about a 4-year old boy who died of nueroblastoma. You can read more about it here. It’s a beautiful one, but sad. Which is why I rank it here.

29. Babe. Also, check out the Sugarland version here. The Sugarland version is definitely country twang. Taylor’s less so. I don’t like the Sugarland one as much as Taylor’s, but both are interesting. I think it shows the versatility of her songwriting. I like the verses a lot. The chorus knocks it down slightly for me, but I enjoy it.

28. Girl At Home (original). Don’t hate me. I am including this to show where I’d rate the original one. The original one isn’t my favorite of hers, but I enjoy listening to it and like it. (Which I can’t say for the new version.)

27. Stay Stay Stay. This is not my favorite of hers either. Musically, it’s fine. Lyrically, it’s not my favorite of hers. But it’s catchy.

26. Eyes Open. It’s not my favorite of hers either, but it’s a good one. It fits what she wrote it for as well.

25. Starlight. A romantic fun song that apparently was inspired by a photograph. It’s a fun, catchy one.

24. Come Back…Be Here. This one is a good bonus song. It’s catchy lyrically and musically.

23. Nothing New. I like this one. It’s along the same vein as the The Lucky One. It expresses fears that Taylor has often shared since.

22. Run. I feel that this is less memorable than Everything Has changed, so I can see why she didn’t release this one and released the other one instead. It’s good but less memorable.

21. I Bet You Think About Me. A great vault song. I can see why she didn’t release it since it’s much more country than this album. But this is a great song to show how great Taylor does country. A bop.

20. Sad Beautiful Tragic. This one is lyrically great. It’s also so sad that it’s not my favorite. But I enjoy it. Again I love all of these songs.

19. The Lucky One. I love this one. Great storytelling. This falls thematically into a whole genre of songs like this one about fame.

18. Safe and Sound. The Civil War is one of my favorites. I was so sad when they split. I like this one. It has a an ethereal sound. This is a hard one to rank. And I could justify placing this in several different places, but I’ll place it here.

17. I Almost Do. I discovered this one later, but not through piano. It came on shuffle, and I fell in love with it. Another sadly very relatable song.

16. We Are Never Getting Back Together- This was a single and bop from this album. I like it, but I think she has some better ones. But if you’re going for a pure bop song then this should be ranked like sixth. I love her lyricism in her other songs, which is why I’ve ranked it lower. But this ranking I feel is solely preference. If you want a bop, this is higher.

15. Forever Winter- This song breaks something in me every time. One of her saddest songs. The cracks in her voice on this one are perfect for it. I can see why she chose not to release it at the time. I’m glad she did now. It’s her vault song I listen to the most so far. An important message.

14. 22- A bop. No other way to describe this one. A catchy one. One that gets stuck in my head. An anthem song for the younger twenties.

13. Better Man- I love the Little Big Town version too. Both evoke different emotions. Little Big Town’s is less sad in tone. It’s a bit more “lived.” Angry is not quite the right word, but Little Big Town’s is less sad/nostalgic in a sweet way and harder. Taylor’s is more wistfully sad. I feel that this one should be rated higher. It’s such a good song. 13 seems way too low. This may be the song that I just don’t know where or how to place.

12. The Last Time- I am continually shocked by how many people don’t like this one. People say their voices don’t blend, and they may technically be right, but I have never noticed. I love Gary’s voice and hers, so maybe I’ve just turned a blind eye. I love the message, the lyrics, the storytelling, and the duet factor here. I also relate to this one.

11. State of Grace- I’ll talk more about this again with #8. I separated this out because while I like the up-tempo version, I fell in love with the acoustic version. But this one has a different emotion and is also good.

10. Everything Has Changed- Of all of her Ed Sheeran collabs, this is my favorite. For me liking Ed and Taylor as much as I do, I haven’t always loved their collabs. This one does not follow that norm. I really like this collab. They blend well and sound good together and separately. I also like the lyrics. This is one that stood out to me at the time and still does.

9. Holy Ground- I wish she had an acoustic version of this one like she does for State of Grace. I discovered this one’s true power while playing it on the piano and singing along. The chorus and bridge are some of my favorites to sing.

8. State of Grace (Acoustic Version)- I didn’t discover this song via playing it on piano and singing along; however, stripped down like this is when I discovered its true brilliance. The lyrics on this one are just incredible. I love the imagery and storytelling. It’s one of my favorites to play and sing along to on the piano.

7. Red- I love the imagery and theme of this song. It was a favorite of mine at the time it was released and still is. It’s lyrically and musically intriguing. This song’s imagery has also been the backbone for a lot of other songs of hers.

6. I Knew You Were Trouble- This one you would have had to be living under a rock not to know at the time. So it’s not one I discovered on the piano. I actually initially ranked this one lower, as I tend to do with the hits that were first popular. However, this one quickly climbed back up because it’s a great one. It’s lyrically and musically interesting. Also, the goat remix is golden.

5. Treacherous- I really discovered this one when I started playing it on the piano and singing along. That’s when I discovered the beauty of this one. Lyrically, there are some truly incredible lines on this one.

The next two are an impossible toss-up for me. Even now I’m not sure the right order to place them in.

4. Begin Again- I liked this one even before I could relate to it, but then a moment came along when again I related to this album. This is a more hopeful one of hers to relate to. It beautifully captures that feeling you have after coming out of a bad relationship and falling into a new one when you didn’t think it was possible. That gunshy feeling of not really being sure of yourself, but feeling like you’re falling again when you didn’t think you could. Beautifully done.

3. The Moment I Knew- This is not one of the songs you want to relate to in her discography, but I discovered it in a moment when I related to it. The emotion in this song is always prescient. Great songwriting.

2. All Too Well- As I’ll note below, this song has my favorite consecutive minute of any song ever. While I love all of this song, 2:55 to 4:15 packs a punch that I’ve never heard another song pack. It’s what as I also note below made me struggle to like the 10 minute version at first. It separated my favorite parts throughout the song.

I didn’t truly discover this one until I started playing it on the piano and singing along. That’s when I discovered the masterpiece that was this song. I’d find myself crying every time I played this for awhile. It’s such an incredibly well done song. Just a masterpiece.

1. All Too Well (10 minute version)-It took me a minute to warm up to this version. Some of my favorite lyrics came back to back in the original and I thought it had an incredible crescendo. There was a minute or so that was my favorite consecutive minute of all time, so it was hard for me to see that split up in this new version. However, having said that, this one has now become my favorite. It doesn’t have quite the crescendo that I feel that the original has, but there are some incredible lines on this one that got cut. It’s the complete version.