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 | the Listies.A Biweekly Newsletter of Ranked Odds & EndsPowered by The Besties* |
This Week: ✨TAYLOR SWIFT✨
6 months ago, these 2 Listies would have never considered themselves Swifties, but…
💠 251 songs
💠 55 music videos
💠 and 10 Eras later
…we are ready to scrawl the number 13 on our hands and drop $1,200 on floor seats at the Eras Tour… well, maybe not that much 🤑
The Listies (along with our bestie Lorraine, who you’ll meet later in this newsletter) listened to every album cut, bonus track, Taylor’s Version, and club remix we could get our hands on, all in the name of crowning Taylor Swifts Greatest Era Ever! 👑
So join us on this four-year anniversary of the artist’s huge Taylor’s Version announcement, as we rank the albums, songs, videos, lyrics, (and of course) bridges of the one, the only, Taylor Swift!
WHAT’S TAYLOR’S BEST ALBUM? 🧐
Every Swiftie knows that your favorite Taylor album says as much about you as your Hogwarts House or Zodiac sign (if you believe in that sort of thing) ♐
Our album ratings were calculated by averaging our personal scores for each individual song (rated on a scale of 1–10). Only album cuts—no bonus or vault tracks—were factored into the album ratings 🧮
We listened to all three Taylor’s Versions (planned re-recordings of her first six albums) that were available at the time of writing. Taylor recently announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version) will be released on October 27, 2023.
THE 50 BEST TAYLOR SWIFT SONGS 🥇🥈🥉
Don’t Blame Me for any Bad Blood that may result from our Fearless Top 50, which represents the 20% of Taylor’s catalogue that really Hits Different (ok, I’ll stop) 🎤
Top 5 Spotlight: The iconic Blank Space takes the top spot, but it was really a toss-up between that and our favorite summer jam, august. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) easily cracks the top three because, duh you’ve heard it, right? Another 1989 cut, Wildest Dreams, takes the four spot and Cruel Summer rounds out the top five as only one of two songs off Lover to crack the Top 50 💡
To jam out to our entire Top 50, look no further than the Spotify playlist at the bottom of this newsletter!
 Taylor’s Red Era has the most songs represented in our Top 50, with 10 out of 34 possible songs making our list (including three Vault tracks). |  folklore was the most well-represented Era by percentage, with 42% of its songs (8 out of 19 possible songs) making our Top 50. |
BRIDGES & BONUS TRACKS & VIDEOS, OH MY!
🙉🙊🙈
Once we listened to every song from every Era, we wanted to dig a little deeper and rank our favorite Bridges, Bonus Tracks, and Music Videos 🤘
 We may be new to on the scene, but I’m not sure any Swiftie could disagree with our top three here. These ten bridges span six of her ten Eras—Midnights, evermore and the self-titled record need to step up their bridge game (we said what we said!)  Red (Taylor’s Version) takes seven spots on this list, and honestly who can blame her? She collaborated with Queen Phoebe Bridgers and even re-recorded her legendary Hunger Games song, Safe & Sound. Plus Babe is a personal favorite of David’s, so Emily couldn’t leave it off even if she tried (and she tried). |  All Too Well is a no-brainer at number one, but Blank Space and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together are also iconic for their respective eras. The rest of the list seems to indicate that we prefer videos with bigger production values and celebrity cameos.  Shout out to the Swiftie Redbubble community, where Emily sourced these inspired TS sticker graphics. You may work hard, but Swifites work harder!! |
TAYLOR THE POET’S 10 GREATEST MUSINGS ✍️
Taylor Swift may be pop music’s biggest star, but many would also consider her one of its best lyricists. While we were somewhat hit-or-miss with her lyrics throughout our journey, there were plenty of gems to highlight amidst her vast discography 💎
folklore is the leading Era here with four entries on the list, followed by Red at three 📝
Swifties will tell you that Taylor has always been about her lyrics, and they’re not totally wrong—while most of this Top 10 is made up of tracks from folklore and Red (Taylor’s Version), the inclusion of Karma and Picture to Burn represent both her latest record and her debut!
 | LORRAINE’S CORNER ♥️Before we crown Taylor’s Greatest Era, we wanted to pass the mic to our good friend and Swiftie guide, Lorraine! Here’s a heartfelt message and a few handpicked favorites from the icon herself—take it away! |
“The year was 2008—Taylor Swift had just dropped Fearless and I was crushing big time on a boy who worked at the local sub shop (he made a mean #7: turkey and provolone with the works). Listening to the album one night, I came upon “Hey Stephen” and was deliciously enchanted—never before had I heard a song that so perfectly captured what I was feeling: such a dreamy and wistful desire for someone who felt just a tad out-of-reach. Over time, my feelings for sub shop boy (his name was Brian, I think) faded, but my love of Taylor has not. I’ve sort of grown up with her, and she’s been there, accompanying me through all my loves, longings, heartaches, disappointments, losses, and celebrations, with songs that continue to speak to my soul (or are just really fun to sing to in the car, or dance to ‘round the kitchen in the refrigerator light).
Okay, truthfully, I always dance with the lights on in my kitchen, but when a Swiftie has an opportunity to quote Taylor, she takes it!”
We thank Queen Lorraine for her contribution to this newsletter, but her ratings were not factored into the Listies’ final scores.
💯 THE RESULTS ARE IN: THE BEST ERA IS…
We tabulated the results from our favorite albums, songs, bridges, bonus tracks, music videos, and lyrics for a final tally that has determined Taylor Swift’s Greatest Era! 📊
folklore has snatched the gold medal, with Red bringing home the silver and evermore (quite fittingly) taking bronze. Sadly, Lorraine’s favorite Era, Lover, was the Listies’ least favorite. Sorry, Lorraine!
🚨 BONUS LIST ALERT 🚨
The Top 5 Taylor Swift Collaborations:
Bon Iver (exile, evermore)
Phoebe Bridgers (Nothing New)
Ed Sheeran (Everything Has Changed)
Kendrick Lamar (Bad Blood)
Chris Stapleton (I Bet You Think About Me)
…and that’s all folks!
Wow, you made it to the end of our newsletter—thanks so much for reading! If you know someone who would appreciate our lists, forward this email! 🤗 To see past Listies, click the link below!
The Listies was born out of The Besties Review, an online movie blog started by Emily Figueroa and David Merkle. For more movie-related content, like The Besties Review on Facebook and follow David on Letterboxd!
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