Hello, fellow Swifties/Authors! I had a lot of fun putting together my post for the top 50 Taylor Swift songs for fiction writers, 30-21. So, without further ado, let’s get to it!

Hey December

Guess I’m feeling unmoored

Can’t remember

What I used to fight for

I rewind the tape but all it does is pause

On the very moment all was lost

Sending signals

To be double crossed

And I was catching my breath

Barefoot in the wildest winter

Catching my death…

The title song of Swift’s second surprise release in 2020, “Evermore” is pure poetry. It was hard to pick just a few favorite lines, because it’s full of profound and lyrical ways to represent depression. She personifies December by speaking to it directly. I’m assuming that “barefoot in the wildest winter” is both a metaphor and hyperbole. Then using a zeugma with “catching” both her breath and her death. In fiction, featuring a protagonist with depression and lacking a sense of agency is tricky. But in songwriting and in poetry, it’s both haunting and beautiful.

I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost

The room is on fire, invisible smoke

And all of my heroes die all alone

Help me hold on to you

I’ve been the archer, I’ve been the prey

Screaming, who could ever leave me, darling

But who could stay?

Taylor Swift admits that “The Archer” is a deeply personal song. She’s been an archer–someone who begins fighting from a safe distance. But she’s also been the prey; her fame invites a lot of scrutiny, at times making her feel trapped. The entire song is an extended metaphor and a glimpse into her mindset. For fiction writers, it can be instructive on how to build a character arc.

I should not be left to my own devices

They come with prices and vices

I end up in crisis (tale as old as time)

I wake up screaming from dreaming

One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving

‘Cause you got tired of my scheming

(For the last time)

It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me

At tea time, everybody agrees

I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror

It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

When I created my list, I didn’t realize that I put three seemingly autobiographical songs about depression and anxiety in a row. I chose “Anti-Hero” because that’s a common term in literature, referring to a villain who’s also the protagonist. They’re a bad person who’s also relatable, and the reader winds up rooting for them. Think Macbeth or Tony Soprano. Anti-heroes are relatable because most of us engage in self-loathing at times. And we also do bad things, knowing that they’re bad as we do them. Swift expresses that paradox so eloquently in this song that most people connect with it right away.

They told me all of my cages were mental

So I got wasted like all my potential

And my words shoot to kill when I’m mad

I have a lot of regrets about that

I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere

Fell behind all my classmates, and I ended up here

Pouring out my heart to a stranger

But I didn’t pour the whiskey

Okay,  I guess I just added the FOURTH song  in a row that’s about mental struggles and depression. But “This is Me Trying” reads like an apology, a plea to someone whom she longs for forgiveness. Swift has said that many of the songs on Folklore are fictional, and I wonder if “This is Me Trying” is one of them. To me, it is like a wonderfully angsty young adult novel, not just about finding love but also self-discovery.

Walk in the streets with you and your worn-out jeans

I can’t help thinking this is how it ought to be

Laughing on a park bench, thinking to myself

Hey, isn’t this easy?

And you’ve got a smile that can light up this whole town

I haven’t seen it in a while since she brought you down

You say you’re fine, I know you better than that

Hey, whatcha doing with a girl like that?

Finally, at #26, “You Belong With Me” breaks the stretch of sad songs. If “This is Me Trying” is like an angsty YA novel, “You Belong With Me” is like a teenage friends-to-lovers rom-com. The story follows the three act structure flawlessly, and the relatable heroine is someone to root for. The perfect example of how something that’s peppy and fun can still be well written and beautifully executed.

And I won’t confess that I waited, but I let the lamp burn

As the men masqueraded, I hoped you’d return

With your feet on the ground, tell me all that you’d learned

‘Cause love’s never lost when perspective is earned

And you said you’d come and get me, but you were 25

And the shelf life of those fantasies has expired

Lost to the Lost Boys chapter of your life…

“Peter” is one long reference to Peter Pan, which Taylor Swift uses to lament a lost love from her youth. I won’t speculate about who, in real life, this song is about. But in the fictional world of the song, Swift is Wendy, who burns her nightlight for Peter Pan, beckoning him to come find her. She tried not to give up faith that he’d arrive. Unfortunately, some of us must grow up, and when we do, those connections that seemed so strong when we were young fall away.

The autumn chill that wakes me up

You loved the amber skies so much

Long limbs and frozen swims

You’d always go past where our feet could touch

And I complained the whole way there

The car ride back and up the stairs

I should’ve asked you questions

I should’ve asked you how to be

Asked you to write it down for me

Should’ve kept every grocery store receipt

‘Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me

Watched as you signed your name Marjorie

All your closets of backlogged dreams

And how you left them all to me

There’s nothing fictional about “Marjorie.” Swift wrote the song about her grandmother, who was an opera singer. It’s a tribute and recognition from where Swift inherited both her talent and dreams. I place it right in the middle of my top 50 because it’s simple and beautiful and every time I hear it my heart aches and soars at the same time. 

The whole school is rolling fake dice

You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes

It’s you and me, there’s nothing like this

Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince (okay)

We’re so sad, we paint the town blue

Voted most likely to run away with you

I’ll be honest–I had to Google this song to discover its meaning. Turns out “Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince” is an allegory! Swift uses high school as a metaphor for the political system. She’s “Miss Americana” – the all-American girl who represents everything that’s good and wholesome about the USA. But she’s heartbroken over the current political scene, and she’s expressing her disillusionment. Swift tells a surface level story about young love and rebellion that hides a deeper, darker meaning.

And they called off the circus

Burned the disco down

When they sent home the horses

And the rodeo clowns

I’m still on that tightrope

I’m still trying everything to get you laughing at me

I’m still a believer but I don’t know why

I’ve never been a natural

All I do is try, try, try…

Another song with hidden depths, which is ironic, since a mirrorball is by nature a shiny, reflective surface. Swift uses the metaphor of a mirrorball to represent herself in relationships, hinting at giddiness (“Spinning in my highest heels, love / Shining just for you”), precariousness (“I’m still on that tightrope”), and even toxicity (“to get you laughing at me”). It’s about desperation and imposter syndrome. Some say it’s about her compulsion to stay relevant to her fans; others claim it’s about holding onto a failing romance. Either way, it’s another surprisingly relatable song. Even Taylor Swift, who’s seemingly on top of the world, claims, I’ve never been a natural; all I do is try, try, try…

I dress to kill my time

I take the long way home

I ask the traffic lights if it’ll be all right

They say, “I don’t know”

And what once was ours is no one’s now

I see you everywhere

The only thing we share

Is this small town

You said it was a great love

One for the ages

But if the story’s over

Why am I still writing pages?

I’m struck by the personification of the traffic lights and how the narrator is living inside her head. It tells the story of a relationship that slowly died because the couple grew apart–it was no one’s fault, but that almost makes the heartache worse. Fun fact–Swift wrote “Death By a Thousand Cuts” after watching The Netflix film Someone Great. Thus, stories can work their way inside of us and inspire us to create something new. I love that.

Last time, I said I’d try to be back with the next post in less than a month, but it takes me a long time to put all this together. I’ll do my best, but in the meantime, you can revisit my rankings for the best Taylor Swift songs for fiction writers, #s 50-41.  And, her best songs for fiction writers, #s 40-31. Also, make sure to read “Love and Poetry,”  my short story written while reading Taylor Swift. It’s free to download, and you don’t even have to subscribe to my newsletter! (But if you’d like to subscribe, I’d love to have you. Click here!)

The post Swiftature — Top 50 Taylor Swift Songs for Fiction Writers Ranked: 30 – 21 first appeared on LaurelLit.com.

The post Swiftature — Top 50 Taylor Swift Songs for Fiction Writers Ranked: 30 – 21 appeared first on LaurelLit.com.