Taylor Swift's Track 5’s, Ranked
He swore that he loved her, but where were the clues?
“Taylor Swift curates her album from start to finish,” Millie Bobby Brown said in a recent interview with Chris Pratt when discussing Taylor Swift’s intentional songwriting and storytelling. Like Brown said, for Swifties it does not go unnoticed that each of Swift’s albums, track 1 through the end, tells a specific story, each song a certain chapter in one of Swift’s many stories.
Track 5 is notoriously the saddest, most tortured song on all of Swift’s albums. While all of Swift’s album releases are highly anticipated, seeing the title and hearing the somber soliloquies that encompass track 5 specifically is an event in and of itself.
Often some of the most lyrically complex and daringly depressing, all of Swift’s track 5’s are masterpieces. Different in their own ways, all while feeling all too familiar, the track 5’s deserve their own ranking.
11. “Dear John (Taylor’s Version)”
While this may come as a shock to Swifties worldwide and it pains me to rank “Dear John (Taylor’s Version)” in last place, Swift’s other track 5’s simply rank higher for me. “Dear John” is painful, poetic, and a production masterpiece. There is really no negative to the track – it just simply doesn’t move me as much.
10. “All You Had To Do Was Stay (Taylor’s Version)”
“All You Had To Do Was Stay (Taylor’s Version)” is one of my favorite tracks off of Swift’s 1989. It’s fun and flirty, the opposite of what I find track 5’s often are. The reason I rank it low is because for me, it doesn’t represent what a track 5 is. With the poppy production, it moves you to dance rather than cry. While the lyrics are inherently sad, a possible contender to swap places as track 5 could be “Clean (Taylor’s Version).”
9. “Delicate”
“Delicate” is, again, one of my favorite tracks off of Swift’s reputation. Telling a story of walking the line between falling in love and just falling, Swift’s song of love is painful, like glass being crushed in your hand. However, again, the production feels more happy than sad. While Swift can make track 5’s tell whatever story she pleases in whichever ways she wants, track 5’s, to me, represent sadness in every way.
8. “White Horse (Taylor’s Version)”
Likely the ballad of so many young girl’s first loves and losses, as it was mine in high school, “White Horse (Taylor’s Version)” was one of the early definers of what being a track 5 truly meant.
“Cold As You” was one of my surprise songs at the Eras Tour, so this track has a special place in my heart. The first definition of what a track 5 embodied, “Cold As You” shows that Swift’s songwriting in her teen years was complex beyond her age, and her feelings can be tangibly felt through the lyrics.
As one of the most powerful performances at the Eras Tour, “my tears ricochet” can be interpreted in so many ways, all of which are just as sad as the next. Whether it’s determined to be about a fictional divorce or Swift’s battle for her stolen work, “my tears ricochet” is all about how your tears often tear you apart, but you can come back stronger than ever.
“So Long, London” is one of my all-time favorite tracks of Swift’s entire discography. Swifties that know the story behind the song feel her pain more than ever. Saying goodbye to six years of memories and losing a place and someone you love at the same time pulls on what we thought were invisible strings till they break. Turns out the strings were just invisible.
Again, one of the most powerful performances at the Eras Tour, “tolerate it” tells a story all too familiar – feeling overlooked in a relationship.
3. “The Archer”
As one of my long-time, all-time favorite tracks of Swift’s, “The Archer” personifies what anxiety feels like. Swift helps us to realize that she, just like us, is often doing it with a broken heart.
The song that started traditions that will never be forgotten, a legacy no one can undo, “You’re On Your Own, Kid” may be about us being on our own, but it helps us realize that with Swift’s music, we actually aren't alone at all.
1. “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”
To no surprise, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” is the track 5’s of all track 5’s. The best of the best. The story that inspires others. The song that became 10 minutes long. The song that became a short film. The song.
All of Swift’s track 5’s tell their own unique stories and hold special places in Swifties’ hearts for a variety of reasons. Through creating invisible strings from her heart to ours, Swift’s track 5’s will always be on repeat.
