Not really sure if anyone would care, but I’ve been enjoying reading through everyone’s ranking of each song on the album so I wanted to do my own. But it’s honestly too hard for me to pick them one by one because I don’t think I can pick my favorites in order, so I thought I’d rank all of the songs in three groups instead with reasoning. (This is long, sorry! But I’d love to hear other opinions and especially why you might disagree with me!)
Group 1: My very favorite songs on the album and the ones that are constantly on repeat are Cruel Summer, Lover, The Man, Daylight, Cornelia Street, Afterglow.
Why: Afterglow and Cruel Summer are seriously just pop perfection to me. Lover and Cornelia Street both have the most incredible emotion, but not as much as, SYGB per say, which also makes them really enjoyable and easy to repeat. Daylight is literally the perfect ending song for this album, and lyrically is so. damn. good. And I shouldn’t even get started on The Man. But I will. Because it is so so catchy while also making an incredibly important point without being too in your face (in my opinion).
Group 2: I really do love every single one of these songs, they each have either a great beat or really great emotion, they just didn’t hit the nail on the head as much as Group 1 did for me. Miss Americana, I Think He Knows, Death By A Thousand Cuts, Soon You’ll Get Better, The Archer, I Forgot That You Existed.
Why: I honestly thing SYGB is SO good and has such great emotion, only put it in Group 2 because it’s something that I’ll barely ever listen to because I can’t help but cry, but maybe that’s what makes it so good. Production wise, I’m not a huge fan of The Archer, but the lyric “I cut off my nose just to spite my face, then hate my reflection for years and years” sold the entire song for me. Everything else is really catchy!
Group 3: I don’t want to say that I don’t necessarily like these, but they are some that I don’t see myself listening to very often. London Boy, False God, It’s Nice To Have A Friend, ME!, You Need To Calm Down, Paper Rings.
Why: I guess these are some of the cornier songs for the most part, which is something I’ve just never been that into. Paper Rings is really cute and positive and happy, but I guess I tend to be none of those things so it’s difficult for me to relate to and I don’t see myself reaching for it!
Overall, I’d say this was one of Taylor’s best albums, I’d probably rank it #3. This is my 13th year of loving Taylor with all of my heart and soul. I became a fan of hers when I was about 8 years old (I’m 21 now) and I can’t imagine someone more talented and clever and good at what they do. Can’t wait for the tour!