Because I was bored, I re-listened to Taylor Swiftโs discography on the flight back to Manila. I first liked her as an artist in 2012, when she released RED. I wasnโt a fan then, but it made me more open to 1989, which eventually turned me into a Swiftie.
When she drops an album, I listen to it in full. Some of them (like 1989) captured me instantly. Others (like Reputation) took some time to grow on me. But I remember, when I listened to these albums for the first time, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐, in a good way, in the best possible way. And this post is about those moments.
RED, Track #5: ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ. That bridge when her voice soars, belting out, ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ. This is my all-time fave Swift song, and so I kinda didnโt like the 10-minute version. I felt like it diluted the perfect buildup to this bridge.
1989, Track #3: ๐๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐. Another bridge. That part when she screams, ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ! ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ! (Out of the Woods is my fave in this album, though.)
REPUTATION, Track #5: ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐. When she softly whispers, ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ? โบ๏ธ
LOVER, Track #2: ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ. Not because of the lyrics, but I was just so thrilled when the first chorus kicked in. Such a catchy song, melody-wise. Shouldโve been a single.
FOLKLORE, Track #10: ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ. The ending: ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง, ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด.
EVERMORE, Track #15: ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ (๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ). The bridge again, Taylorโs lines. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. Made me tear up a little at first listen, kahit โdi naman ako nakaka-relate. ๐
MIDNIGHTS, Track #1: ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ณ๐. Not the lyrics, but that moment when the snare (?) hook starts leading to the chorus. I adore this song, but I still have mixed feelings about Midnights as a whole. Maybe because, to me, while Track 1 is wonderfully dreamy, it goes somewhat downhill from here.
Anyway, add ko lang din, since Reputation, I feel like her albums are all so unnecessarily lengthy. Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights would all have been more solid if she removed some of the sound-alike tracks!
โYun lang, na-share ko lang naman.