‘Speak Now’ Is Taylor Swift’s Best Album. There, I Said It.

Picture this: it’s 2010. You’re nineteen years old, and facing criticism from every direction. Crusty old men are insisting that you never write your own songs. You’re heartbroken, you’re young, and you’re trying to find your feet in a world that is set so firmly against you.

You’re Taylor Swift, and you’ve just released the best album of your career.

It has it all: songs about heartbreak, celebration, crashing a wedding, revenge, the complete highs and lows of love, and everything to do with it. Seamlessly blending genres, she goes from country bops to heartbreaking ballads to rock-fueled anthems easily.

After receiving criticism upon its re-release last year, it remains to be severely slept on. People claim that it lacked the emotion of the original, and they bitched about the lyric change in Better Than Revenge, claiming that it was ‘disappointing’.

I simply believe these people hate fun.

What these people (I refuse to call them haters) fail to see is the pure emotional tenacity of her writing. Speak Now – which, again, was completely written by herself – has a powerful narrative, and a far more mature perspective and style than her previous two records.

The Tracklist

I may not have looked anyone in the eye for the past eighteen months, but you bet I’m still kicking my feet and twirling my hair to half this damn album. With ‘Mine’ as the opening track, heading straight into ‘Sparks Fly,’ she’s paying homage to her own country roots, with lyrics that far supersede her age.

‘Mine’ specifically conveys the story of a girl who’s taken a pessimistic view of love due to her parents’ failed marriage, and its storytelling structure and hopeful outro serve as the perfect introduction to this album.

And then she absolutely decimates you with what is probably one of the best songs she has ever written – ‘Back to December.’ It’s hard to believe it was written by a nineteen-year-old, as she shows far more emotional maturity and talent than songwriters twice her age.

And then, if that wasn’t enough, the emotional devastation that comes with ‘Dear John’ and ‘Long Live’ is honestly enough to kill me off. ‘Dear John’ infamously covers the relationship she had with 32 year-old John Mayer, and it is a searingly honest insight into the murky side of the music industry, over a decade before Olivia Rodrigo’s smash hit Vampire.

The Eras Tour

It’s hard to write anything about Taylor Swift without mentioning the elephant in the room.

Unfortunately, ‘Long Live’ and ‘Enchanted’ are the only two tracks that made it to the official Eras Tour set-list. Although ‘Enchanted’ is iconic in its own way, my personal favourite is ‘Long Live’. Taylor Swift has a long history with her fans – she used to host album listening parties in her own home – and she has an infamous Tumblr history.

It’s a love letter to her band and her fans. It speaks of her delight in performing, the ‘dragons’ she’s conquered in the past, and the love in the stands with every show. Hearing her sing this all these years later only elevates the pure emotion of the track.

Hearing people pick at this re-recording for not sounding as young and devastated as the original is so pointless to me. How can you hear ‘Long Live’ live all these years later, and not be emotionally overwhelmed?

Even with ‘Enchanted,’ with its heartbreaking “please don’t be in love with someone else”, is there not something in seeing her stand there, having overcome all the devastation of her youth? How can you not hear this re-recording and not feel your heart swell with hope? Here she is, all these years later. The songs remain just as relevant, just as poignant. But yet they’re more hopeful than ever.

The Vault Tracks

I think the thing that separates Speak Now from the rest of them is the influence of the pop-punk genre, a scene that was particularly thriving in 2010.

And my GOD she went off in Speak Now’s vault tracks.

Okay, fair enough, they’re no ‘All Too Well TMV’ (but, then again, nothing ever will be), but they’re about as close to perfection as they can be.

‘Castles Crumbling’ features the effervescent, pulchritudinous, marvellous, one of the greatest women to ever live, Hayley Williams. Williams and Swift have a long history together, and it’s lovely to see them together on this track, particularly seeing as Paramore are supporting the Eras tour later this year. (I’m hoping and praying that it becomes a permanent addition to the setlist.)

And it’s a BANGER.

The imagery of castles falling down, of letting people down is so intensely powerful. Particularly when taken in context of her own career. Their voices harmonise wonderfully, and the pain in the words is shown effortlessly. It’s one of my favourite vault tracks, possibly my favourite song she’s ever written.

And Electric Touch? Featuring THE Patrick Stump?! In this economy?!

Alternative Influences

There’s a very specific subsection of Swifties who will know exactly what I mean when I say finding out about these collabs was the best thing to ever happen to me. Yeah, sure, Folklore might be brooding and sad, but Speak Now is the real album for the emos. ‘Electric Touch’ is so fun, and the way her voice goes so well against Patrick Stump’s will forever be my roman empire.

And yet the alternative influences supersede the vault tracks. ‘Haunted’ particularly stands out. If you added heavier guitars and told me it was a My Chemical Romance song, I would believe you. ‘Better Than Revenge’ too; it’s easy to see how Paramore was highly influential to her. It has Misery Business vibes, and I love it for that (slight misogyny aside. But hey, she’s Taylor Swift. She’s allowed a little misogyny – as a treat.)

And then there’s the others – ‘When Emma Falls in Love,’ a lovely track about the transformative power of love. ‘Foolish One’ for all the yearners out there. ‘I Can See You’ and ‘Timeless’ are also certified bangers: it’s literally a no-skip album.

Conclusion

To sum it all up: this album is complete perfection. Teenage girls are extremely powerful writers, and if Speak Now doesn’t prove that then I don’t know what will. Even down to the title – she was originally going to call it Enchanted.

Speak Now fits its confessional nature, and it’s such a cathartic album that I’d recommend to anyone. It’s one of those that encompasses so many aspects of human life that it would be difficult to find a track you don’t relate to.