Taylor Swift: Top 100 Songs

Taylor Swift Top 100 Songs

Taylor Alison Swift was born on 12/13/1989 in Reading, Pennyslvania. She released her first album in 2006 while still a teenager. She started out as a country artist, but had completely transformed to a pop star by 2014. And her 1989 album. She has sold more than 200 million records worldwide and won three Grammys for Album of the Year. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists. Spotify Podcast: Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast The Best of Taylor Swift, 2006-2022 based on this list. Debut: October 24, 2022, at 7pm CST. New episodes based on Dave’s Music Database lists are posted every Tuesday at 7pm CST.

Awards:

Top 100 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to charts.) DMDB Top 1%: 1. Shake It Off (2014) US, BA, DG, ST, RR, AC, A40, CN, AU 2. Love Story (2008) RR, AC, CW, AU 3. Blank Space (2014) US, BA, DG, ST, RR, AC, A40, CN, AU 4. You Belong with Me (2008) BA, RR, AC, CW DMDB Top 2%: 5. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (2012) US, DG, CW, CN 6. Bad Blood (with Kendrick Lamar, 2014) US, BA, DG, RR, A40, CN, AU 7. Anti-Hero (2022) US, BA, DG, ST, UK, AU 8. I Knew You Were Trouble (2012) BA, DG, RR, A40 DMDB Top 5%: 9. Look What You Made Me Do (2017) US, DG, ST, RR, UK, CN, AU 10. Wildest Dreams (2014) BA, RR, A40 11. All Too Well (Taylor’s version) (2021) US, DG, ST, CW, CN, AU 12. Style (2014) RR, AC, A40 13. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (with Zayn, 2016) DG 14. Cardigan (2020) US, DG, ST, AU 15. You Need to Calm Down (2019) DG 16. Delicate (2017) RR, AC, A40 17. Willow (2020) US, DG, A40, CN, AU 18. Mine (2010) DG, AC 19. Teardrops on My Guitar (2006) 20. Me! (with Brendan Urie, 2019) DG DMDB Top 10%: 21. 22 (2012) 22. Lover (2019) DG 23. Back to December (2010) DG 24. Ready for It? (2017) DG 25. Today Was a Fairytale (2010) DG, CN 26. Cruel Summer (2019) US, RR, A40, CN 27. Our Song (2006) CW 28. Mean (2010) 29. All Too Well (2012) 30. Everything Has Changed (with Ed Sheeran, 2012) DMDB Top 20%: 31. Fifteen (2008) 32. White Horse (2008) 33. Gorgeous (2017) DG 34. Love Story (Taylor’s version) (2021) DG, CW 35. The Man (2019) 36. Karma (2022) RR 37. Red (2012) 38. Eyes Open (2012) 39. Half of My Heart (with John Mayer, 2009) 40. Lavender Haze (2022) 41. Begin Again (2012) DG 42. Out of the Woods (2014) DG 43. Highway Don’t Care (with Tim McGraw, 2013) CW 44. Exile (with Bon Iver, 2020) 45. Renegade (with Big Red Machine, 2021) 46. Bejeweled (2022) 47. Snow on the Beach (with Lana Del Rey, 2022) 48. End Game (with Ed Sheeran, 2017) 49. Two Is Better Than One (with Boys Like Girls, 2009) 50. Safe & Sound (with Civil Wars, 2011) 51. Only the Young (2020) 52. Carolina (2022) 53. Both of Us (with B.o.B., 2012) 54. The Story of Us (2010) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 55. Ours (2011) CW 56. Picture to Burn (2006) 57. Midnight Rain (2022) 58. No Body, No Crime (with Haim, 2020) 59. Welcome to New York (2014) 60. Sweet Nothing (2022) 61. Fearless (2009) 62. Should’ve Said No (2006) CW 63. Tim McGraw (2006) 64. Sparks Fly (2010) CW 65. Jump Then Fall (2009) 66. You’re on Your Own Kid (2022) 67. Speak Now (2010) 68. State of Grace (2012) 69. Coney Island (with the National, (2020) 70. Crazier (2009) 71. I Bet You Think About Me (with Chris Stapleton, 2021) 72. Vigilante Shit (2022) 73. Mastermind (2022) 74. Question…? (2022) DG 75. Paper Rings (2019) 76. Sweeter Than Fiction (2013) 77. Maroon (2022) 78. I Forgot That You Existed (2019) 79. The Joker and the Queen (with Ed Sheeran, 2021) 80. Hits Different (2022) DG 81. Forever & Always (2008) 82. Labyrinth (2022) 83. The Archer (2019) 84. Corneila Street (2019) 85. You’re Not Sorry (2008) 86. London Boy (2019) 87. New Romantics (2015) 88. Enchanted (2010) 89. Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince (2019) 90. Death by a Thousand Cuts (2019) 91. I Think He Knows (2019) 92. Afterglow (2019) 93. I Almost Do (2012) 94. Christmas Tree Farm (2019) 95. Stay Stay Stay (2012) 96. Daylight (2019) 97. The Moment I Knew (2013) 98. Message in a Bottle (Taylor’s Version) (2021) 99. Call It What You Want (2017) DG 100. The 1 (2020) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Taylor Swift Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 8/27/2017; last updated 10/25/2023.

Taylor Swift: The #1’s

Taylor Swift The #1’s: 2006-2023

Overview: Singer born Taylor Alison Swift on 12/13/1989 in Reading, Pennyslvania. She released her first album in 2006 while still a teenager. She started out as a country artist but completely transformed to a pop star by 2014 with her 1989 album. She has spent more weeks atop the Billboard album chart (54) than any other woman in history. She has sold more than 200 million records worldwide and won three Grammys for Album of the Year. On the Web: TaylorSwift.com (official site) Facebook Wikipedia Lists: Taylor Swift: Top 100 Songs

Awards:

The Studio Albums: Hover over an album cover to see its title and year of release. Click on the album to go to its dedicated DMDB page. Compilations: While Swift has released multiple editions of her studio albums and even re-recorded versions of some of them, she has yet to release a proper career retrospective. This page offers a glimpse of each of her studio albums, highlighting those songs which have reached #1 on various charts, thus offering a sampling of what songs would be most likely to appear on a very overdue compilation. Dates indicate the songs first appearance at #1 on any of the noted charts. Click for codes to singles charts.

Taylor Swift (2006): Swift’s self-titled debut was released when she was sixteen years old. The album gave her five top-10 country hits, two of which went to #1. All five of those songs also reached the Billboard top 40. The album spent 24 weeks atop the country album chart and reached #5 on the overall Billboard album chart. It was certified as 7x platinum. 12/22/2007: “Our Song” (CW: 6) 8/23/2008: “Should’ve Said Now” (CW: 2) Fearless (2008): Like its predecessor, Swift’s second album gave her five top-10 country hits, two of which reached #1. However, this album made her a bona fide pop star, giving her five top-10 pop hits and winning the Grammy for Album of the Year. In addition, the two songs listed here rank amongst the DMDB’s top 1000 of all time. The album spent 11 weeks at #1 on the overall Billboard album chart and 35 weeks atop the country chart. It was certified for 10 million in sales in the United States. 11/22/2008: “Love Story” (CW: 2, AC: 6, RR: 1, AU: 2) 8/22/2009: “You Belong with Me” (BA: 2, CW: 2, AC: 14, RR: 1) Valentine’s Day (soundtrack, 2010): 2/6/2010: “Today Was a Fairytale” (DG: 1, CN: 1) Speak Now (2010): Once again, Swift kept one foot in pop and the other in country, spending 6 and 13 weeks atop those respective album charts. It was certified for 6 million in sales in the U.S. The album gave her five more top-10 country hits and four more top-10 pop hits. 8/21/2010: “Mine” (DG: 1, AC: 1) 10/30/2010: “Back to December” (DG: 1) 11/26/2011: “Sparks Fly” (CW: 1) 3/31/2012: “Ours” (CW: 1) Red (2012): Swift’s farewell to country saw her spend 16 weeks at #1 on the country album chart and 7 on the pop chart. It landed 7 million in sales in the United States. She got three more top-10 country hits and four top-10 pop hits, including her first pop chart-topper, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” 9/1/2012: “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (BB: 3, DG: 5, CW: 10, CN: 4) 10/13/2012: “Begin Again” (DG: 1) 10/27/2012: “I Knew You Were Trouble” (BA: 4, DG: 3, RR: 6, A40: 1) 1989 (2014): Swift’s full-fledged pop coronation made her a superstar. She racked up three #1 pop hits and two more top-10’s. “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space” rank in the DMDB’s top 1000 of all time. The album logged 11 weeks atop the Billboard album chart. At more than 12 million sales worldwide, it is her biggest seller to date. It also garnered her a second Album of the Year Grammy. 9/6/2014: “Shake It Off” (BB: 4, BA: 4, DG: 4, ST: 2, RR: 2, AC: 5, A40: 8, CN: 4, AU: 3) 11/1/2014: “Out of the Woods” (DG: 1) 11/15/2014: “Blank Space” (BB: 7, BA: 6, DG: 7, ST: 7, RR: 5, AC: 4, A40: 6, CN: 6, AU: 3) 3/15/2015: “Style” (RR: 3, AC: 2, A40: 2) 6/6/2015: “Bad Blood” (with Kendrick Lamar, BB: 1, BA: 5, DG: 5, RR: 6, A40: 3, CN: 1, AU: 3) 10/25/2015: “Wildest Dreams” (BA: 2, RR: 2, A40: 4) Fifty Shades Darker (soundtrack, 2017): 12/31/2016: “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” (with Zayn, DG: 2) Reputation (2017): This one spent four weeks at #1 on the album chart and sold more than 4.5 million worldwide. It gave Swift another Billboard Hot 100 chart topper with “Look What You Made Me Do” and a top-5 hit with “Ready for It?” Three more songs reached the top 20. 9/16/2017: “Look What You Made Me Do” (BB: 3, DG: 1, ST: 2, RR: 1, UK: 2, CN: 3, AU: 2) 9/23/2017: “Ready for It?” (DG: 1) 11/11/2017: “Gorgeous” (DG: 1) 11/25/2017: “Call It What You Want” (DG: 1) 7/22/2018: “Delicate” (RR: 1, AC; 10, A40: 4) Lover (2019): Swift’s sixth consecutive chart-topper only spent one week atop the Billboard album chart but matched the 4.5+ million in sales of its predecessor. Swift barely missed the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking in the runner-up spot with “Me!” and “You Need to Calm Down.” The title cut was also a top-10 hit. The most interesting story, however, belongs to “Cruel Summer.” The fan favorite essentially served as the opening song on Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour and finally got its chart due, going all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 nearly five years after its initial release. 5/11/2019: “Me!” (with Brendon Urie, DG: 1) 6/29/2019: “You Need to Calm Down” (DG: 1) 8/31/2019: “Lover” (DG: 2) 7/31/2023: “Cruel Summer” (BB: 1, RR: 2) Miss Americana (documentary, 2020): 2/15/2020: “Only the Young” (DG: 1) Folklore (2020): For her eighth album, Swift racked up another eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart, but saw a drop-off in sales. It still sold 2 million worldwide. “Cardigan” gave Swift another #1 hit and “Exile” and “The 1” reached the top 10. The album was her third to win the Grammy for Album of the Year. 8/8/2020: “Cardigan” (BB: 1, DG: 1, ST: 1) Evermore (2020): Swift’s ninth studio release gave her another 3 weeks atop the Billboard album chart. This was her first album to fail to sell a million copies. “Willow” became Swift’s seventh song to reach the pinnacle of the Billboard Hot 100. 12/26/2020: “Willow” (BB: 1, DG: 1, A40: 3) Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (2021): 2/27/2021: “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” (DG: 1) Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021): 11/15/2021: “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” (BB: 1, DG: 1, ST: 1, CW: 3, CN: 1, AU: 1) Midnights (2023): Swift made history with her Midnights album when she locked down the entire top ten slots on the Billboard Hot 100. The album’s lead single, “Anti-Hero,” became her biggest #1 on the chart, spending eight weeks on top. 11/5/2022: “Anti-Hero” (BB: 8, BA: 5, DG: 5, ST: 2, RR: 3, A40: 7, UK: 6, CN: 5, AU: 6) 11/5/2022: “Question…?” (DG: 1) 6/10/2023: “Hits Different” (DG: 1) 7/10/2023: “Karma” (RR: 2)

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Taylor Swift First posted 11/16/2021; last updated 10/24/2023.

Taylor Swift hit #1 on the AC charts with “You Belong with Me”

You Belong with Me Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Liz Rose (see lyrics here) Released: April 18, 2009 First Charted: November 22, 2008 Peak: 2 US, 11 RR, 114 AC, 2 A40, 12 CW, 30 UK, 3 CN, 4 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 7.0 US, 0.6 UK, 8.35 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.7 radio, 1201.24 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Taylor Swift took the world by storm in 2008-2009. Her second album, Fearless, pulled off the astonishing feat of sending twelve of its 13 songs into the Billboard Hot 100. Four went top ten, with “You Belong with Me” being the biggest. The song also gave her a fourth trip to the top of the country charts and marked her second ascension to the pinnacle of the adult contemporary chart (following “Love Story”). It was also the first song in nearly a decade (the last being Faith Hill’s “Breathe” in 2000) to simultaneously chart in the top 5 of the Hot 100 and country charts. WK and the first country song to top the Billboard Hot 100 radio airplay chart AB’00 Swift somehow “made teen love, angst, and romance sound incredibly fresh again.” AB’00 She explained that she overheard a friend’s conversation and wrote the song’s first line, “You’re on the phone with your girlfriend/ She’s upset, going off about something that you said.” SF The song hit on the idea that, as she told MTV News, “somehow the popular girl gets the guy every time” even though she “doesn’t appreciate him at all.” WK She extended the idea “that I’m in love with him and he should be with me instead of her,” SF and highlighted the differences between the two women with lines like “She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts.” SF The video for the song was shot at the high school in Hendersonville, Tennessee, where her brother went. SF Lucas Till, from Hannah Montana: The Movie, starred as her love interest and in case of life imitating art, the two dated for a short time after doing the video. SF The video’s director, Roman White, said the sparks between the two were evident to everyone on set. He joked, “How many kisses did we go through? I stopped counting at, like, 45.” SF Swift became the first country artist to win an MTV Video Music Award, landing the prize for Best Female Video at the 2009 Awards. Her win was overshadowed when rapper Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech to proclaim his opinion that Beyoncé should have won the award. When Beyoncé won Video of the Year for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” she graciously invited Swift back on stage to finish her speech. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Taylor Swift SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 10/21/2022.

Taylor Swift’s Fearless released

Fearless Taylor Swift

Released: November 11, 2008 (Original Version) Released: April 9, 2021 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 111 US, 135 CW, 5 UK, 11 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 0.3 UK, 12.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country/pop

Song Title (Writers) [Time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Tracks (Original Album): Fearless (Swift, Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey) [4:01] (11/1/08, 9 US, 69 CN, sales: 1 million) Fifteen [4:54] (11/29/08, 23 US, 10 CW, 34 AA, 19 CN, 48 AU, sales: 1.5 million) Love Story [3:55] (9/27/08, 4 US, 1 CW, 1 AC, 3 AA, 2 UK, 4 CN, 1 AU, sales: 8.1 million worldwide, airplay: 0.6 m) Hey Stephen [4:14] (11/29/08, 94 US) White Horse (Swift, Rose) [3:54] (11/29/08, 13 US, 2 CW, 60 UK, 43 CN, 41 AU, sales: 2 million) You Belong with Me (Swift, Rose) [3:51] (11/22/08, 2 US, 1 CW, 1 AC, 2 AA, 30 UK, 3 CN, 5 AU, sales: 4.9 million, airplay: 0.5 m) Breathe (with Colbie Caillat) (Swift, Caillat) [4:23] (11/29/08, 87 US) Tell Me Why (Swift, Rose) [3:20] You’re Not Sorry [4:21] (11/15/08, 11 US, 11 CN, sales: 0.7 million) The Way I Loved You (Swift, John Rich) [4:03] (11/29/08, 72 US) Forever & Always [3:45] (11/29/08, 34 US) The Best Day [4:05] (5/23/09, 56 CW, gold single) Change [4:39] (8/30/08, 10 US, 57 CW) Tracks (Platinum Edition): Jump Then Fall [3:57] (11/14/09, 10 US, 59 CW) Untouchable (Swift, Carly Barlowe, Nathan Barlowe, Tommy Lee James) [4:27] (11/14/09, 19 US) Forever & Always (piano version) [4:27] (4/24/21, 65 US) Come in with the Rain (Swift, Rose) [3:57] (11/14/09, 30 US) Superstar (Swift, Rose) [4:23] (11/14/09, 26 US) The Other Side of the Door [3:58] (11/14/09, 23 US) Tracks (Taylor’s Version): Today Was a Fairy Tale [4:01] (1/19/10, 2 US, 19 RR, 21 AC, 21 A40, 41 CW, 57 UK, 1 CN, 3 AU) You All Over Me (with Maren Morris) (Swift, Scooter Carusoe) [3:40] (3/26/21, 51 US, 52 UK, 34 AU) Mr. Perfectly Fine [4:37] (4/7/21, 30 US) We Were Happy (Swift, Rose) [4:04] That’s When (with Keith Urban) (Swift, Brad Warren, Brett Warren) [3:09] Don’t You (Swift, James) [3:28] Bye Bye Baby (Swift, Rose) [4:02] Total Running Time (Original Version): 53:41 Total Running Time (Taylor’s Version): 106:20

Rating: 3.643 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Swift’s sophomore album did anything but slump. Once you count five charted songs from the 2009 re-release known as the platinum edition, Fearless was responsible for landing an astonishing 17 hits on the charts. 16 of those made it on the U.S. Hot 100 and five of those were top 10 hits. It was “the first album in music history to produce thirteen top forty hits. Swift now holds the record for most singles on the Hot 100 at the same time by a female artist with nine.” WK “The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 592,304 copies in its first week, the best first-week sales for a female artist in 2008. Fearless became the first album to sell one million copies in 2009.” WK In addition to 11 non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, giving it the most weeks at #1 since Santana’s 1999 Supernatural album. “The album has spent 45 weeks in the top ten on the Billboard 200, becoming the longest run for a country album in the top ten since Shania Twain’s Come On Over, which had 53 weeks from 1997-1999.” WK The album also spent 35 non-consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. WK The album also cleaned up on awards. It is the only album in history to take home the Country Album of the Year prizes from the Academy of Country Music, American Music Award, Country Music Assocation, and the Grammys. It also won the Grammy for Album of the Year. It wasn’t just that the album was a success based on awards and sales, though. It was also a display of her growth as an artist. She “abandons any pretense that she’s a teen…which isn’t to say that she suddenly tarts herself up, running away from her youth in a manner that’s all too familiar to many teen stars. Swift’s maturation is deliberate and careful, styled after the crossover country-pop of Shania Twain and Faith Hill before they turned into divas. Despite the success of her self-titled 2006 debut, there’s nothing at all diva-like about Swift on 2008’s Fearless: she’s soft-spoken and considerate, a big sister instead of a big star.” STE “There may be a hint of youthfulness to her singing but that’s the only hint of girlishness here; her writing – and she had a hand in penning all 13 tracks here, with six of them bearing her solitary credit – is sharply, subtly crafted and the music is softly assured, never pushing its hooks too hard and settling into a warm bed of guitars and keyboards. Like many country-pop albums of the 2000s, the pop heavily outweighs the country – there aren’t fiddles here, there are violins – yet Fearless never feels garish, a crass attempt at a crossover success. It’s small-scale and sweetly tuneful, always seeming humble even when the power ballads build to a big close. Swift’s gentle touch is as enduring as her songcraft, and this musical maturity may not quite jibe with her age but it does help make Fearless one of the best mainstream pop albums of 2008.” STE The album’s first official single, Love Story, “was her first song to achieve commercial success outside the United States; it reached number one in Australia [and Canada] and number two in the United Kingdom.” WK The song also won CMT’s Video of the Year award. “White Horse was the second official US single from Fearless” WK but “like its predecessor, …became successful before its single release.” WK “You Belong with Me was the third official US single from Fearless.” WK It “has become the biggest hit of Swift’s career domestically, and became the highest charting country single since 2005, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.” WK It won Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. “Controversy ensued while during Swift’s acceptance speech for the award, rapper Kanye West stole her microphone away from her, and said that Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’, which was one of the videos ‘You Belong With Me’ beat out, deserved to win the award…Beyoncé, after winning the award for Video of the Year for ‘Single Ladies’, invited Swift to the stage to finish her acceptance speech, instead of delivering her own.” WK Fifteen, which was one of the many album tracks to chart when the album was released, “was announced to be the fourth official US single from Fearless.” WK The song is “a kind warning for a teen to watch her heart sung from the perspective of a woman who’s perhaps twice that age – a sly trick for the 18-year-old Swift.” STE “On the chart week of November 14, 2009, Swift set a record for the most songs on the Billboard Hot 100 by a female artist at the same time with eight singles from the re-release of her 2008 album Fearless.” WK Three of those had previously charted or were still on the charts from the previous week, but with a non-Fearless song (Boys Like Girls’ ‘Two Is Better Than One’, which featured Swift) also debuting that week, Swift also had “six debuts in one week, the biggest number of debuts by any female artist of all time. It also lifts the number of her simultaneously-charting songs to nine, setting another record for the biggest number of charting songs by the same female artist in the same week.” WK That same week, Swift became the artist with the most number of Top 20 debuts in her career. WK Notes: The platinum edition of the album added five new songs. In 2021, Taylor re-recorded and re-released the entire album, including the tracks on the Platinum Edition, plus eight more songs.

Resources and Related Links: STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia page for Original Version WK Wikipedia page for Taylor’s Version Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 11/30/2009; last updated 4/21/2022.