With every new re-recorded Taylor Swift album comes a reintroduction to her sprawling discography. One that makes her fans fall in love with her music over and over again.
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While Swift certainly knows how to pick a single—as evident by her numerous No. 1 songs—her albums are chock full of so much strong material, that almost any of her tracks could be a hit in their own right.
We’re going back through Swift’s albums to find some shining moments that may have been lost amongst the tracklist and giving them their due. Here are 5 Taylor Swift songs that should have been singles.
1. “Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)”
This track from her debut record sees Swift doing what she does best—telling a fully flushed-out story in three minutes or less.
Still, in the height of her country era, the song follows two childhood sweethearts as they move on from juvenile crushes and eventually walk hand and hand down the aisle. She sings I looked at you like the stars that shined / In the sky, the pretty lights / And our daddies used to joke about the two of us / Growing up and falling in love.
In classic Swift fashion, she paints characters that the listener can relate to and fall in love with in a track that is pure country-pop perfection.
2. “Change”
This Fearless track touched on Swift’s experience being a young musician on a small record label. “[We have] a lot of odds stacked up against us. A lot of people, if given those odds, would say that’s not going to work,” Swift told Country Aircheck back in 2008.
On top of being a shining testament to Swift’s rise to fame, the song has also taken on a new meaning given the tumultuous relationship that developed between her and her label a few years later, as Scooter Braun got in the way of her buying back her master recordings.
“Any time [label head] Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to,” she said in a Tumblr post back in 2019. “He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them.”
The reissued version of Fearless has given new life to the old deep-cut Swift track.
3. “I Know Places”
Though often overshadowed by colossal hits “Style” and “Bad Blood,” this song holds its own weight amongst the stacked tracklist of 1989.
“I Know Places” is pop-focused Taylor at her finest. The instant earworm track sees Swift sing brooding verses before exploding into a pumped-up chorus. The darker edges of the track are a nice reprieve from the bright, effervescent pop of the rest of the record.
4. “Daylight”
Like the rest of the songs on Swift’s Honeymoon album, Lover, “Daylight” is an ode to newfound love.
In this track, Swift thanks her partner for bringing her into the daylight after a string of failed relationships. She sings I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you / I don’t wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you / I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight.
“Daylight” feels like your stepping inside the mind of an ’80s rom-com character the first time she locks eyes with her hunky Tom Cruise-shaped love interest. Though many of the songs on the album would be a hit with any lovestruck Swift fan, this one offers a wave of unabashed, bubblegum pop – what more could someone in love want?
5. “Peace”
Moving on to her moodier follow-up to Lover, “Peace” stands out amongst the wall-to-wall indie tracks on Folklore.
In the song, Swift takes it back to her roots telling the story of a struggling relationship. In the song she sings, The devil’s in the details, but you got a friend in me / Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?
The track is sparse with only a small synth beat and moments of disjointed piano backing up Swift’s vocals. Never one to rest on her laurels, the song is a shining example of Swift’s ability to switch up her sound.
Photo: Beth Garrabrant-Header/Republic Records
