My Top 5 Favorites on Taylor Swift's New Album: evermore

After being a Taylor Swift fan for almost ten years, I have loved hearing and analyzing each of her ever changing eras. From being a twangy 16 year-old country singer, to making dark and edgy pop tracks about being the villain, Taylor Swift never fails to reinvent herself in exciting new ways. With the arrival of her 9th studio album, 'evermore', dropped at midnight on Thursday, there are 15 new songs to get lost in and to escape to. As a attentive listener, I have already given the album several listens, allowing me to come to my conclusions on the best tracks. Down below I have listed not only my top 5 songs, but why and what scenes I envision are being created.

5. willow:

As the first track and single of the album, 'willow' gives the album a sweet, melodic start. With instrumentals sounding like visuals of (with lack of a better word) folklore, you can almost envision a coven of witches, singing this song while roaming about a forest at night. Encircling the song with visions of braided pig tails and old-timely love, the hook line of the song, "life was a willow and it bent right to your wind" is truly a piece of poetry. The idea that your life is being continuously pulled in the direction of your soulmate makes this entire song worth while. Not only does this song have flawless lyrics and a mysterious melody, the fact that Taylor seems to be so in love in this song makes 'willow' truly a masterpiece.

4. ivy:

With the number 10 as my lucky number, I always look to track 10 of every album with utmost importance. This song did not disappoint. Including some of the most beautiful lyrics I have ever heard, when I first heard it, I simply sat and stared into the distance, unable to comprehend the musical genius. This song truly incaptures a cottage core aesthetic while also following a forbidden affair, one that I have a suspicion is between two women, one who must hide their love from her husband. In the song, the characters of Taylor's story fall in love through what is described as "moments that we stole, on begged and borrowed time". My most favorite line of the song has to be "Goddamn, my pain fits in the palm of freezing hand", as it makes me envision the ability for someone to take all of your problems and anguish so perfectly, like the fit of two hands holding one another.

3. champagne problems:

If I could describe this song as a scene in a movie, it would be the breakup scene when the girl flees as the boy only can stand and stare in disbelief. As the second track of the album, 'champagne problems' is one of the most illustrative and story-lined songs I have ever heard. The piano playing in the background physically makes your body slow down, engulfed in the ambiance of the scene Taylor is directing right before us. Following the story of a woman rejecting the proposal from her love, who has been preparing for this night for his entire life, this song truly feels as though you are trapped within it. My favorite lyric of the song, "how evergreen, our group of friends. Don't think we'll say that word again", marvels me, as I think of how insane it is that the smallest of things such as the answer, "no", can completely dismantle an entire network of two people's lives. This lyric mixed with the sarcastic tone in the way the title "champagne problems" is said, will truly leave you thinking about relationships and their true importance.The idea that the grief of rejecting a marriage proposal is not from letting down the man that you love, but from the idea that everything would be so much easier if you had just said "yes" is so interesting. I think as humans, we often times don't look back and give ourselves credit for the unpopular and difficult decisions that we make as we see them as a weakness and flaws. In this song, not only is the narrator looking back, she is also telling the man she disappointed that because of her decision, he will find someone that will give him all the right reasons for proposal preparations.

2. happiness:

As a teenager, I spend most of my time unhappy. Too often, my parents complain about me never being content or pleased with the things and people around me. Although this can often be true, don't think for a minute that it is my mission to be unhappy. I don't enjoy being unhappy and being so displeased with myself. In this song, the seventh track on the album, the idea of happiness and the truth behind that cruel concept is revealed. In this song, the male perspective of 'champagne problems' is introduced, as he talks about getting over his desired fiancee and finding true happiness. Even though I have no relationship to relate this to, I feel this song on an emotional level. Whether you have just gone through a painful breakup or if you have never been in love, you can relate to this song as it tells the story of having happiness and knowing that you will have it in the future as well. "There is happiness in our history, across our great divide, there is a glorious sunrise," is my favorite lyric because it tells the story of knowing you have been happy while also searching for a different kind of happiness at the beginning of every day, starting with a beautiful sunrise.

1. 'tis the damn season:

The moment you have been waiting for... my number 1 choice. After hearing this song for the first time, I automatically knew that it would be a quick favorite, as I could feel the characters as though they lived in my own town. In this song, a girl is returning to her hometown for the holidays and happens to run into her high school love who never left. After falling back in the same routine with this boy, she contemplates if this affair is really worth the once-a-year visits. The idea of coming home to the town that built you only to fall back into the same trap planted in high school, is often romanticized and dreamt of by young adults yearning for the holiday attention. In this song, Taylor tells the truth about this common dream, almost making fun of it, as seen in the title of the song, "'tis the damn season". What makes this song my favorite? It has to be the line, "There's an ache in you, put there by the ache in me, but if it's all the same to you, it's the same to me." This lyric mixed with the incredibly serene bass in the instrumental makes me wonder how something so incredibly exciting can leave you feeling even more empty and mistaken. This song is sure to grab your attention as the melody is contagious and tragically festive for this time of year. This just might be my favorite holiday song this season as I reflect on my own dreams of one day returning to my town, visiting family, and falling back in love, only to leave empty-handed.