RANKING TAYLOR SWIFT'S LEAD SINGLES SCIENTIFICALLY ***intense***

[@the3rdquark]

Imagining how much I’d have loved the lover era if the singles had been anything other than ME! and YNTCD...but I think if Cruel Summer had been the lead the rest of the album would’ve been a bit of a letdown. Agree with your ranking!

[@theswiftologist]

Ugh tea, had it been laid up properly I’d think about it soooo differently now!

[@zaineoakley5555]

Best lover single is lover

[@yoannam.2243]

I'm a year later, but I think the perfect Lover lead singer is Lover, the song. Then as a second Cruel Summer. ME! and You Need To Calm Down don't deserve a place on the tracklist.

[@MarcDoesNotKnow]

the "woke" songs on lover are so bad omg. yntcd and the man are like yay message but meh on any other aspect. too bad she was in her woke political era when she released lover so she kinda had to add those songs. lover would be so much better without songs like me, the man, yntcd, etc.

[@scatteredstraw]

If Taylor forgetting Mine is a human rights violation, then Taylor CHOOSING to release Me and then fucking You Need to Calm Down (you're right Taylor I probably do) when she had Cruel Summer and Death by a Thousand Cuts in her back pocket is a fucking Geneva Convention violation.

[@swiftie4ever13]

I'm a ME! defender but I can't help but wheeze ab the way you talk ab it, it's so funny 😭

[@KyleOgilvie1]

Lover should've been the lead single for Lover. It would've set up the theme of the album without that Mary Poppins Dr.Seuss Lisa Frank nightmare of a music video.

[@allamericanbitch]

Agreed!!

[@dianna423]

i’m so happy someone else thinks this!

[@smarrtie2571]

Cruel summer is right there...

[@Miki-hn5gv]

@@smarrtie2571i get what you mean, but if we get to choose between me-he-he, moo-hoo-hoo! and lover then the winner is clear lol

[@smarrtie2571]

@@Miki-hn5gv definitely agree on that

[@gillfishish3343]

Watching the making of Me! in Miss Americana is actually painful because they really thought they were having a moment with it and like no that is not the moment we were looking for. On a different note, it almost seems strange to me that Folklore and Evermore even had lead singles when to me they both seem to be consumed as one cohesive unit. Not that her other albums are aren’t cohesive or aren’t meant to be enjoyed in their entirety, but in the past Taylor has been pretty deliberate in crafting singles specifically for exposure and radio play, and you don’t see that as much with Folklore and Evermore.

[@theswiftologist]

it is sooooooo rough

[@KyleOgilvie1]

I can't even with the brilliance that is Speak Now. It is, not including her debut album, her most underrated album. I love that it was basically a 'f*ck you' to everyone who said an eighteen year old girl couldn't possibly write her own music. Mine is brilliant and was, for a long time, my favourite Taylor song. I think Sparks Fly or Mean could've also been good lead singles but Mine has brilliant wording and sort of plays like a more mature version of Love Story.

[@MLCrook]

right where you left me as the lead single !!! yes finally the justice it deserves (why was it a bonus track??) it's my fave on evermore

[@hannaht2584]

Your ME! rants always add several years to my life LOL

[@jamalrana8504]

The jarring contrast from ME! to cardigan on the next album is beyond belief

[@stardolphin783]

Taylor really went from love story to "we got bills to pay" lmaaooo

[@tayluvofficial]

She matured 😂❤

[@ravenfeatherdust]

I remember one time I put Lover on mix at the bus stop. I THOUGHT I'd connected it to my Bluetooth earphones but apparently not. So then "ME!" blasts out of my actual phone at the bus stop one bright early morning before school with about three of my classmates right next to me on the bench. God it was embarrassing 😭 Cruel Summer had the most wasted potential in the WORLD Really good rankings!!!

[@lesliemiller1757]

I love to know how she has worked on her stage act. The vocals aren’t the only thing improved. She’s not exactly dancing but she has clearly had some training. If only there was a journalist who could look into it. Her live act is so changed and improved over the years.

[@Elix90]

I am that one in a million swiftie who has Willow as my favourite Taylor Swift song. Not just favourite single, or favourite on evermore, it is my favourite Taylor song out of all of the 150+ songs we now have in the year of our lord 2023. I have never seen a single person share this opinion, and it's not that I love the mv (I like it, don't love it) and I am a folklore girlie when it comes to albums, I don't find the lyrics to be outstanding or anything, I just love how that song sounds. Everything about it, it's my favourite to sing along too, and it just scratches my brain in the right way. Oh, also I loooove Mine, that mv has my full heart.

[@jw4833]

i'm with you! Willow is my favorite (not even just Taylor) song as well! Its sooo amazing and dreamy.

[@brittanyphelps1000]

Totally agree with you about Me. I ALWAYS SKIP THAT SONG Also for video ideas : Ranking all taylor swift songs,(tier list or that one website where it's like tournament style) ranking all taylor swift albums, ranking all taylor swift track 5s, ranking all taylor swift music videos, your controversial taylor swift opinions

[@alexisj5596]

I think long story short or right where you left me should have been the lead single for evermore. But yeah if anyone defends ME.... have you not head the amazing songs on Lover that could have been the lead. Love your videos!!

[@theswiftologist]

rwylm would've been too powerful for the general public...I suppose we must keep some secrets to ourselves

[@thebolter.]

"weddings, graduations and funerals," YES I WILL BE PLAYING IT AT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MINE,

[@theswiftologist]

yup yup yup

[@KyleOgilvie1]

What about a video ranking her promotional songs like (this is according to Wikipedia) State of Grace or You're Not Sorry.

[@theswiftologist]

oooh love that idea

[@ERoylance91]

One time I heard someone call “ME!” a warm bowl of mayonnaise and I have never felt so seen, heard, and vindicated. ME! was traumatizing.

[@soinotherwords]

I probably would have ranked Tim McGraw higher and switched Cardigan and Mine. Would love to see you do a ranking of her famous feuds and the songs they inspired ... or why Tree is a bad publicist lmao. Or just a ranking of her closing tracks or track 5s! Absolutely love your podcast. Please do more videos ❤️

[@theswiftologist]

I think I'm going to rank her most petty songs which would entail a discussion of the feuds.....WHY TREE IS A BAD PUBLICIST KLASNJSFDSL that video would be 5 hours long

[@aestrialettington1346]

wait why? i thought tree was good a nice to taylor?

[@vrishtihasija2142]

@@aestrialettington1346 i think they mean she could be a better publicist, not tree as a person.

[@dactyltactyl]

i second that i would love a tree is a bad publicist video hi it's me 2 yrs later@@theswiftologist

[@brittanyquale1905]

Love this. You’re so hilarious. Keep doing you! I want your thoughts on the different ways Tay has “manipulated” or “stylized” her voice, e.g., the fake country accent in the early eras, her squeak in Haim’s Gasoline, her exaggerated “ah” after singing “ace” in New Romantics. Is it fake or cool?

[@theswiftologist]

thank you queen!!!!!!! ooooh that's such a good topic.....I'll save my thoughts for a future video

[@courtneygraham429]

Her accent was fake??? 😮😮😮 I just assumed she picked it up from living in Nashville but now that I think on it you wouldn’t develop an accent at 14 and older. Shook 😂

[@shanegriffin6637]

Okay...but ME! did give us Benjamin Button. I still don’t hate the song much, but I think we could have appreciated it more without it being a single.

[@theswiftologist]

I think it should have been set on fire actually

[@tammycombs167]

That was the best thing to come from this song. Lol

[@marcomarquez1524]

Interesting coming back to this video: You were so right about cruel summer, it si set to archive that number one for lover , 4 years after her release! On ghe other hand Cardigan has been doing numbers in the last year Finally we have anti hero who is still charting in the top 30 of the billboard and we have yet to see her impact in the VMAs and grammys

[@lm_viperedits8603]

I honestly think that Tim McGraw should’ve been a single alone, and not included on the debut album. It’s perfect to begin her career, as it brought relevancy, and I just couldn’t imagine another career beginner. But teardrops on my guitar definitely should’ve been the first single for the debut, as it was more reflective on who she is, and the albums content.

[@ghazalabedi7110]

I wouldn't have hated ME! so much if it was from any other artist. How can it come from the same person who wrote folklore/evermore 😭 the second reason i hate it so much is that she performed it so many times! still to this day, i can't believe we never ONCE heard cruel summer live but heard ME! a thousand fucking times! ME! shouldn't have been released AT ALL, let alone be a single, or worse LEAD SINGLE. I honestly think i would've love lover much more if ME! didn't exsit. it ruined the album/era for me, which is exactly the opposite of what a lead single should do.

[@BrunetteGiant]

PLEASE review merch. Please I beg of you. A slaughterhouse ranking of all her merch

[@kyleek.cosmos3371]

First reaction before watching, Shake it off. Not because it’s my favorite, but because I remember that being such a turning point for Taylor and the Zeitgeist. I love how I’m commenting on this 2 years later 😂 So happy I found you! Love the content

[@justlikevenus]

when you got close to the camera talking about me! 😭😭

[@peytonsjenedits]

i love your videos! You could rank all her albums / songs on each album or rank her tours

[@theswiftologist]

rank her tours...now THAT is a winning idea!

[@JacobWilsonVO]

Not the face at 20:26 suddenly going until an add where a cancer survivor had the same face ☠️

[@anannyabhattacharya1208]

1. LWYMMD 2. Cardigan 3. SIO 4. WANEGBT 5. Love story 6. Tim mcgraw 7. Mine 8. Me 9. Willow

[@pickledcucumber8693]

Paper rings would have made a much better lead single than the song we won’t discuss and it would have done so well too

[@laurahamilton8868]

Yes! It would have achieved the levity of ME! without the cringy-ness.

[@VihaanReddy-up3sd]

@@laurahamilton8868I think it’s her worst song ever

[@welettheweirdnessin4157]

For me 1. Cardigan 2. Willow 3. Love Story 4. We are never ever getting back together 5. Shake It Off 6. Mine 7. Tim McGraw 8. look what you made me do 9. ME!

[@varunravi27]

@@BrodiesPiano He/she did say "For me" before ranking the songs. So I don't see anything wrong with it. But, objectively speaking, I agree that it's incorrect.

[@tammycombs167]

I’ve missed a ton of your stuff. I’m working on binge watching. You are the most intelligent, interesting and fun pop journalist I’ve found. 💖💖💖

[@theswiftologist]

Welcome back! Thank you!

[@tammycombs167]

@@theswiftologistHonestly Thank you!! You for sure put in the work.

[@joeyk29]

diff lead single Debut - Our Song Fearless - You Belong With Me Speak Now - Sparks Fly Red - I Knew You Were Trouble 1989 - Blank Space Reputation - Ready For It Lover - You Need To Calm Down Folklore - The 1 Evermore - Champagne Problems Midnights - Karma

[@tayluvofficial]

The hate for ME! is insane tbh.. it's such a chill cheesey happy upbeat song. Maybe I'm one of the only Swifties who actually like it?❤😭

[@HolyGround777]

I love the ‘We are never getting back together’ music video😄

[@jayamarnani135]

Thank you for saying State Of Grace good Lord someone said that! 😡😤

[@folklore9062]

Fine with me! Being a single,it's fun and upbeat but it being the lead is not appealing This should have been like this Lover(lead) Me! Cruel summer Dead by a thousand cuts/Ms Americana and the heartbreak Prince/Cornelia streets The Man Promo single (for namesake) Yntcd

[@robertafilippo7502]

OMG I really thought “You belong with me” was the lead single for fearless… but well, I was 8 years old at the time so… okay hahaha I wouldn’t remember that!

[@fabianr.8544]

I think We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is her best lead single, as a song itself. Btw, i honestly like ME! as a lead single and as a song itself, i think is happy, funny, colorful, is very lover. Of course there was better songs, a lot of better songs but u know... is a great opener to the era, but yes, is her worst lead single

[@glockenspiel-ti1ms]

This video made me realize how awesome all her singles are

[@bboong4453]

I don't like ME! but I think it was somewhat a good pr move because Taylor isn't rlly popular in my country but my friends who aren't swifties know ME! with Love Story, You belong with me, and Shake it off

[@jaybonn5973]

So ME! By that criteria ranks pretty high for all the wrong reasons.

[@magicalpig6542]

I LIVE for the ME! hate

[@austin3082]

ME! had potential in the first 3 seconds and that's it

[@fakospiderman]

the only reason i listen to me is cuz the only part i like of it ‘hey kids spelling is fun!’ thats litterally it but even then im giving side eyes 😭🙏🏼

[@LaurenWatkins2122]

Love story was where I met Taylor ❤ and will always be my OG heart string puller taking me back to being 15

[@FloN.]

The only thing I like about ME! is the beginning of the video where she speaks French. Idk, I just find it hilarious and I still quote "JE SUIS CALME !" and "Et devant nos filles en plus ! Nos FILLES en plus !" regularly.

[@woahcrash]

FINALLY SHAKE IT OFF GETS THE RESPECT IT DESERVES

[@ankushkaushik833]

I would *DIE* for only just taylor releasing ivy/gold rush as the lead single

[@donardodavinci6126]

"(...) and I feel damned and depressed... but to a cute country beat." lmaoo

[@enas7547]

Holy ground could've been a great single visually: Taylor swirling to the holy ground chorus in a red flowy skirt by herself in an empty new york apartment.

[@rebeccafriedman3502]

PLEASE we need the me reaction video

[@stardolphin783]

I thought teardrops was a single lol also the teen reach for teardrops was better cause mcgraw was more yehaww refrencing american stuff

[@andresdominguez6925]

putting Shake it Off on aux at the next funeral I attend

[@jmallnhismonkeysidekick6347]

Brendan urie is my favorite part of ME!

[@o_MusicLover_o]

Can you do it again this time? With the inclusion of Anti-Hero

[@heatherhensley9183]

Oh my goodness love your reaction to me But how do you really feel? 😂

[@tristan4874]

ME! is an amazing song and y’all are crazy

[@vladleiva4055]

I was enjoying this video so much until you got to ME! Not because you hate the song but because you basically dismissed everyone who likes it and I mean, nobody should feel ashamed to like a song everyone hates. Anyway, you are great to listen to and have a very articulated way to speak which is cool ❣️

[@HaydenSmithElevate]

Are people actually dancing to Shake it off at funerals?

[@RuuBjAh1]

Shake It Off and Me are on the same level. Both have great music videos - I prefer the Me music video for sure, because it has a storyline to it and there’s actually something happening, but the Shake It Off music video isn’t bad. People didn’t give Taylor shit for “Hey hey hey, while you’ve been getting down and out…” while it literally has the same energy as the bridge of Me (including the “Spelling is fun” bit). The lyrics to Shake It Off are better because even though both are dumb pop songs, Shake It Off has 1 extra layer to it; being self-aware. However, sonically, Shake It Off is just so goddamn annoying. The beat with the horn section is really preppy and way preppier than the Me beat. Me actually represented Lover better than Shake It Off did for 1989. Shake It Off is the worst song on 1989 and Blank Space should’ve been the lead single, because it’s the literal same concept, just executed well. What Me did for Lover waas shift Taylor’s image from a dark and heavy place of themes like revenge, karma etc. to a soft, light place where there’s room for love etc. The music video did have a large part in creating that vision, but it wouldn’t have fit if a song like The Archer, Cruel Summer, False God or any of the other moody, vibey, “heavier” songs off the album would’ve been put to that music video. The only other songs that would’ve fit are Paper Rings (which is my least favourite track off of Lover), You Need to Calm Down (which is also eh) and maybe I Think He Knows (which I wouldn’t be mad about as a lead single)

[@MarcDoesNotKnow]

shake it off is definitely the worst song on 1989 but it's so damn catchy and uplifting 😭😭 I constantly find myself listening to it and dancing like i'm in the delicate music video

[@anab5646]

I cried laughing

[@alexandrabender-pc7hs]

I looooove Willow

[@imdvalbft]

my top 1.- look what you made me do is the best comeback in the history of pop, she ate, she slayed, she preached, she showed how its done, she did it like no one, we STAN. 2.- we are never ever getting back together (not a fan of the stolen, but tv ATE) 3.- love story (no one like her) 4.- shake it off (iconic!) 5.- cardigan (yeah) 6.- mine (the pop mix is better im not sorry) 7.- ME! (i dont get the hate) 8.- willow (not a fan) 9.- tim mcgraw (why) how it should've gone debut: should've said no (COME ON) fearless: love story (perfect lead) speak now: sparks fly (DROP EVERYTHING NOW.) red: i knew you were trouble (either that or red, literally best songs on earth wtf) 1989: shake it off (if its perfect dont mess with it) rep: look what you made me do is THAT girl lover: ok so.. with lover its complicated because like as much as i want to say cruel summer, we cant just make the best song to ever step earth the lead single, she's too iconic i fear, we could do paper rings ig??? folklore and evermore r good

[@imdvalbft]

also for my favorites of each album because i love being attacked for my opinions! evermore - champagne problems folklore - cardigan lover - cruel summer rep - dont blame me (yall dont get her) 1989 - Welcome To New York, Blank Space, Style, Out Of The Woods, All You Had To Do Was Stay, Shake It Off, I Wish You Would, Bad Blood, Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version), How You Get The Girl, This Love (Taylor's Version), I Know Places, Clean, Wonderland, You Are In Love and New Romantics red - red, i knew you were trouble and 22 im not choosing they're all my life juice speak now - story of us (deserves better) fearless - tell my why (underrated) debut - should've said no

[@tammycombs167]

Solid listing. And reasons. I’m 100%% with you on Look what you made me do. I like Tim McGraw a bit more but otherwise agree agree!

[@MrMystery2123]

My ranking: 1. We are never ever getting back together 2. Mine 3. ME! 4. Shake it off 5. Look what you made me do 6. Love story 7. Willow 8. Anti-Hero 9. Cardigan 10. Tim McGraw

[@joyceolivia8254]

I love u

[@theswiftologist]

love u more !!

[@Chappy420-f5o]

Look what you made me doooooooooooooooooo haunting 👻👻👻

[@ChordettesFan325]

19:44 for ME!

[@vrishtihasija2142]

“You don’t here people say ‘when you think timmcgraw, you think of me’ “ Me bombarding my friends with “when you think Taylor swift, i hope you think of me” : 😳😳😳😳😳😳

[@sophie-mq3cw]

can someone post the rankings so i don't have to watch the entire vid ❤

[@john-paulpapa6503]

Couldn’t stop laughing when you were speaking about “Me” (and “you need to calm down”). Truer words have never been spoken!! Love my Taylor, but let’s be real - Lover single choices were a mess!! 🫣

[@rightwhereyouleftme12]

I don't get it, i love yntcd

[@lau2955]

It's funny to me 'cause I discovered Taylor with Tim McGraw and TOMG didn't really hit me 😅 It didn't have the magic vibe I felt with Tim Mcgraw (don't kill me 🥲). The rest is history 😍It's sad cause being from Spain I didn't have/don't have the same opportunities to see her (+ no money until I started working, after going to College lol)😭 Btw, THANK THE GODS someone talks about Me! being horrible. It's second hand embarrassment, it's highschool talent show music, I was speechless. ME-HIHIHI???? WHAT?