Especially if your love story is full of sweet nothings.
The only thing better than falling in love is listening to love songs while you swoon. And there’s no one better to listen to in these moments than Taylor Swift, an artist who's made a career out of diaristic depictions of every aspect of romance (and more). From her self-titled debut album through Midnights and her new album re-recordings, Swift has shared all the ups and downs of her tumultuous love life through lyrics in a way that's raw and enigmatic, which is kind of like love itself when you think about it. Naturally, there are plenty of Taylor Swift love songs to listen to on repeat when you’re falling hard.
There really is something special about listening to a love song when you're in a budding romance — it just hits differently. But it’s the Swiftian storytelling and imagery that will really get you in your “feelings more than Drake,” to quote Swift herself. Swift’s music encapsulates every facet of love: It can be shades of red, golden like daylight, a treacherous slope, glowing in the dark, difficult but real, and much more. So, if you want to stir up the butterflies in your stomach while you fall for someone new, fire up your Spotify and swoon to these T. Swift songs, because they're the perfect soundtrack for falling in love.
01“Love Story”
Let’s start with a classic. Romeo and Juliet might be a tragic love story, but like the Shakespearean play that inspired these lyrics, this song expresses the delicious ache and hardship that often comes with new love. However, in this song, Swift takes a bit of a revisionist pen to the otherwise tragic tale of two lovers. In her telling, Romeo and Juliet end up together happily ever after, which makes for a much better soundtrack to falling in love.
Best lyric: “Romeo, save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel / This love is difficult, but it's real / Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess / It's a love story, baby, just say "Yes"
02“Fearless”
Love requires a leap of faith and at times being a little reckless and unafraid of the potential pitfalls and challenges to come. Even when your hands are shaking and you’re nervous, this new love makes you courageous. “Fearless” is all about going for it and jumping in headfirst — fearlessly.
Best lyric: “And I don't know how it gets better than this / You take my hand and drag me head first, fearless / And I don't know why but with you I'd dance / In a storm in my best dress, fеarless.”
03“Jump Then Fall”
This song's for that moment when those first butterflies hit. It's the first sign that you're falling and you suddenly realize that there's a new depth to the way you feel about someone. Falling in love may be scary, but at this point you’re pretty sure you would do anything to be with this person, and so you’re ready to take the leap. This song is bouncy and happy, much like the early stages of romance.
Best lyric: “I like the way you sound in the morning / We're on the phone and without a warning / I realize your laugh is the best sound / I have ever heard / I like the way I can't keep my focus / I watch you talk, you didn't notice / I hear the words but all I can think is / We should be together / Every time you smile, I smile / And every time you shine, I'll shine for you.”
04“Enchanted”
This is the song to listen to when a love is just beginning to grow and you are left replaying the moments of a magical night you spent with someone you felt the spark with instantly. In this beginning phase, romance is nothing more than just a what if. And you are left wondering and hoping that they might feel some similar way about you.
Best lyric: “This is me praying that / This was the very first page / Not where the storyline ends / My thoughts will echo your name / Until I see you again / These are the words I held back / As I was leaving too soon / I was enchanted to meet you.”
05“Sparks Fly”
Talk about chemistry. Do you know that feeling of reckless abandon that comes with having a super hot connection with someone new? This song from Speak Now is all about that spark you feel — kind of like fireworks going off in your heart. The time when every kiss, every smile, and every moment just makes your heart beat a little faster.
Best lyric: “I run my fingers through your hair and watch the lights go wild / Just keep on keeping your eyes on me / It's just wrong enough to make it feel right / And lead me up the staircase / Won't you whisper soft and slow? / I'm captivated by you, baby, like a firework show.”
06“State of Grace”
If you've been in the dating game for a while, chances are you and the person you're falling for have a past along with some of the scars and baggage that come with that. But new love can be epic, as this song depicts. New love is about a fresh start and putting those pieces back together, and sometimes that starts with grace, both for your new love and yourself.
Best lyric: “We are alone, just you and me / Up in your room and our slates are clean / Just twin fire signs, four blue eyes / So you were never a saint / And I've loved in shades of wrong / We learn to live with the pain / Mosaic broken hearts / But this love is brave and wild.”
07“You Are In Love”
Swift is a master at illustrating love through the little things: burnt toast on Sundays, coffee at midnight, kissing on sidewalks, and brushing shoulders. In fact, the truest of loves doesn’t even need to be said. If anything, it can be felt all around, seen in the dark, and heard in the silence. Now that is something to aspire to.
Best lyric: “You two are dancing in a snow globe, 'round and 'round / And he keeps a picture of you in his office downtown / And you understand now / Why they lost their minds and fought the wars / And why I've spent my whole life trying to put it into words / 'Cause you can hear it in the silence / You can feel it on the way home / You can see it with the lights out / You are in love.”
08“Delicate”
While a new love is exciting and precious, it can also feel fragile. Like one wrong step, one wrong word, one push too hard can shatter everything. You might even say it’s delicate. This person is on your mind, like, all the time, but you don’t want to rush into anything, so you’re thinking, “Is it too soon to do this yet?”
Best lyric: “We can't make / Any promises now, can we, babe? / But you can make me a drink / Is it cool that I said all that? / Is it chill that you're in my head? / 'Cause I know that it's delicate.”
09“Call It What You Want”
Maybe you're not ready to put labels on it yet, but you know how you feel and that you're falling. Or maybe people are talking and getting your romance all wrong — you’re the only two who really know what’s going on. This song says all the things you're feeling but might not have the words to express. Plus it's a bop.
Best lyric: “All my flowers grew back as thorns / Windows boarded up after the storm / He built a fire just to keep me warm / All the drama queens taking swings / All the jokers dressing up as kings / They fade to nothing when I look at him.”
10“Lover”
This song is all about that desire to give your heart, soul, and body to a true love. And it’s all the small mundane things that add up to a big love. You want nothing more than to go where they go. You want them to save all their dirtiest jokes for you, and you’ll save them a seat at every table. Swoon.
Best lyric: “My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue / All's well that ends well to end up with you / Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover.”
11“Paper Rings”
You've heard the saying that “when you know, you know.” That's what this song is all about: that feeling when everything else goes away, and at your core, you know someone's the one. All of your fun, specific memories together are irreplaceable, and you would forgo all formalities just to spend time with them forever.
Best lyric: “I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings / Uh huh, that's right / Darling, you're the one I want, and / I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this / Uh huh, that's right / Darling, you're the one I want / In paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dreams / Oh, you're the one I want.”
12“Daylight”
It takes some time, experience, and perspective to realize that love isn’t all about burning passion, as this track from Lover explains. And it definitely takes some patience to get to that destination. But once you’re there with the right person, you’ll know it. Everyone has differing shades of dark pasts, but once you’ve found true love, everything is brighter.
Best lyric: “And I can still see it all (in my mind) / All of you, all of me (intertwined) / I once believed love would be (black and white) / But it's golden (golden) / And I can still see it all (in my head) / Back and forth from New York (sneaking in your bed) / I once believed love would be (burning red) / But it's golden / Like daylight.”
13“Willow”
This song from Evermore is from the perspective of being in a strong relationship that is still growing deeper every day and looking back at the beginning. With puzzles to still solve and mysteries to explore together, your individual plans have been altered forever and now your plans are shared. Whatever happens, you’ll be there for each other, just like how fate brought you together.
Best lyric: “Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind / Head on the pillow, I could feel you sneaking in / As if you were a mythical thing / Like you were a trophy or a champion ring / And there was one prize I'd cheat to win / The more that you say, the less I know / Wherever you stray, I follow / I'm begging for you to take my hand / Wreck my plans, that's my man.”
14“Invisible String”
Love can be quite serendipitous. Like every long road and wrong turn has led you exactly to where you needed to be in order to meet this person — it was fate. In this song, Swift draws up a metaphor of an invisible string that has tied two soulmates together throughout their lives without them knowing. And if that doesn’t make your heart flutter, what will?
Best lyric: “A string that pulled me / Out of all the wrong arms, right into that dive bar / Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire / Chains around my demons / Wool to brave the seasons / One single thread of gold / Tied me to you.”
15“Message In A Bottle (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]”
When love is beginning to bloom, sometimes it can feel like there is an immeasurable distance and ground to make up between you and the other person. There’s something there and the distance is narrowing — all you need to do is deliver the message of your love to them. This song is essentially an admission of infatuation for a new potential lover, and even though that can be incredibly frightening, it also carries hope.
Best lyric: “'Cause you could be the one that I love / I could be the one that you dream of / A message in a bottle is all I can do / Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you / You could be the one that I keep, and I / I could be the reason you can't sleep at night / A mеssage in a bottle is all I can do / Standin' herе, hopin' it gets to you.”
16“Lavender Haze”
According to Swift herself, this song is about the beginning stages of falling for someone, and it references a popular ‘50s term. “If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow. And I thought that was really beautiful,” Swift explained on Instagram. “If the world finds out you’re in love with somebody, they’re gonna weigh in on it. Like my relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff and we just ignore it. And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
Best lyric: “I been under scrutiny / You handle it beautifully / All this sh*t is new to me / I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me / Surreal.”
17“Sweet Nothing”
Swift co-wrote “Sweet Nothing” with her longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn, so you know the lyrics are bound to be special. If you’re feeling like the world is chaotic but your partner keeps you grounded, this is a great song to start listening to on repeat.
Best lyric: “They said the end is comin' / Everyone’s up to somethin' / I find myself runnin' home to your sweet nothings / Outside, they’re push and shovin' / You're in the kitchen hummin' / All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothin.’”
18“The Great War”
Every relationship has rough patches, but some are worth fighting through. If you and your partner have gone through your own “Great War,” this Swift song will speak to you, and remind you that love is worth it.
Best lyric: “My hand was the one you reached for / All throughout the Great War / Always remember, uh-huh / We're burned for better, I vowed / I would always be yours / 'Cause we survived the Great War.”
19“Snow On The Beach”
Sometimes falling in love feels more like a dream than reality. “Snow On The Beach” taps into those kinds of disorienting emotions that come with falling for someone new. Plus, Lana Del Ray’s vocals have never sounded more majestic.
Best lyric: “Now it's like snow at the beach / Weird, but f*ckin' beautiful / Flying in a dream / Stars by the pocketful / You wanting me / Tonight feels impossible / But it's comin' down / No sound, it's all around.”
20“Maroon”
“Maroon” might not be Swift’s most romantic song — it ends with a breakup, after all — but it perfectly captures the beginning stages of falling in love. By focusing on all the tiny, everyday moments that make a romance special, this tune perfectly captures what it’s like to grow close to your person.
Best lyric: “Laughing with my feet in your lap / Like you were my closest friend / ‘How'd we end up on the floor, anyway?’ you say / Your roommate's cheap-a** screw-top rosé, that's how / I see you every day now / And I chose you / The one I was dancing with / In New York, no shoes.”
21“Labyrinth”
It can be hard to fall in love after you’ve been hurt, but finding someone who makes you want to trust again is pretty close to magic. In this song, Swift highlights what it’s like to fall for someone, despite the fact that you’re scared.
Best lyric: “Uh-oh, I'm falling in love / Oh, no, I'm falling in love again / Oh, I'm falling in love / I thought the plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around?”
22“Paris”
Ever felt so in love with someone that they could make any place feel like Paris? Yeah, that’s what this song is about. If your love makes you feel like the world is yours and the Eiffel Tower could be just around the corner, it’s time to add “Paris” to your queue.
Best lyric: “I'm so in love that I might stop breathing / Drew a map on your bedroom ceiling / No, I didn't see the news 'cause we were somewhere else / Stumbled down pretend alleyways / Cheap wine, make-believe it's champagne.”
Love can be complicated, messy, and fragile, but also exciting and lovely, as Swift exemplifies in her songwriting. The songstress’ ability to break down both every small feeling and grandiose emotion in love through her music is what makes her an unparalleled artist and why her songs continue to resonate, especially when you’re falling in love again — or for the very first time.
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