Taylor Swift has become known for her catchy pop songs like “Shake It Off.” However, despite what some people think, she actually has a diverse catalog. Swift made a name for herself in country music before becoming the biggest pop star on the planet. Swift’s also dipped her toes into the rock genre a few times.

The singer-songwriter has a reputation for writing solely about relationships. However, this also couldn’t be further from the truth. From bullies to her experience in the music industry, Swift has written about various topics in her music, proving her range as an artist. These are 11 songs that exemplify her versatility, from her lyricism to her ability to genre-bend, listed by their release dates.

11Cold As You

Taylor Swift (2006)

One of Swift’s best ballads comes from her debut album. “Cold As You” is a piano-heavy breakup song about someone Swift felt shut out by. Similar to her later songs “Dear John” and “All Too Well,” Swift created an emotional and lyrically impressive song about someone who appears to have been quite manipulative.

The most impressive part is that Swift was in her early teens when she wrote it. With the lyrics “I’ve never been anywhere cold as you,” the singer-songwriter used her clever writing skills to compare her former partner’s emotional coldness to a cold climate. Almost two decades later, “Cold As You” is still one of Swift’s lyrically-best songs and a vast difference from the catchy pop 1989 hits.

10You’re Not Sorry

Fearless (2008)

The Fearless track “You’re Not Sorry” also leans on piano production, but there are a lot of rock influences, too. By the first chorus, Swift’s band comes in with electric guitars, drums, and even some string instruments. At the beginning of the song, Swift expresses her yearning for this person she was waiting for, but by the chorus, she fully unleashes her rage. Right before the bridge, there’s an electric guitar solo that showcases Swift’s musical range.

You don’t have to call anymore

I won’t pick up the phone

This is the last straw

Don’t wanna hurt anymore

“You’re Not Sorry” is often forgotten when discussing Swift’s rock-influenced songs because Fearless is heavily considered a country album. However, the album’s ninth track has a lot of rock influence that showcases the versatility of Swift’s musical catalog, especially because the song starts off pretty soft.

9Mean

Speak Now (2010)

“Mean” was one of the most popular songs on Taylor Swift’s third album, Speak Now, and even took home two Grammys. It was famously written about a music critic who claimed Swift ruined her career overnight by singing off-key with Stevie Nicks at the 2010 Grammys, making the “Mean” Grammy wins pretty iconic. While Swift remained a country artist until 1989, her style shifted more into pop-rock pretty early on.

While Swift remained a country artist until 1989, her style shifted more into pop-rock pretty early on.

However, “Mean” was one of the most country songs on Speak Now with its banjo-led production. As she’s faced a lot of criticism for only writing about relationships, “Mean” also shows that Swift’s writing skills stretch far beyond love and heartbreak. Swift was able to take the pain she felt over what one man wrote about her and turn it into one of the most fun and impactful country tracks of her career.

8Haunted

Speak Now (2010)

While Red has become known as her least sonically cohesive album, Swift also experimented a lot with Speak Now. While “Mean” leans heavily into country influence, “Haunted” goes in a completely different direction. The production incorporates heavy electric guitars, drums, and orchestral arrangements. As the title suggests, “Haunted” is quite dark and anxiety-inducing. In the lyrics, Swift pleads for her partner not to leave her, expressing how his absence has left her haunted.

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At the time, Swift was hanging out a lot with Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams, and it seems as if the punk band had an impact on her musical style. Taylor Swift may not be known as one of the leading singers of the 2000s pop-punk movement, but “Haunted” shows off how capable she is of fitting into any genre she chooses.

7State Of Grace

Red (2012)

On Red, Swift coped with her complex emotions about her worst breakup yet by creating an album that sonically was all over the place in the best way. Swift’s songs ranged from country to pop to rock, and “State of Grace” is one that best shows off her rock star alter ego. The pop-rock opening track begins with heavy electric guitar and drum beats, but that’s not the only thing driving the song. Swift came in strong with her fourth album, as “State of Grace” showcases how much Swift’s lyricism had grown.

“State of Grace” displays Swift’s sharp writing skills, from “You come around and the armor falls / Pierce the room like a canon ball” to “These are the hands of fate / You’re my Achilles heel / This is the golden age of something good and right and real.” The Red song is impressive both for its production and its lyrics and could not be further from the style of “Shake It Off.”

6Don’t Blame Me

reputation (2017)

Swift’s sixth album, reputation, was one of the most shocking upon release because of how different it was from her earlier work. The album was inspired by Swift’s feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West that led to the downfall of Swift’s good girl reputation. However, “Don’t Blame Me” is not about the drama, but about Swift’s former relationship. Still, the song expresses a darker side of the pop singer than she ever showcased in her earlier music. The song was heavily EDM-inspired, a sound Swift had never experimented with on any other albums.

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The lyrics are also significantly darker, with lines like “Lord save me, my drug is my baby / I’ll be using for the rest of my life.” Despite appearing on the album after 1989, “Don’t Blame Me” could not be more different than the tracks on the former album, especially “Shake It Off.” Aside from the production and lyrics, Swift’s vocals also express a new sense of rage and maleficence that she didn’t have in her earlier music.

5False God

Lover (2019)

When Swift stepped into the daylight with Lover, a lot of the songs shared the same upbeat pop production as “Shake It Off.” However, “False God” is an outlier among its fellow Lover tracks. While Lover is the most bubblegum pop album Swift’s ever made, “False God” is heavily R&B and jazz-inspired. Its lyrics are pretty clever, too, comparing her relationship to a religion that she doesn’t fully believe in.

“False God” is an outlier among its fellow Lover tracks.

However, she still worships it because of how good it makes her feel. There is a beautiful saxophone melody playing throughout as well, which helps to separate it from the other songs Swift has released in her career. Taylor Swift has not made a song like it since, but it will always be a stand-out track on Lover, and one that proves how vast Swift’s songwriting talents are.

4My Tears Ricochet

folklore (2020)

Swift followed up her bubblegum pop album with a sharp left turn in 2020 when she released her first pandemic album, folklore. Instead of singing about love, she mostly sang folk tales, many of which were intertwined with her own life experiences. With “my tears ricochet,” Swift got very metaphorical, comparing the betrayal she felt from her former record label president to an abusive husband attending his wife’s funeral.

I can go anywhere I want

Anywhere I want, just not home

And you can aim for my heart, go for blood

But you would still miss me in your bones

In Swift’s mind, it was as if he had contributed to her demise but still showed up to mourn her death. It’s one of the most personal and heartbreaking songs Swift has ever written, and also one of the most clever. In terms of production, “my tears ricochet” differs from Swift’s other music and fits folklore‘s acoustic folk sound. However, it does have some more synth-inspired production than other folklore tracks, setting it apart.

3No Body, No Crime

evermore (2020)

When Swift released evermore, she confirmed it was folklore‘s sister album. While it shared a similar sound, there were a few songs that stood out from the rest, and “no body, no crime” was a return to Swift’s early career country sound. However, unlike her high school-inspired earlier tracks, “no body, no crime” is much darker. Also, unlike her first few albums, the song dives into a topic she’d never covered before: murder.

The HAIM collaboration is both mysterious and comical as Swift and the sister trio sing about cheating, mysterious disappearances, and getting away with murder. One of the most interesting aspects of the song’s production is the way the song opens with the sound of sirens followed by a smooth transition into Americana-style production.

2Vigilante Sh*t

Midnights (2022)

Taylor Swift made her pop music comeback with Midnights, but “Vigilante Sh*t” was quite unexpected. Swift borrows her villainous reputation persona as she sings about getting revenge on those who have done her wrong, even teaming up with one of her enemies’ ex-wives. “Vigilante Sh*t” leans into trap beats as Swift sings about “dressing for revenge” and calling the police on her enemies’ “white collar crimes.“

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While the song is most similar to her reputation tracks, it also has its own unique sound and message that sets it apart. However, it proves that Swift can pull out her dark alter ego whenever she feels like writing a vengeful anthem to make her enemies sweat.

1Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?

The Tortured Poets Department (2024)

Another darker song comes from Swift’s most recent studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. Much of the album dove into the end of her long-term relationship and the aftermath of her short-lived rebound fling. However, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” dives into Swift’s resentment towards how she was treated as a woman in the music industry. While she discussed the media’s perception of her in “Shake It Off” and a few other songs in her career, she’s never gone as deep as she did in “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”

While she discussed the media’s perception of her in “Shake It Off” and a few other songs in her career, she’s never gone as deep as she did in “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”

The lyrics and production are haunting, especially the gothic string ensemble. Swift’s shriek on the line “Who’s afraid of little old me?” may just be the most impressive part of the song. However, there are a ton of stand-out lyrics, including “crash the party like a record scratch” and the viral “you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me.” Taylor Swift may love writing upbeat pop songs, but she’s gifted in so many more areas than she gets credit for.