The Most Romantic Taylor Swift Lyrics That Swifities Know All Too Well
There's no denying that Taylor Swift is the queen of romance (and heartbreak). Her vast catalog of work is chock-full of romantic lyrics that we know all too well. Ever since her self-titled debut album in 2006, many of her fans have grown up alongside the artist. Like Swift, we've gone from idealized fairytale love like she chronicles in Fearless, the bright fiery passionate love and heartbreak in Red, and ultimately to the golden love described in Lover.
Meanwhile, her 2024 album The Tortured Poets Department shows us the darker side of love that exists despite controversy as Swift tells fans and her family to back the hell off and allow her to make her own decisions (and mistakes). She's now a grown woman and she's tired of the endless rhetoric surrounding her love life. But through it all, Swift never gives up on love, and she constantly brings relatable lyrics of love to her fans so they can celebrate, be angsty, and grow alongside her. So, let's drive our getaway car through all of Swift's eras and reminisce about the love lyrics of eras past.
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133 VOTES'My Heart’s Been Borrowed And Yours Has Been Blue. All’s Well That Ends Well To End Up With You.'
Song: “Lover”
Album: Lover
How It’s Romantic: The self-titled song from Swift's seventh album sets the tone for the rest of the album. The ballad has marriage sentiments within the lyrics as the narrator dreams of forever with her person. She wants to be this close forever as they carve out a life together. The song also births the Eras house in the music video that has gone on to play an integral part in the artist's lore, imagery, Eras tour set, and merch site.
Her line, “My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue, all's well that ends well to end up with you” is a sweet, lyrical sentiment about the trials of relationships but notes that it's all worth it if they end up together.
Meanwhile, the lyric, "There’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear" illustrates the forcefield that surrounds pure love as you exist in your own little bubble away from the rest of the world.
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26 VOTES'Isn’t It Just So Pretty To Think All Along There Was Some Invisible String Tying You To Me?'
Song: “invisible string”
Album: folklore
How It’s Romantic: Swift's folklore album is wrapped in a warm hug of ethereal music that perfectly emulates the album's namesake and the lore that inspired it. There's a certain level of magic in folklore, which certainly plays out in the soft, melodic love song “invisible string.” Swift sings about a magnetic love that's pulled along by a thin gold string that ties the narrator to her love.
However, the song is also about the passage of time and what small details will remind you of someone or spark a memory - like teal reminding someone of their boyfriend's old yogurt shop uniform from when they were 16. Both folklore and evermore are a series of interconnected stories and characters floating in and out of space and time - but the albums almost feel like they're suspended from reality, weaving in and out of the past, present, and future in an ethereal way.
The line, “And isn't it just so pretty to think / All along there was some/Invisible string / Tying you to me?” hints at some of that interconnectedness and the fate that played a part in a great love that may or may not have lasted. But either way, the impact forever changed both people and shaped their respective stories. This song is so beloved that Centennial Park honored a lyric by engraving a bench in the Nashville park that reads: "For Taylor Swift, a bench for you to read on at Centennial Park."
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325 VOTES'You Drew Stars Around My Scars.'
Song: “cardigan”
Album: folklore
How It’s Romantic: Swift's folklore song “cardigan” has one of the most beautiful and impactful lyrics in her catalog to date: “You drew stars around my scars.” The lyric speaks to a lover who lifts you up, accepts your flaws, and turns them into something beautiful. It's a story of healing and growth despite some moderately gory imagery like “Marked me like a bloodstain.”
No matter what trauma someone has faced - whether it's literal scars from something like self-harm, abuse, or emotional scars - we all need someone who helps us work through our past hurt to move on to happier and healthier times. The song acknowledges that love isn't always easy and that it's easy to get caught up in the thrill of love. But at the end of the day, genuine love has a way of coming back to you in the end.
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419 VOTES'And In A Blink Of A Crinkling Eye I'm Sinking, Our Fingers Entwined'
Song: “So High School”
Album: The Tortured Poets Department
How It’s Romantic: In “So High School,” Swift takes us back to her roots as a performer and lyricist. Unlike many of her The Tortured Poets Department songs, Swift isn't taking herself (or her relationship) too seriously in this jam. Given the title, it's meant to be a little silly and juvenile - because that's how we view our teenage years later in life. At the time, everything feels do or die. Love is the most powerful thing in the entire world when you're a teen, and you feel like you'll cease to exist if you lose the other person.
However, when you grow up, you can laugh at your angst a bit more - which is what Swift is doing here. She's feeling a heavy level of passion in this new relationship, bringing her back to those teenage years. But she can do it with a sense of humor. In one of her more serious lines, she says, “And in a blink of a crinklin' eye, I'm sinkin', our fingers entwined, cheeks pink in the twinklin' lights. Tell me ‘bout the first time you saw me.” Unlike the rest of the song, this portion brings us straight back to Swift’s early songs that illustrate the magic of love.
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516 VOTES'You Told Me I Was Pretty When I Looked Like A Mess.'
Song: “Today Was A Fairytale (Taylor’s Version)”
Album: Fearless (Taylor's Version)
How It’s Romantic: You've gotta love Swift's idealized version of storybook love early in her career when she was still a teenager. Both Fearless and Speak Now have heavy fairytale symbolism. Given the name of her song, “Today Was a Fairytale," it's not exactly a surprise that the song has princess motifs - but it still puts a soon on the classic Disney-esque tropes like “I used to be a damsel in distress.”
She narrates the storybook romance with sentiments like “Time slows down” and “Can you feel this magic in the air?” It's a naive kind of love, but it's wholesome and sweet. Her lyric, “You told me I was pretty when I looked like a mess. Today was a fairytale,” illustrates a romance that's deeper than the surface level you might expect from an actual fairytale. Appearance and superficiality are less important than the feeling they get from being with each other.
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627 VOTES'If You Kiss Me, Will It Be Just Like I Dreamed It?'
Song: “betty”
Album: folklore
How it’s romantic: In folklore, Swift got to play around with fictionalized stories that link together with multiple characters as different aspects of their lives play out. The song “betty” tells the story of a teenage heartbreak from the point of view of a 17 year-old who cheats on his girlfriend and sings a song admitting to the indiscretion.
The narrator regrets his actions as he begs her to forgive him. He sings, “If you kiss me, will it be just like I dreamed it? Will it patch your broken wings? I'm only 17, I don't know anything, but I know I miss you.” The regret and longing from the narrator are palpable, but some betrayals just aren't forgivable. So he has to live with the consequences of his actions no matter how much he daydreams about what things could be like if he made better decisions. He may be 17 and doesn't know anything, but this will be a lesson he hopefully takes with him.
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726 VOTES'Sometimes I Wonder When You Sleep, Are You Ever Dreaming Of Me?'
Song: “Delicate”
Album: Reputation
How It’s Romantic: Swift's love story during her Reputation era depicts a wholesome love that develops despite all of the personal trauma and scandal the artist was dealing with while she retreated from her career and the world. In “Delicate,” Swift chronicles her blossoming relationship with sentiments like “My reputation's never been worse, so he must like me for me.”
During this rough time, fans were happy to see that she had support and made it through the hardship on the other side stronger and more confident than ever. The song illustrates a love story that moves pretty fast and a narrator who's worried she might scare her new lover off with how “in it” she immediately is. She wants him all to herself and she's willing to lay her cards on the table.
Her line, “Sometimes I wonder when you sleep, are you ever dreaming of me?" suggests a daydream sentiment where she wonders if he's into her as much as she's into him. It's safe to say that she's dreaming about him.
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815 VOTES'I Once Believed Love Would Be Burning Red, But It’s Golden.'
Song: “Daylight”
Album: Lover
How It’s Romantic: In Swift's album Red, the all-consuming passion of Swift's multiple love stories during that period ran incredibly hot and burned even hotter when they ended. The despair and ruins left behind in these relationship graveyards were an intense reminder that this kind of do-or-die passionate love isn't always healthy. After this particular era in the artist's life, she realizes this for herself, and her view on love (and how it should feel) changes.
In her Lover song “Daylight,” Swift moves on from that bright red depiction of love and into a softer version of passion that she describes as golden. She sings, “I once believed love would be (Burnin' red), but it's golden, like daylight.” Swift has realized that love is an all-encompassing glow. You don't need to exist on the extreme sides of constant fighting and fiery passion to have love. It's in the gentle, calmer moments that two people can really get to know, trust, and build a life together in a healthy way that doesn't tear either person apart. In its simplest form, it's golden.
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915 VOTES'Don’t Blame Me, Love Made Me Crazy. If It Doesn’t, You Ain’t Doing It Right.'
Song: “Don’t Blame Me”
Album: Reputation
How It’s Romantic: Using drugs as a metaphor for love certainly isn't a new concept, but it's one that Swift has used several times throughout her discography. Given that Reputation was Swift's edgiest album prior to The Tortured Poets Department, it's not exactly surprising that this particular analogy made it onto the album.
Here, Swift puts a darker spin on her dating history with sentiments like “toying with them older guys” and labeling them “playthings for me to use.” We obviously know that's not the case, but for the sake of storytelling, let's just go with it. Swift has frequently leaned into the public's persona of her with exaggerated and even satirized songs that poke fun at her dating history and how people perceive her. She's back at it again with “Don't Blame Me."
Her lyric, “Don't blame me, love made me crazy. If it doesn't, you ain't doin' it right” leans into that perception of her and some of the darker impulses of love that entice people to get completely consumed by it. Hence her drug metaphor and the more haunting tone of the song that Swift sings in a much lower register than most of her catalogue (until that epic high note).
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1015 VOTES'I’m Begging For You To Take My Hand, Wreck My Plans, That’s My Man.'
Song: “willow”
Album: evermore
How It’s Romantic: Some Taylor Swift songs require some investigative prowess, others need an English degree to decipher, while others just require emotional intelligence. However, sometimes Swift just tells us herself. Luckily, we don't have to guess Swift's meaning for her evermore song “Willow." She said in an interview, "'willow' is about intrigue, desire, and the complexity that goes into wanting someone. I think it sounds like casting a spell to make somebody fall in love with you (an oddly specific visual)."
The lyrics visualize a woman getting pulled into her love interest's gravity, unable to tear away from the current. It's the dance of desire and the back and forth that goes along with it until they either sink or soar. Swift sings, “I'm begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans, that's my man.” She's basically saying, 'F me up; I'm ready.' Not in the literal sense (okay, maybe in the literal sense, too). But she's ready to go for it regardless of the consequences.
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1129 VOTES'I Can’t Decide If It’s A Choice, Getting Swept Away.'
Song: “Treacherous (Taylor's Version)”
Album: Red (Taylor's Version)
How It’s Romantic: In Swift's Red era, her view of love is a fiery passion that burns red. She's all-consumed in her relationships as she's caught in the gravity of these love stories that pull her in hard and fast. In her song “Treacherous,” she writes, “I can't decide if it's a choice getting swept away. I hear the sound of my own voice asking you to stay.” The gravity seems to make the decision for her, and she goes with it because she has to and she finds herself making decisions without even really making them.
She acknowledges that it's dangerous, but she can't help following her impulses no matter the consequences. Eventually, Swift moves away from this era of love, but for the time being, she doesn't seem to have a choice - and it always leads to heartbreak.
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1213 VOTES'Every Dead-End Street Led You Straight To Me.'
Song: “All of the Girls You Loved Before"
Album: The More Lover Chapter
How It’s Romantic: Watching Taylor Swift evolve as both a person and an artist has been one of the greatest joys of being a Swiftie. It's so easy to fall into the trap of women working against each other rather than lifting one another up. That's the internalized misogyny that's ingrained in us from the time we're children. Because society has carved such a minimal space for successful women, it can feel like an endless competition. But it's up to us to shed those impulses.
One of the biggest examples of this is Swift's “Better Than Revenge” line: “She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress.” Swift was only a teenager when she wrote the lyric, and she hadn't yet felt the full force of sexism that she would later face in every aspect of her career and personal life. After getting endlessly slut-shamed, Swift began to realize this toxic pattern of women tearing down other women. When she released Speak Now (Taylor's Version), Swift changed the line to, “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches.” It was important to her not to continue the narrative that she had outgrown.
We see this play out in a major way in the song "All of the Girls You Loved Before." Swift realized that every past relationship helps shape us into who we are and that without the women who came before, Swift would never have ended up finding her love in its current form. So this song is more of a love letter to her paramour's past relationships than it is to him. She sings, “Every dead-end street led me straight to you.” And she thanks all of the girls who came before. We love to see this character growth. Fans didn't get this extra Lover song until years after the album dropped, but it was worth the wait.
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1313 VOTES'You Don’t Need To Save Me, But Would You Run Away With Me?'
Song: “Call It What You Want”
Album: Reputation
How It’s Romantic: There's not much subtlety in Swift's song “Call It What You Want.” The Reputation song came out following Swift's time away from the spotlight after Kim Kardashian put her on blast after editing a video recording to make it seem like Swift was a liar when it came to approving Kanye West's song “Famous.” Following the incident, Swift faced a barrage of hate from the media, fans, and enemies alike and she basically hid from reality.
However, it was also at this time that she began dating Joe Alwyn. In “Call It What You Want,” Swift sings about that brutal period of time when people were attacking her - but he helped her work through the vitriol. He's the one thing she “did right” and they're able to tune out all of the noise outside and focus on the small pleasures inside, building forts and being happy. While Swift stands by that she doesn't need saving, sometimes it's just good to get away with another person. Hence her line: "You don't need to save me, but would you run away with me?" She needs a partner, not a savior. But she wants to get away with him.
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1413 VOTES'I Don’t Know Why, But With You, I’d Dance In A Storm In My Best Dress, Fearless.'
Song: “Fearless (Taylor's Version)”
Album: Fearless (Taylor's Version)
How It’s Romantic: Early Swift love songs just make you want to run outside in the rain, throw your hair back, and dance like no one is watching. It's not exactly surprising that Swift's most “high school” album would perfectly emulate the feelings of young love - wild, free, confusing, and lonely at the same time.
In the self-titled song, Swift tells the story of being utterly enamored with her boyfriend. She doesn't care who's watching. They can dance in a parking lot, the rain, the street - it doesn't matter, as long as they're together. With this person, Swift feels fearless, and they can take on the world together.
It takes some bravery to pursue young love. With first kisses and new feelings, it's an exhilaration that made Swift sing, “I don’t know why, but with you, I’d dance in a storm in my best dress, fearless.” Young love. That's why.
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1511 VOTES'Once Upon A Time, The Planets And The Fates And All The Stars Aligned. You And I Ended Up In The Same Room At The Same Time.'
Song: “Mastermind”
Album: Midnights
How It’s Romantic: Fate is a fickle fiend. The opening of Swift's song “Mastermind” goes: “Once upon a time, the planets and the fates And all the stars aligned. You and I ended up in the same room at the same time.” Okay, sometimes fate is actually just meticulously premeditated planning.
Here, Swift details how she set a meet-cute in motion as she notes that the wisest women have had to do since the beginning of time. Apparently, she painted their love as “effortless” while she was “scheming like a criminal” to make it happen. The punchline? He knew the whole time, of course. But she didn't need to because he would have been smitten either way. So, which came first, the fates or the masterminds?
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164 VOTES'I Find Myself Running Home To Your Sweet Nothings.'
Song: “Sweet Nothing”
Album: Midnights
How It’s Romantic: Swift has been known to write one (or a hundred) grand romantic love ballads that tell the story of larger-than-life epic love. And while those are exciting and passionate, some of the truest and long-lasting loves are subtler. In “Sweet Nothing,” Swift illustrates some of the chaos going on in the outside world, but nothing penetrates the simplicity of her soft, easy love.
She just wants to go home to her love's humming and their quiet, simple life away from all the noise, and that in itself is its own beauty. The line, “I find myself running home to your sweet nothings” is such a sweet, pure sentiment that's nice to see in Swift's catalogue of love songs. As she's gotten older, her idea of love and romance has shifted into a more grounded reality that helped produce songs like this. Midnights is a record that doesn't have a specific time frame, so it's not abundantly clear in which era it was written. But post-Reputation is a pretty good guess.
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178 VOTES'Please Don't Ever Become A Stranger Whose Laugh I Could Recognize Anywhere.'
Song: “New Year’s Day”
Album: Reputation
How It’s Romantic: As much as Reputation is an album that claps back against the people who forced Swift to hide for several years, it also chronicles a budding new relationship. “New Year's Day” is one of the album's softer love ballads. Here, she's found a new relationship and she's terrified to lose it.
Using the metaphor of cleaning up after a party, Swift sings about working through the hardships of a relationship. Her line “Please don't ever become a stranger, whose laugh I could recognize anywhere” is pretty heartbreaking when you think about it. Anyone who's had a rough breakup knows what it's like to reminisce about the relationship and hear that person's voice. Swift is desperate to avoid that feeling and she's doing everything she can to work out issues in the moment.
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184 VOTES'He’s Passing By, Rare As The Glimmer Of A Comet In The Sky. And He Feels Like Home.'
Song: "long story short”
Album: evermore
How It’s Romantic: There's something magical about going from a toxic relationship and finding someone who treats you better. In Swift's song “long story short,” the narrator spends much of the song detailing a relationship that she barely survived. Before the new love interest, Swift picked the wrong guy. Now, she's realized her mistake, went after the relationship that's actually good for her, and she's determined to keep it ever and evermore.
Swift speaks to her past self, urging her to pay attention to the things that actually matter and not petty vendettas. She then sings, "And he's passing by / Rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky / And he feels like home / If the shoe fits, walk in it everywhere you go." She's acknowledging how rare this love is and that when you find it, this person becomes your home rather a cabin in the woods or a castle. In “London Boy,” Swift says “home is where the heart is” and we get some of that energy here, too. Though evermore isn't meant to be autobiographical, this one seems to hit, well, close to him - so maybe Swift put a bit of herself in this one after all.
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194 VOTES'I Hope I Never Lose You, Hope It Never Ends. I’d Never Walk Cornelia Street Again'
Song: “Cornelia Street”
Album: Lover
How It’s Romantic: Swift may be a hopeless romantic, but that doesn't mean she's not also a realist. “Cornelia Street” isn't the only song where Swift chronicles how she'd feel over a possible breakup before it even happens - it's not even the first time she wrote one specifically about a possible breakup with Joe Alwyn. Of course, these songs are a whole lot more heartbreaking to listen to after their actual split.
In “Cornelia Street,” Swift writes, “And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends / I'd never walk Cornelia Street again / That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend / I'd never walk Cornelia Street again.” Fans got so intense after their breakup that they left flowers by the Cornelia Street sign in New York City.
The song manages to be sweet, melancholic, and happy all at once with soft melodies. The fear over him possibly leaving is tangible and clues fans in on how deep their love was at the time.
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204 VOTES'This Night Is Sparkling, Don't You Let It Go / I'm Wonderstruck, Blushing All The Way Home / I'll Spend Forever Wondering If You Knew / I Was Enchanted To Meet You.'
Song: “Enchanted (Taylor's Version)”
Album: Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
How It’s Romantic: As someone might glean from the title, “Enchanted” has an air of enchantment to it. A large chunk of the Speak Now songs feel like they've come alive straight from a fairytale. Swift was just getting out of high school when the album released and still had that sense of naiveté in her love ballads. The song feels like something you would dance to at a royal ball, which is precisely what Swift was going for.
“Enchanted” has a love-at-first-sight vibe to it as Swift croons about the magic of meeting someone for the first time. This romantic lyric sums it up the best: "This night is sparklin', don't you let it go / I'm wonderstruck, blushin' all the way home / I'll spend forever wonderin' if you knew / I was enchanted to meet you."
The song plays out almost like a daydream as she wonders if he's dating anyone and imagines him sweeping her off her feet. She wants a change from the monotony of her everyday life when she fakes smiles and has to fit into the cookie-cutter behavior people expect from her.
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2113 VOTES'This Happens Once Every Few Lifetimes, These Chemicals Hit Me Like White Wine'
Song: “The Alchemy”
Album: The Tortured Poets Department
How It’s Romantic: Swift's “The Alchemy” depicts the rarity of a consuming love that feels almost chemical in the way that you're utterly drawn to the other person. She says, “This happens once every few lifetimes, these chemicals hit me like white wine.”
The Tortured Poets Department is her biggest heartbreak album to date. And though the love songs are few and far between, the passion is just as palpable as the pain in songs like “The Alchemy.” Swift notes the rarity of finding a love this powerful and intoxicating that makes it impossible to stay away from someone. Given the football imagery, it's a safe bet that the song is about Travis Kelce, and it's not difficult to see how that whirlwind romance could inspire the ballad.
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2210 VOTES'He Was Chaos, He Was Revelry If All You Want Is Gray For Me Then It's Just White Noise, And It's My Choice'
Song: “But Daddy I Love Him”
Album: The Tortured Poets Department
How It’s Romantic: Swift doesn't typically go up against fans and her family, but she lets it all fly for “But Daddy I Love Him.” Though Swift doesn't name the paramour in question, her relationship with Matty Healy made more than a few headlines and social media hailstorms judging Swift for comments made by Healy and holding her responsible for his actions. Many people acted like Swift was a pure white dove who needed to be saved from the big bad wolf.
In “But Daddy I Love Him,” Swift lets fans and her family know that in no certain terms, she will do what she wants with whomever she wants and she's not interested in being saved. Swift is absolutely savage with clapback lines like, “God save the most judgmental creeps who say they want what's best for me, sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see, thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me.”
Meanwhile, her line “He was chaos, he was revelry, if all you want is gray for me, then it's just white noise, and it's my choice” illustrates her passion for this love and how it's swept her up regardless of the noise outside. Her name is hers alone to disgrace.
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232 VOTES'All I’ve Seen Since 18 Hours Ago Is Green Eyes And Freckles And Your Smile In The Back Of My Mind Making Me Feel Like I Just Wanna Know You Better.'
Song: “Everything Has Changed (Taylor's Version)”
Album: Red (Taylor's Version)
How It’s Romantic: What's better than a meet-cute? That first moment when you're really getting to know someone for the first time and you feel that spark can feel life-changing. Sure, you can't really tell that a relationship is going to work out that quickly, but the initial feeling doesn't base its merit on logic.
In Swift's “Everything Has Changed” duet with Ed Sheeran, the pair chronicle an immediate connection that rocks their world in a moment that feels life-changing. Swift released Red as her first major fully-adult album. As a result, she's exploring a lot of new relationships during this time, which shows in the album that features a slate of heartbreak and burgeoning love.
Swift croons, “And all I've seen / Since eighteen hours ago / Is green eyes and freckles and your smile / In the back of my mind making me feel like / I just wanna know you better.” It may be a fairly simple song, but it's a sweet sentiment that's strengthened by Swift and Sheeran's complimentary vocals and the passion they put into the song.
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242 VOTES'Wonder If He Knows He’s All I Think About At Night.'
Song: “Teardrops On My Guitar”
Album: Taylor Swift
How It’s Romantic: Ah, young unrequited love. Is there anything worse? Swift's debut self-titled album was released when she was just 16. Of course, that means that she wrote the songs even earlier. “Teardrops on My Guitar” illustrates a lovestruck teen who's pining for a boy who doesn't notice her.
While she's busy writing songs and crying over her guitar for him, he's talking about his girlfriend. As most teens do, she tries to hide her feelings for him with a smile and expresses angst about the situation when she's alone. The line, “He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right, I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night” is super rough. And even though she's a teen, she's still keeping her feelings to herself and letting him be happy while it's tearing her up inside.
