00:00What a sad, beautiful, tragic love.
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:11for the Taylor Swift songs that will have you clutching a tear-soaked pillow.
00:14If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary.
00:19Number 10. Back to December, Taylor's version.
00:23I'm so glad you made time to see me. How's life? Tell me, how's your family?
00:30We've all heard that same old tired line about Taylor's songwriting,
00:33that she only ever sings about hating her ex-boyfriends.
00:36Back to December was an early rebuttal of these shallow critiques,
00:40serving as an emotional effusive apology to a spurned partner.
00:43This is me swallowing my pride, standing in front of you,
00:47saying I'm sorry for the night.
00:52Actor Taylor Lautner has gone on the record claiming that Back to December is about him.
00:56And if so, we desperately want to know the Taylor-squared lore
01:00that led to this song being made.
01:02To be clear, we're not complaining.
01:03Back to December is one of Taylor's hardest-hitting breakup songs.
01:06I go back to December, turn around and make it alright.
01:13Swift said herself in a pre-Speak Now interview,
01:15quote,
01:16"...there was someone who was absolutely wonderful to me and I dropped the ball,
01:20and I needed to say all that."
01:21Now, dear John, on the other hand,
01:24see it all now that you're gone.
01:30Number 9.
01:31Last Kiss, Taylor's Version
01:33I still remember the look on your face, lit through the darkness at 158.
01:41It feels almost impossible to believe that Speak Now was released
01:44when Swift was just nearing 21 years of age.
01:48Her heart-wrenching Last Kiss lyrics belie her youth,
01:51demonstrating the powerful wisdom of someone years older.
01:54I never thought we'd have a last kiss.
02:00Last Kiss is an emotional gut punch,
02:02hitting you squarely in the chest with its recounting of a painfully unexpected breakup.
02:07The song captures the unresolved longing and heartache that come with a left-field parting,
02:12when you're left to pick up the pieces while your ex-partner seems to be Mr. Perfectly Fine.
02:17Reckoning has long been one of Taylor's specialties.
02:20I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe.
02:28Number 8.
02:29All Too Well, 10-Minute Version
02:31Left my scarf there at your sister's house and you've still got it in your drawer.
02:39Swifty or not, chances are you've heard of this one.
02:42Rumors swirled for years around this stirring anthem,
02:45with fans claiming that an extended version with even juicier verses
02:48had been withheld from Swifty's.
02:50Taylor indulged fans by releasing the now-famous 10-Minute version of
02:54All Too Well alongside other re-recordings from Red.
03:02And ask any Taylor fan, the nearly decade-long wait was well worth it.
03:07All Too Well quickly went from underrated fan favorite to yet another one of her signature
03:12songs.
03:13The new All Too Well is the rare sequel that improves upon the original.
03:17Even more bittersweet, open-hearted and tear-jerking this time around.
03:30Number 7.
03:31You're On Your Own, Kid
03:40We mentioned a little earlier that Taylor is no stranger to the music industry,
03:44with her first album having been released in 2006.
03:47But we've almost never heard her address her meteoric rise to fame
03:50in such stark, unambiguous terms.
04:01Compared by music critics to songs like You Belong With Me,
04:04Fifteen, and Hey Steven,
04:05You're On Your Own, Kid finds Taylor openly reflecting on how her fame has,
04:09for better or worse,
04:10changed her pre-existing relationships.
04:13The song is an uncomfortable reminder that nothing lasts forever,
04:16and sadly but inevitably,
04:18all good things have to come to an end in order for new doors to open.
04:25Number 6.
04:26Champagne Problems
04:36Over the course of her career,
04:38Taylor became known not only for her mastery of songwriting,
04:41but also for her expansive, maximalist instrumental arrangements.
04:45However, when it came to folklore and evermore,
04:48the Champagne Problems singer took a radically different approach.
04:57This was, of course,
04:58partially necessitated by the limits imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
05:03While we could have gone with Tolerate It or Right Where You Left Me,
05:06this song stands as a perfect example of Swift's attempt at a more minimal sound,
05:11consisting only of her vocals and a bare-bones instrumental
05:14courtesy of co-producer Aaron Dessner.
05:16That decision allows Taylor's vocals and rich,
05:19deeply felt songwriting to shine through,
05:21and leave us reaching for the nearest box of Kleenex.
05:29Number 5.
05:30Soon You'll Get Better, featuring The Chicks
05:33The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair
05:37In doctor's office lighting
05:40This lover deep cut, co-written and co-produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff,
05:44is a heart-rending tribute to the singer's mother, Andrea.
05:47Specifically, the song conveys Swift's hopeful optimism
05:50regarding Andrea's multiple cancer diagnoses over the years.
05:57Even if you've never dealt with a disease on a personal level,
06:00it's almost impossible to stay unmoved by the lyrics of Soon You'll Get Better,
06:04which describe the difficulty Taylor faces with her mother's illness and mortality.
06:09Featuring gorgeous backing harmonies courtesy of country legends The Chicks,
06:12Soon You'll Get Better finds Taylor revisiting her roots in more ways than one.
06:23Number 4.
06:24L.O.M.L.
06:25Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames?
06:31No one has ever faulted Taylor for being too relatable.
06:34L.O.M.L., a low-key highlight from the tortured poet's department,
06:37laments the demise of an all-too-brief relationship.
06:40We were tempted to go with So Long London and The Prophecy, both from this album.
06:45That said, through her raw, bluntly sentimental songwriting,
06:55L.O.M.L. is like a four-and-a-half-minute journey right into her thought process.
06:59The song proves that, even after nearly 20 years in the limelight,
07:03Taylor Swift still has a remarkable gift for poetically describing her feelings of heartbreak.
07:08Clearly, Taylor knows better than anyone else that sometimes,
07:12wallowing in your sadness is the first and most crucial step to healing.
07:21Number 3.
07:22My Tears Ricochet.
07:31Reportedly the first song written for folklore, My Tears Ricochet finds Swift taking a stab at
07:36addressing her feud with Scooter Braun and Big Machine label head Scott Borchetta.
07:40However, the song is less about Braun and Borchetta specifically,
07:43and more about Taylor's bitter, conflicted feelings on the matter.
07:53Said Swift of the song,
07:54quote,
07:55"...all of a sudden this person that you trusted more than anyone in the world
07:58is the person that can hurt you the most.
08:00Then all of a sudden the things that you have been through together hurt."
08:03My Tears Ricochet demonstrates Taylor's singular ability to make her pain feel universal.
08:09Check out This Is Me Trying if you're looking for a good cry in the shower song.
08:18Number 2.
08:19Marjorie.
08:26Did you think you were out of the woods yet?
08:28Another addition to Swift's canon of songs about female family members,
08:32Marjorie is a tribute to her maternal grandmother Marjorie Finley,
08:35an opera singer by trade.
08:37The song finds Taylor mourning Marjorie,
08:39as well as lamenting the fact that she couldn't get to know her better.
08:50As such, Marjorie's chorus consists of a series of affirmations,
08:54life lessons from Taylor's grandmother to her.
08:56Featuring uncredited backing vocals from Bon Iver's Justin Vernon,
09:00the song's empowering nature is underscored by
09:02the bittersweet realization that its namesake didn't live to hear it.
09:07Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
09:17Better Man, Taylor's version from The Vault.
09:26Bigger Than The Whole Sky.
09:33Exile featuring Bon Iver.
09:37White Horse, Taylor's version.
09:48You're Losing Me.
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10:15Ronin, Taylor's version.
10:22It's gonna be hard to get through this entry without tearing up, but we'll try.
10:26Although it might not be the number one you would have expected,
10:29we think you'll understand the logic behind placing Ronin at the top of our list.
10:33For this song, Taylor found inspiration from blogger Maya Thompson, whose three-year-old
10:37son Ronin tragically died from neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nerve tissue, in 2011.
10:49Of course, writing a charity song intended to benefit the families of children with cancer
10:53is a noble pursuit, but how does one capture the feeling of mourning a child without having
10:58experienced it firsthand?
10:59Taylor answered this difficult question by sourcing the song's lyrics straight from
11:03Thompson's blog.
11:05Ultimately, that's Taylor's superpower, her seemingly endless well of empathy.
11:14Do you agree with our picks?
11:16Which Taylor song makes you weep the hardest?
11:18Let us know in the comments.
11:20Will you still want me, when I'm nothing new?
11:27Do you agree with our picks?
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