Deep Dives: Taylor Swift Part Three (Speak Now)

    Speak Now is one of my very favorite albums EVER! Do NOT sleep on this one, fellow normal people. I have the OG on vinyl, the Taylor's Version on vinyl, and its tracks are on many of my playlists. I love listening to it during autumn and winter. I didn't appreciate it fully until I was a real, tax-paying adult. It's a no skip for me. (Well, I skip "Never Grow Up" these days because it makes me cry. But that's a good thing). Let's stop talking about emotions and dive in!

    Okay, let's get the history part out of way. We all know 2009 happened. We all know who was involved. We all know it changed the trajectory of Swift's career forever. We all know Speak Now is the masterpiece we got as a result. 

    The godly 2010 follow-up to Swift's 2008 effort, Fearless, Speak Now grows on the country rock that was flirted with on her first two albums. Though, arguably, this album explores southern rock more as evident on opening track and lead single, "Mine." Right here we see Swift become a full-blown fellow tax-paying adult. All versions of this album were self-written like Swift had something she had to prove. She wasn't just a kid playing around and playing pretend. She's an artist that has a unique vision and her own story to tell in an elegant and mysterious way like a jigsaw puzzle where you can't tell what the full picture is until you put the final piece into place. As a result, Speak Now is the most Swiftian of all of Swift's albums. Its diction and intricacies are unparalleled and unmatched. See "Sparks Fly" and fan favorite "Last Kiss."

    This album was her first to sell a million copies in a week which was so impressive for a country album in the year 2010 that electropop had a relentless chokehold on. So much happened to Swift in just two years since her last studio record that she had plenty to talk about here and its themes and subjects have a wide range. Which you could never tell based on the media coverage about Swift at the time. Reducing her to that she was only all about jilted love songs. No. That's not the case here at all. Swift is not the victim here a lot. She plays the narrating villain/aggressor on several songs like "Back to December," "Speak Now," and "Better Than Revenge." 

    I guess you can't talk about Speak Now without bringing up a lot of the Swiftian lore behind it. Which makes sense. Swift described it as a loose concept album about "things she wanted to tell certain people but never had the chance to." So there are secrets littered throughout this album that you wonder who the subjects of these tracks are like you're reading someone's stolen diary who spells out their names with just their initials. We have songs about Taylor Lautner here, John Mayer, Kanye West, that one critic guy whose name I'm not even going to look up, John Mayer, Hayley Williams from Paramore, one of many girls that Joe Jonas dated who's an actress that likes mattresses, and John Mayer. I almost forgot him. 

    On that note, let's talk themes and lyrics. Outside of the implied sexy lusty times on surf rock anthem "I Can See You," Swift does noticeably not talk about sex here. Which may sound weird to bring up. But think about it. The 2010 musical landscape was littered with songs about sex. Katy Perry's "Peacock" was released that year. Enrique Iglesias released "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" that year. Saving Abel's "Addicted" tore up charts around that time. The landscape was littered with it. Swift proved she could be adult without, quite frankly, selling herself out by talking about sex just because it would sell. We didn't need anymore songs about snatches, gashes, and bashes that year. Instead we got well-crafted songs about revenge, crashing a snobby wedding, burning a random man named John alive like an allegory for a McCarthyism witch at the stake, the fear of growing up, a bra burner, a song taking pity on a full grown man who should know better but doesn't, and an anthemic ode to a nostalgic future. 

    The lyrics are painted by a genius with a masterful brush. The "careless man's careful daughter" hook and tiny details ("there's a drawer of my things at your place") of "Mine" make it standout. The two opening lines of the dangerous game that is "Sparks Fly." The relatable, regretful storytelling of "Back to December." The fantasy, imagery, and overall pastel jovialness of the title track. The hurt and sheer pain portrayed in "Dear John" that pairs ever so perfectly with the bluesy rock sound. "I've never heard silence quite this loud." Nothing else to say there with that "The Story of Us" lyric. The regal majesty of "Enchanted." The scorched earth that is "Better Than Revenge." The Twilight-inspired drama of "Haunted." The letterman-jacket nostalgia of "Long Live." You can go on. Every song is a standout in some shape or form when it comes to lyrics that would be a career-defining song in any other artists' discography. 

    Speaking of "Better Than Revenge." I like the lyric change of the Taylor's Version as it holds the cheating man accountable to a certain point, but I love the original lyrics. They're messy. They're vindictive. They're angry. A mistress stole a woman's man. And she's getting called out. It counteracts Swift's feminist image, but if you had no idea that Swift was the main character or actual narrator, I don't think it would ever have been a controversy. 

    

    Sonically, I'd argue that "Mean" is the only country song amongst the album's songs. And it does a good job at being a country song with its banjos. Swift started to expand her palette and sound on this record to appeal worldwide while maintaining her trademark artistry. I'd categorize Speak Now as a pop rock/southern rock record with country tendencies at moments. Best showcased with "Mine," "Sparks Fly," "Better Than Revenge," Paramore-esque "Haunted," "Long Live," and the alternative "Dear John." It stays engaging from the first song to the last and rarely lulls. Dramatic tracks such as "Innocent," "Last Kiss," and "Haunted" draw the listener in with their foreboding atmosphere. When the songs need to go to extremes and be head bangers, they get there with soaring choruses or hard knocking openings. "Enchanted" has such a lovely build up with a soaring chorus. "Enchanted" and "Haunted" are almost like sister songs that are polar opposites. Which is fun because coincidentally they were performed back to back on the Speak Now World Tour. "Ours" is an adorably cute song with relatable details about gapped teeth and love. 

    The Taylor's Versions tracks add to the album's overall artistic vision and visuals of princesses, castles, royalty, fairytales with "Castles Crumbling," "Timeless," and "When Emma Falls In Love." All of which are just gorgeous and very on point for Swift. The guest features with Fall Out Boy and Hayley Williams add excitement and feel very 2010. These new songs are perfect additions that tie the old and new together. I think this is the first Taylor's Version where the new songs feel like they all undoubtably come from the same time period and sessions as the originals. 

    Speak Now is perhaps the best kept secret of Swift's discography. It had only a couple of songs performed on The Eras Tour and its Taylor's Version was barely promoted. Even during its 2010 run it didn't have a "Love Story" or "You Belong With Me." It had big hits but not the mega hits of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" or "I Knew You Were Trouble" that its follow up, Red, had. Still, these songs hold up and haven't really aged at all. I will never stop singing its sweet praises, and if anyone wants to organize an "Enchanted" streaming party to "Cruel Summer" it to number one, let me know. 

Rating: S Rank! You are the best thing that's ever been mine, Speak Now!

Recommendation: You're seriously missing out if you're not appreciating it, normal dudes. 

Standouts:

    Pretty much all the tracks. Here's the emojis: 💖⭐💣