There's a Taylor Swift song for that...

My love language is making [weirdly specific] playlists

As a self-proclaimed Spotify stalker, I think it probably comes as no surprise that I love making playlists. Over the years, I’ve encountered several types of playlist makers. There’s the seasonal playlister, the one who will compile a playlist for each season or month of the year. Benefits include being transported back in time with a click of a button. There are the psychopaths ones who just have a single list of all their favourited songs, it’s okay, I guess some people thrive in chaos. I’m more of a vibe-oriented playlister myself. I have playlists for studying, for crying, for pre-gaming and for drunk ubers alike¹. I am a sucker for a John Williams score and have recently started listening to the LOTR soundtrack to fall asleep. I’m seriously curious about the licensing budget for The Summer I Turned Pretty (the needle drops are unmatched) and would like to assign whoever is doing the soundtrack for it to curate the playlist of my life. I’m always looking for new music (and have resorted to people with taste to bring less basic recommendations), but find myself saying in almost any situation, Wait… there’s a Taylor Swift song for that.

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This post is an experience… I recommend listening along

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Taylor Swift songs…

For when you’re walking in really nice neighbourhoods²

• I Look in People’s Windows

For leaving someone at the altar

• champagne problems

For when it’s drought season and you need to time your showers

• All Too Well (10 Minute Version)

For when you forgot your keys and your flatmate isn’t home

• my tears ricochet

  • “I can go anywhere I want, anywhere I want, just not home”

For the person who stalks people on Find My Friends…and then finds out their ex is seeing someone new

• The Black Dog

For when you’re cheating (emotionally or otherwise)

• Guilty as Sin?

• Fresh Out The Slammer

• High Infidelity

• illicit affairs

• Picture To Burn (from the cheatee POV, because empathy?)

For when you want to feel called out for how you flirt

• Gorgeous

  • “You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk”

For when you have insane restaurant recommendations (or can get a dinner reservation for BRAT³)

• I Know Places

For the canonical event where you’re fine after breaking up with your boyfriend of several years, but end up absolutely destroyed after the [first post-breakup] situationship/three-month relationship after it ends

• The entire TTPD album, to be honest

For the ones who never stay the night

• The Bolter

For the guys who need an instruction manual

• How You Get The Girl

For Slut Shaming

• Better Than Revenge

  • “She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress” – I understand why she changed the lyrics, but I will continue to sing the non PC versions in the car

For High School graduations or eliciting peak nostalgia

• Long Live

For romanticising an ex after enough time has passed

• the 1

For (sneakily) getting back with the ex all your friends hate

• The Last Time

• We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

For romanticising said [toxic] ex because you live for the intensity

• The Way I Loved You

  • It’s okay if you “miss screaming and crying and kissing in the rain”

For realising that you should probably break up for good now

• tolerate it

• exile

  • “I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending”

For when you start to feel like yourself again

• I Forgot That You Existed

• New Romantics

For age-specific birthday captions

• Fifteen

• 22

  • “happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time” sounds about right

For Hating the Patriarchy

• The Man

• All Too Well

  • “fuck the patriarchy” - Taylor Swift

For playing on a loop for an entire month

• august

For realising you’re no longer the youngest person in the room

• Nothing New

  • “How can a person know everything at eighteen and nothing at twenty-two”… yeah, this one felt personal

For convincing yourself you’ve met the love of your life because you keep running into them

• invisible string

• Mastermind

For when a guy pulls out his poetry on a first date

• I Hate It Here

  • “Please, please, tell me something awful, like you are a poet, trapped inside the body of a finance guy” — This man is real⁴

That’s all for this week. Hope you enjoyed that, and maybe you can add another song to a highly specific playlist. If you have other perfect situational TSwift songs, let me know in the comments!

1. I also made one for you to listen to whilst you read!!!

2. Shout out to interior design enthusiasts

3. Can you tell I’m upset I didn’t manage to get a reservation for when I have family in town?

4. …and I lost my virginity to him