Speak Now by Taylor Swift | Teen Ink

Speak Now by Taylor Swift

January 20, 2011
By StarryNight101 SILVER, Ithaca, New York
StarryNight101 SILVER, Ithaca, New York
5 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Doubt thou that the stars are fire;<br /> Doubt thou that the sun doth move;<br /> Doubt truth to be a liar;<br /> But never doubt that I love.&quot; ~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet.


Speak Now is the third album Taylor Swift has produced, and I think her best yet. Taylor’s lyrics have always been heartfelt, and sung beautifully, but she outdoes herself this time. Speak Now offers a wide variety of songs, all of them not just fun to listen to and sung well, but full of profound lyrics.

What I love most about Taylor Swift is her versatility. She can sing love songs, breakup songs, fast songs, slow songs, happy songs and sad songs. And all of them are believable because she writes them herself, and they mean something to her. Each song on Speak Now is like a glimpse into Taylor’s life, all of them tell a story.

Mine, the first single off of her album, is about believing in love, and finding brilliant, true love, even when it’s difficult. It’s happy, it’s catchy, and her voice sounds beautiful. It’s all about love, something Taylor’s so good at, and has done before, yet Mine manages to be so different than anything Taylor’s written before.

Another stand out to me is her song Enchanted. Enchanted is like the best kind of fairytale. It’s slightly mysterious, it’s charming, and it’s… enchanting! It’s a classic love story, Taylor sings about a love that is all consuming, and makes you feel completely enthralled by it. Underneath the sweet lyrics, such as ‘This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go/ I’m wonder-struck, blushing all the way home’ and ‘All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you’ there’s shadows of doubt. Taylor sings ‘Please don’t be in love with someone else/ Please don’t have somebody waiting on you’. The hints of doubt only serve to make it a better song, and every time I finish listening to it, it makes me want to listen again.

Are love songs not your thing? No worries! Although Taylor does love to sing about love, she sings about plenty of other topics. Long Live recalls her experiences performing onstage with her band, and the thrills she gets from it. Never Grow Up is a bittersweet song about time, change, and growing up. Growing up is a topic I think lots of people are secretly, or in some cases not so secretly, afraid of. Growing up can be terrifying, because it’s the mysterious unknown.

However, I think my favorite songs on the album are her more angst-filled songs. Dear John describes her brief relationship with John Mayer, and the various ways he hurt her. When Taylor sings lines such as ‘You paint me a blue sky and go back and turn it to rain/And I lived in your chess game but you changed the rules every day’ you can tell by the emotion in her voice how deeply she’s hurt.

These are all great songs, but if I had to choose one favorite it would be Back To December. To me, it has it all. A beautiful melody, lyrics that are so perfect in every way, and the emotion in Taylor’s voice is just amazing. When she sings ‘So this is me swallowing my pride, standing in front of you saying I’m sorry for that night’ you can tell how much she means it, every single word.

In short, I love Taylor Swift, and I love Speak Now. Whether she’s singing about revenge, love, break ups, or the thrill of performing, she has a lot of talent.


The author's comments:
I love Taylor Swift's music, and I think this is her best album yet.

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This article has 8 comments.


on Mar. 22 2011 at 11:16 am
StarryNight101 SILVER, Ithaca, New York
5 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Doubt thou that the stars are fire;<br /> Doubt thou that the sun doth move;<br /> Doubt truth to be a liar;<br /> But never doubt that I love.&quot; ~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

No, not really. Even the ones which are love songs, or revenge songs are so different that it doesn't matter if they're slightly similar. For example, Enchanted and Mine, two of the most obvious love songs, are so different in their styles that it doesn't matter that they're both about love. And besides, there's always songs like Innocent, Never Grow Up and Long Live which aren't even remotely about love.

2200 said...
on Mar. 22 2011 at 10:02 am
I like how you say she sings about "plenty of other topics". That's a joke. Only two songs on the entire album are not love/hate songs. Doesn't that tell you something?

on Feb. 18 2011 at 7:27 pm
StarryNight101 SILVER, Ithaca, New York
5 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Doubt thou that the stars are fire;<br /> Doubt thou that the sun doth move;<br /> Doubt truth to be a liar;<br /> But never doubt that I love.&quot; ~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

Thank you! :) Those are all really great songs, it was hard for me to single out the ones I liked best. Her first album was also great, I think she keeps getting better as she goes along, but it's a close call.

on Feb. 18 2011 at 5:54 pm
Beautifuleyes14, Rochester, Michigan
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;If you&#039;re lucky enough to be diffrent... don&#039;t change!&quot; ~Taylor Swift

Well written! Taylor is my favoite artist and i love speak now. Although i personally believe her first album is her best, Speak Now is a great album. Long Live, Enchanted, Mine and Haunted are my favorites. All have great emotion and are relatable! Great review :)

on Feb. 17 2011 at 5:42 pm
StarryNight101 SILVER, Ithaca, New York
5 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Doubt thou that the stars are fire;<br /> Doubt thou that the sun doth move;<br /> Doubt truth to be a liar;<br /> But never doubt that I love.&quot; ~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

Isn't it? I just love that song. I love all of her songs, but I think Back To December is one of her best.

on Feb. 17 2011 at 4:29 pm
Heart_of_Fire DIAMOND, Wake Forest, North Carolina
56 articles 8 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Everyone says love hurts, but that&#039;s not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love. But in reality, love is the only thing in this world that covers up all the pain and makes someone feel wonderful again.&quot; - unknown

I love Taylor Swift as well, and "Back to December" is an amazing song! :)

on Feb. 16 2011 at 10:46 pm
StarryNight101 SILVER, Ithaca, New York
5 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Doubt thou that the stars are fire;<br /> Doubt thou that the sun doth move;<br /> Doubt truth to be a liar;<br /> But never doubt that I love.&quot; ~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

I agree that Long Live is an excellent song. I love love songs, but it's nice when she shows her versatility, too.

on Feb. 16 2011 at 9:55 pm
katroxursox BRONZE, San Antonio, Texas
1 article 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;And this is the message I have heard and proclaim to you: God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.&quot; 1 John 1:5

I agree completely! Taylor Swift is amazing, although I think my favorite on the album might be 'Long Live.' Some more songs like this would be good, so she doesn't have too many love songs piled up. It is definitely her best, I hope to see more like it!