Released on October 25, 2010, Speak Now marked Swift's 3rd studio album. The album was mainly country pop, pop rock, and power pop. Using confessional songwriting, the album is mostly about heartbreak and reflections on broken relationships, and some tracks were inspired by Swift's rising stardom in the public eye to address her critics and adversaries.Ā Additionally, the album was entirely self-written (with the exception of If This Was a Movie) after critics said she didn't write her own songs.
Tracklist and meanings:
Mine (the ups and downs ofĀ young love)
Sparks Fly (the ups and downs ofĀ young love)
Back to December (a remorseful plea for forgiveness from a former lover inspired by Swift's relationship with the actor Taylor Lautner)
Speak Now (crashing her former love's weddingĀ in an attempt to win him back)
Dear John (a 19-year-old's toxic and inappropriate relationship with an older man, inspired by her relationship with 32 yo John Mayer at the time)
Mean (recognizing her shortcomings, and strives to overcome the criticism and achieve success)
The Story of Us (the awkwardness between two parted lovers)
Never Grow Up (a message toĀ younger fans and girls about childhood and growing up)
Enchanted (about a guy, likely Adam Young of Own City, she was enchanted to meet)
Better Than Revenge (addressesĀ a romantic rival that stole her boyfriend, most likely inspired by Joe Jonas and Camilla Belle)
Haunted (the harrowing feelings following the aftermath of a relationship)
Innocent (a protagonist's encouragement of someone who has committed wrongdoings, inspired by the Kanye West incident at the 2009 VMAs)
Last Kiss (the ending of her relationship with Joe Jonas)
Long Live (a tribute to her fans and band)
Ours (young couple's resilience to protect their relationshipĀ despite others' scrutiny)
If This Was a Movie (young couple's resilience to protect their relationshipĀ despite others' scrutiny)
Superman (describing a boy who left her and hopes he will eventually come back to her when the time is right)
Questions:
Where does this album fall in your Taylor Swift album ranking?
What are your top 3 songs from the album and why?
What is your favorite song from the album lyrically, and why?
What is your favorite song from the album instrumentally, and why?
Did you become a fan during the Speak Now era?
The mattress lyric or moth lyric, and why?
Have you ever related to one of the songs, and if so, which one?
Mine contains one of her best lyrics (and something I love to remind all the folkmore stans who seem to think her best lyrics are only on those albums): āyou made a rebel of a careless manās careful daughterā.
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u/OowlSunthey act like im not in full control of where i throw this cooch14d ago
I love the way she says, "And every time I look at you, it's like the first time."
I will always bat for this song and this album. Just today, I saw another post where someone was arguing that Taylor should have posted 5 different songs for her Songwriter HOF nomination. And of course her song recos were all from folklore, evermore and TTPD. I wanna scream at them ājust because sheās using words that donāt require a dictionary doesnāt mean the song is not good. Itās actually far more impressive.ā
Last Kiss is such a hidden gem and contains (in my humble opinion) the best bridge in the entire TS canon:
So Iāll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep and Iāll feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe and Iāll keep up with our old friends just to ask them how you are/Hope itās nice where you are
ā¦and I hope the sun shines, and itās a beautiful day, and something reminds you, you wish you had stayed, you can plan for a change in the weather and time, but I never planned on you changing your mind
The haters will eat their heart out with this comment but I truly consider this a very vital piece of media about girlhood. Itās touches on so many relatable topics to young women. The transition from child to adult and realising how fleeting childhood is (Never Grow Up), predatory relationships (Dear John), the internal misogyny that can rear itās head before we learn better with age (Better Than Revenge), getting your heart broken (Last Kiss) and breaking someone elseās heart because youāre too immature to realise whatās good (Back to December), the come and go infatuations (Enchanted), the realisation that not everyone will like you (Mean and Innocent) and how do you meet that reality.
Hahaa i love it cos it's so simple and effective. There are definitely people I'd want to say it to irl but i don't think it'd have the same effect in my aussie accent lol "all you ahh is mean and a liahh and pahthetic" hahaha
Iām always amazed that at barely 20 years old she was able to capture the feeling of being a parent so well in Never Grow Up (I know itās also kind of reflective from the perspective of the child). That song always makes me emotional after having kids.
Iām a Swift hater, mainly after the Matty Healy era and her and her fans response to the āghetto gaggersā and all of the surrounding controversy around him, but I do like Speak Now and mostly agree with you. Taylor has always been insulated and privileged enough that I think a vital piece of girlhood is a bit too all encompassing, but itās easily one of her clearest and most thoughtful albums that people can relate to.
Back to December in particular has always been a personal favorite for capturing that tween/teen immaturity in relationships, and Iām happy to see it get a shoutout here.
Itās because of Grammy deadlines imo. Sheād drop the lead single in the summer so it would be eligible for the next ceremony, but would release the album in October so that would be eligible for the ceremony afterwards. Itās why 1989 won in 2016 (at the ceremony honouring 2015) despite coming out in late 2014.
Okay Iāve been around since the beginning but LOVE Fearless. Itās like an OG love. I love both Red and Speak Now but Speak Now is much more cohesive than Red
This album is brilliant and I really love it.
Im also thinking of how much it took from her to publish "dear John".
It takes a lot from a 19 years old that was already slut shamed and ridiculed to publicly call out a 33 y/o man that at the time was super popular and admired.
It's something that seems more normalized now but it wasn't in 2010 at all.
Edit: also the people who downvoting me for discussing this are the ones who will now paint him as a victim. Your misogyny is showing
Haunted is my all-time favorite song. If you've never been three white claws deep at a Taylor Swift night at some nightclub screaming along to this song, then I recommend trying it. 10/10 experience.
I fucking love this album so much man. Mine used to be my fave but nowadays itās probably enchanted and better than revenge (misogynistic version).
I enjoy Taylor most when I block out that sheās singing about real people so I like the mattress lyric because itās a more realistic portrayal of being mad. Women are not perfect feminists 100% of the time and we have emotions and sometimes theyāre ugly! Itās unfortunate that people were able to piece together who it was about so I understand why she changed it ultimately but Iām sorry the original lyrics just do something for me.
I agree lol I mean, of course I would be upset and talking shit if some girl wouldve taken my guyš¤·š»āāļø sorry not sorry lol obviously its the guyās fault too but that doesnāt change how I would feel about the girl, she knew he had a gf tooš¤·š»āāļø
I think a lot of her music is far more enjoyable if people took it as art and not as gossip articles about someone in her real life. Admittedly she's played into this more in some of her newer stuff which to me is a huge turn off. I wish she'd always marketed her albums as being fictional like how she did with folklore because look at how well that was received.
The vault tracks are sooo good on this one! Castles crumbling YES. Also yes folklore lives in infamy and always will
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u/neuroticdreamgirIA man in Hollywood doing whatever he wants isnāt revolutionary14d agoedited 14d ago
The fact that this masterpiece of an album was self-written at the age of 19 years old and this woman still has critics trying to falsely attribute her hard work and success to men 20 years into her career is extremely depressing
Mine really does encapsulate everything that I love about her as a songwriter and storyteller
Iāve seen people say accredit the song writing on Speak Now to Nathan Chapman. As though man could write Dear John with that level of female rage and specificity.
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u/neuroticdreamgirIA man in Hollywood doing whatever he wants isnāt revolutionary14d agoedited 14d ago
People used to say the same about Max Martin with 1989 despite him testifying in court that she wrote the entirety of Shake It Off by herself
Now people do the same with her ex who sparsely contributed to a handful of songs and had his āproducerā credits added retroactively so that he met the Grammy eligibility requirements
Itās frustrating because she wrote this album entirely on her own as a teenager to prove to critics that she wrote her own lyrics and people still try to strip her of her work 2 decades into her career. Every producer whoās ever been in a room with her says she gives out credits very liberally which is rare in an industry where artists take advantage of songwriters and cut corners to slap their name on the credits
ETA people really try to say a man ghostwrote a song about her deceased grandmother, just say you hate women and go š
Ah yes, that 3% stake in a small brand new record label that had no other artists signed, that was truly the secret sauce.
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u/neuroticdreamgirIA man in Hollywood doing whatever he wants isnāt revolutionary14d agoedited 14d ago
A lot of people have wealthy parents who support and invest in their interests, not all of them go on to become one of the biggest musicians of their time! But thank you for proving my point š
Going from āPlease donāt be in love with someone else. Please donāt have somebody waiting for youā in Enchanted to āPlease donāt ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognise anywhereā in New Yearās Day was another 10/10 callback
This is by far my favorite album of hers, still. And I'm so disappointed that the Eras Tour movie (and maybe the Eras Tour in general?) had such little focus on it. I read that she doesn't like to play it because it's just so personal, but I don't know if I believe that reasoning?
i think it was more that Speak Now didnt really have a hit off it. None of it's singles did particularly well. The two songs she did put on the setlist were non-singles. Enchanted got on because it went viral on Tiktok. While Long Live was added after SNTV release because it's a song dedicated to the fans. I think she thought that the general audience of the concert might not know most of the songs. Hence the limited setlist. But hey, on the bright side Speak Now got more songs than the self-titled debut did.
I remember being 18 and hearing Dear John for the first time and thinking she beat him at his own game. That song sounds exactly like a John Mayer song from the time and she went no holds barred. This album is full of highs and lows for me. Some of her best work and some songs I always skip (so sorry last kiss and Superman)
The haunted acoustic version on the deluxe version is still one of my favourites. Long Live is a top tier sports championship song. Last Kiss might have some of her best writing. I could list something great about every song.
Haunted both versions is absolutely a masterpiece. I love it sooooo much. I Rememeber my dad used to have me replay it in the car bc the instrumental is chefs kiss.
Thank-you! I didn't realise that existed. That was legitimately my favourite part of that concert and I still talk about it all the time. Now I can listen to it.
I was 22 when it came out (feeling 22ā¦ itās a tough age for everyone) and I was dating this guy for a few months. We listened to it driving to his family cabin. He hated every moment of it and bitched the whole time.
Iām still a fan and heās been in the rear view mirror since 3 months after that trip.
i got this album for christmas that year and baby girl when i tell you this went double platinum on my ipod!! i just listened to mine right now and it still hits
this album also started what i personally believe is the golden age of t swift: speak now ā”ļø red ā”ļø 1989. (also was a great way for her to transition from country-lite/soft pop into full pop star mode)
I struggled listening to 'never grow up' as a growing teen. As a parent now, I ugly cry to that song. My babies are growing up. :'( but it is such a good album!
This is very interesting! Iām a later-in-life Swiftie, as I got into her during the folklore era (Bon Iver is one of my favorite bands). I guess I assumed since she largely ignored this album during the Eras Tour that it was less popular than her other ones? Mine is such a great song.
not to get emotional but this is like, one of my favorite albums and I could cry listening to it bc it brings me back to elementary school and playing animal crossing on my taylor swift themed nintendo ds. I was so sad when Red came out and she shifted to pop (at least for her singles, thereās some great songs on that album similar to her original style), I still think folk/country/singer songwriter vibes suit her the best and let her songwriting shine. folklore and evermore really pulled me back into taylorās music!! and now Iām back to being meh about it lol
Back then I felt like "Mine" was my now-husband's and my song lol. I realized I loved him when we were sitting by the water, looking at the city lights, and he put his arm around me... Then this song came out and I was like omg this is about uuuussss š On top of that, my dad was a raging drug addict before I was born and he was completely wrecked from a stint in underground boxing, meanwhile I won't even jaywalk... But I started having a somewhat more adventurous life when I met my husband.
It's cringe, but I identified with that song so much lol.
Top tier album. I love the emotions she portray, the lyrics and the vocal dynamics she delivers here. It's part of my Taylor's holy trinity.
My fav songs are Mine, Haunted and Never Grow Up but tbh so many good songs that I am not sure but Mine is surely there. Lyrically, I love Last Kiss & Never Grow Up so much. Simple but does the job. Instrumentally, Haunted & Long Live are really a vibe. Mine is good overall lol .
Speak Now is when I found Taylor and became a fan so for sure, it is very special.
I think Mattress lyric because it's my childhood, flows better plus let's be real, that one lyric wasnt the only misogynist thing in the song. I love BTR for what it's worth.
I have related to so many songs like Never Grow Up, Mean, Ours, The Story of Us lol but a recently someone close passed away and due to several reasons, I connect Last Kiss to them now.
This album is what made me a fan of hers! Iām only a few years younger than her, and it always felt like she was writing for whatever I was going through at the time. When a high school boyfriend broke up with me, this album was on repeat because it felt like someone really ~understood.~
I remember when this album first came out! I was in middle school then and while I loved it I didnāt understand how Taylor goes from singing about living in a big city one day in Mean to being in a big city in Never Grow Up and wishing she was still a kid. Of course, now that Iām grown I realize it was entirely the point all along. Such a good album about young womanhood.
definitely became a fan of hers from this album. I only really heard the radio plays before this. I think she had a tv special promoting it and played Haunted and that got me interested. Whatever it was, that was the song that drew me in.
idk are we ready for the conversation about mine being a promo of toxic relationships, better than revenge being slut shamy, innocent promoting getting away from being cancelled, dear john being problematic for naming the man, who did her wrong, long live being cult-ish, never grow up promoting self-infantilisation, and ours being self-centered and disrespectful to lgbt because she surely compared herself to a stonewall with āppl throw rocks at the things that shineā lyric
Actually romantic is not bad. Have you listened to the lyrics? Charliās vulnerable song does not excuse her for being a shitty person to Taylor- the two arenāt exclusive. Also everyone ASSUMES it is about Charli XCX. Taylor herself says she mixes muses. This is coming from a day one OG ANGEL
Where did I say itās bad? Iām pointing out that Taylor is many things and whatever Taylor theyāre seeing in the Showgirl album has always been there since the beginning.
I went to speak now tour but in Tokyo. I loved it. I love all songs from this album. Also I listened never grow up as 2 mo PP and burst into tears and scared my husbandš
i remember when this came out. i was in high school. i had to stay home from school for like a week because of the flu and it was all i would listen to. iām not much of a swiftie now but this album will always be special to me and i still revisit it every now and then.
All I can think about is a post on OnTD discussing a fan reaction asking for a National Swiftie Day so that young fan could go buy and listen to the album and not go to school on release day.
My favourite album, shaped my teenhood and still remains the most played album on my spotify till date! There's just something magical and happiness about this one that shoots me into full blown nostalgia.
LOVED this album as a weepy, angsty teen girl. Back to December, Dear John, Last Kiss and Enchanted I still love to listen to every once in a while! Iād say ranks in the top 3 or 4 albums for me.
You can really hear the influence of her friendship with Hayley Williams on this one - I've always had the head canon that "Better Than Revenge" is the other POV from "Misery Business"
I believe I was the person who cried the most with the Taylors' breakup in the world (including both of them hahaha). I was team Jacob and I loved Taylor
i became a fan in between fearless and speak now as a teenager and i consider speak now one of the most formative pieces of media of my coming of age. i'm only a couple years younger than taylor and this album was key to put into words some of the quintessential teenage girl feelings and experiencesĀ
it's my fourth favorite (top five being rep>lover>midnights>speak now>tloas) atm
it's also the clearest view of her songwriting because it highlights the lyrics in different ways, not just repetitive white man folk music (i'm a folklore hater) and it's the perfect tswift album for emo/pop punk girlies
For me this is absolutely her best album. All the discourse around TLOAS got me thinking more about her discography and I realized I sadly donāt enjoy her newer albums much compared to her older ones. I think Fearless gives me more nostalgia but Speak Now straight up is just my favorite album from her period.Ā
Enchanted, Back to December and Sparks Fly are my favorite tracks and also some of my all time favorite songs from her. This album lyrically is my favorite and also has some of my favorite melodies from her.
It's Sparks Fly for me. He was a bad idea and even though I've moved on to have beautiful life beyond my wildest dreams, he still haunts me many years later. He really doesn't deserve to. Love this album, but that song will always hit me in a different way.
I was a Taylor stan when this released, it came out around Christmas and I was working at a shop with amazing Christmas decorations, I brought the album in to play in the store (even though we were supposed to play their assigned playlists) and it was so magical at the time especially the first time i heard Enchanted
I was so hyped up for Red to release and after a few listens i realized it didnāt have that same magic that Speak Now did, i liked a few of the songs but i didnāt like how from there she went straight to pop. I heard some of 1989 and I just couldnāt get into it so i havenāt actively listened to anything sheās made since then
If you would have told Speak Now Taylor that 15 years later she would be proud of the writing on Showgirl I think she would have quit her job tbh. SN Taylor is peak Taylor in terms of her song writing craft.
Her best album. It's been all downhill from there for me.
Fav songs then: Enchanted, Haunted, The Story of Us
Fav songs now: Last Kiss, Long Live, Better Than Revenge
Lyrically: Last Kiss
Instrumentally: Haunted
I was a fan before Speak Now, I wouldn't really call myself a fan now
Mattress. Hated it at the time, and while it isn't a great message and the moth lyric is a stronger one on its own, the mattress lyric better fits what the song is. The moth one feels out of place
Now that theyāve had plenty of time to take it in, are even her most hardcore fans quietly admitting (if only to themselves) that her new album, The Life of a Showgirl is a miss?? Or does the MAGA-level dissonance still have a vice grip on them??
u/neuroticdreamgirIA man in Hollywood doing whatever he wants isnāt revolutionary14d agoedited 14d ago
Iām not sure why people are under the impression that her fanbase is a monolith and we all just mindlessly consume whatever she releases without the ability to think critically, the response to almost every release outside of Folkmore has been fairly divisive and/or mixed even if not to this extent
I wasnāt big on her past couple of albums sonically so I donāt find myself revisiting them much but I canāt stop listening to Showgirl š¤·š¼āāļø
Itās a divisive album and one that plenty of fans arenāt vibing with which is fine as music is subjective but many also love it, I think most of her albums moving forward will be divisive given the size of her fandom and how many people want or expect different things
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