Taylor Swift is a master storyteller, and some of the best stories around are ones about love. She has made a career by creating songs that tap into the emotional beats of love. Fictional romantic pairs thrive off of music that reflect their journey: the meeting, the chase, the passion, and even the fallout. For fifteen years, her deeply personal lyrics have struck a chord in every shipping community, where shippers have attached a song of hers to a beloved couple. If your favorite ship can be connected to a Taylor Swift song, you’ve got a great ship. Thankfully, there’s an embarrassment of riches that capture the essence of what makes a couple mean so much to shippers. While an argument could probably be made for every single Taylor Swift song to be a ship song, we’re picking the top-tier songs per album that are the best for fictional ships across all mediums.
Note: Taylor Swift is in the middle of re-recording her discography. The albums that have been re-released have been noted as her version, and the songs mentioned from those albums are assumed as Taylor’s Version. The re-released singles are also noted for her version at the time of publication. We stan Taylor Swift and her desire to own the masters to her music.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s self-titled album lays the foundation of what she will be famous for. In her first album, she displays different aspects of love, from the upbeat optimistic love songs like “Our Song” to the break up anthems like “Picture to Burn.” While many of these early tracks are too specific to cover multiple ships, the single that best demonstrates angst and longing is “Teardrops on My Guitar.” Unlike the more optimistic version of this found in “You Belong With Me,” this song lets someone sit in the feels when your crush talks to you about their significant other. This type of torment is seen in love triangles and an unrequited love storyline. Also, the country twangs offer a small, hometown vibe for pining after the girl next door. Even from her country beginnings, Taylor Swift is providing fodder for the shipping community to thrive off of.
Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
This album birthed some of the best Taylor Swift songs to attach ships to. We’re talking pining, fairytale love, the most optimistic happy endings type of songs for your favorite relationships. Even with heartbreak songs, like “White Horse” and “Forever & Always (Piano Version),” there’s still a romanticism to them that will hook you back to the good moments of your ship’s journey. You can’t really go wrong with any song from Fearless (Taylor’s Version), but the top tier ship songs are “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” They’re hits for a reason; both songs tap into that excitement in finding love, daydreaming about the other, and ending with the triumph of getting together. “You Belong With Me” is practically perfect for every friends to lovers trope, longing for the friend who’s taken but still hopeful that one day they can be together. “Love Story” is her take on Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers without the tragic ending. It doesn’t get better than that.
Speak Now
The last of Taylor Swift’s predominantly country albums gives shippers a great mix of songs for a variety of tropes. For example, the title track, “Speak Now,” is about crashing a wedding to confess love to someone about to get married; “Mine” is an upbeat song about fighting through circumstances and past traumas to stay together in a relationship. However, the best track for shippers off of this album is hands down “Enchanted.” This power ballad about meeting someone new is applicable to every ship that’s ever existed. Let that sink in a second: every ship experiences their first meeting and, whether they realize it or not, it’s significant. With its romantic music and lyrics, “Enchanted” mirrors that spark of something new and magical, the beginning of the crush and the pining and the anticipation for more. Whether the ship is doomed from the start, a one true pair, or anything in-between, this song is a must-have on every shipping playlist. Can someone get this track trending so we can get Taylor’s Version soon? Please and thank you.
Red (Taylor’s Version)
A pivotal album in Taylor Swift’s career that still has the same relevance today as it did back in 2012. It captures the chaotic time of love, heartbreak, and the early 20s. For the couples who are younger in age, the 30-track re-released album can be their playground. When picking the best songs for shipping, the two that stand out most are “All Too Well” and “Begin Again.” All Too Well, considered by many Swifties as one of her best songs ever, covers the course of an entire relationship from beginning to the end. Though it was written specifically with an ex in mind, Jake Gyllenhaal, this ballad itself still works for ships that start off strong but find themselves falling apart. The original version or the 10-minute version from the vault, either one works. On the flip side, “Begin Again” is for the ships that are born out of previously broken relationships, finding new love on the other side of heartbreak, like Tedbecca from Ted Lasso. The wounds from the previous relationship are still there, but in hindsight, the person sees how that relationship was more toxic than they thought. This song offers soothing sounds of second chances that ends Sad Girl Fall in a more hopeful place. If “Begin Again” is too specific for you, an alternative choice is “Everything Has Changed” (feat. Ed Sheeran).
1989
The album that ushered Ms. Swift fully into her pop era gifted the world with pop classics. From a stacked album of certified bops, there is one that emerges elite above the rest for the shipping community, one that has already been re-released from trending recently on TikTok: “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version).” The track that begins with a remixed sound of her heartbeat takes listeners on an emotional journey about a love that’s going to end but wanting to hold on to the emotional and physical moments as long as possible. The music continues to build to dramatic peaks, which reflects the passion of this journey and the rush that comes from seeing your ship hook up. Whether your ship is in the throes of love-making or barreling towards the end of their love affair, the music and the lyrics of “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” offers a pitch-perfect soundtrack for the best fictional ships around.
Reputation
Taylor sheds the skin of 1989 for something edgier, yet she is still looking out for the shipping community. The sounds and lyrics of Reputation pair nicely with ships looking to cause some chaos. She even has a song based off of shipper lingo, “End Game” (feat. Ed Sheeran and Future). From the last of her Big Machine albums, the track that is the best ship song is “Delicate.” Dark pop EDM is mixed with emotional vulnerability that are reminiscent of the grumpy/sunshine trope, where someone with a harder exterior is inside a sensitive soul who wants to connect someone who brings light to their life. Outside of that trope, it’s also perfect for the ships whose half is afraid to fully open up and express their feelings for the other, in fear of breaking something precious by saying something. Raw honesty plus a great beat equals an angsty bop for ships everywhere.
Lover
Taylor Swift’s first album with Republic Records (and the first one where she owns her masters) is written from a place where she’s confident, free, and very much in love. Naturally, many of her songs reflect that emotional honesty and a wiser look at love while retaining a light, tie-dye type of fun. The songs off of the album that reflect this best for ships are “Lover” and “Paper Rings.” Both of these tracks express a deep commitment to the person of their affection, looking to a future where they are in it. “Lover” offers a slowed down, steady ballad which is perfect for ships that are in it for the long hauls, the OTPs. On the other hand, “Paper Rings” represents the upbeat, playful sounds of couples who are still in the honeymoon phase yet know that they’re each other’s end games. It’s a very Peraltiago song, since Brooklyn 99’s Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago bring this fun energy individually and as a couple. Plus, Jake is a Swiftie. “Lover” and “Paper Rings” are equally valid and share the crown for this album.
Folklore
We enter Part 1 of the story-filled woods Ms. Taylor introduced to us in the midst of the pandemic, connecting us to stories of a love triangle, the exhaustions of life, and love lost. With strings and piano comprising the album, the songs here are more relaxed but give a rawness to the emotions expressed. Whether your couple is finding their way to each other (“Invisible String” and “Betty”) or tied up in an affair (“August” and “Illicit Affairs”), there’s definitely a Folklore song for them. If there has to be a ship song above the rest, “Exile” (feat. Bon Iver) takes the crown. It’s a song about the angst that comes after a breakup and trying to move on from that chapter of your life with another, like what The Darkling and Alina Starkov experience in Shadow and Bone. This song was recorded separately so the vocals of Taylor and Justin Verson’s carries an extra distance to them, which creates a longing and ache that lingers on. It’s also perfect for ships that are in a period of separation and feel lost without each other. Even if your favorite couples eventually find their way back to each other, this track offers an angsty middle chapter to sit in your feels with. BRB going back to listen to “Exile” for the 20th time.
Evermore
Part 2 of the cottagecore era of Taylor offers a variety of sounds and songs that still connect back to its summer sister album. For instance, “Evermore” (feat. Bon Iver) is an excellent companion track to Folklore’s “Exile” (feat. Bon Iver); not only do both songs feature Bon Iver, but it also concludes the pain started in Folklore and finds a hopeful resolution by the end of evermore. Winter is a season and a state of mind here, and for ships in winter mode, there are some good tracks for them. However, if we have to pick a single song for a ship, there’s no denying the charm of “‘Tis the Damn Season.” This track perfectly plays out the coming home for the holidays and reconnecting with an old flame trope. It’s a trope that holiday Hallmark movies and fan fiction writers have capitalized on for years. Speaking of fan fic sites, if you go to sites, like Archive Of Our Own, and type in this song title, you will find a plethora of fan fiction with the same title for multiple ships, such as Romanogers and Cherik from the Marvel fandom. Seriously, the power of Taylor Swift coming through for the holidays.
Taylor Swift has soundtracked the shipping community for years, and we have been blessed by it. Looking forward to more great shipper music from this creative soul.
