[Edited on 10-9-25 to include The Life of a Showgirl.]

I published a peer-reviewed academic journal article that conducted a semantic network analysis of all of Taylor Swift’s songs on her debut album through Midnights. Essentially, the analysis created a “map” showing how these songs were related to each other, and in a previous post I described the four song types identified in this map. In order to be connected, songs needed to have at least 13 words in common (of course, 13!), with more words indicating a stronger connection. Here’s an example of what part of the map looks like:

From this map, we can calculate the “centrality” of the song. This refers to how well-connected the song is to other Taylor Swift songs; in other words, it tells us how central the song is in the “Taylorverse.” One of the main findings from the anlaysis was that songs with higher centrality are more popular (as measured by stream count, expert rankings, and social media conversation). So, although there are certainly exceptions, the songs at the center of the Taylorverse are more beloved than those at the periphery.

But, which are the songs that are most central? Well, here’s the complete list (as of October 9, 2025), going from most central to least central. It includes all songs on the main studio albums, and, unlike the published analysis, I’ve included The Tortured Poets Department and The Life of a Showgirl! In addition to listing the songs in descending order of centrality, I’ve also broken them into five groups based on their centrality.

Before we begin, it’s worth remembering that this isn’t a ranking of the best Taylor Swift songs, nor my personal opinion (you can find my complete ranking of her songs that list elsewhere). Rather, it is a list of which songs share the most word overlap with other songs. But, as you scan the list, I think you’ll see that the central songs do tend to be more popular (with exceptions), and those on the periphery less popular (again, with exceptions).

The Center of the Taylorverse

1. Fifteen
2. Timeless
3. All Too Well
4. But Daddy I Love Him
5. Mr. Perfectly Fine
6. Blank Space
7. Hits Different
8. I Bet You Think About Me
9. Better Than Revenge
10. Betty
11. Mine

In addition to being the top ten eleven, all of these songs have centrality scores that exceed the traditional threshold for statistical significance (for fellow stats nerds, z > 1.96). Aside from the Speak Now Vault track “Timeless,” which wasn’t particularly well received, the others are fan favorites. Most are singles and/or Eras Tour songs; of course megahit “All Too Well” would end up here. And with oft-repeated Swiftian words like love, door[s], boys, girls, time, just, and dancing, “Fifteen” is a prime example of core Swiftian language and, as of this analysis, is at the very heart of the discography, semantically speaking.

Also in the Taylorverse’s Core

1. You’re Losing Me
2. Foolish One
3. You’re On Your Own, Kid
4. Dear John
5. Ronan
6. When Emma Falls in Love
7. imgonnagetyouback
8. Electric Touch
9. The Life of a Showgirl
10. If This Was a Movie
11. Call it What You Want
12. The Other Side of the Door
13. End Game
14. Teardrops on My Guitar
15. Happiness
16. Last Kiss
17. So Long London
18. loml
19. The Moment I Knew
20. Cruel Summer
21. Superman
22. Love Story
23. The Best Day
24. Long Live
25. Florida!!!
26. … Question?
27. Forever & Always
28. You Belong With Me
29. Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince
30. Mary’s Song
31. I Hate it Here

These songs don’t quite break the top 10, but do exceed one standard deviation above the average for centrality. It makes sense that “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” which metaphorically narrates Swift’s career, would score toward the center. Other big hits in this group include “Dear John,” “Teardrops on My Guitar,” “Love Story,” and “Cruel Summer.”

Above Average Centrality

1. Hey Stephen
2. Never Grow Up
3. The Story of Us
4. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
5. The Bolter
6. Better Man
7. Haunted
8. I Did Something Bad
9. Getaway Car
10. Right Where You Left Me
11. Back to December
12. Forever Winter
13. The Lucky One
14. Tell Me Why
15. Nothing New
16. Holy Ground
17. Peter
18. Breathe
19. Death by a Thousand Cuts
20. You Are in Love
21. White Horse
22. Thank You Aimee
23. Cancelled!
24. Jump Then Fall
25. So High School
26. ‘Tis the Damn Season
27. I Can See You
28. Now That We Don’t Talk
29. Bejeweled
30. Sparks Fly
31. Stay Beautiful
32. I Wish You Would
33. Delicate
34. Mean
35. Red
36. Our Song
37. Long Story Short
38. Enchanted
39. Begin Again
40. Daylight
41. … Ready For It?
42. Tim McGraw
43. The Way I Loved You
44. Should’ve Said No
45. Fresh Out the Slammer
46. Eldest Daughter
47. Change
48. Opalite
49. Wonderland
50. SuperStar
51. London Boy
52. Style
53. Paper Rings
54. Innocent
55. Illicit Affairs
56. Dress
57. Come Back, Be Here
58. Gorgeous
59. Speak Now

These songs have a centrality score between the mean and one standard deviation above it. You’ll recognize lots of Taylor classics here, including the debut single “Tim McGraw,” hits like “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “Style,” and the song that anchored the Speak Now Eras Tour set, “Enchanted.”

Below Average Song Centrality

1. Me!
2. Guilty as Sin
3. New Romantics
4. Elizabeth Taylor
5. High Infidelity
6. You All Over Me
7. Mad Woman
8. Everything Has Changed
9. Cardigan
10. Bad Blood
11. The 1
12. Coney Island
13. Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve
14. It’s Time to Go
15. Girl at Home
16. Afterflow
17. Bye Bye Baby
18. Champagne Problems
19. Honey
20. The Great War
21. Ivy
22. Run
23. Cold as You
24. Dancing With Our Hands Tied
25. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?
26. Cornelia Street
27. Today was a Fairytale
28. My Tears Ricochet
29. Ours
30. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
31. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
32. August
33. You’re Not Sorry
34. The Very First Night
35. Exile
36. Actually Romantic
37. Fearless
38. I Think He Knows
39. Castles Crumbling
40. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
41. Mastermind
42. Clara Bow
43. False God
44. Willow
45. Wildest Dreams
46. So It Goes
47. Vigilante Shit
48. Tolerate It
49. The Prophecy
50. Invisible String
51. I Almost Do
52. Anti-Hero
53. Snow on the Beach
54. Wi$h Li$t
55. The Black Dog
56. Don’t Blame Me
57. The Tortured Poets Department
58. Say Don’t Go
59. Dear Reader
60. Picture to Burn
61. Dorothea
62. Starlight
63. King of My Heart
64. The Manuscript
65. I Knew You Were Trouble.
66. State of Grace
67. Is it Over Now?
68. Down Bad
69. Stay Stay Stay
70. Look What You Made Me Do
71. Suburban Legends
72. Peace
73. Father Figure
74. I’m Only Me When I’m With You
75. Slut!
76. Soon You’ll Get Better
77. That’s When
78. Tied Together with a Smile
79. 22
80. Out of the Woods
81. Cassandra
82. Clean
83. The Fate of Ophelia
84. Mirrorball
85. Ruin the Friendship
86. Maroon
87. Karma
88. No Body No Crime
89. I Know Places
90. Seven
91. Labyrinth
92. The Archer
93. Shake It Off
94. Sad Beautiful Tragic
95. The Last Time
96. Don’t You
97. Message in a Bottle
98. The Outside
99. Come in With the Rain
100. This Love
101. I Forgot That You Existed
102. The Alchemy
103. How You Get the Girl
104. You Need to Calm Down
105. Lover
106. This is Me Trying

With centrality scores from the mean down to one standard deviation below it, these songs have less than average word overlap with other songs. Although there are certainly some hits here (“I Can Do it With a Broken Heart”; “Champagne Problems”; “Out of the Woods”), many songs are deeper cuts on their respective albums.

The Edge of the Taylorverse

1. Midnight Rain
2. Hoax
3. Place in This World
4. Gold Rush
5. Treacherous
6. Invisible
7. The Last Great American Dynasty
8. How Did It End?
9. Babe
10. Closure
11. This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
12. All You Had to Do Was Stay
13. Marjorie
14. Evermore
15. Wood
16. Welcome to New York
17. New Year’s Day
18. The Man
19. We Were Happy
20. I Can Fix Him (No, Really I Can)
21. Fortnight
22. I Look in People’s Windows
23. It’s Nice to Have a Friend
24. A Perfectly Good Heart
25. Paris
26. Lavender Haze
27. Sweet Nothing
28. Untouchable
29. Bigger Than the Whole Sky
30. Glitch
31. The Albatross
32. The Lakes
33. Robin
34. Epiphany

Again, it’s worth remembering that having low song centrality doesn’t mean a song is bad. Here, at the semantic fringe of the Taylorverse, I find songs I personally enjoy, such as “Midnight Rain,” “Treacherous,” “Evermore,” and “The Lakes.” But, with the exception of “The Man” and “Fortnight,” this is generally a list of lesser-known songs. It makes sense that “Epiphany,” which concerns the experiences of Swift’s grandfather in World War II and doctors during COVID, would have the lowest centrality: its subject matter differs from any other song in the discography.

This isn’t a list I plan to update regularly, if ever, because updating the map takes some effort. [Edit: OK, I couldn’t resist when TLOAS came out.] Nevertheless, I hope it provides a different perspective on how we might consider, rank, and understand the amazing body of work that is the Taylorverse.