If you’re looking to know more about each of Taylor Swift's “Eras”, we can help.
With each “Era” corresponding to one of Taylor Swift’s albums, there are now eleven to know about - from her self-titled 2006 debut all the way up to her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department. (Though this is without mentioning “Taylor’s Version” of her first six albums.)
The American singer-songwriter will soon kick off the UK leg of her tour in Edinburgh, taking British fans on a three-hour journey through each Era of her extensive musical career.
Here, we break down each of Taylor Swift's eras in album release order.
Named for the year she was born and heavily influenced by 80s pop, Taylor Swift’s first full pop album 1989 arrived in Style. Her second project to win the Album of the Year Grammy, it included earworms Blank Space, Shake It Off, Bad Blood and Style. An important record for a number of reasons, this was also the first album Swift worked on with her friend and longtime collaborator, songwriter and producer Jack Antonoff.
In a departure from her signature squeaky-clean image, reputation (no capitals) was an album conceived amid controversy and released after a prolonged hiatus. The target of intense public scrutiny during this period, Swift was criticised for her short romances with men such as Calvin Harris while her feud with West hit a boiling point. She released reputation as a statement and the album featured songs such as Look What You Made Me Do, Don’t Blame Me, I Did Something Bad and Gorgeous.
The light at the end of the reputation tunnel, Lover is Swift’s ode to love. Though this era was cut short by Covid, this album’s pastel aesthetics and upbeat pop numbers have left a striking legacy with song Cruel Summer, years after its initial release, released as a single in June 2023. Other songs from this album include the controversial Me! (which features Panic! At The Disco’s Brendon Urie), London Boy, Paper Rings, You Need To Calm Down and The Man.
This surprise album emerged from Covid quarantine measures in 2020, earning Swift another Album of the Year Grammy, making her the first woman to win the award three times. More indie-folk than radio-friendly pop, folklore ushered in Swift’s era of storytelling. The songs on this album aren’t her usual autobiographical style, instead focusing on narratives and characters with themes of escapism. Songs such as Exile, featuring Bon Iver, This Is Me Trying, Cardigan, and The Last Great American Dynasty were on folklore.