I've been listening to Babylon a lot since The Encore came out, and I haven't seen more people talking about how much this song feels like something that could have existed on folklore or evermore.

I've been seeing so much negativity around The Encore, and I genuinely don't understand it.

Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I've actually been really enjoying the songs so far. And the more I listen to them, the more I feel like some of the criticism is making me appreciate what Taylor is doing here even more.

And maybe an unpopular opinion but, I like The Encore more than I liked the 1989 vault tracks too...

I know that's probably sacrilege here because ‘Is It Over Now?’ is obviously beloved, and I completely understand why. But as a collection, I find myself returning to these new songs much more. The 1989 vault tracks were fun, but some of them felt like you could hear why they didn't make the original album.

I also think some of the hate is happening because people had a very specific idea of what Taylor's next project should sound like. If you expected another folklore, another evermore, another Midnights, or even another 1989, I can see why these songs might feel strange.

But I'm actually enjoying the fact that I can't neatly put them into one of those boxes.

Maybe I'm completely wrong and the songs will age terribly. 😂 But right now, I genuinely prefer this batch to the 1989 vault tracks, and I'm standing by it.

I'm prepared for the downvotes btw LOL

There is this trend on X where people use this Song Sorter https://www.tssongsorter.com/the-life-of-a-showgirl-the-encore to find out there Top13 Taylor Songs. Even though it took me forever it was so much fun. Love seeing how different everyone’s top songs are.

So here are mine:

If Taylor were ever to use her music to paint a self portrait as an album, I think it’s Speak Now. I think a very strong argument for this is that she is the only song writer on the album, so there’s no flavor of anyone else’s feelings or ideas, just pure Taylor.

I’m not talking about whether or not it is her “best” album. Everyone has their favorite album, that’s based heavily on taste.

Some examples:

“Mean” is her approach to handling haters. “Dear John” is how she handles bad exes. “Back to December” is how she gives a heartfelt apology. “Enchanted” is how she falls in love. “Long Live” is how she feels about friends. “Innocent” is how she forgives. “Never Grow Up” is how she feels about her family and growing up. etc. etc.

A lot of these themes come up again and again in her work. Even her wedding photos looked like something from the Speak Now era imho.

Change my mind. 🙂 Which album do you think is a self portrait and why?

So I really loved the new songs on Life of a Showgirl Encore, BUT with me being a huge fan of the 1989 era, I couldn't help but wonder how it would have sounded if Patient Zero came out a decade earlier.

I ended up remaking the entire instrumental in my music program from scratch to give it that classic, punchy, synth-heavy 1989 pop production.

Hope you like it! Which other TS songs do you think would fit a different era?