Rules for Song Collection

To simplify the song collection from Genius API while still collecting the most data possible, only certain songs from certain albums are included. The following rules are followed to maintain consistency:

• Full studio albums are included.

  • If a deluxe edition exists, that is included instead of the standard edition.

  • If multiple deluxe editions exist, as with Midnights (2022), the edition with the highest number of different songs is chosen.

  • If the album was re-released as a Taylor’s Version* edition:

    • The original version is used; only vault songs from Taylor's Version are included.

      • This will avoid any lyric changes such as that in the chorus of “Better Than Revenge” on Speak Now:

        • “She's an actress, woah / She's better known for the things that she does / On the mattress, woah” (Speak Now, 2010)

        • “She's an actress, woah / He was a moth to the flame / She was holding the matches, woah” (Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), 2023)

      • This is done to maintain the integrity of the lyrics as change is analyzed. We are not interested in Taylor’s songs as she sees them as a 30-something in the 2020s, we are interested in Taylor’s songs as she originally wrote and released them.

• The following are NOT included:

  • Songs that would cause duplicate lyrics:

    • remixes, acoustic, piano, live, or original demo versions

    • Taylor’s Version*

      • Only vault songs are included.

  • EPs, such as:

    • The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007)

    • More Lover Chapter (2023) including “All of the Girls You Loved Before”

  • Songs originally released as singles or on soundtracks, including:

    • “Safe & Sound” featuring The Civil Wars from The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond (2012)

    • “Carolina” from the soundtrack for Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

    • “Ronan” (2011)

  • Anything written or spoken by the artist, such as: 

    • poems, voice memos, prologues, forewords, messages from artists, etc.

  • Songs on which the artist is featured and songs the artist wrote for other artists.

  • Covers and unreleased songs.

Word Analysis

While creating keyword lists to analyze specific references in Taylor Swift’s lyrics, certain words were found to have multiple meanings. Some references were vague, subtle, or had more than one keyword. These words and lyrics were excluded from the count. 

Please note, these lists are not extensive.

Swear Words: Keywords

The following keywords are used to search through Swift’s discography.

• "hell", "bitch", "bitches", "bitchin", "asshole", "shit", "shitty", "shitstorm", "damn", "damned", "goddamn", "pissed", "fuck", "fuckin", "fucking", "fucked", "sexy", "whore", "slut", "dickhead", "godforsaken”

After combining like words, the reduced list becomes:

• “hell", "bitch", "asshole", "shit", "damn", "pissed", "fuck", "sexy", "whore", "slut", "dickhead", "godforsaken”

The list of keywords of English curse words includes mild to more severe swears. Language describing the act of swearing is not included. Some examples of this are as follows:

• “And it's 2 AM and I'm cursing your name” (“The Way I Loved You”, Fearless, 2008)

• “I knew I'd curse you for the longest time” (“cardigan”, folklore, 2020)

• “Cursing my name, wishing I stayed” (“my tears ricochet”, folklore, 2020)

• “Sucker punching walls, cursed you as I sleep-talked” (“The Great War”, Midnights (3am Edition), 2022)

• “Cursed the space that I needed”  (“Hits Different”, Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition), 2023)

• “Whether I'm gonna flip you off or / Pull you into the closet, I haven't decided yet” (“imgonnagetyouback”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

• “Whether I'm gonna curse you out or / Take you back to my house, I haven't decided yet” (“imgonnagetyouback”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

Drug References: Keywords

The list of keywords for references to drugs and alcohol in Swift’s songs does not include vague or common language to describe drug or alcohol use to avoid words that, often in her songs, refer to something more innocent. For the full list of these excluded words with examples, please see the Appendix. The one exception is “doin lines” from “Vigilante Shit” of Midnights (2022) since the term is used once and the meaning is obvious.

The following keywords are used to search in Swift’s song lyrics:

• "alcohol", "alcoholic", "bar", "drink", "drinkin", "drinking", "drunk", "sober", "beer", "beers", "wine", "rosé", "merlot", "champagne", "dom pérignon", "liquor", "whiskey", "old fashioned", "patrón", "island breeze", "drug", "drugs", "weed", "smoke", "smoking", "smokin", "smoked", "stoned", "overdose", "narcotics", "heroin", "dopamine", "pills", "doin lines"

To create the reduced list:

• The words, “merlot” and “rosé” appear only once and twice, respectively, so the specific types of wine are added to the “wine” column. However, “champagne” appears many times, so the sparkling wine is kept as its own column, and the vintage champagne, “Dom Pérignon”, is added to the “champagne” column.

• Similarly, types of liquor are combined in the “liquor” column, and cocktails are combined to a new column, “mixed drinks”.

• The reduced list thus becomes:

  • “alcohol", "bar", "drink", "sober", "beer", "wine", "champagne", "liquor", "mixed drinks", "drug", "weed", "smoke", "stoned", "overdose", "narcotics", "heroin", "dopamine", "pills", "doin lines”

The list of keywords for references to drugs and alcohol in Swift’s songs does not include vague or common language to describe alcohol or drug use to avoid words that more often than not refer to something more innocent. Some examples of words that were excluded are:

• wasted

  • “So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time” (“Picture to Burn”, Taylor Swift, 2006)

  • “And wasted time, lost tears” (“You All Over Me (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]”, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), 2021)

  • “I call just checkin' up on him / He's up, 5 AM wasted” (“Forever Winter (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]”, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), 2021)

  • “So I got wasted like all my potential” (“this is me trying”, folklore, 2020)

• high

  • “Fever dream high in the quiet of the night” (“Cruel Summer”, Lover, 2019)

  • “And now I love high tea” (“London Boy”, Lover, 2019)

  • “Your heartbeat on the High Line once in twenty lifetimes” (“cardigan”, folklore, 2020)

  • “If the shoe fits, walk in it ‘til your high heels break” (“long story short”, evermore, 2020)

• bottle, bottles

  • “A message in a bottle is all I can do” (“Message In a Bottle (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]”, Red (Taylor’s Version), 2021)

  • “Thought I caught lightning in a bottle” (“The Prophecy”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

  • “Truth, dare, spin bottles” (“So High School”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

• toast

  • “Morning, his place / Burnt toast, Sunday” (“You Are in Love”, 1989, 2014)

  • “Here's a toast to my real friends” (“This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”, Reputation, 2017)

• bars

  • “You played in bars, you play guitar” (“Superstar”, Fearless (Platinum Edition), 2009)

  • “You smokеd then ate seven bars of chocolate” (“The Tortured Poets Department”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

  • “You’ll slide into inboxes and slip through the bars” (“The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

Religious Words: Keywords

To explore religious themes in Swift’s songs, only words related to Christianity are used to search through the lyrics. Only literal words are included as well; allusions or vague references are excluded. For the full list of these words and examples, please see the Appendix.

The keywords used to search through all of the lyrics:

• "amen", "christian", "church", "faith", "faithless", "god", "gods", "lord", "devil", "devils", "angel", "angels", "demons", "saint", "saintly", "jesus", "holy", "pray", "praying", "prayer", “prayers”, "altar", "sin", “sins”, "guilty", "guilt", "hell", "heaven", "heavenly", "halo", "preacher", "christmas", "methodist", "jehovahs witness", "hallelujah", "forgive", "forgiveness", "forgiven", "unforgiven", "priest", "confess", "confessions", "religion", "religions", "religious", "epiphany", "grace", "sacred", "worship", "worshipping", "soul", "spirit", "prophecy", "miracle", "bless", "crucify", "temple", "eve", "exorcise"

To create the reduced list,

• “Jehovah's Witness” and “Methodist” are combined with “Christian”, since they are both sects of the religion and each is used only once.

• After reduction, the list becomes:

  • “Amen", "Christian", "church", "faith", "God", "Lord", "devil/demon", "angel", "saint", "Jesus", "holy", "pray", "altar", "sin", "guilt", "Hell", "Heaven", "halo", "preacher", "Christmas", "hallelujah", "forgive", "priest", "confess", "religion", "epiphany", "grace", "sacred", "worship", "soul", "spirit", "prophecy", "miracle", "bless", "crucify", "temple", "Eve", "exorcise"

To explore religious themes in Swift’s songs, only literal—no allusions nor subtle references—words related to Christianity are included in the keywords used to search through the lyrics.

The following are examples of religious references that were excluded. 

• non-Christian words:

  • fate, fatefully (for an explanation of why this word is not considered Christian, see here)

    • “But if, God forbid, fate should step in” (“Long Live”, Speak Now, 2010)

    • “I don't know what to say since the twist of fate” (“The Story of Us”, Speak Now, 2010)

    • “Story of a romance torn apart by fate” (“Timeless (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]”, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), 2023)

    • “These are the hands of fate” (“State of Grace”, Red, 2012)

    • “And I snuck in through the garden gate / Every night that summer just to seal my fate” (“Cruel Summer”, Lover, 2019)

    • “Fatefully / I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me” (“long story short”, evermore, 2020)

    • “And at first blush, this is fate” (“The Bolter”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

    • “I'm so afraid I sealed my fate / No sign of soulmates” (“The Prophecy”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

    • “Who's gonna tell me the truth when you blew in with the winds of fate” (“loml”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

  • curse, curses, cursed

    • “I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed” (“Getaway Car”, Reputation, 2017)

    • “Past the curses and cries” (“happiness”, evermore, 2020)

    • “The fatal flaw that makes you long to be / Magnificently cursed” (“ivy”, evermore, 2020)

    • “These desperate prayers of a cursed man” (“Dear Reader”, Midnights (3am Edition), 2022)

    • “I got cursed like Eve got bitten” (“The Prophecy”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

  • Buddist, Hindu, Jain, etc. references

    • “Karma is a cat” (“Karma”, Midnights, 2022)

  • Greek mythology references

    • “Your Midas touch on the Chevy door” (“champagne problems”, evermore, 2020)

    • “Once upon a time, the planets and the fates / And all the stars aligned” (“Mastermind”, Midnights, 2022)

    • So, they killed Cassandra first 'cause she feared the worst” (“Cassandra”, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, 2024)

• allusions or references 

  • “Talk to the wind, talk to the sky / Talk to the man with the reasons why / … / Talk to the man who put you here” (“Come In With The Rain”, Fearless (Platinum Edition), 2009)

    • Here, “the man” one would “talk to” in “the sky” is God.

  • “'Cause darling, it was good / Never looking down / And right there where we stood / Was holy ground” (“Holy Ground”, Red, 2012)

    • “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (King James Version, Genesis. 1:31)

    • Swift calls her relationship “holy ground” while referencing the Bible.

    • While “holy” is counted each time in the analysis, “it was good” is not.

  • “Oh, they sit around talkin' about the meaning of life / And the book that just saved 'em that I hadn't heard of” (“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]”, Red (Taylor’s Version), 2021)

    • Here, “the book” could refer to the Bible.

  • “A long drive / Could end in burning flames or paradise” (“Style”, 1989, 2014)

    • The “burning flames” allude to Hell, and “paradise” to Heaven.

  • “Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best … I don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath's clothing / God save the most judgmental creeps / Who say they want what's best for me / Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see / … / You ain't gotta pray for me” (“But Daddy I Love Him”, The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)

    • “Sunday best” is a common expression for the nice outfits people wear to church on Sunday.

    • Throughout the song, Swift mocks the Christian townspeople. She says the churchgoers are preaching and praying for her as she runs off with someone they think is the wrong man. Swift calls them “judgemental” and wants nothing to do with them. The “soliloquies” are likely the townspeople’s prayers.