the madszine

Electric Touch (ft. Fall Out Boy) – The first of the new vault songs, ‘Electric Touch’ just does not go as hard as the iconic Victoria’s Secret 2013 show performance of ‘My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark.’ If I could be granted a moment to critique (which is the whole point of this post) I wish ‘Electric Touch’ had more of that same rock energy that Taylor and Patrick channel in that VS show. I had very high hopes for this collab and it underperformed for me. That being said, I appreciate that ‘Electric Touch’ does sound like it was written by Taylor and not by FOB. It holds true to Taylor’s style as opposed to drifting away into full rock song. Overall I was forced to rate this 5th/6 vault tracks. Which HORRIFIED me,  considering the fact that the 2013 VS show was at one point in my life less of a YouTube clip and more of a religion. 

When Emma Falls In Love – ​I am a child of very few divorces, having not cared much for celebrity culture in my youth, but Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield is one of them. (I’m aware the song could also be about Kieran Culkin). As it’s unclear when exactly Taylor wrote the song there is probably never going to be any clear confirmation, but I definitely pictured Emma and Andrew when listening to how tender the lyrics are. ‘She’ll call you out, she’ll put you in your place’ is such a Emma Stone-coded line, in fact I wish Emma Stone was my friend the way everyone describes her. (I’ve not sussed the cleopatra reference yet, but if it isn’t a reference the song loses points for a slightly random lyric decision). I finally ranked this 4th/6 but it deserved better.

I Can See You – The opening of this song made me screech, so different to anything other than the ‘Need’ cut chord progression. The beat is absolutely addicting and this song is designed to be sung dramatically draped on a wall. Respectfully I don’t care who this song was written about I will always associate it with Taylor Lautner being the king he is. I think I went into cardiac arrest when the music video dropped and it being a heist background song makes it even more cool (if that’s even possible). This song now takes the spot as the first song in Taylor’s discography that really begins to mention sex which is crazy considering the rest of her music written at the same time. It’s the third new vault track and ranked 3rd/6 overall for me. What a BANGER.

Castles Crumbling (ft Haley Williams) – The anti-long live anthem, I only had to listen to the song once and I was shouting top 10 TS songs of all time to my friends. ‘I watch my castles crumbling down, and I watched my bridges burned to the ground’ the pattern on these lyrics are almost folklore reminiscent. She built the world and then it all fell down around her ears. I can’t tell if it’s a writing song or a relatable song for me but it’s a top 10 either way. This song’s only flaw is that its too short. I can’t even begin to put into words how beautiful and poetic combined with the sentimentality of singing it with one of her oldest friends Haley Williams (of Paramore), it went straight to my top 10 in my total rankings and straight to 1st/6 of the new vault tracks.

The Foolish One – ​This song is for the delulu girlies and as a delusional gal myself who somehow always seems to come out alright in most scenarios it feels like this song was written for past me.  ‘You are not the exception, you will never learn your lesson’ ‘don’t know what to call this situation but I know I can’t call you mine’ classic Taylor giving life lessons at nineteen but to be honest she’s retrospectively got a point. If I could mix this song into cake batter, bake it, cover it in cute violet icing and eat it I would. 2nd/6 on the ranking and all round slay of a tune 🙂

Timeless – ​The lowest ranked new vault song and even now I feel I’ve done it a little dirty. It has the cutest little country tune but the lyrics are a little too cheesy for me without any nostalgia points to back it up – perhaps if it had released with the original album I’d feel differently. Even though I know it was written by young Taylor I have ample examples of better writing from her at the same time (looking at you ‘Long Live’). It also makes me laugh, which is a shame for such a sweet and melancholy song. Every time Taylor sings ‘on a crowded street in 1944, and you were headed off to fight in the war’ I have a little giggle because, of course, America was very late to WWII and the fact that they went off to war in 1944 and not 1939 (5 years earlier) is hilarious to me even though it probably shouldn’t be. final ranking – 6th/6