Editor’s note: Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student manager Eliana (class of 2024) and features Taylor Swift’s 2010 album Speak Now. Thanks, Eliana!

Taylor Swift
Speak Now

Taylor Swift, one of the biggest artists of the century, has amassed a cult-like following since her self titled debut album. She’s since released 9 additional studio albums and 2 re-recorded albums, all seemingly more successful than the last. Speak Now, her third studio album released in 2010, remains my favorite to date. Let me tell you why.

When determining my personal album rankings, I consider two factors: general cohesiveness and amount of “skips.”

In terms of cohesiveness, Speak Now exceeds expectations. Taylor describes it as a loose concept album regarding the things she never got a chance to tell people throughout her life. She calls the songs diary entries, using them to navigate her newfound adulthood. Speak Now perfectly encapsulates all the emotions of a 20-year-old dealing with love, heartbreak, and regret. Every song tunes into those emotions in a slightly different way, creating a wholly relatable album.

Even more importantly, this is a no-skips album. Each song serves a beautiful purpose in connecting the whole, but also has the ability to stand alone. Of course, this isn’t to say I don’t have favorites. “Back to December“, “Mine“, “Better than Revenge“, and “Last Kiss” certainly top my list. Still, even my least favorite songs on this album are always worth a listen.

You can check out this CD, as well as Swift’s 1989, Fearless, and folklore from Parson’s Music Library.