4 Taylor Swift tracks that reveal raw heartache

In 2009, I heard Love Story. Taylor Swift's sweet, saccharine song was the anthem of romantics, and hopefuls. We sang it in college, on buses, and in karaoke. It became too treacly as the year progressed, but we kept hearing about Teardrops on my Guitar, and Slow Horses.

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By 2012 and beyond, for anyone who wasn’t a Swiftie, Taylor Swift’s music showed an unusual range. Around that time, an ad called “I need a swiftamine” captured how addictive and catchy her songs had become. There was the raw angst of Trouble, the upbeat pop anthem 22 — “I don’t know about you, but I'm turning 22” — which quickly became the unofficial motto for every 22-year-old. Gradually, darker tracks like Blank Space and the shocking Look What You Made Me Do emerged.

If you weren't a die-hard fan, these shifts were sudden jolts, making you pause and wonder: ‘What is Taylor Swift really about?’

But in 2016, I heard The Last Time. Ironically, it was a 2012 release, with Gary Lightbody. It was the first time there was something sweeping, melancholy, painful, and heavy about her song. For anyone who wasn't a die-hard Swiftie back then — perhaps only familiar with the bubbly Shake It Off — The Last Time hit differently.