Growing up, the first real tangible music product I owned was the 1989 Deluxe Edition CD. The thick CD case complete with “Photos from Taylor” blew my eight year old mind. I listened to my treasure of a CD everyday on my record player, which was a birthday present from my parents. My parents, who have always emphasized the importance of music in a life. “Shake it Off” has always been one of my favorites, it reminds me to let annoyance and jealousy go. It was a needed reminder come my later years of elementary school and on, when friend groups got complicated and school got tough. I remember an assembly at my elementary school, where kids squeezed into a stuffy cafeteria, sitting criss-cross on the waxy floor. In an attempt to get students up and moving, the administration started playing the “Shake it Off” music video, encouraging us to dance. I was shocked. Taylor Swift… at school?! Everyone got up to dance: students, teachers, the principal. It was crazy, and amazing in the sense that we were all having a shared experience, one that would likely never happen again. Not only was “Shake it Off” a potion of positivity for my whole elementary school, it came to be a sort of anthem of my own, something I would sing when negative feelings were invading, a mantra. “Bad Blood” was also a favorite. I have a memory of riding home from a trampoline park with my friend, Jenna. We were in her parents’ black Chevrolet, a car I knew quite well from the many trips we took to the pool, nail salon, Dave and Busters, and more. We were licking popsicles in the backseat while her brother and his friend were banished to the very back. “Bad Blood” was playing on the radio. Me, Jenna, her brother, and his friend were all singing along. Jenna always knew all the words, while I sometimes had to mumble along, pretending. Ironically, me and Jenna are still friends, and there’s never been so much as a prick of bad blood between us. Singing along together in that black Chevrolet is a memory that represents the importance of good blood among friends. As much as I cherish “Shake it Off” and “Bad Blood,” my favorite song on 1989 is one I came to love as I got older. “New Romantics,” an exclusive track to the Deluxe Edition of the album, is my favorite 1989 song. The message is clear and yet I get something new from it every time. “I could build a castle,” Taylor sings, “out of all the bricks they threw at me.” This line makes it my favorite. It has an “if you can’t beat em’, join em’” attitude, but its meaning for me is much more. When I hear Taylor belt these words, I feel a burst of inspiration to make something out of nothing, to take bricks and make a castle. I feel inspired to turn the manifestations of the hurtful things that I have experienced into fuel to make myself stronger, or better yet, to shake them off entirely. “We are too busy dancing,” Taylor sings, giving us permission to dance and let go. “New Romantics” is a track that I go back to time and time again to feel a sense of freedom and serotonin. Taylor Swift has helped a lot of people. She’s helped me get up and dance to “Shake it Off,” bond with my friends over a shared love of “Bad Blood,” feel free and have fun listening to “New Romantics.” I’m forever grateful.