In Defense of Taylor Swift's Speak Now Album

Host Morgan introduces the podcast format and its five-tier song ranking system, plus a weighted spreadsheet score that compares albums by factoring in tiers and play/skip habits; Season 1 covers the 12 Taylor Swift albums. In this episode, returning guest Sara defends Speak Now while Stef listens front-to-back for the first time, and Morgan places it among their least-favorite early Taylor albums. They discuss the album’s 2010 context, Taylor writing it solo amid criticism, its original working title Enchanted, and ongoing debates about country vs pop-punk influences, storytelling songs, misogyny in criticism, and underused collaborators. Track-by-track, they argue over highlights like Enchanted, Last Kiss, Long Live, and I Can See You, critique songs like Better Than Revenge, and note lyric changes on Taylor’s Version. Morgan reveals her final score, based on math of course!Follow the show:⁠https://www.instagram.com/indefenseofmyfave/⁠Visual companion to see our rankings: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbgq3NsgeDr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==00:00 Welcome to the Podcast01:07 How Tier Rankings Work03:26 The Math Scoring System05:58 Meet the Guests08:12 Swiftie Origin Stories11:29 Speak Now First Impressions18:55 Country vs Pop Punk Debate24:06 Cultural Context 201030:11 Critics and Misogyny34:24 Dear John and Double Standards39:06 Stats and Track by Track Begins40:31 Catchy Country Pop Debate41:18 Album Bookends Theory42:37 Bubblegum Country Critique44:15 Uncredited Male Vocals48:09 Sparks Fly Stadium Talk52:00 Tier Rankings Explained55:13 Back To December Apology01:01:46 Speak Now Storytelling Backlash01:08:29 Never Grow Up Emotions01:12:03 Enchanted Owl City Lore01:15:25 Swiftie Starter Song01:16:34 Enchanted Breakdown01:18:31 Better Than Revenge Debate01:25:35 Innocent Kanye Context01:28:25 Haunted Emo Pop01:30:41 Last Kiss Gut Punch01:35:45 Long Live Split Opinions01:40:28 Ours Country Whimsy01:42:09 Superman Forgettable01:43:24 Electric Touch Collab Talk01:46:51 More Lana Debate01:47:35 Swiftie Fear Spiral01:48:49 When Emma Falls in Love01:51:26 Cleopatra Small Town Line01:54:04 I Can See You Praise01:59:20 Opinions Not Theory02:01:03 Castles Crumbling Review02:05:37 Foolish One Rankings02:11:00 Timeless Hard Delete02:11:41 Timeless Gets Roasted02:12:26 Make It A Film Noir02:13:36 Certified Delete Verdict02:14:39 If This Was A Movie Debate02:18:35 Hallway Therapy Metaphor02:21:47 Speak Now Vocals Argument02:25:38 Eras Tour Setlist Talk02:31:00 Does This Album Need Editing02:34:49 Problematic Queen And Best Bridge02:37:42 Scores And Red Tease02:41:26 Final Sign Off