23. Haunted
“Haunted” takes on a very different sound from the rest of the Speak Now album. While this record is rooted in a fantasy-like feeling, exploring the wistful emotions that surround falling in love, “Haunted” explores what happens when that kind of romance ends abruptly. Featuring heavy drums and harsh strings, the production of this song makes listeners feel like they’re running through a dark forest of their own emotions, desperate to get away from the heartbreak threatening to destroy them. Swift sings with a palpable sense of desperation, as if she’s truly begging the subject of her song not to leave her. Yet, her voice carries an undertone of defeat, like she’s accepted that the creeping heartbreak she feels is inevitable. She portrays the haunting inevitability of heartbreak with incredible conviction, and that’s what makes the song such a triumph in Swift’s discography.
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