Every Taylor Swift Music Videos Ranked

I still remember the first time I saw a Taylor Swift music video. I was in my friend's bedroom where we were watching random music videos on a site that definitely wasn't YouTube, and probably no longer exists. A video featuring a pretty, curly-haired blonde laying in the grass with a guitar began playing — in other words, the video for Swift's song "Tim McGraw." That moment was the very first time I had ever seen Swift, let alone heard her music — but it wasn't long before I was obsessed with her.

Swift has changed quite a lot as an artist over the past decade — but, while her music has morphed from country ballads to synth-pop, there is one thing that has stayed pretty consistent: and that's her on-point music videos. Swift knows how to put on a performance, and her catalog of music videos proves it just as much as her nearly sold-out tours do. I'm sure I don't have to tell any Swift fan that she's really stepped up her game with the videos from her new album 1989, but how do the rest of her music videos stack up when compared to one another?

It's a hard question to answer, but, as a journalist, I felt it was my duty to try. Here is the definitive ranking of Swift's music videos — because no matter where they fall on this list, they're always a good time:

26. "Change"

This song is great, and Swift's frosted lip gloss is everything — but it might as well be a filmed concert performance. It's strictly about the song, and that's it.

25. "Safe & Sound"

I adore The Civil Wars, but this video might as well be called "Bumming Around A Desolate Town In A White Dress."

24. "Fifteen"

The "Fifteen" music video turns high school into a fantastical world (and then, later, a morbid hellscape, because yeah), but ultimately it uses way too much green screen for its own good.

23. TIED: "Fearless" And "Sparks Fly"

If you haven't seen Swift perform live, these videos — which consists mostly of concert footage — will make you seriously jealous of all the people who did. They're fun, but not quite as fun as a video with its own unique story.

22. "Our Song"

Cute video with amazing clothes (Swift spends half of the video in a Cinderella-esque gown and it's perfect) but for something titled "Our Song," you'd think a love interest would be included at some point.

21. TIED: "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" And "The Best Day"

Swift's home movies are awesome, but would have been better for a behind-the-scenes featurette instead of an entire video.

20. "Back To December"

About 50% of this video is Swift crying in her room. The other 50% is a guy taking a walk. Things then get really metaphorical when it begins snowing inside Swift's house. It's a nice video, but definitely not one of Swift's best based on lack of plot alone.

19. "Begin Again"

This video is a cinematographer's and sartorial snob's dream, but it's also just a tad... dull.

18. "Shake It Off"

This is a perfectly fun video with super cool dance numbers and lots of costume changes. It's a great dance-y video for a song that needs one, but compared to some of Swift's other work, this one seems almost too simple to rank significantly higher.

17. "Picture To Burn"

This is Swift at her most badass. (The best scene ever? When her bandmate starts licking the spoons at her cheating ex-boyfriend's house.) It's not quite as shiny as some of her new videos, but it's certainly fun.

16. "White Horse"

This is pretty much the "Picture To Burn" music video, only way less fun and way more depressing. Bonus points because Stephen Colletti plays the jerk in it.

15. "Everything Has Changed"

This video is ridiculously cute, and features Swift and Ed Sheeran mini-mes playing the BFFs' children. Its only flaw? Not enough of Swift or Sheeran in the video.

14. "Tim McGraw"

Swift's first video gets me every single time, because it's the perfect clip to depict a short-lived, sweet summer romance. It might be a tad cheesy (there are a lot of shots of Swift staring meaningfully into a radio), but it's way too cute to be cynical about minor details.

13. "Ours"

Swift has never had a boring office job in her life, so this is not the most realistic video on the planet — but how can you say anything that bad about a video that costars the real-life Matt Saracen?

12. "Teardrops On My Guitar"

If you don't deeply connect with Swift's pain in this video, then you've clearly never had a crush on anyone who was dating someone else. I could do without the video cutting to Swift alone on her bed in a beauty pageant dress so often, but otherwise, I'm totally into it.

11. "Style"

This video is super, super cool (with some True Detective influences to boot!)... but Swift really missed an opportunity to have Harry Styles costar.

10. "Mine"

This story video looks great and really pulls on your heartstrings. There really are few negatives here — except for the fact that time seems to move really quickly throughout the video, with Swift looking like she's barely aged a day.

9. "I Knew You Were Trouble"

This video is very, very cool, and completely different from anything Swift had done before it — the whole thing is Lana Del Rey in the music video for her song "Ride." (In fact, those videos used the same director, Anthony Mandler.) Unfortunately, the song doesn't exactly match the tone of the spoken word segment of the video, and it kind of throws the whole thing off.

8. "Mean"

This video is sweet, inspiring, and has enough banjo action for the whole family to enjoy.

7. "Love Story"

If you ignore the puzzling "we met in another life" concept, this video is great. There's a (literal) white horse, plenty of princess dresses, and even one of those uber-romantic old-fashioned line dances usually only reserved for Jane Austen adaptations.

6. "We Are Never Getting Back Together"

You'll want to have a Swift-style slumber party after seeing this video — as long as people dressed up like animals don't freak you out, of course.

5. "You Belong With Me"

Say what you will about this video, but honestly, I spend the whole clip hoping the dork with glasses gets the guy.

4. "The Story Of Us"

This is SUCH an underrated Swift video. She's in full Gossip Girl mode here, while resisting both the urge to break out into song in the library and go talk to her ex. Brilliant.

3. "Bad Blood"

Swift's latest video is so stylized and sooooo good — it's no wonder she got like, 90% of Hollywood to appear in it.

2. "22"

I adore this Swift video — it's a celebration of a girls' night out, and it's told through the lens of an Instagram filter. It also inspired me to really get into that whole heart-shaped sunglasses trend.

1. "Blank Space"

It doesn't have almost 100 million views on YouTube for nothing. Swift ushered in a new era in her career as a pop star with "Blank Space," and the video is the perfect wink to critics who like to cast her in the role of the crazy ex-girlfriend. The fashion is incredible, one of Swift's cats appears, and there's not one, but two hot guys to look at. Literal A+++++, Swift.