89. Folk-pop singer Kina Grannis’ gentle “Clean.”
88. Emilie & Ogden’s elegant harp cover of “Style.”
87. Nineteen-year-old Alice Kristiansen’s delicate “Wildest Dreams.”
86. Gardiner Sisters’ acoustic “Style / All You Had To Do Was Stay / Out Of the Woods” mashup.
85. YouTuber Tiffany Alvord’s glossy “Blank Space.”
84. Against The Current’s pop-punk “Shake It Off” cover.
83. Macy Kate and Ben Kheng’s “Bad Blood” break-up anthem.
82. A brassy take on “Shake It Off” from Postmodern Jukebox and Von Smith.
81. Tyler Ward’s tender renedition of “Blank Space.”
80. Madilyn Bailey’s heavy-lidded “Wildest Dreams.”
78. A stripped-down “Welcome To New York” from Lauren Bonnell.
77. Fourteen-year-old Amanda Rose’s sleek, shiny “How You Get The Girl.”
76. Laura Scott’s soaring “This Love.”
75. An understated cover of “I Wish You Would” from Amrita Soon.
74. Alexi Blue’s raspy “Style.”
73. A back-and-forth version of “Bad Blood” from Megan Davies and Luke Preston.
72. Mia Rose’s back porch cover of “Style.”
71. Payson Lewis and Rumer Willis’ strings-heavy “Out Of The Woods.”
70. Floridia-based singer Tayler Buono’s swoon-worthy “Wildest Dreams.”
69. Kelsey K’s countrified “New Romantics.”
68. A crunchy pop-rock cover of “Bad Blood” from TeraBrite.
67. MAX and Nick Dungo’s twilight take on “Style.”
66. Drew Tabor and Leila’s hushed “Clean” duet.
65. Seventeen-year-old Macy Kate’s deliciously bratty “Style” cover.
64. A pulsing, disco-pop take on “Wildest Dreams” from Brandon Skeie.
63. Charity Vance’s synthed-out “Style.”
62. Guitarist Kelly Valleau’s fingerstyle “Wildest Dreams” cover.
61. A sax-heavy version of “Style” from South Africa’s Rubber Duc.
60. Sullivan’s elastic, emo “Style.”
59. At Sunset’s anthemic “Wonderland.”
58. Twenty-two-year-old Mackenzie Johnson’s simple, straight-forward “You Are In Love.”
57. A surging electo-pop cover of “Style” from Toronto-based trio The Heist.
56. Rhodes’ aching “Blank Space.”
55. Canadian Melanie Ungar’s effervescent “This Love”
54. Death Come Cover Me’s screamo “Shake It Off.”
53. An emotional “I Wish You Would” cover from Swedish indie-pop singerULRIKA.
52. Ryan Streeter and Matthew John Cover’s magnetic “I Know Places.”
51. Girl group GUDGUD’s red-hot “Bad Blood.”
50. Giorgio’s Spanish translation of “I Know Places.”
49. Lakoda’s paranoid pop-rock rendition of “I Know Places.”
48. Meghan Trainor serves vocals on her ukulele-assisted cover of “Shake It Off.”
47. Amy Wragg’s sugary sweet “How You Get The Girl.”
46. An unapologetically slick version of “Style” from Justin Bryte.
45. Taylor Acorn’s Nashville-friendly “All You Had To Do Was Stay.”
44. Anthony Vincent’s Disturbed-inspired “Bad Blood.”
43. A hard-rock take on “Wildest Dreams” from the band Halocene.
42. Hayley Solano’s breathless “You Are In Love.”
41. Amasic’s Green Day-esque “Style.”
40. A pop-punk “Wonderland” from Minds Like These.
39. Nineteen-year-old Cillian Andersson’s wholesome “I Wish You Would.”
38. Wonderful Humans’ sparse, sexy “Shake It Off.”
37. A soothing, piano-only version of “This Love” from Nuetful.
36. Sydney Day’s angst-ridden “I Wish You Would.”
35. A he-said-she-said cover of “Out Of The Woods” from Dave Days and Linda Lind.
34. Jemma Johnson’s sultry “I Know Places.”
33. English singer-songwriter Lucy Rose’s thorny “Bad Blood.”
32. An intoxicating rendition of “Style” from Australian indie-rockers San Cisco.
31. Pop-rocker Andie Case’s anxious “I Know Places.”
30. Gengahr’s dreamy “Blank Space.”
29. Relic Hearts’ aggro “Out Of The Woods.”
28. Guitarist Ivo Cabrera’s “Welcome To New York” instrumental.
27. A speedy version of “Bad Blood” English rockers Drenge.
26. Anna Corley’s soulful living room cover of “New Romantics.”
25. Yuuwii and Weiwen’s somber “Bad Blood.”
24. Viral stars Tanner Patrick and Rajiv Dhall’s buoyant “Shake It Off.”
23. Laura Buitrago’s Spanish-language version of “Bad Blood.”
22. IFMENOT’s barreling “Style.”
21. A classical “Bad Blood” instrumental from Brooklyn Duo.
20. THIRDSTORY’s seductive “Style.”
18. Utah-based singer Maddie Wilson’s melancholy “How You Get The Girl.”
17. Drummer Anthony Ghazel’s percussion-heavy “I Wish You Would” cover.
16. Irish singer-songwriter SOAK’s plaintive “Shake It Off.”
15. Labrinth’s groovy “Shake It Off.”
14. Viral duo SUPERFRUIT’s maniac “1989” album mashup.
13. Ryan Adams’ Springsteen-esque “Welcome To New York.”
12. Postmodern Jukebox’s red-lip, classic take on “Style.”
11. New Jersey-based rockers Screaming Females’ yelping “Shake It Off.”
10. Louisa Wendorff and Devin Dawson, “Blank Space/Style”
youtube.com
This clever mashup of “Blank Space” and “Style” by Nashville-based musicians Louisa Wendorff and Devin Dawson turns Taylor’s hits into a moving he-said-she-said duet. The video went viral late last year, prompting Taylor herself todeclare that she was “OBSESSED” with the cover on Twitter.
9. Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks, “Blank Space”
youtube.com
Months before Ryan Adams boosted Taylor’s indie cred, the superstar got an arguably more impressive co-sign from Pitchfork fave Stephen Malkmus. The Pavement frontman performed a cover of “Blank Space” with his band Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks at a charity event in Portland, Oregon. While the song was apparently chosen by his daughter, Malkmus committed and the result is a dead-pan delight.
In February, during a visit to BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, Charli XCX and her all-girl band performed a speedy, stripped-down version of “Shake It Off” that transformed the glossy mega-hit into a manic pop-punk anthem.
After Taylor invited Vance Joy to open for her 1989 World Tour, the Australian singer-songwriter uploaded a YouTube video of himself singing “I Know Places” to celebrate. Gentle and hushed, the cover replaces the original’s paranoia with a knowing kind of tenderness that brings the song’s romantic undertones to the forefront.
Pop and post-hardcore: how different are they really? If I Prevail’s “Blank Space” cover is any indication, not particularly! All howling, growling rage, the band taps into the original’s sublimated fury, highlighting all the anger and resentment bubbling under the surface. The result? Brilliantly weird.
Last December, Ingrid Michaelson honored Taylor at Billboard’s Women In Music Event with a heart-wrenching piano cover of “Clean.” The singer-songwriter (and official #squad member) peeled back the song’s lush synths to reveal the fragile emotions at its core.
The way Alessia Cara completely overhauls the song with the just some finger snaps and the rough edges of her voice is, to quote Taylor herself, “AMAZING.”
If you’ve ever wondered what “Shake It Off” would sound like as a gospel song, Kelly Clarkson has got you covered. The pop star took her fans to church with a wailing cover of the empowerment anthem during a concert in Buffalo, New York last October.
OK, before any of y’all complain: I know that “4 Taylor” includes snippets from all five of Taylor’s albums. There are hooks from Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and evenTaylor Swift sprinkled throughout the medley. The said, 1989 is obviously the focus and foundation of Todrick Hall’s epic mashup, which condenses the entire album’s narrative down to an impressively catchy four minutes.
The highlight of Ryan Adams’ 1989 cover album is his depressed but defiant cover of “Shake It Off.” While he sounds genuinely tormented by the knowledge that the haters are just going to keep hating, he’s determined to shake it off.
Jeff Buckley’s collection of unreleased studio recordings and covers, You and I, is coming out on March 11. Buckley’s cover of the Smiths’ “I Know It’s Over” appears on the album. Directed by Amanda Demme and executive produced by Amy Redford, the video details the relationship between a mother and her anxious young son.
Good Music. Good Life. 