A Taylor Swift Inspired Playlist to Clean and Declutter
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The illustrious Taylor Swift has released 243 songs in total. With an impressive catalog that includes over ten albums and one on the way, the songstress’s entries span every mood, feeling, and social occasion imaginable. We’ve compiled a list of Swift songs for cleaning or decluttering. Yes, we will refer to furniture and clothing as sentient beings in this piece.
1. Clean
Kicking off the cleaning session, we have “Clean.” A song pointing to healing processes in relation to addiction ( actual addiction or toxic relationships). “You’re still all over me like the wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore.”
When applied liberally, remove all those stained items and clothes for a high-energy, high-impact cleaning session. Let Swift’s inspiring lyrics lead the way for successful cleaning.
2. Bad Blood
“Bad Blood’s” lyrics refer to an ex-friend, someone Swift once confided in but now can’t trust. When we remove her anecdotal reasoning for the 1989 song, we can sing the angry pop anthem to an old piece of furniture or worn-out item of clothing.
Vexation tints Swift’s voice throughout this three-minute song. Use Swift’s wrath to tackle the dust-garnering pile of clothes in the corner of the room, or use her anger to sort out items no longer needed.
3. The Great War
I can’t make a Taylor Swift playlist without adding my all-time favorite Swift song. The multifaceted “The Great War” details a metaphorical story between two lovers surviving a war and solidifying their tumultuous relationship.
Say you’re decluttering a living room. Which staple items earned their place in the space? Which ones need to move? Is there a particular item that remained by your side for years or an object that endured the hypothetical Great War with you?
4. Red
Parting with beloved items upsets even the toughest of decluttering warriors. Certain furnishings hold special places or evoke heartwarming memories, yet we prevail. “Red” assigns colors to those difficult emotions.
“Losing him was blue like I’d never known. Missing him was dark gray, all alone. Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met. But loving him was red.” Swift sings about her past relationships and new lover. Apply the lyrics to items that won’t reside in your home any longer and the ones that made the cut.
5. Stay Stay Stay
Turn on this playful tune from Swift’s Red Era for productive cleaning. Choose a precious item in your house to dedicate this song to, or dance around, belting out the happy lyrics.
“Stay, stay, stay, I’ve been loving you for quite some time, time, time,” Swift cheers. Remember that variegated chair mentioned earlier? Maybe this is the song for that staple item.
6. Shake It Off
Beginning a cleaning or decluttering session asks for attention, brainpower, and high energy. Knock out the consecutive steps of sorting and donating items with an upbeat acceptance tune.
Sometimes, we purchase items that illustrate our “weird” phase or quirky hobbies. Maybe we aren’t that person anymore, or maybe we choose to honor that time in our lives. Every time a friend comes over, they mention the variegated chair in the middle of the room or the dust-gathering jacket in the closet. Shake off their judgment (while cleaning) as Swift serenades.
7. Look What You Made Me Do
Nothing makes a cleaning session feel more productive than singing a clap-back melody to furniture or loose clothing. “Look What You Made Me Do” encapsulated Swift’s negative experience with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and gave her the grace to reclaim her narrative.
Reclaim your living space inspired by Swift’s single. Though the energies translate to different scenarios, the seething lyrics can signify cleaning and decluttering, especially the chorus: a repetition of the title. Aim that exasperation toward creating a tidier living space.
8. Bejeweled
“Bejeweled” pairs well with cleaning out a closet. Examining past favorite outfits, ridding the space of anything that doesn’t fit, size or style-wise, promising yourself that you’re still beautiful. “Diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real nice.”
Something about the synth beat rippling throughout “Bejeweled,” matched with the infectious positive message, encourages listeners to devote themselves to the task at hand. When it comes to cleaning out a closet or attaining a new wardrobe, “best believe [they’re] still bejeweled.”
9. Begin Again
Swift’s entry on the 2012 and later re-recorded 2021 Red comments on a failed relationship and the promise of a blossoming partnership. “On a Wednesday in a cafe, I watched it begin again,” Swift sings.
Entertain a mundane time by interchanging lyrics with personal details. Make it your own. Switch the day out for the selected day of the cleanup, and switch out the cafe Swift mentions for the location of the decluttering/cleaning, i.e., the kitchen.
10. Dear John
Enter into a lamenting phase for decluttering a closet with the solemn melody of “Dear John.” A six-minute ballad dedicated to Swift’s ex-boyfriend, John Mayer. Clothes or furniture might not reap the same heartbreak as breakups, yet parting with them does tug on heartstrings quite a bit.
“Dear John [insert name for clothes or furniture], I see it all now that you’re gone.” Swift points to the clarity achieved post-relationship, and after decluttering, this song refers to literal clarity after cleaning up.
11. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)
and Depositphotos
Perhaps the best song on Red, “All Too Well,” the extended version, of course, we’re real Swifties here, calls back to a heartwrenching love affair in Taylor’s teenage life. Over the course of three months, Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal embarked on a romance, resulting in Swift’s moving discography.
“All Too Well” sketches a rambunctious, dysfunctional relationship with a person you once adored who turns into a stranger. Much like ridding a closet of worn-out clothes or purging a living room of dated furniture, this song showcases growth between those before-and-after phases.
12. It’s Time to Go
Traverse through a calming, albeit harrowing timeline of nostalgia. For Taylor, the lyric, “He’s got my past frozen behind glass,” indicates a failed relationship wherein the counterpart remembers her a specific way. Though she’s moved on, he can’t.
For the listener tidying up a living space, that lyric could allude to a closet or a furnished room displaying one truth of a person’s past self. No shame in moving on from that former identity.
13. Long Live
“Long live all the mountains we moved. I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you. And Long, long live that look on your face, and bring on all the pretenders, one day we will be remembered,” closes out the timeless song about imparting a legacy.
Isn’t imparting a legacy exactly what we do throughout our different style seasons? Just because we part ways with a particular item or two of clothing and a rugged couch or beloved chair doesn’t imply we won’t remember their effect.
14. Enchanted
During Taylor’s transition from country pop to a slight pop punk and pop experimental transition, she released an album entitled Speak Now, graced with gorgeous love songs. “Enchanted,” the ninth title, speaks of a charming love affair stumbled upon through the graciousness of fate.
“I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew. I was enchanted to meet you,” serenade your late clothes or furniture with these lyrics, instilling a feeling of trust they’ll remember you for. The time together passed, but the cherished memories remain for both parties.
15. The Story of Us
Relationships with clothes emulate relationships with people. You start out browsing the aisles for a match, find that match, and work together for a period of time. Once the butterflies and rose-colored glasses fade away, you begin to see the real product and decide if you pair well together.
“I used to think one day we’d tell the story of us. How we met, and the sparks flew instantly,” the tune begins. It ends with, “And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now. The end,” what else describes life with clothes more than this Swift song?
16. We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together
Finalize the decluttering with a vengeful single from Swift’s Red Era. Even if the time spent organizing caused a bout of despair, switch up the mood with this breakup tune.
“This time, I’m telling you, I’m telling you. We are never, ever, ever getting back together.” After this number, you never have to see the clothes or furniture that didn’t make the cut–like ever.
Featured Image Credit: SofikoS and Shutterstock.
Theresa is the founder and owner of Simple Is More from Beavercreek, Ohio. She is a nationally syndicated writer whose work has been featured on the Associated Press Wire, Blox Digital, and more. With a passion for words and a love for simplicity, Theresa has built a reputation as a trusted source on minimalism, home organization, budgeting, travel, and wellness. When she's not writing or tidying up, Theresa loves to explore new places, read a good book, and spend quality time with her family.