Open with Taylor Swift: The First Lines Quiz

Answer: Drew

"Drew looks at me
I fake a smile so he won't see
What I want and I need
And everything that we should be"

This is a great song! "Teardrops On My Guitar' peaked at number 12 on the US charts in February 2007, and was released on both Taylor's debut album "Taylor Swift"(2006) and her sophomore album "Fearless" (2008).

The subject of the song, Drew Hardwick, was Taylor's high school crush who was completely unaware of her feelings for him and constantly mentioned his actual girlfriend to her. After the song was released, he turned up at her house, only to be turned away again.

Answer: White Horse

"White Horse" an incredible and very emotional song, with more emphasis on Taylor's vocals than professional production. It won two Grammies and peaked at 13 in the US chart, and it's all about believing too much in a failed relationship. Taylor and her co-writer Liz Rose emphasise this by using several references to the happy endings of fairytales. Flatteringly, some critics compared the song to "Jolene" by Dolly Parton, one of Taylor's inspirations.

"This ain't Hollywood,
This is a small town
And it's too late for you and your white horse
To come around."

Answer: Part-time waiter

"You were in college working part-time waiting tables,
Left the small town, never looked back
I was a flight risk with a fear of falling
Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts."

I love this song! "Mine" is a country song from "Speak Now"(2010), heavily influenced by pop music, and Taylor wrote it about how she often breaks off perfectly good relationships, as well as the pros and cons of relationships at a young age. There are also lyrics that talk about Taylor's relationship being more stable than her parents' one. One of the most memorable lines from Taylor's music comes from "Mine":

"You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine."

Answer: Treacherous

"Treacherous" is the complete opposite of Taylor's early songs about naivety in love; instead, it's about knowing exactly how difficult a relationship will be, but looking forward to it anyway. It was not one of the early singles from the album, but it's one of the best and most critically acclaimed of the album tracks from Taylor's fourth album, "Red"(2012).

"This slope is treacherous
This path is reckless
This slope is treacherous
And I, I, I like it"

Answer: Maserati

"Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street"

"Red" is the way Taylor sums up all the emotions behind the album of the same name. She has said in interviews and the CD's liner notes that both the song and the whole album are about the bright, vivid colour in which she sees all her "semi-toxic relationships", as she calls them. In one webchat, she even said "There's nothing beige about any of [the] feelings [expressed on the album]."

"Losing him was blue like I'd never known
Missing him was dark grey, all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you've never met
Loving him was red."

Answer: Like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me

"Some day
I'll be
Livin' in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?"

"Mean", the third single from "Speak Now", is mainly a country song and is one of Taylor's more feisty tracks, like "Picture To Burn", "Should've Said No" and "Better Than Revenge". She wrote it in 2006 after a critic was a little too harsh about her first album. "Like nails on a chalkboard, calling me out when I'm wounded" is used in the song as well as "like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me", but it describes the critic's voice.

The music video for "Mean" is very inspiring; it shows children from throughout history being bullied and then achieving their dreams. For example, a boy is bullied for being interested in fashion instead of sport and then becomes a famous fashion designer, and a Victorian character played by Taylor is thrown on the railway tracks by a critic, only to become a Broadway star.

Answer: Five

"I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I got my big coat on."

"The Best Day", from "Fearless", is one of Taylor's sweetest songs. It's about her family, especially her mother Andrea Swift, and talks about having "the best days" with them. She mentions hugging her mother as a small child and falling asleep in her arms, shopping with her mother to take her mind off bullying at school and finding a video of her as a toddler and Andrea playing in the kitchen together. The music video even includes actual home movies from when Taylor was little.

Answer: Our Song

"Our Song" is a catchy country song that was, like "Teardrops On My Guitar" and "Should've Said No", included on both of Taylor's first two albums, and critics consider the 2007 single one of Taylor's best. It's about a young couple who, instead of using an already-written song to link them, write a song together about the everyday events in their lives. However, despite the song's success, Taylor never intended to record it; she only put it on her debut album after its huge popularity when she performed it at her high school talent show.

"Our song is the slammin' screen door
Sneakin' out late, tappin' on your window
When we're on the phone and you talk real slow
'Cause it's late and your mama don't know"

Answer: Chance

"Tell Me Why" is on "Fearless" and is one of Taylor's many songs about dramatic break-ups she's had, this time telling her ex that she can see that his actions are on purpose, and that he does mean to upset her. The words "shot" and "swing" are also used in the first verse, but not in the first line.

"I know that you see what you're doing to me, tell me why."

Answer: Never Grow Up

"Never Grow Up" is an emotional country ballad from "Speak Now", and Taylor wrote it when she moved away from her parents into an apartment for the first time. She realized that everything from her childhood had just been taken away from her. She then wrote the song to let future generations know about growing up and leaving youth behind, and that they should act like a kid while they still can.

"I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart
And no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up"