Taylor Swift‘s ‘Speak Now’ is the stuff of legends. The album was her first to sell over 1 million copies in its first week, spawned a bevy of hit singles, and was entirely self-written.

Now, as anticipation builds and rumors boil over that the project will be her next re-recorded album, That Grape Juice is looking back on the monumental album and reflecting on the top tracks.

Joins us below for That Grape Juice Essentials: Top 5 Tracks From ‘Speak Now’…

5. The Story Of Us

One of the many song’s rumored to be about ex John Mayer, Swift dabbles in the pop-punk style to extremely effective results. Pounding drums and searing guitar chords guide the way as she tells the tale of a fairytale love gone wrong. However, when the climax of the song hits, the tension is ramped up to 10 as the production builds to a fever pitch and Swift lets out one final, burning plea of angsty emotion that has us yearning for when she will finally release a full pop-punk album.

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4. Last Kiss

There is no denying that ‘Speak Now’ is an emotional listen and just when you think you are in the clear, Swift comes back with one of her strongest gut punches to date, ‘Last Kiss.’ Almost six-minutes in length, the soft ballad is here to inflict such strong punishment that even the toughest of people will cry thanks to lines like: “So I’ll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep” and “I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe.” Most of all, it is those little moments wherever voice quivers with such genuine heartbreak tears are sure to flow. Our advice: have your tissues handy for this listen.

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3. Enchanted 

Though ‘Speak Now’ has its moments of pure heartbreak, there are also equal parts of genuine love and romance. Case in point, the sweeping love story of ‘Enchanted.’ From the beginning until the end Swift offered an inner monologue so strong that she begins to duet herself on the climax helping to fully articulate that lovestruck feeling. Most shocking is that it was written about an encounter with Owl City singer Adam Young, who offered his own reply shortly after, to which Swift never replied – call it shade or getting the ick – either way it is Swift’s world and she can do what she wants and ‘Enchanted’ proves she is the best at what she does.

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2. Dear John

Unlike ‘Love Story’ from her previous album, ‘Fearless,’ Romeo and Juliet do not end up together in this utterly savage dissection of a failed relationship. There is nothing resolved by the end of it, no relationship, no happiness, and not even a lesson learned along the way. All Swift was left with was the memories and trauma. At the end of the day, she gives us a heartbreaking tale of a user and the used, one tale that will be passed along the generations.

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1. Back To December

‘Speak Now’s second single is one of Swift’s best songs. A rare moment where she crawls back to an ex that she wrongfully treated like dirt, Swift plays the role so well that an Oscar would have been awarded if this was a movie. But more importantly, it is a rare moment of intimacy she shares with said ex that no amount of apologies or action can change the future they no longer share. It is a realization, a reconciliation, and a progression into the mature songwriting she would later exemplify on ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore.’ If ‘Tim McGraw’ was the birth of career, then ‘Back To December’ was the birth of her as the legendary songwriter she has become.

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