Single Review: Taylor Swift, “White Horse”

Fairy tale dreams collide with hard reality on “White Horse.”   Swift effectively uses the standard imagery of the prince on a white horse, and there’s just something about the fairy tale not coming true that makes it feel a little more country and a lot more relevant than “Love Story.”

It’s worth noting that this is the best that Swift has sounded on record so far, and the understated vocal serves her well.   She’s singing like an effective songwriter here, and the low-key confessional approach works well.  Thankfully, before it goes all coffeehouse on us, a string section comes in to ratchet up the emotional intensity without detracting from her performance.

Written by Liz Rose and Taylor Swift

Grade: A-

Listen: White Horse

Buy: White Horse

12 Comments

  1. Sorry, just can’t get into this cheesy Kiddie Country stuff. Besides that, I beleive Liz Rose is the one actually writing all this fluff…I mean stuff.

  2. I actually like this song. This might be my favorite Taylor Swift song…well if I had to pick a favorite. I heard it on the AMA’s and she did a good job! I was singing all night after that! Haha

  3. Martone,

    Liz Rose has said before that Swift is the dominant creative force in their co-writes and that she, Rose, pretty much just serves as editor (which isn’t to say she’s not a good writer in her own right).

  4. I thought her new CD was going to be horrendous, but I was pleasantly surprised with almost all of the songs. (I think the only ones I don’t really like are “The Best Day”, “Tell Me Why”, and “The Way I Loved You”.)

    “White Horse” is one of my favorites though, right next to “Breathe” and “You’re Not Sorry”. I just think these three songs are much more mature than her past songs, with a more realistic view of life. With more songs like these, she could stay around for a while, and I would be ok with it!

  5. The best song on her CD. I think this song may be the most country song on her CD, too. (‘Fifteen’ is a close second.) Great song and delivery.

  6. I’m not a fan of the lyrics themself cause they are the same as all the other, repetitiveness gets boring, but I must say her vocals have not sounded better since “Tim McGraw”. It serves her so much better to sing in a soft voice she just doesn’t have it in her tho be a power house and hit the Martina, Reba, Shania, Leanne, Carrie, money notes. But I do not like hearing her music on country radio when she comes on I change it, if I wanted to listen to a pop song I would turn that station on, she needs to just cross right over instead of using the benefits of both worlds.

  7. This one has quickly replaced “Our Song” as my ‘favorite’ song of hers. The lyrics actually will reach many people which is something that really keeps this song country (which is to say that it sounds like 90% of the rest of the format these days melodically but has a country lyric).

  8. I love love love her new album and so does everyone else.. seeing how it has been number 1 for almost 2 months now =)

    White horse is my favorite song on the new cd. It is beautifuly written. It is her best yet!

    older people might as well get use to her cause she isnt going anywhere anytime soon.. so pull the sticks out of your butts and loosin up.

  9. I don’t like it because of how corny it is. “I’m not a pricess / This isn’t a fairy tail.” I mean, haven’t we had enough break-up ballads :\

  10. Very well-done song. The acoustic-based production could really be considered pop or country, and her soft, pleasantly understantive vocal performance suits the song well. On this record, Taylor is not reaching for notes that are beyond the reach of her voice, and she sounds quite good. I like how the string sections are just subdued enough to add appeal to the song without drowning Taylor out. Definitely one of her better releases.

  11. I didn’t even know this was Taylor Swift when I first heard this song because it was more mature than her usual sound. I like it.

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