Taylor Swift is a true global icon, and her hit music has been imbibed by generations of fans who relate to her beautiful lyrics and unparalleled melodies. So, it is no surprise that her tunes have found their way into several television series and movies, some in which Taylor has starred herself.
Some of Taylor Swift's most commercial hits like "Shake It Off" and "Look What You Made Me Do" have been used across several genres of tv shows and movies, but even her lesser known tracks like "Jump Then Fall" and "Haunted" can be heard playing in the background of important scenes.
"Shake It Off"
Arguably one of Swift's greatest hits, "Shake It Off" has had its studio version as well as adapted versions play in visual media. Lupita Nyong'o's zombie movie Little Monsters had the actress singing it along with her zombie kindergarten kids several times.
On Supernatural, Dean turned on his radio only to have "Shake It Off" blare out of the stereo, and Reese Witherspoon-starring animated movie Sing also featured a cover of the song sung by little pigs. In an iconic scene in HBO's Ballers, The Rock sang along with the catchy number while driving his car. The animated adventure Norm of the North also features the tune.
"Welcome To New York"
Ironically, the one song that doesn't do quite so well with the Taylor Swift fandom is the one that gets licensed in many shows and movies. The upbeat song about New York is a great way to introduce the city on the screen, and Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene also used it in its pilot episode.
The Secret Life of Pets began with almost the entire song playing to an animated montage of glistening New York buildings, and Max and Katie's life in the city. The song also provided background for when Alice broke up with Josh and moved to New York City in How to Be Single.
"Love Story"
Easily one of Taylor Swift's most iconic tracks, it found its way to the scene where Sophie delivers the letters to Juliet, and she reads them in the park in Letters to Juliet. After reading the letters she ends her relationship with Victor and heads to the wedding.
In the romantic ABC drama The Baker & The Beauty, Vanessa sang a slightly altered version of this ultimate love song to Daniel as she proposed to him in the pilot episode of the show.
"Look What You Made Me Do"
Taylor Swift's comeback song after years of being out of the public eye was featured in the trailer of Jennifer Aniston-starring Murder Mystery, as well as two separate South Park episodes, one of them being "Moss Piglets" where the water bears danced to "Look What You Made Me Do".
A slow, drawling cover of the song by Jack Leopards And The Dolphin Club, which is a band that actually consists of Swift herself with her brother and Jack Antonoff, featured in the opener screen of a Killing Eve episode too.
"Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)"
One of the most anticipated rerecorded songs of Taylor's Swift's discography, "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" made its first public appearance in the trailer of the 2021 equestrian animated Spirit Untamed about a little girl and the legacy of taming horses that she carries forward.
Shonda Rhimes' Bridgerton also featured Duomo's orchestral cover of the song to Daphne and Simon's sexy honeymoon period which became hugely popular across social media, and renewed interest in the original Taylor Swift version too.
"Exile (Feat Bon Iver)"
The unexpected collaboration between Bon Iver and Swift found a home in the fourth season of The Resident, in episode 12 where Barrett consults with Rose about her treatment and convinces her to go on with it, but not if it makes her suffer too much.
Fan favorite You recently released its third season, and the show ended with "Exile" playing with Joe dragging Love's dead body across their kitchen floor, and setting it up to look like she had ended her own life and framed him.
"Style"
2015's San Andreas featured the single from 1989 playing on Natalie's radio as she drives through the scenic San Fernando Valley. As Natalie drove pretty recklessly, the song played in the background, almost foreshadowing what was coming next with the lyrics "and then we go crashing down we come back every time". The song played till a landslide pushed her off the winding road.
"Today Was A Fairytale"
One of Taylor Swift's earliest transitions from pop stardom to Hollywood was in the movie Valentine's Day. Apart from starring in it, she also wrote a song especially for the movie which featured twice in it.
"Today Was A Fairytale" was recorded by Swift for the movie and it played during the scene where Taylor Lautner's character and Taylor Swift kiss outside the elevator on V-Day which makes her cheerleader self extremely happy. It also played in the end credits of the movie.
"Haunted"
One of the few Speak Now's songs featured in TV, "Haunted" provided background to a steamy scene between Jason and Jessica in True Blood. After a lot of sexual tension in season 4, episode 9 of the show, the two finally have a wild romantic rendezvous in the back of Jason's truck while Swift's "Haunted" played in the background.
"Jump Then Fall"
Another song from the Fearless album, "Jump Then Fall" featured in Valentine's Day as well. While it didn't make it during the run time of the actual film, the song featured second in the end credits, right after "Today Was A Fairytale". It made sense for the movie to use more than one song of the pop star's songs especially since she starred in the movie herself.
The sonically and ethically better version of the song can be found in the Fearless (Taylor's Version) album.
"22"
In season 2, episode 16 of New Girl, Swift's famous "22" from the Red album plays as Nick tries to cheer Jess up with Taylor Swift after her breakup with Sam.
Nick really does give it his all with weird dance moves and jumping to the song, but Jess tells him that she actually just wanted to listen to Taylor Swift alone, and most likely her sad songs. This scene has also become extremely well-known on social media.
"White Horse"
The Grammy-winning country song got a heavy feature in season 5 of Grey's Anatomy. In the first episode, the song plays as multiple things unfold: Betty gets lied to by Izzie and Bailey requests Alex to reset the O.R clock. To the same song, Major Hunt kisses Cristina Yang. Taylor's voice chimed in the show during a happening episode in 2008.
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
In Pitch Perfect 2 before the formal competition, all the teams including the Barden Bellas have a riff-off with each other, with the theme "Dated John Mayer". The Bellas sing an excellent acapella rendition of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" during the scene, which was one of the best songs during the showdown.