We feel like we have waited forever for this moment, and it’s finally here. Jensen McRae has released her album I Don’t Know How But They Found Me! We have listened to this record a solid ten times through already, and keep finding new things to love about each song. We saw a TikTok Jensen McRae did where she shared which Taylor Swift song each track on this record reminds her of, so we thought while breaking down the record, and sharing our thoughts, we would share which Taylor tracks Jensen matched each track with, and which Taylor track we would match it with!
Let’s jump in!
Stream I Don’t Know How But They Found Me! here!
‘The Rearranger’
What a way to open an album! To us, ‘The Rearranger’ feels like it’s about having anxiety about something not being concrete. The line “We don’t talk about the future, we just leave it up to chance” says a lot with that one line. You love someone so much, but you can’t help but feel like you’re not on solid ground.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘Out of the Woods’
Our pick: also ‘Out of the Woods.’ This song deals with that same anxiety that everything could fall apart at any minute, then wondering if everything is finally okay.
‘I Can Change Him’
Well, this song hurt. So many of us can relate to being in a relationship that feels exactly like ‘I Can Change Him.’ “I’ll go back to him, and he’ll go back to who he’s always been” is a canon event spelled out in lyrics. Truly. Jensen is able to be so specific in this track with references to the exact person she’s speaking about while still feeling like it’s a song everyone can relate to, which is a stunning accomplishment.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’
Our pick: ‘I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can).’ This was cemented for us with the line “Maybe I, maybe I could change him, unless he doesn’t want to change.”
‘Savannah’
We have raved about ‘Savannah’ already, and we are ready to do it again! ‘Savannah’ explores someone’s lies unraveling in your mind. Being able to be in a new relationship and see how this person talked themselves up, talked your future up, and how they fooled you. This track really flexes how strong Jensen McRae’s relationship with her pen is, and how much it’s grown since her first album.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’
Our pick: ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’ feels like a given. The line “Well, you’re a false prophet, and that’s a god damn promise” sealed that for us.
‘Daffodils’
This song is incredibly heart-wrenching. You can both hear the pain in Jensen’s voice and feel it in the lyrics. The heart-wrenching feeling comes from knowing what it’s like to have consent and boundaries played with and to have romance used as a tool to get out of accountability, like so many of us do. This will one hundred percent be the song that brings us to tears every single time we hear it.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve’
Our pick: ‘Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.’ Both of these tracks deal with feeling like someone has taken innocence from you, like they have used your love against you.
‘Let Me Be Wrong’
‘Let Me Be Wrong’ is, dare we say, our favorite song on this record! This track begs the universe to let Jensen be “bright but delusional” and to “ride love ‘til the wheels fall off.” It’s all about wanting to be okay with not being perfect. Making mistakes and not punishing yourself for them.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘Anti-Hero’
Our pick: ‘Anti-Hero,’ of course! Both of these songs explore finally being okay with going against the perfectionist pressures you have put on yourself.
‘Novelty’
‘Novelty’ is also a strong contender for our favorite song on this album! We keep finding ourselves circling back! It truly is unlike any other song you will find on this tracklist. This track is all about that one person that you always come back to. The person who floats in and out of your life, that there’s a comfortability with. And Jensen details that tale as old as time beautifully.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘Cruel Summer’
Our pick: ‘tis the damn season.’ To us, this song screams ‘situationship.’ It screams going back to someone that you’re comfortable with between other relationships, and the line “you could call me babe for the weekend’ screams ‘Novelty.’
‘I Don’t Do Drugs’
‘I Don’t Do Drugs’ sounds like the feeling of trying to convince yourself that there’s some outside force causing feelings and actions, and then realizing in the same breath that it’s not the case. “I’d like to blame the drugs, I don’t do drugs” describes just that. This song feels like longing, and then finally healing. It chronicles the whole journey.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘Hoax’
Our pick: ‘Hoax’ & ‘Clean’ simultaneously. We feel like this song goes through the motions in a way that fits with both of these narratives, with the beginning being ‘Hoax’ and the end–“The world outside is cold but vast, it waits for me, and i’ll be back”–being ‘Clean.’
‘Tuesday’
Jake Wesley Rogers and Jensen McRae are a writing duo for the ages, truly! ‘Tuesday’ takes a deep dive into the feeling of someone coming into your life and altering it so drastically, and then realizing that it was just Tuesday to them. It’s a paradox that so many of us have tried to internally identify: how destruction can seem so effortless. Of course, leave it to Jensen to be able to describe the feelings we can’t.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘All Too Well’
Our pick: ‘All Too Well.’ Come on, ‘so casually cruel in the name of being honest’ is very ‘Tuesday’ coded.
‘Mother Wound’
‘Mother Wound’ is the guy too many of us have put time, energy, and love into. The guy who seems all too interested at the start acts completely nonchalant once you’re together. Jensen gives a perfect look into how it feels to be settling for a love that lowers your expectations. This may be some of our favorite writing on the record.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘Down Bad’
Our pick: ‘tolerate it.’ We think the line “loving me went from a high worth chasing, to something lower than your expectations” really nailed that in for us.
‘Praying For Your Downfall’
‘Praying For Your Downfall’ is Jensen at the start of her two-song healing era (’Massachusetts’ included). You hear her declare that the chapter of anger after heartbreak has closed with: “I’ve finished praying for your downfall.” This song is immensely reflective; it takes a lot of inner work post-breakup to see how toxic things were. How toxic someone trying to dull your shine in the name of their ego is.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘The Black Dog’
Our pick: We are between ‘The Black Dog,’ which is also a very reflective song, and ‘I Forgot That You Existed,’ which, while a bit more upbeat and peppy, is a song about moving on and being done wishing for a downfall of someone else in its own right.
‘Massachusetts’
Ending the album with ‘Massachusetts,’ a song that brought so many people to Jensen’s music, couldn’t feel more right. ‘Massachusetts’ is the last stage of heartbreak: moving on, healing, wishing them well, reflecting on what was, the good and the bad, and remembering it fondly.
Jensen’s Taylor Swift pick: ‘Happiness’
Our pick: ‘Happiness.’ This feels live a given. The duality in both of these songs match perfectly. “There’ll be happiness after you, but there was happiness because of you”
Check out more of our new music coverage here!
We would love to hear from you! What is your favorite track off of the new Jensen McRae album I Don’t Know How But They Found Me? Let us know by commenting below or by tweeting @TheHoneyPOP! We are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT JENSEN MCRAE:
INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER
