Shake It Off: Taylor Swift’s 10 Most Empowering Lines

Taylor Swift will cut you, or at least write a song about cutting you. And given her TMZ ubiquity and general intergalactic fame, that's pretty much the same thing. To dismiss her as a mere crap-boyfriend-shamer is to wildly underestimate her songwriting prowess. "I don't like it when headlines read 'Careful, Bro, She'll Write a Song About You,' because it trivializes my work," she told Rolling Stone's own Josh Eels in last month's cover story — but there's no denying that no one's lyrical aim is truer, or deadlier, whether she's taking on a scheming rival or a leering critic or (yeah, OK) a crap boyfriend. Here, in roughly chronological order, are 10 splendid and chilling examples. Listen to this mean-streak playlist on Beats here.