Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated album “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” the re-recording of her 2014 album “1989” on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, exactly nine years after releasing “1989.”
The album revives the life of all 13 tracks from “1989,” the three bonus tracks from “1989 (Deluxe Edition),” as well as five brand new never before heard songs called Vault Tracks. Later in the morning, Swift also announced “1989 (Taylor’s Version) [Deluxe]” which exclusively features “Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version) [feat. Kendrick Lamar].” The album holds 22 tracks and one hour and 21 minutes’ worth of music.
“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” may have just been released but Swift released two of its star tracks as surprise drops in the past few years. On Sept. 17, 2021, a trend surfaced on TikTok using the original verison of Swift’s song “Wildest Dreams,” so Swift surprised her fans by not only participating in the trend on her TikTok account but also by releasing “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version).” Swift did it again on May 6, 2022, with the release of the popular TV show “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” when Swift released “This Love (Taylor’s Version).”
“1989” represented a major milestone in Swift’s career breaking countless records across the board and being her first pop album after being a primarily country artist for eight years prior.
In 2019, music executive Scooter Braun sold the masters of Swift’s first six studio albums; and on Aug. 22, 2019, Swift announced to the world that she would be rerecording her first six albums so she could take back her masters and own her work.
Braun officially sold Swift’s masters in Oct. 2020 to Shamrock holdings for $405 million under the conditions that he keeps profiting from the masters.
The rerecording process started quickly with the first being “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” released April 9, 2021, and “Red (Taylor’s Version) not long after on Nov. 12, 2021. Swift then released her 10th studio album titled “Midnights” on Oct. 21, 2021, then followed by her third rerecorded album “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” on July 7, 2023, and now the release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version).”
After listening to “1989 (Taylor’s Version) for just over a week and having listened to “1989” too many times to count, “You Are In Love (Taylor’s Version),” track 15, sticks out to me the most. “You Are In Love” has been one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs since its release in 2014 due to the stunning lyricism and the story being told is just so beautiful, “You Are In Love (Taylor’s Version)” keeps that magic from the original. It showcases the vocal maturity in Swift’s voice over the past nine years and really holds your attention to every word allowing you to listen to the song and feel like you’re living the story being told. Lyrics such as “You understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars, and why I’ve spent my whole life trying to put it into words.” and “ On night, he wakes, strange look on his face. Pauses, then says, “You’re my best friend,” and you knew what it was, he is in love” really allow the listener to feel like they are in that story and allow them to feel the emotions of being in love told though the lyrics.
The album houses five never-before-heard songs called Vault Tracks. My favorite Vault Track, as well as many swifties have voiced online, is “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]” which is track 19. It has instantly become a pop hit and a classic in Swift’s discography with fans’ only complaints being that the song is only two minutes and 26 seconds long. The song is already circulating on TikTok with multiple trends being created using the song.
“Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]” includes lyrics such as “I called my mom, she said that it was for the best, remind myself the more I gave, you’d want me less,” and “Now that we don’t talk, I don’t have to pretend I like acid rock or that I’d like to be on a mega yacht with important men who think important thoughts, guess I am better off, now that we don’t talk.”
Once the Vault Track titles were released I were instantly drawn to track 17 titled ““S*ut!”” due to the profanity used in the title. I quickly made the assumption the song was going to be a message to the media about their use of the word when referring to Swift’s dating life. I was quickly surprised when listening to the song because it turns out, it’s a love song. The song includes lyrics such as “Got lovestruck, went straight to my head.” and “Everyone wants him that was my crime, the wrong place at the right time. And then I break down and he’s pulling me in, in a world of boys, he’s a gentlemen.”
“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is an instant classic, with songs that are elegant and graceful as well as some that represent messy yet flawless love, the album is one of the best in Swift’s discography and is a must listen.
Coming at the perfect time, “1989 (Taylor’s Version) is available now on all streaming services.
