Friday, Oct. 27, marked the release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” — the highly anticipated re-recording of Taylor Swift’s iconic 2014 album, “1989.”
Compared to the three other albums that Swift has re-recorded so far — “Fearless,” “Red” and “Speak Now” — “1989” has been the most anticipated due to its commercial and personal legacy for Swift.
“1989” not only represented Swift’s first major re-invention as an artist as she shifted genres from country to pop — and earned her her second Grammy for Album of the Year after previously winning for 2008’s “Fearless” — but also cemented her as an omnipresent figure in the world of music and pop culture.
It only feels right that I am the one to introduce the gift that is “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” to you because anyone who knows me knows that “1989” is my album. I also listen to that thing morning, noon and night for selfish pop culture reasons, given that its main muse is Harry Styles.
I know that I am not supposed to reduce a woman’s work to a man, but their fleeting 2012 relationship honestly keeps me up at night, and any nuggets of insight that I can dig up are the greatest gift I could ever receive — and a gift from Swift herself!
Because “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is a re-recording, I will save you and not dive into the lore behind each original track — but instead will link this comprehensive Twitter thread — and will only dissect the five exclusive vault tracks included on the new album.
There are some pertinent things I have to point out, however. My favorite song is “Style” — for obvious reasons — and I was worried about how its iconic “raise you from the dead” guitar intro would translate, and let’s just say my fears were valid. It sounds clunky, twangy and glitchy and doesn’t hit the same as the original — I am so sorry.
There were also some new twinkle sounds at the one-minute and 51-second mark in “Out Of The Woods” — but that is a totally normal thing to notice.
That’s enough of that!
1. “Slut!”
“But if I’m all dressed up/They might as well be lookin’ at us/And if they call me a slut/ You know it might be worth it for once/And if I’m going to be drunk/Might as well be drunk in love.”
When this blunt song title was first announced, people were not expecting the soft, soothing love song about enduring slut-shaming for the sake of a cherished relationship that is “Slut!” — and it is truly one of my favorites.
2. “Say Don’t Go“
“I said, ‘I love you’ (I said, ‘I love you’)/You say nothing back.”
I was admittedly one of those delusional people who hoped for a Harry Styles feature on one of the vault tracks after reports of them writing songs together back in 2012, but after hearing this, I knew I was very wrong.
“You grew your hair long/You got new icons/And from the outside/It looks like you’re tryin’ lives on.”
This is where the vault tracks start sounding suspiciously like 2022’s “Midnights” — specifically the song “Mastermind” — in terms of the production, and I am skeptical if they were truly created back in the “1989” era. However, the now shortest song in Swift’s discography is a genuinely infectious bop.
4. “Suburban Legends“
“I am standin’ in a 1950s gymnasium.”
Now, this one is truly a “Midnights” reject. Swift did not have this intensely detailed word-vomit writing style back in 2014 — all love to my queen.
“When you lost control/Red blood, white snow/Blue dress on a boat/Your new girl is my clone.”
Now onto the pièce of résistance. The secret snowmobile accident, the infamous photo of Swift alone on a boat post-breakup, the slew of models that Styles dated after Swift — this song is a direct callout with the most satisfying Jack Antonoff-led production of the “1989” era. Perfection.
