Happy 1989 (Taylor's Version) day! The release of Taylor's Version albums are a huge day for us swifties and we always celebrate in style so here is our ranking and thoughts on the vault tracks and re-recorded songs...
After waiting months since the iconic announcement at SoFi Stadium, 1989 (Taylor's version) is finally here! This is the 4th re-record after Speak Now earlier this year and the release of re-recorded albums has become an eventful and exciting for the swifties. The pure happiness of being to relive the music you grew up to or listened to at an early age is something not many artists can provide for their fans. Taylor never seems to disappoint with her re-records with new vault tracks, improved and matured vocals and clean and crisp production providing a magical experience when being able to listen for the first time once again.
In this post, I will talk about the importance of 1989 in Taylor's career and analyse each vault track and rank them....
A summary of 1989
1989 is the record-breaking, career defining album and is the epitome of pop perfection. This album symbolises the change in her music career yet also the change in her personal life.
The beginning of 1989 began after the Grammy's where Red was nominated for album of the year and the award announcer made everyone believe Red had won, Taylor said she went home that night and decided she needed to make a big change in her music after she was made to believe that Red lost it's nominations because the songs weren't cohesive enough and there was no clear direction with the album ( we can all disagree). However, this sparked her change from a teenage girl starting her country music career in Nashville to an international popstar and she created possibly one of the best pop albums of all time.
1989 sold over a million copies in it's first week and became the most awarded pop album of all time crowning her as a pop icon. This is why this it is one of the most important re-recordings as well as the fact that Taylor now gets to relive this era happily and healthily after her sharing her struggles during this era in her 2020 documentary 'Miss Americana'. Her success during this time led to a lot of media backlash calling her out for her friendships and relationships which influenced the iconic album which is Reputation.
But now we can all listen to this masterpiece knowing that this era can be re-lived happily.
The vault tracks
As per tradition we start with the vault tracks, they were announced in a very unique way, forcing the swifties to work together to solve 33 million puzzles with Taylor-related clues. We completed this in 24 hours (we are so powerful)!
The vault tracks were revealed in a voice note from Taylor as:
- Say Don't Go
- Now That We Don't Talk
- Suburban Legends
- Is it over now?
and the final vault track "Slut!" was revealed by the classic vault and letters we are left to unscramble.
Pre- listen ranking
Say Don't Go
"Slut!"
Now That We Don't Talk
Suburban Legends
Is it over now?
First-listen ranking
Say Don't Go
Is It Over Now?
Suburban Legends
Now That We Don't Talk
"Slut!"
"Slut!"
My original thoughts for this song was that it would be a sad pop anthem calling out the haters and the media portraying her as a serial-dater and from my first listen I could say it is in a way but we were so wrong. This dreamy pop song acts similarly to Blank Space in a way of cleverly calling out the media. The lyrics tells of us a love story that is worth facing the media backlash and people shaming her for.
Despite the chill vibes of the song there is an underlying theme of frustration of the constant backlash from the media on her dating life - "love thorns all over this rose". Part of this song reminds me of Taylor's song 'peace' which tells us about the struggle of falling in love without being able to promise any peace from the publicity of a high-profile relationship and trusting that no matter what they will not leave even when things get hard with the constant attention. This reminds me of the line "It's a big mistake, I said, it might blow up in your pretty face" - it could end badly and then create a big public takeover.
I ranked this last but that doesn't mean I don't love it, it is still 13/10! I think it is dreamy and ethereal pop perfection with a beautiful melody and incredible songwriting.
Say Don't Go
When I say pop-perfection this is what I mean. Say Don't Go was my claimed vault track from 1989 and i was so right, this song is a masterpiece.
It tells a narrative of and emotional heartbreak going through panic, anxiety and longing. It feels to me like the depressed sister of All You Had To Do Was Stay with similar melodies but different levels of emotion. It tells the story of an uncertain relationship with it being "a shot in the dark", it is fragile line and she is left "standing on the tightrope alone". She is holding onto the relationship while asking very little of her partner to just not leave - "say don't go".
The "a shot in the dark" line encapsulates the overall meaning of the song - they both know the relationship won't work but still fall in anyway which leads to heartbreak and making everything worse ("twisting the knife"), there is secrecy, and little communication yet she still long for them not to leave.
This is number 1 on my ranking for it's gut-wrenching lyrics and it's catchiness that makes you want to scream along to the heart-breaking lyrics - I call it the Jack Antonoff effect . And as an 'All You Had To Do Was Stay' stan I was bound to love this song.
Now That We Don't Talk
Now That We Don't Talk explores the immediate feelings after a relationship ends, reflecting on what was lost and left behind. The questions that are left - What are they doing now? How are they feeling? Do they still talk about me?
When a relationship ends badly, it goes from being really close with a person to nothing and so hearing from other people that it will be okay and looking at the bright side of the breakup - remembering all the things that you deal with anymore "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 maybe I am better off now that we don't talk".
Another link back to the feeling of not being to escape the media's opinions on her life is the lyric "and the only way back to my dignity, was to turn into a shrouded mystery" - the only way to grow and move on from an important moment like this is avoid the public eye and stay out of conversation.
In regards to the sound of this track, I love it! This is Taylor's shortest song at only 2:26 but it is perfect and catchy, short and sweet (not sweet at all, the lyrics physically hurt).
Suburban Legends
Suburban Legends tells us he story of a powerful relationship and how over time it changes and the feeling of being just a shadow of a partner's effortless coolness and magnetism. She lets the questionable behaviour slide because of the momentous effect of this powerful relationship whilst trying to keep up with the social status of the relationship.
It is compared to being dating the most popular boy in high school, having the status of being household names (suburban legends) and not being ashamed of the satisfaction of being seen as national treasures.
However, not everything can end perfect and Taylor reflects the final decline of a relationship to the ticking of a clock and waves on the shore - consistent and fairly calm. They don't knock on her door anymore and that hurts but she still takes responsibility for the ending, knowing that it couldn't carry on and someone had to end it ("I broke my own heart because, you were too polite to do it").
Is It Over Now?
I didn't originally know what to think for this track but trust me when I say this was not at all what I was thinking of. I do not understand why Taylor did not put this absolute banger on the original 1989 (but I definitely do). Miss Taylor Alison Swift was MAD when she wrote this and I am here for it. Is It Over Now? seems to me as the angrier, crazier version of Now That We Don't Talk and it has to be one of my favourites. It presents the narrative of the messy part of the breakup, the lying and cheating seen by us with the specific details that we know happened with a certain person - we all know who.
The infamous snowmobile incident is talked about in this song "red blood, white snow" and I specifically love the way she uses colours to reflect on memories - "blue dress on a boat".
My favourite part of this song is the bridge and the confrontational lyrics:
"And did you think I didn't see you?
The fault of the messiness of the relationship is attributed to both parties - they both made mistakes whilst being together but there is still a feeling of hurt on how things ended and more mentions of the medias involvement and crave for information and rumours about her and her dating life. This is song has caused a lot of commotion on social media with fans being mad at Harry and no longer supporting him which has lead to the harries demonising anything that is said about the song which makes it a difficult subject. People seriously need to stop, this was over 10 years ago and they are friends now so we don't need to be reading into this relationship it seriously has nothing to do with us. I think the fact that "Slut!" specifically talks about this and the fear of the public eye from a high-profile relationship and yet 'fans' are still make a huge deal out of this is ridiculous.
I think this song is pretty self-explanatory and doesn't require me to dig into the lyrics but this has to be one of the best 1989 vault tracks - an perfect ending to 1989 (Taylor's Version) or is it?...
1989 (Taylor's Version) - the rest
I have seen a lot of people say the original is better and it sounds bad but honestly I think all the vault tracks sound so much cleaner and crisp. The mature vocals sound so much better for the synth-pop sound and when paired with the work of the incredible producers it sounds so much better! Yes, Style sounds a lot different but i love it and everyone will eventually get used to it along with the rest. If anything I love 1989 more after Taylor's Version.
Thank you for reading!
Leave a comment to let me know what your favourite vault tracks are and your rankings
And stream 1989 (Taylor's Version) !!
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