It’s been a long time coming. The clock struck midnight and the nine-year-old album was reimagined, sent out to the world soon to hold the title as the second most streamed album on its first day. Anticipated globally, Talor Swift released her fourth rerecord, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on October 27, streamed by 176 million users. New and “improved,” Swift updated the album’s sound with up-to-date technology, vocal layering, and of course the five brand new “vault tracks.”
Advertisement is one of Taylor Swift’s biggest strengths. Following her announcement of 1989 TV at the last show of the United States leg in the Eras Tour, Swift phoned Google to help release a vault scavenger hunt. The point of the hunt resides as a way for the blonde artist to firstly, incentivize her fans to advertise the album themselves, and secondly to release the titles of her vault tracks. To “open the vault,” 33 million searches had to be completed within a week; fans knocked it out in 9… hours. Promptly the next day, four of the five vault tracks hit Swift’s Instagram revealing the titles: “Say Don’t Go,” Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Suburban Legends,” and lastly, “Is It Over Now?” Later revealing “Slut!” on its own post captioned “You can tell me when the *search* is over… if the high was worth the pain.” Promptly after, Swift’s Taylor Swift The Eras Tour movie released more merchandise and physical copies of the album dropped on the website tantalizing fans with excitement, awaiting October 27, exactly 9 years after 1989 originally dropped.
Featuring a smiling Taylor Swift, adored with seagulls and a wondrous blue sky the 1989 TV album cover signifies the new chapter in Swift’s life as she proudly rocks her new vocals; the album differs both vocally and visually as Taylor Swift takes on this project happier and healthier than ever. Fans and listeners alike share a feeling of compassion having the ability to follow alongside Swift as she reembraces this era of her life. Throughout the 2011-2014 period, Swift struggled with an eating disorder as well as backlash from the public about her dating life, creating not only a negative relationship between her and the public but of her to herself. Declining vocally due to exhaustion and starvation the internet continued to ridicule Swift on her ability to sing, completely disregarding her current physical state and prior work on albums showcasing a range of growing vocals. Additionally, her contract with Big Machine Record prevented her from fully developing an album and sound she truly desired — further emphasizing another reason to rerecord (making a sound she originally intended) with added maturity. Compared to the old cover displaying a version of the blonde artist who looks confined, and mysterious, a newer, healthier Swift emerges throughout this fresh work. The original era illuminated themes of fitting in, moving to the city, and growing bonds between friends; Swift truly was in the public eye. Since the original “1989 era,” most of Swift’s life has been more private. But as the rerelease date inched closer, she slipped back into those old familiar habits of overexposure, yet this time, she embraced it. Such appearances include New York paparazzi encounters, Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelcey, and her booming popularity from her most recent tour.
A flood of emotions assembled the moment I hit play, watching “Welcome To New York” load for the first time… again. Going through the album was an experience like no other, reacting with my sister Emma De Vita our faces morphed to match the emotions we felt when a new beat dropped or she hit a note differently. Post-listen, multiple mixed opinions collide when discussing the shape this new album took. Paralyzed by disbelief, fans mourn over aspects of the original album that they miss but, in all, the album holds up to its original status as a pop masterpiece. As she worked to shape her sound, Swift developed the songs to pair with her new vocal range (cemented in her displays from reputation on) preserving the reputation she has established for herself as the pop icon she has become today. Most importantly, as I listened to the tracklist slowly dwindle away, I found myself embarking upon the nine extra minutes minutes at the end of the album; the vault tracks.
As stated in her announcement of the new album, the music artist expressed the fact that she was most proud and most excited to release these vault tracks (out of all four rerecord projects) due to their level of quality both lyrically and sonically. Rumors flew around in 2014 that Swift actually wrote over a hundred songs for this album (later found false), but she mentions writing a lot for this album. These vault tracks fit a more diaristic, and “typical” lyrical pattern found in almost all of Swift’s writing. 1989 features more mainstream pop elements than a normal album from Swift sounds, meaning that the vault track has more of a Taylor Swift element in them than most 1989 songs do. These songs were clearly left off of the original album due to this, as this was not what the artist wanted to accomplish at the time. Nevertheless, the songs flow perfectly with the album. With their lyrical structure and heavier more personal confessions, they fill “plot holes” left in the first album with Swift again, removing more of her personal life from the original 16 tracks. Overall the new tracks and rerecording of the original songs successfully capture a sound Swift should be proud of.
My personal vault track ranking:
1. “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault):” About the pop artist Harry Styles, the song reveals the end of their relationship. When someone asks me “What is your favorite Taylor Swift song?” I now can reply with four answers. This song… is amazing. The bridge… immaculate, the lyrics…outstanding. This song is simply superior.
2. “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault):” A pop anthem. She tells it straight, with no regrets, Swift exposes her deepest truth exposing how grateful she is that she and this person don’t talk anymore.
3. “Slut! (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault):” The highly anticipated track completely defied all of my expectations. What I thought would be a pop ballade turned out to be a dreamy pop confessional. As she faced criticism with her dating life throughout her career, she embarrassed all of the crud names she has been classified as during her career.
4. “Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault):” I do like this song quite a bit, and am sad to rank it so low, but there is a reason! Some of the lyrics just make me giggle (meaning, there is a level of confusion that arises every time I listen). Swift enjoys jumping back in time but why does she have to be in a 1950’s gymnasium? It takes the timelessness out of the song.
5. “Say Don’t Go (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault):” Fun song, just not as into the repetitiveness of lyrics. While I recognize the repetitive nature is supposed to highlight the plead and desperation of the situation, I just have not gotten under the beat yet. I also believe the other tracks are simply better.
All she has left to claim is her name and reputation.