Filling a blank space in every Swiftie’s heart! “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” released

Frankie Colao-Pineyro

She/Her

Columnist

11/4/23

We are out of the woods Swifties! “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is finally here!

The album features five new vault tracks titled, “Slut!”, “Say Don’t Go”, “Now That We Don’t Talk”, “Suburban Legends”, and “Is It Over Now?” The vault tracks have been widely successful, most notably “Is It Over Now?” for its alleged call out to Swift’s relationship with Harry Styles. The song heavily implies that there may have been some illicit affairs throughout the couple’s time together. Music nerd and fellow Plymouth State Student, Jack Edwards, was fond of the original album as a kid and also enjoyed a few of the vault tracks, “I thought that the songs were all really good, the lyrics were all really good, and there were very moving songs.” However, he didn’t have as much appreciation for “Suburban Legends” and “Say Don’t Go”. 

The album also has a few key differences from the original. In particular, the backing to “Style” was noticeably different, sparking a bit of controversy within the fandom. While some fans have enjoyed the change, many find it out of pace with the original song. There have also been some recognizable changes to the song “I Know Places”, which many Swifties appreciated. 

Swift’s re-recording of her first six albums has also been incredibly monumental in the music industry, granting her ownership over her stolen albums. While she has not been the first artist to re-release her music, she has most certainly been the one with the most success. According to Forbes, “These re-recordings have not only solidified Swift’s place in music history, but also demonstrated that even with lightly reworked versions of songs that her fans were already familiar with, she could still achieve chart-topping success and outperform many other artists with brand new collections.” Now all she has left to claim is her name and reputation with her debut album and “Reputation”. 
All in all, the album has been a huge success, selling over one million copies in the United States, making it the sixth time Swift has sold at least one million albums within the span of a single week in the U.S, and Swifties couldn’t be happier. Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined such a phenomenal album.