Recently, Taylor Swift re-released her 2014 album, 1989, on October 27, 2023 and a shockwave went through the nation. Many people are already profoundly obsessed with her but this newest drop deepened that love for her fans.
Taylor Swift has been re-releasing her first six albums and so far has dropped Red (Taylors version), Speak Now (Taylors Version), Fearless (Taylors Version), and just now 1989 (Taylors Version) along with five new vault songs.
Now for those of you who aren’t super Swifties and need a little explanation on her lore, she’s releasing her previously recorded albums because the masters to her first six albums was owned by the Big Machine Records, the company that first signed Taylor “Mother” Swift. Scooter Braun bought Big Machine Records in 2019 with his company Ithaca Holdings and subsequently bought Swift’s first six albums. Swift had a previous adverse history with Braun and asked to buy them back. He complied, but only if she never spoke about Braun or his associates ever again. She refused and decided to re-record the songs that she owned the music and the lyrics to, just not the masters.
The new songs on the album are pretty good but the one that stands out the most to me is “Now That We Don’t Talk”. I think that the tune is great and the lyrics are savvy and smart. Out of the songs she re-recorded, I think that “Bad Blood” with Kendrick Lamar has a more contemporary sound than when she previously released it in 2014. I think Kendrick’s lines in the song flow very nicely and have kept up over the years. Another song I love on this album is “This Love”. The emotion that is dragged through it forces the audience on a journey that Taylor experienced first-hand. Another notorious song on this album is “Shake it Off”. This song has been with me my whole life, from 2014 when the original 1989 released all the way to now with the rerelease of 1989 TV. The song is about how Swift has learned to cope with criticism and not take herself too seriously within the scope of negativity. This is very topical recently, as Taylor has been facing lots of criticism with her globally high carbon outputs and notorius ticket prices. Lyrics like “Heartbreakers gonna break, Fakers gonna fake, I’m just gonna shake” encapsulate her mentality of rising above to a tee. I personally think that the message and lyrics to her songs are empowering. The stories she tells are personal and vulnerable which give the audience a chance to relate to her.
Fans speculate that she will re-release her album Reputation next through context clues, easter eggs, and manifestation. But, don’t blame me if that prediction is wrong. It’s just a gorgeous album so… call it what you want.
