Taylor Swift’s own version of her 2014 album 1989 is here — it’s been waiting for us. The 22-track re-recorded album, released on Oct. 27, includes five additional tracks which are unreleased “From The Vault” songs.
Announced on the last night of her Los Angeles stop on the Eras Tour, the album seemingly overshadows her previous re-release, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). It was only 33 days between that album’s release on July 7 and the announcement of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on Aug. 9 — her shortest era yet.
“I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly,” Swift wrote in a handwritten note posted on social media.
Some songs on the re-recorded album differ from the original, a notable example is “New Romantics.” The “ah-ah-ah” line in the song is weaker than the original version, and other Swifties have voiced their dislike for the intro of the song. A re-record that doesn’t deserve the hate is “Style”. Some Swifties criticize it for the lack of emotion compared to the original, but to me, it shows that this is Taylor’s Version and not the original version.
Out of all five of Swift’s vault tracks, “Is It Over Now?” stood out the most. The song is about a breakup and an ex who has found someone else. Swift repeats in the chorus “was it over,” asking the ex if the relationship was over when they found someone else. While the song’s instrumentals are reminiscent of Swift’s 2022 album Midnights, the lyrics are definitely from 1989. Some fans speculate that it answers the song “Question…?” from Midnights.
Upon its debut, the major streaming platforms Spotify and Apple Music crashed due to the influx of Swifties attempting to stream the album. She breaks her own record of most-streamed album in a day in Spotify’s history, beating Midnights. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has also contributed to making her the artist with the most monthly listeners on Spotify.
In the U.S. Billboard 100 song charts, Swift takes over as seven songs from 1989 (Taylor’s Version) debut in the top 10 for the week of November 11; “Is It Over Now?” takes No. 1. The album placed No. 1 as well in the Billboard 200 album charts. Although the album has its massive success, it will take a while for the re-recorded versions to accumulate more streams than their originals.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) proves itself to be one of Swift’s most important and best re-recording yet. Now all Taylor Swift has left to re-release is her debut album Taylor Swift (2006) and Reputation (2017).
