Looks can be deceiving, but in the case of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), a picture is worth a thousand words — as for the first time in her musical career, Taylor Swift has released an album cover with an image of her smiling. She said farewell to the wistful downward gazes and sultry side glances of her past, and now here we have her, red-lipped and beaming. While to all but the Swifties this may be a mere detail (as all her easter eggs appear to be), for us this grin really is worth a thousand words. It is a manifestation of her healing and a promise that this time, she really is “finally clean”.
Prior to this album becoming her self-professed favorite re-record, 1989 was a reclamation of her name as she crossed musical genres as well as the threshold from young fame to global acclaim. And with hindsight on her side and on ours, we are able to feel just as well as we hear the amount of growth that has occurred throughout the last nine years since the album’s initial release. While the depth of her growth is felt within each song on the re-record, there are four songs in particular that solidify 1989 (Taylor’s Version), in my eyes, as the re-record of healing.
“Clean” (taylor’s version)
“Clean” is written proof that “10 months sober” can become almost 10 years sober in the blink of an eye. Perhaps the antithesis of the vault track, “Now That We Don’t Talk,” this re-recorded version of a beloved 13th track takes us through the “months and months of back and forth” that occurred between the phases of denial and acceptance of Taylor trying to process a past relationship. Throughout the song, she repeats the line, “I think I am finally clean,” which suggests a perspective of blind faith rather than one of self-assurance. When the album was first released, being clean was more on the horizon than it was imminent, as there wasn’t enough time and distance to be truly confident that “gone was any trace” of that relationship. But now, with almost a decade behind her, this state of being fully healed from the past takes on a whole new layer of depth, because this time, she doesn’t just think, she knows.
“new romantics” (taylor’s version)
While reputation is often revered as Taylor Swift’s most outspoken album, people overlook 1989 as being just as unapologetic and daring. If you could only analyze one song off the album, “New Romantics” is the perfect representation of how TS can cache poetic disses and slyly sexy love stories underneath a veil of catchy pop melodies; this song ties both of these album defining features into a bow at the back of that infamous blue dress. In this national anthem of heartbreak, Taylor reminds the press, which has only become more prying since 2014, that she holds the power. She teases that in regards to the rumors, “honey, most of them true,” but withholds the satisfaction of telling us which ones, emphasizing the importance of some of her personal life staying private. And if there is one thing to learn from the genius marketer that is Taylor Swift, it’s why not “build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me?”
“‘SLUT!'” (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)
When Swifties cracked the 1989 vault track code, every single pair of eyes went wide at the sight of “Slut!” on the track list. Something in the air warned me that TS had carefully crafted this title for the shock factor and that it might turn out to be a melancholic sister to fan favorites, “Clean” and “This Love.” After listening to the re-record daily since it was released, I actually think “Slut!” and “Blank Space” are two sides of the same coin. “Slut!” reveals how Taylor’s drunk-in-love revelations led to her first grasps at reclaiming the public’s sexualization of her character. These revelations ultimately manifested into the cultural reset that was “Blank Space,” an unabashed and angsty pop-banger. This vault track reminded the world, even nine years later, that being able to shout from the rooftops about being in love is a privilege that no one should have to forgo.
“NOW THAT WE DON’T TALK” (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)
When Taylor wrote, “I don’t have to pretend I like acid rock,” she also told the world that you won’t catch her being the Barbie who pretends to enjoy Ken play the guitar anymore. And to that, on behalf of all Barbies everywhere, I say it’s about damn time. “Now That We Don’t Talk” is for the gals who went cold turkey post-break up, (gold star for you) and instead of wanting to reach back out, ended up finding peace in the silence. This song has already sparked multiple TikTok trends, which is “Nothing New” for TS, but this time, fans are putting their own spin on her lyrics and getting real about just how better off they are now, especially with hindsight on their side.
For many, including myself, 1989 was the album that converted Taylor Swift listeners into full-blown Swifties. In this album she reminds us that in life, we sometimes have to get a little lost just to find ourselves again, while telling us the tale of how she too lost her way but ultimately got “Out Of The Woods.” The tone of acceptance and maturity felt throughout 1989 (Taylor’s Version) differentiates it from any of her re-recorded work so far. It’s as if she’s conveying to us that almost a decade later, this past era of her life has finally been processed and wrapped up, and now that it’s over, she is able to present it to us like the gift that it will always be.