On October 27, 2023, Taylor Swift re-released her 2014 pop hit album, 1989. Originally, there were only 16 re-recorded songs on the album that got released; now, we have an extra five songs in addition. Swift announced this “new” album during her Eras Tour performance earlier this year on Aug. 9 in Inglewood, California.
“To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the five ‘From The Vault’ tracks are so insane. I can’t believe they were ever left behind,” Swift herself posted this to her Instagram.
All of her vault tracks had the potential to make or break her career, so the choice between “Say Don’t Go” and “Wildest Dreams” truly was a game-changer.
Her first song, “Slut!” depicts slut-shaming in society, specifically towards women like Swift who have a reputation for their dating history. When your entire personal life is constantly put on blast and you don’t always get a say in what the media shows, this song’s focus isn’t blind rage; it’s more about subtle anger hinted towards misogyny when it comes to songwriting. It’s a cheeky, smart way to combat allegations about being a slut.
Her second song, “Say Don’t Go,” is heartbreaking and sultry. It describes her relationships and how they’re one-sided and, more often than not, completely unsalvageable. It portrays loneliness and her longing hope that someone can change, but they don’t.
Perfect for a TikTok pop hit, “Now That We Don’t Talk” made a huge trend where people took the lyrics, “Now that we don’t talk, I don’t have to pretend I like acid rock,” and shifted the narrative to make it more personal. Despite being the shortest song she’s ever written, Swift states she thinks it packs a big punch. It’s hard to miss the subtle hints of unrequited love in this song as well; even though you love someone, you must keep them away. Swift asks her ex-lover questions, only to be met with the same conclusion every time, “‘I guess I’ll never know, Now that we don’t talk.”
Her only Vault track that doesn’t follow the same pattern as the rest, “Suburban Legends,” is not about Swift herself; it shows a different angle, using metaphors and similes to represent her life and a very relatable point of view using complex, heartbroken high school characters she made up. The age group that is typically “High Schoolers” is her main target audience, so it makes sense that she goes in-depth about their tragic failed love story. It’s about losing innocence and lingering ruins of first-love heartbreak.
Her final song, “Is It Over Now?” shares DNA with “Out Of The Woods”; it’s a sister track. This song is more confrontational, asks deeper questions, and shows what it really means to regret dating someone and what you can do to take it all back. Her final track for her new album was the fan favorite; it’s entirely too catchy, and as Swift states, she “just feels like headbanging to it every time it comes on.” This album was made to break free from societal norms, question her life, and reinvent herself, so re-releasing it in 2023 was perfect timing for her. Her feisty personality the media displays is finally free, and she is proud to sing about it too.
