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Taylor’s Versions, what to expect about it in the future
By: Ana Helena
Currently on Tour, Taylor Swift is known for her brilliant songwriting. Rather it is an album about heartbreak, love, faith, or fear, she masters it. Her compositions are known globally, beginning in 2008, Swift grew in the music industry by composing songs that spoke of truth and pain, captivating fans. With 21 music events, and 204 live events all over the world, Taylor is one of the most known artists. Swift has ten albums in total, they are: “Taylor Swift”(2006), “Fearless”(2008), “Speak Now”(2010), “Red”(2012), “1989”(2014) “Reputation” (2017), “Lover”(2019), “Folklore”(2020), “Evermore” (2020) and “Midnights”(2022).
“Speak Now”, is one of the six of her albums that are not fully owned by her. The issue began in 2019 when her old label (the term label refers to a company, group, or industry which records the songs of an artist and sells their product) sold her album “Speak Now” to Scooter Braun, one of the managers who worked alongside with the company, although, he is not Swift’s manager. In 2021, she decided to re-record the albums and release them as a part of “Taylor’s Version”, which essentially means that she owns her albums.
The six albums listed below are the ones that are not owned by Taylor, each of them have their own aesthetic and characteristics (much like Swift’s other albums), the songs, overall mood, release date, and the information about the rerecording of the albums are stated below:
The album “Speak Now” was originally released on October 25th, 2010, the album can be described as an album that is fully about allowing Taylor to speak her mind, the overall aesthetic of the album surrounds the colour purple, and it has an air of fantasy to it. There are fourteen songs in total: Mine, Sparks Fly, Back to December, Speak Now, Dear John, Mean, The Story of Us, Never Grow Up, Enchanted, Better Than Revenge, Innocent, Haunted, Last Kiss and finally, Long Live. On the 6th of May 2023, Taylor Swift announced via her Instagram account that her version of “Speak Now” would finally be released on July 7th. The thrilling announcement came alongside the news that the album would also have six extra songs, she ended the announcement as she described what the album means to her, Taylor said: “I always looked at this album as my album, and the lump in my throat expands to a quivering voice as I say this. Thanks to you, Dear Reader, it finally will be. I consider this music to be, alongside with your faith in me, the best thing that has ever been mine”
“Red”, was originally released on October 22nd, 2012, this is one of Taylor’s albums that speak about heartbreak, toxic relationships, and loving and losing someone. The album itself may be described as emotions that vary from “intense love to hate, confusion and jealousy”. The aesthetic of the album is mostly surrounded by the colour red, as Taylor herself believes that the strong emotions represented in the album can only be represented by a strong, memorable colour. This album has the inclination to talk about breakups as this is the only album of hers that can truly be called a “breakup album”. Thre are 16 songs to the album; they are: Everything Has Changed(feat Ed Sheeran), Treacherous, Begin Again, 22, Starlight, Sad Beautiful Tragic, The Last Time, The Lucky One, I Knew You Were Trouble, State Of Grace, All Too Well, I Almost Do, We Are Never Getting Back Together, Red, Stay Stay Stay, and finally, Holy Ground. The album has already been rerecorded and released, the release date consisted of November 12, 2021, and the album comprised of 30 tracks, including the songs that were recorded once again.
The album“1989” was released on October 27th, 2014. The album itself represents friendship, it was inspired by Taylor’s relationship with her closest friends. The whole aesthetic of the album consists of celebrating youth and growth, the album itself does not necessarily have a “theme colour” although it can be mostly associated with lighter tones, such as violet, royal blue, and indigo. As mentioned before, the album has an inclination towards celebrating growth and youth, and it can also be associated with memories, which is why the album cover is a Polaroid of Taylor herself. There are 13 tracks in the album, they consist of: How You Get The Girl, Welcome To New York, Blank Space, Bad Blood, I Know Places, Wildest Dreams, Style, Clean, Shake It Off, I Wish You Would, This Love, Out Of The Woods and finally, All You Had To Do Was Stay. With regard to when the re-recorded version of the album will be released, there is a delay in it due to the fact that one of the songs (Shake It Off) has a lawsuit upon it, although two of the songs have already been rerecorded, they are “This Love” and “Wildest Dreams”, both of which are available on Spotify.
“Reputation” is known for being a tough album, it speaks about revenge, vulnerability that comes with love, and expressing an everlasting pain due to hatred. In the time that the album was released on November 10, 2017, Swift was going through a difficult and complex period of time as several fans and celebrities were hateful towards her to the point where she did not make a public appearance for about a year, then with the Reputation Stadium Tour, she began to get less hate and anger. The aesthetics of the album surrounds the colour black, it has a huge symbolism which is the snakes as they represent the fake people who stored into her life and made a mess out of her career for a period of time. There are 15 tracks in the album, they are End Game, Delicate, King Of My Heart, Look What You Made Me Do, New Year’s Day, Don't Blame Me, Dancing With Our Hands Tied, Gorgeous, So It Goes…, Call It What You Want, Dress, ... Ready For It, Getaway Car and I Did Something Bad. There is no due date as to when the album is to be released once again, although there is a chance that it might come out in 2023.
“Taylor Swift”, this album is one of the least known albums of Taylor Swift, it was one of her first ever released albums. There is not much information about its release date (re-recorded version), although the album itself was published on October 24th, 2006. The aesthetic of the album consists of the colour blue, and it does not have a main theme to it as it varies around relationships and love (nothing too specific though). There are 11 songs in total, they are: Tim McGraw, Picture To Burn, Teardrops On My Guitar, A Place In This World, Cold As You, The Outside, Tied Together With A Smile, Stay Beautiful, Should Have Said No, Our Song, I'm Only Me When I'm With You, Invisible and A Perfectly Good Heart. As mentioned, there is no release date for the re-recorded version.
“Fearless” revolves around the colour gold. Its aesthetic is complemented by the theme of the album which is to express the view of the world from the perspective of a teenager, with the songs focusing on love and life. This album was originally released on November 11, 2008. There are 13 songs in total, they are: Jump Then Fall, Untouchable, Forever And Always, Come In With The Rain, SuperStar, The Other Side Of The Door, Fearless, Fifteen, Love Story, Hey Stephen, White Horse, You Belong With Me, Breathe, Tell Me Why, You’re Not Sorry, The Way I Loved You, The Best Day and Change. The re-recorded version of this album was already released, it was published on April 9th, 2021, and the difference between both of the albums is that the new one has 26 songs in total, alongside the ones that were mentioned above (they were recorded again).
In conclusion, it may be expected many new ideas and songs related to Taylor’s Version. Alongside several theories created by Swifties (Taylor Swift Fans), it is possible to expect:
Albums with new songs included!
There is a huge chance that a few of her old video clips might get recorded again as well
The release of “Reputation” and “Taylor Swift”
New songs on old albums
The videoclips of her new album Midnights
Extended versions of old songs (new lyrics or an addition to the old ones)