An Extremely In-Depth Collection of Thoughts on 1989 Taylor's Version

reconnecting with my inner fangirl

As some of you may or may not know, I used to run an online music magazine called Musings (you can find the archive here), and while I’ve largely given that up, sometimes I get the itch to write about music. So, if you’ll have me, here’s some musings on the masterpiece that is 1989 Taylor’s Version.

Some background: 1989 was my first Taylor era as an actual fan. I was 11 in 2014 and reaching the prime age for finally staking claim to your own chosen music that wasn’t fed to you by your parents or the Disney Channel. I’d always liked Taylor’s songs on the radio, but with 1989, and particularly the tour, everything clicked. I became a Swiftie, and I launched a summer long campaign to see the massive 1989 stadium tour. I sat in the car long after everyone else had left to go in the house or to the pool to wait for the prompt to call into KRBE to try to win tickets. They were every single recent call on my first phone. I was never caller 104, but my dad did come through surprising me with floor tickets the day before. I had my mom help me pick out an outfit with 1989 vibes and missed Shawn Mendes’s entire set in the merch line. But soon enough I was standing on my fold out chair to see over the adults’ heads, in pure awe of Taylor Swift. That night, I also realized I didn’t know half the album cuts, but that didn’t matter. I’d joined the cult; there was no going back.

This only intensified when a year later I got Twitter, Instagram, and Apple Music accounts. I dabbled in reading Tumblr posts. I started patching together a working knowledge of Taylor Swift lore past and present that stays with me to this day, and I was as shocked as everyone when her feed of cat pics and girl squads and goofy videos got deleted and replaced by hissing, cartoon snakes. Reputation was the first era I experienced every second of from start to finish, but 1989 is where it all started for me and maybe a lot of you.

Big Picture 1989 Thoughts

I got an itch to listen to 1989 again a few weeks ago, but I made myself hold off with the re-record being so close. I’m glad it’s finally here because I was getting impatient with my own silly rules. But, before we get into the details of the rerecording, I want to talk about the pure magic of 1989 then and now.

While some people might say this title goes to Folklore (and they definitely have a good argument), I’d say that 1989 is Taylor’s objective best album from a mastery of craft perspective. It has some of her sharpest lyrics, biggest and best pop hits, well executed sonic cohesion, and a fascinating beginning to end story that makes it a real album. If you’ve only listened to the radio singles from this era, you’re severely missing out.

1989 was Taylor’s first fully pop effort making a clean break with country that Red couldn’t quite commit to, and it started with Taylor cutting off her famous long, blonde hair in favor of a bob on the Red Tour. As she says in the prologue to this re-release, 1989 was her first major reinvention – “I decided to completely reinvent myself. How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally… And I did so joyfully.”

It also marked a turning point in how Taylor viewed the world, both musically and through maturing as a person. She set her sights on sonic cohesion, building an album that referenced the year she was born in every single way, that also followed a narrative thread from start to finish. Even in interviews at the time, she talked about the marked shift in how she viewed and wrote about love and relationships. “In the past, I've written mostly about heartbreak or pain that was caused by someone else and felt by me. On this album, I'm writing about more complex relationships, where the blame is kind of split 50-50. I'm writing about looking back on a relationship and feeling a sense of pride even though it didn't work out, reminiscing on something that ended but you still feel good about it, falling in love with a city, falling in love with a feeling rather than a person,” she reflected in 2014 for NPR. And that share of culpability and interest in complexity is something that’s not often remarked on in the conversations about this album. There was such a solidified image of her writing scathing take-downs of exes that the popular narrative needed to skim right over the small admissions scattered throughout this album.

In my opinion, 1989 is the kind of album that is done justice by Adele shaming Spotify out of the auto-shuffle. It’s an entirely different experience tracing it from Track 1 through the end in order than listening to the songs individually. The record opens bubbly, full of hope, declaring this personal evolution being marked with starting over in a new place. Then, with “Style,” we’re introduced to this central relationship thread of an unstable relationship tied together with undeniable chemistry and a conviction around its importance. Then “Out of the Woods” introduces the darker side of such a passionate connection, as Taylor described it before playing the song at the Grammy Museum, the “anxiety” of a relationship like that. It also has one of the best bridges ever written.

Remember when you hit the brakes too soon?
Twenty stitches in a hospital room
When you started crying, baby, I did too
But when the sun came up, I was looking at you

Remember when we couldn't take the heat?
I walked out, I said "I'm setting you free"
But the monsters turned out to be just trees
When the sun came up you were looking at me

The aftermath of this dramatic moment picks back up with “All You Had To Do Was Stay” where she wishes this person would’ve just stuck it out. The song was inspired by a dream Taylor had where all she could say was this high pitched screech of “stay” that inspired the background vocals on the track. “I Wish You Would” follows where Taylor dwells on all the things she wants to tell this person while they’re on a break. “I wish you knew that I miss you too much to be mad anymore,” she sings on this highly underrated song which breaks with the line “People like me are gone forever when you say goodbye” on the song immediately before it. This song also has my favorite backstory of the album when Taylor told Rolling Stone about her ex buying a house two blocks from hers and being forced to drive past her house all the time. This song is where her imagination went with that awkward scenario.

On “How You Get the Girl” she lays out exactly how to win her back through an interesting third person story framing. “This Love” is one of the gauzier feeling tracks that summarizes the tumultuous relationship so far as she sings, “These hands need to let it go free, and this love came back to me.” “I Know Places” offers a final desperate attempt at sheltering this relationship from the glare of their mutual superstardom before “Clean” ends the album with an admission that the love didn’t make it through but that she found lasting knowledge about herself that she holds onto in the end. As Taylor so poetically said at the end of the “Out of the Woods” music video, “She lost him, but she found herself and somehow that was everything.” There’s such a satisfying arc here that plays on the tropes of my favorite literary love story endings – relationships that are formative and incredibly important but ultimately untenable.

1989 is sonically joyful and bright playing on ‘80s synth pop, but that obscures the sadness, anxiety, and ultimately tragic love story that makes up its narrative. I always find it funny that Reputation is regarded as this dark, angsty album and 1989 as the bright, airy, happy album because of their aesthetics, but truly, 1989 is the sad story and Rep is a love story.

It’s also worth noting that if you’ve never dived into what were originally the Target Deluxe CD bonus tracks (remember that era of pop?), they’re great additions to the album that mostly divert from the central narrative. “Wonderland” hues closest to the themes of the album, and interestingly, as Charlie Harding points out, its chorus resembles “Bad Blood”’s verse musically which I’d never picked up on. “You Are In Love” is a fun writing exercise on Taylor’s part inspired by Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham’s now defunct relationship. And “New Romantics” has the spirit of “Welcome to New York” and is a perfect edgy bop.

Also, it wouldn’t be fair to ignore that as a Harry Styles fan too, of course I’m going to love an album full of references tying back to their relationship… I did grow up on Stan Twitter after all.

1989 TV: The Existing Songs

So here’s where I weigh in on the whole “it sounds different!” “no it doesn’t!” of it all. It should be said that I am pretty musically tone deaf despite having gone to music school in for the last 3 years. My ears are not gifted in that way; trying to parse production makes my head explode. My brain listens to music for the stories. That being said, it’s probably not surprising that I’ve never really noticed a difference between the Taylor’s Versions and the originals. I will be listening to “Better Than Revenge” stolen version forever because the lyric change annoys me deeply, but that’s a lyrical issue.

This is the first re-recording where I noticed the difference at all and immediately. The second “Welcome to New York” started playing, I immediately clocked the difference in the musical introduction (Which, thank you to Switched on Pop for making me think I was on to something. Maybe I have learned something in school). These songs do feel reconstructed, not in any major way but in a few minor details that jump out to me. I’ve spent far more time with 1989 than any of the previous albums that have been re-recorded, so that’s likely why it was easier for me to hear these slight shifts. I don’t, however, get the complaints about the re-record of “Style” that are filling my Twitter feed. It sounds fine to me. Also, I’ve seen a few people talking about how “Shake It Off” is better on this record, and I could not agree more. Maybe it’s because I’ve given this album a rest for a while, but for years, I’ve skipped all the big singles because they just felt cloying after hearing them so many times, but I don’t feel the same way about the re-recording. The singles don’t stick out of the flow in the same way on this one which I’m thrilled about.

If anything, I think 1989 TV is a better, upgraded version if I have to pick a side on that. There’s nothing here that would tempt me to listen to the stolen version. I like the crisper feeling and the additional emotiveness. Especially on songs like “Shake It Off,” you can feel how much she’s settled into them after ten years of playing them live, and she knows how to hit the marks even harder now.

Okay… The Vault Tracks Now

Yes, I listened to the vault tracks first. I’m not a patient soul. Since I’m going to trust you’ll allow me some honesty, I haven’t loved many of the vault tracks. I appreciate them, don’t get me wrong (especially having “Babe” and “Better Man” sung by Taylor), but I can also see why they were left behind. It’s fascinating to see the rough drafts that were eventually channeled into better, sharper songs, but they’re not really tracks I come back to.

These 1989 vault tracks are different. Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to see how these tracks were absorbed into their more successful siblings and would’ve been weird to have on this very tight record, but they’re still strong songs in their own right. I also feel like many of these got left behind for being too raw, real, and direct. The world was not ready in 2014.

“Slut” - This was the hyped track since the track list came out, and it’s the one that Taylor Nation is definitely trying to tee up as the “single” of these new songs. I find it to be kind of a weird choice given what “Slut” actually sounds like, but it’s definitely winning the sensational title awards. We all thought this was going to be a major pop song or maybe even rock leaning, right?

She opens by cementing the hazy vibe with naming off all these colors that match with all the colors of the 1989 TV vinyl releases (of course). Once we get past the somewhat awkward first verse, she finds her footing as the song settles into the prechorus, and the chorus hits pretty hard for how chill the track is. Instead of reclaiming the term or offering some kind of societal criticism, she’s basically saying that she’s so invested in this relationship that she’ll take the insult. “If they call me a slut, it might be worth it for once,” becomes the oddly romantic refrain of a syrupy love song.

Also, I have to highlight the lyric in the second verse that delivers a swift hit back in a single line: “Everyone wants him, that was my crime.” Taylor got so much hate from One Direction fans at that time during the era where she was frequently pictured with Harry, and I think it’s genius that the song seemingly hits back at the media orchestrated perception of her she also leaves room to acknowledge the more under the surface complexities of what was happening at the time.

As for tie-ins to other songs, Taylor revealed to Tumblr Music that it was either “Slut” or “Blank Space” on the record, which is wild to consider her making the opposite choice. I like “Slut,” but “Blank Space” is such an intelligent, complex takedown of the public image created for her that it would’ve been a major loss from this record. She also mentioned that the album was “New York” and this song was too “California,” which I agree with. Lover is a very LA album despite some of the NYC references, and “Slut” would work on Lover. I feel like New York vs LA Taylor songs could be a similar dichotomy to gel/quill/fountain pen. Also, she uses the “sticks and stones” saying here that also gets recycled in fellow bonus track “New Romantics.”

While I’m skeptical about pushing this as the single over “Is It Over Now?”, I do love the fancy cover art.

“Say Don’t Go” - Despite Diane Warren’s proclamation that this is a hit in the making, it’s clear that it didn’t make the album in favor of its thematic twin “All You Had To Do Was Stay,” which does feel more in-step with the album as a whole. I do agree with Diane that it’s a good song though.

On the track, Taylor’s asking for her partner to make a gesture to save the relationship. In the inverse to “All You Had To Do Was Stay,” she’s asking for him to make an effort to keep her in the relationship. Also, in an allusion to the story on “I Wish You Would” she sings “I’m standing on the sidewalk / I wait for you to drive by / I’m trying to see the cards you won’t show” which takes on a bit more of a literal feeling when you know the other story.

When she almost screams “I said I love you” in the bridge, it immediately made me reengage with the song and gives it a raw edge that shows a crack in the polished, infectious pop veneer.

“Now That We Don’t Talk” - This is my second favorite of the vault songs. There are so many fascinating lyrics here to mine, and she’s dipping into the deeper talk-singing she employs on “New Romantics” before getting light and floaty in the chorus which I always enjoy. Also, I thought this song was jaw droppingly directly aimed at Harry Styles with “You grew your hair long / You got new icons”. I had no clue what was coming for me later.

This song perfectly blends spite and sadness while getting at an interesting facet that’s somewhat under-explored when talking about relationships – the weirdness of having someone be your best friend and then suddenly never talking to them again. From the first verse she captures the lost intimacy perfectly describing this ex charming everyone at a party then saying, “Did you get anxious though / On the way home? / I guess I’ll never know / Now that we don’t talk.” The chorus continues the thread of a guy that can’t commit and strings her along before the outro gets in some parting blows in a way that is pure art.

I don't have to pretend I like acid rock
Or that I'd like to be on a mega yacht
With important men who think important thoughts
Guess maybe I am better off now that we don't talk
And the only way back to my dignity
Was to turn into a shrouded mystery
Just like I had been when you were chasing me
Guess this is how it has to be now that we don't talk

Taylor has a long running disdain for mega yachts full of self important men thinking back to “The Man” video. It injects a bit of humor that’s plastering over the sadness and does reflect that attempt at self soothing in convincing yourself you’re better off now. But it does veer back into a dagger of sincerity before the end as she says, “The only way back to my dignity / Was to turn into a shrouded mystery / Just like I had been when you were chasing me.” This alludes to that trope of men who lose interest when they’ve finally caught the attention of the girl and the weird games that come with certain relationships. She’s acknowledging that because of how it ended, he’ll have the same experience looking in at her from the outside.

“Suburban Legends” - I don’t think anyone is going to fight me on my assertion that this song comes in last on the vault track rankings. There’s good threads here, but it feels the most rough draft of all of these vault tracks. She’s toying with the all American high school themes that make a much more successful metaphor later on “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.” On this song, she keeps picking up and putting down the motif in a confusing way. Also, what does the lyric “I let is slide like a hose on a slippery plastic summer” even mean? It feels like a strangely incomplete metaphor because I know she’s referencing Slip ‘N Slides but it still feels awkward.

I do like the line that comes right after where she remarks, “You were so magnetic it was almost obnoxious.” The chorus has an infectious melody, and I love the concluding line, “And you kiss me in a way that’s gonna screw me up forever.” Though, as Twitter brought to my attention, it is pure 2014 Tumblr poetry, which I will apparently always be a sucker for.

The bridge does completely lose me again, though. What does “Tick tock on the clock” over and over have to do with the idea of “suburban legends", high school, or facing a relationship where someone’s being shady. It is interesting to see the themes of “Style” imagined in a completely different way though.

“Is It Over Now?” - This is the masterpiece of the vault songs, and I mean all the vault songs on any of the previous albums too. This song was so wild that it got me out of bed and to a 1989 TV listening party at 11pm to have people to discuss it with. It’s a total bop, but it’s pretty clear why it wasn’t included on the album. While there are some intense songs on 1989, songs that did directly allude to public parts of her very publicized relationship, they were delivered in very artistic ways, baked into metaphors, and delicately arranged. This song is a bulldozer.

While the song takes a second to ground itself with weaker lyrics in the first verse, it grabbed me and never let me go after she delivered the line, “You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor.” She continues with an interesting parallel chorus, “Was it over when she laid down on your couch / Was it over when he unbuttoned my blouse.” Verse 2 comes in with references to very direct, public moments that any Swiftie around at that time will remember. “When you lost control / Red blood, white snow,” alludes to Harry Styles’s infamous Park City snowmobiling accident that lead to him walking around with a giant bandage on his chin for a while and both him and Taylor in the emergency room. That story is chronicled in more detail on “Out of the Woods.” I don’t blame Taylor for recognizing the amazing analogy between this actual wreck that she was a part of and the train wreck of the emotional side of the relationship and wanting to get as much mileage from it as possible. “Blue dress on a boat,” is a reference to another very famous paparazzi photo of Taylor sitting alone on a boat looking glum during an island vacation with Harry Styles where they allegedly broke up. She ends the verse by remarking, “Your new girl is my clone” which pairs with her later jab, “If she has blue eyes I surmise that you’ll probably date her.” This is also a pretty direct nod if you’ve kept up with the tabloids or read Genius.

But she doesn’t stop there. In keeping with what she said in 2014 about taking a more balanced approach to dolling out blame in her songs about romantic relationships, she dips into a point she alluded to on “Style.” On this song she notes, “At least I had a decency to keep my nights out of sight,” which is a more direct admission that the infidelity or at least connecting with other people during breaks in the exclusive relationship was possibly a two way street. On “Style,” she coyly slips in this detail within the bit of dialogue in the song, “He says, ‘What you heard is true, but I / Can’t stop thinking ‘bout you’ and I / I said, ‘I’ve been there too a few times.’”

In this repeated bridge-like section she also has the now iconic lines, “Oh Lord, I think about jumping / Off of very tall somethings / Just to see you come running / And say the one thing I’ve been wanting, but no” which captures the intensity of this back and forth and her desperation to find new ways to get his attention that are echoed through the track.

In a final lyrical note to mull over, in the first prechorus she says, “You search in every maiden’s bed for something greater” which morphs into, “You search in every model’s bed for something greater” by the end of the song. This is an interesting choice because “maiden” struck me as such a weird word to use when I first heard it. Maybe she was warming up to the final blow, but I think the contrast also makes “model” hit harder when it’s delivered. It’s a scathing song to ultimately arrive at a callback to “I Wish You Would” in the outro where she’s still hoping he’ll come back and actually commit to the relationship.

Well, this has turned into an extremely long ramble, but I have been completely immersed in 1989 since Thursday night, and for the first time in a really long time, I felt the itch to share. So, if you made it this far, thanks for listening, and tell me what you thought about this TV. Given that this hit me so hard, I don’t know if I’ll survive Rep TV and those vault songs.