From The Vault Tracks in ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’: Being Vulnerable Again

On the night of Aug. 9, the end of the first leg of her North American Eras Tour, Taylor Swift appeared on the stage at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, CA with several sets of new blue costumes. The crowd went wild, speculating that a big announcement was forthcoming. Indeed, Swift did not disappoint, announcing that the re-recording of the “1989” album would drop on Oct. 27. Fast forward to midnight on that same day — “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” finally appeared on various music platforms as Swifties anxiously refreshed their phones.

“Why are people excited about ‘new’ music they have been listening to for nine years?” You may ask. With the fourth release of her anachronistically re-recorded albums, Swift reclaims another sixth of her masters and adds to her older self, her younger emotions and heartbreaks, bluntly confronting criticism she would not have done so in 2014.

“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” might have been the most anticipated re-recording of her first sixth albums. On Sept. 17, 2021, Swift unexpectedly dropped “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” and again “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” on May 6, 2022, building up fans’ expectation of a surprise release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version).” Two years, two re-recorded albums, and one new album later, the mastermind herself finally indulged her fans. Immediately following the official announcement during the performance, Swift posted on Instagram; “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.”

Indeed, the five From The Vault tracks did not disappoint. In “‘Slut!’” — the first song of the “From The Vault tracks” — Swift bluntly comments on the slut-shaming culture in the music industry, reflecting on her own experience: “And if they call me a slut / You know it might be worth it for once.” Her soft voice, accompanied by the dreamy and pulsating soundtrack, brings out a sense of nonchalance. In the behind-the-music voice memos Swift subsequently released on Tumblr, she further discusses the message of "'Slut!'"

“The song “‘Slut!’” is a song we wrote for ‘1989.’ And in it, I kind of, sort of, cheekily play on the discussions at that time in my life around my dating life.”

Yet "'Slut!'" comes with a sense of maturity — as opposed to the car-smacking, cake-stabbing, satirical rage in “Blank Space.” Rather, the song depicts a calm yet unswaying self-defense and rejection of slut-shaming.

One of Swift’s talents is her ability to pinpoint inexplicable and relatable emotions by expressing them through her lyrics and music. “Say Don’t Go” is a timeless track about an unsalvageable relationship.

Starting out on a low tone, Swift gradually raises her voice, leading to a gut wrenching chorus — gut wrenching in a literal sense: “Why’d you have to twist the knife / Walk away and leave me bleedin’, bleedin’?” She pauses after a series of questions in the bridge of the song. The silence is deafening. It is the last breath she takes before the final outcry. Instead of the decisive verses in “All You Have To Do Was Stay” — “people like me are gone forever” — “Say Don’t Go” is a pleading show of her vulnerability. Her intensity of emotions, the heartbeat-esque rhythm, and the blunt pause in “Say Don’t Go” takes the heartbreaking torment to an intense level and recalls “You’re Losing Me” — the “From The Vault” track from the CD-exclusive Late Night Edition of 2023’s “Midnights.”

The addition of these five “From The Vault” tracks supplements the narrative created in “1989.” “You grew your hair long” from “Now That We Don’t Talk” echoes the “long hair, slicked back” from “Style,” and the beats of the song mirror that of “Style.” It narrates like a sequel to the “crashing down” and a prequel to Swift’s self-seclusion and a dramatic style change during the Reputation Era: “And the only way back to my dignity / Was to turn into a shrouded mystery.”

The subsequent track “Suburban Legend” equally shares a similar rhythm and a reflective narrative with “Now That We Don’t Talk.” If “Style” represents the self-indulging peak of a relationship, then “Now That We Don’t Talk” is the cold war after the final fight, while “Suburban Legend” reflects upon the breakup from a distance, knowing that there is no going back.

The final track of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” — “Is It Over Now?” — brings the re-recording to a new lyrical, emotional, narrative, and rhythmic height. As Swift acknowledges in the Tumblr voice memo, “Is It Over Now?” is a sister track to “Out Of The Woods” and “I Wish You Would.” The lyrics are more confrontational than the rest of the album, fusing together questions and acute accusations, as Swift sings: “You search in every model's bed for somethin’ greater, baby.” Her rendition of the song is firm and somewhat more tempered than what the lyrics would suggest. Like “Out Of The Woods” and most of the “Midnights” album, the instrumental of “Is It Over Now?” is punctuated with shrieks and vocal harmonies, furnishing the song with an eeriness that lingers.

“1989” marked a significant progression in both Swift’s career and personal growth. As she comments in the prologue to the CD edition of “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” the production of “1989” in 2014 was a way to reinvent herself, to seek freedom in the cage of paparazzi and in the music industry, to confront shaming culture and criticism, and to “Shake It Off.” This re-release is a pivotal step towards Swift owning her masters, her love life, and her younger past. Prior to the release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” Swift posted a hand-written note of the final few lines of this prologue on her Instagram; “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.”

The remainder of the album is confident and decisive, while the From The Vault tracks are more vulnerable and less coherent with the remainder of the album. Their degree of vulnerability does not match Swift’s feisty public persona in 2014, but it is reflective of her self-doubt that she had concealed from the public. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is Swift’s mature self revealing her insecurities and freeing herself from this need to hide.

In 2014, Swift first released “New Romantics” with the original “1989” album, singing, “The best people in life are free.” Nine years later, she finally can own this line with vulnerability, confidence, and freedom.