In August of 2019, Taylor Swift announced that she would re-record her first six albums to regain her ownership of them from Big Machine Records. She began with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in April 2021 and has released 2 more along with her 10th studio album, Midnights. On the last night of the North America leg of the Eras Tour, she announced the fourth “Taylor’s Version” to hit streaming services would be 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on October 27th.
Avid listeners of the famous singer-songwriter, Lyndsee Tolliver (11), and Lexi Varner (10) give a rundown of their experience with the re-released album.
“We all had suspicions of the announcement so it just felt good to be right for once,” Tolliver said.
The album features 5 songs that have never been heard by fans but were written in 2014. These “Vault Tracks” always cause excitement as they take listeners back to the time the album was originally released, while there is a new feeling from a new song.
“My favorite vault track is “Is it Over Now?” It’s very hard-hitting and upbeat which I love,” Tolliver said.
Although 1989 was awarded Album of the Year at the Grammys, Taylor managed to break even more records. On the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) release date, she became the single most-streamed artist in Spotify history, along with the album becoming the most streamed album of 2023 so far. All 22 songs from 1989 are in Spotify’s current top 50, as well as “Cruel Summer” staying for nearly 25 weeks. It’s the number 1 album on iTunes; this is a major accomplishment, especially for an album releasing for the second time. The whole reason this was accomplished is not only by Taylor’s vocals, songwriting, and production but the dedicated fans who have been listening since the first release.
“My whole life I’ve grown up listening to Taylor’s music, especially 1989, and that’s the reason why this album means so much to me. Every time I listen to it I instantly feel all the nostalgia and emotions I felt as my 6-year-old self did religiously watching the blank space music video. This album is so special to me and tons of other Swifties because I feel like for most of us it was our childhood,” Varner said.
As Taylor Swift continues to break records and blow fans away with new songs and surprises they seldom see coming, she leaves the nostalgia for those who have been there since the beginning.
