“Taylor Swift” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Eva Rinaldi Celebrity Photographer.
It was rare, she was there, she remembers it all too well. Famed singer-songwriter Taylor Swift faced major changes when she lost her master rights to her music. Famous for her whimsical and strategic lyrics, brightly committed fanbase and breakup songs to boot, Swift has refused to disappoint herself and her fanbase by ambitiously re-recording the six albums she lost.
In July 2019, Taylor Swift’s lawyer reported that Swift was denied the opportunity to buy back her “masters,” her rights and control over her old albums, from Big Machine Label Group. Music executives Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun, who worked together in order to sell Swift’s masters, even blocked her from performing her old hit songs at the 2019 American Music Awards; “exercising tyrannical control” Swift claimed on social media. In the past few years since this fallout, Swift has made it publicly known that she plans to re-record her lost albums so she can gain total control and ownership back.
In April of 2021, about two years later and with an additional two surprise albums made, Swift released her very first re-recorded album; beginning with her 2008 sophomore “Fearless” album, this time with a twist. Swift revealed her re-recordings would be accompanied by a handful of “From the Vault” tracks; unreleased songs fans have not technically heard before. In addition, Swift tags every re-recorded album and song with a parenthetical “Taylor’s Version” at the end of the track or album title in order to signify her ownership. With her voice matured decades later, fans raved about the album while looking for classic “easter egg” clues Swift hides in videos and messages leading up to her coming projects. Despite Swift doing little to promote the “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” album, techniques have altered about seven months later.
On Nov. 12, Taylor Swift released her acclaimed 2012 album, “Red” but this time, it’s Taylor’s Version. Swift outdoes her previous work with a body of 30 songs total, including “From the Vault,” tracks and a voice recording of her speaking about the album’s theme. Popularly assumed that the album is originally written about Jake Gyllenhaal, an actor she had reportedly been seeing romantically at the time, fans on social media are making edits and videos to channel their own heartbroken emotions and anger. While releasing it a week early, hinting to her fans with lipstick shades and hair styles, and appearing on multiple talk shows, Swift also created a short film to accompany her famously wretched song, “All Too Well,” a five-minute ballad about love, loss and abandonment.
While the lead singles of the Red album include “22,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the song that Swift finally gets to focus on is “All Too Well.” She had already established that the five-minute song was actually a ten-minute song that was required to be shortened. This time, because she has another chance to give what she couldn’t before. The “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” is the chosen track for many to analyze and for Swift to perform live.
Days after the album’s release, Swift also created a new music video for the formerly unreleased song, “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault).” The video was directed by her friend and actress Blake Lively.
The albums she currently owns include: “Lover,” “folklore,” “evermore,” “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” and now of course “Red (Taylor’s Version).” Swift has gone from genre to genre, beginning in country music with a move from Pennsylvania to Nashville. She soon ventured into pop around 2014, breaking records, and hitting highs and lows socially and with awards. To see her discography so thematically and sonically diverse, there is no wonder why Swift’s art touches so many souls across the world. Her surprise albums dropped during quarantine, “folklore,” and “evermore,” placed Swift on a platform higher than most artists she’s grown up with over the years. The albums ventured into fictional storylines rather than her past personal points of view. After achieving and expanding, her career seems to be coming full circle as she polishes and personalizes her work.
Fans are searching for clues to find out when the possible release date is for the next re-recorded album. Taylor Swift still has plans to release re-recordings of her debut album “Taylor Swift,” her 2008 album “Speak Now,” the hit 2014 “1989” album, and her 2017 “reputation” album. Her later album, “reputation,” can not begin the rerecording process until Nov. 11th 2022 because of a five year deal written into her early signed contract. Before Red (Taylor’s Version) was released, she surprised fans with the re-recorded version of “Wildest Dreams,” from the 1989 album. It seems that could be the next album in line for Swift’s venture, but she loves to keep the world guessing.
Kristine Kearns is a second-year English major with minors in Creative Writing and Sustainability. KK947319@wcupa.edu