A First Listen Analysis of Taylor Swift's 1989 Vault Tracks

Written by Meg Clemmensen

Graphic by Rebekah Witt

As everyone expected, Taylor Swift’s newly re-recorded version of her biggest-selling album of all time, 1989, has exceeded expectations. Swift launched her re-recording project in 2021, with the intent of putting back out her first six albums, which she did not have ownership over. Beginning her music industry journey at age 14, she signed some contracts that didn’t have the best intentions in mind, and as a result, her music ended up in bad hands. Swift, heartbroken, pleaded that the masters to the songs she wrote about her life and experiences should belong solely to her. So, to reclaim what was lost and begin making money off the streams of her older catalog again (not that that’s needed, she’s a billionaire now), she has now re-released four out of her six records in the project.

The newest addition to the collection is 1989 (Taylor’s Version), released on October 27, 2023, which just so happened to be the ninth anniversary of its initial release. This album changed the pop star’s life—it’s what determined her to be a pop star in the first place. Her early career began with country music, sometimes twangy, sometimes pop-sounding. Once she reached her third album, Speak Now, she began experimenting with rock elements, and her follow-up, Red, was the first record of hers to produce pure pop hits, albeit still labeled as a country album. In 1989, however, Swift completely reinvented herself. No country elements remain in this record. She began working with new producers, acknowledged slut-shaming accusations, cut her hair off, moved to a new city, navigated media criticism like never before, and came into her own. Both diehard fans and the general public have found solace with this album for nearly a decade. Though already gathering a plethora of loyal followers before her fifth album, this launched her into a new level of stardom. Songs like “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space” took over the world with constant radio play and media exposure. Now, we have Swift’s newly revamped versions of these tracks, alongside a handful of discarded songs from the beloved pop record.

Apologies to those that believe the only correct way to listen to Taylor’s Version albums is front to back, but I’m impatient so, with my house party of five listeners gathered around the living room TV with Spotify prepared, we watched the clock strike midnight and anxiously clicked on the highly anticipated “Slut!.” What myself and most other fans who saw the jaw-dropping song title were expecting was a feminist anthem commenting on the intense media coverage regarding her love life during the 1989 era—things she was too afraid to say at the time. What I absolutely was not expecting was a mellow synth-pop intro to the track. I promised myself that before writing this review, I would give each track one in-depth listen and then reference the official lyrics. There’s something so sentimental about jotting down all your thoughts about new content from an artist who means so much to you and reading it back later once you have a deeper understanding. So, the very first thing that I noticed is that out of the five vinyl variants for the new album, the titles of three come from this song (Aquamarine Green, Sunrise Boulevard Yellow, Tangerine). The other two variant names, Crystal Skies Blue and Rose Garden Pink, reference “Blank Space.” Not so coincidentally, knowing Swift’s track record with cryptics, these are the two 1989 songs that reference slut-shaming. Swift even mentioned later that she debated between these two for the original album, but ultimately, I believe she made the better choice. While “Slut!” is an excellent track, it didn’t exactly turn out to be as loud of an activism song as most fans thought it would. Rather than defending her reputation and calling out who wronged her, she instead produces a ballad about being in love with this song. She sings about going out, getting drunk, dressing up, and being young while reflecting on what seems to be a blooming relationship. Referencing the news outlets desperate to paint her every move with malice, she boldly proclaims, “If they call me a slut, you know, it might be worth it for once.” She seems to have a deep faith in this love, and while warning her lover of potential backlash in the bridge, she assures it’s worth it, and the lover in question is bound to feel the same way. This was undoubtedly the most shocking of the vault tracks, as it truly threw everyone’s expectations out the window and conveyed a completely different message than anticipated. Though not my favorite new Vault song, and I was mildly disappointed it wasn’t a feminist anthem with its title being what it is, I certainly wasn’t disappointed in the track itself. Swift’s melancholy odes to romances are always phenomenally well done, and if you’re only familiar with her most mainstream work and would like this statement proved, please visit “Labyrinth” and “Call It What You Want.”

Second, we are presented with “Say Don’t Go,” a track that already begins with more hopeful undertones than its predecessor. Funnily enough, this is a song about heartbreak. There are several lyrical parallels present in the first couple verses, such as an ode to “fading into madness,” much like the themes of one of the album’s deluxe tracks, “Wonderland.” Therefore, with the tracks coming off the same record, it’s quite possible “Say Don’t Go” and “Wonderland” are two perspectives of the same relationship ending, with the latter being more in-the-moment emotional processing, and the vault track being something Swift has been given the opportunity to tinker with for years. It appears that whoever the muse of Swift’s “Say Don’t Go” lyrics has led her on, resulting in her feeling stronger feelings for them than they feel for her. She essentially begs her muse to tell her not to walk away from their relationship, but she’s ultimately certain they won’t do such a thing. As fans are aware, by analyzing the lyrics to the original album alone, 1989 was an emotionally tumultuous time for Swift, navigating media overexposure, a brand new level of stardom, and maintaining both platonic and romantic relationships. In this song, Swift questions her romantic muse and asks them why they would make her fall in love with them only to find out they can’t be bothered to say “I love you” back. During such a period of immense fame, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to fall in love with someone and be sure that they didn’t possess any ulterior motives. “Say Don’t Go” is an ode to that, but despite its chorus of sadness, betrayal, and anxiety, it boasts an upbeat melody that’s hard not to adore.

Following up with “Now That We Don’t Talk,” we’re presented with one of the best new vault tracks. Another upbeat sad song, it follows suit with a lot of the rest of 1989. Songs like “All You Had To Do Was Stay” and “I Wish You Would” are some of Swift’s self-proclaimed saddest tracks, but they’re easily danceable. Funnily enough, songs like “This Love” and “Wildest Dreams” are far more melancholic but less heartbreaking. “Now That We Don’t Talk” is a reflection of a no longer functioning relationship, in which Swift considers the differences in her life after the subject and herself had a falling out. She discusses how the song’s muse is, by the sounds of it, someone she had a platonic relationship with and wanted it to be more. This has a few parallels to the last track as they both discuss unrequited strong feelings. She talks about how everyone around the muse worships them, but Swift knows better than that: she’s familiar with their faults and flaws, something the general public doesn’t get a glimpse of. She has what seems to be a breakdown on the phone with her mother, trying to get off her chest what she’d lost and put it into lyrical form. She recognizes that it’s probably for the best that the duo are no longer close and that Swift can be more authentic to herself and what she enjoys now that she isn’t trying to impress this person. I loved this track on first listen, and I thought the imagery was just phenomenal, with hyper-specific lines like “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.” Swift doesn’t hold back in the lyrics to this song and is no longer afraid of judgment or repercussions for being truthful about those who hurt her. I also quickly noticed that this song adopts a Midnights-esque melody, sounding similar to her 2022 tracks such as “Question…?.” This is interesting to consider since the Midnights album intended to call back to all different periods of her life, possibly alluding to some of the tracks that made that cut being written as far back as during the 1989 era. This song is short and sweet, making its mark as a stream of consciousness, an outpouring of thoughts. Her shortest song to date, “Now That We Don’t Talk” is probably going to become my favorite 1989 vault track.

Photo by Beth Garrabrant

Second-to-last is “Suburban Legends,” which, on the contrary, was probably my least favorite new song after first hearing it. This is yet another love song, like much of the album. This one paints a picture of a relationship that appears to be doomed from the start, with lyrics detailing a lover who is secretive and overall not a great match, but Swift loves them anyway. Overall, Swift romanticizes the relationship as a tale to be told and preserved as a legend rather than a healthy, long-lasting relationship. That doesn’t stop her from detailing immense heartbreak and fantasizing, as well as a kiss that seems life-changing in the moment. The “tick-tock on the clock” lyric from the outro was my favorite part of this song, as it seems to be a nod to Kesha’s hit single “TiK ToK.” Another noteworthy moment was the imagery of walking into a school reunion—a concept that was explored in 2019’s “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.” Swift doesn’t often reference classmates and school settings in her music, but when she does, it seems to always lean into this fairy tale-stylized world. She builds a fictional universe and creates vivid scenes in her head, which results in beautifully crafted music that transcends stereotypical love and heartbreak music, and that’s one of the best things about Swift’s artistry.

Finally, “Is It Over Now?” begins. I’m growing antsier as the vault segment of the album comes to a finish, and I’m about to hear the songs I’ve loved for years in their newly restored glory, hoping they live up to or exceed, the quality of the original versions. “Is It Over Now?” is my other top pick out of these new tracks, as the production from the second it starts is just incredible (everyone say, “Thank you, Jack Antonoff!”). Being the last song on the album, the title becomes a bit of a play on words, ending things off by wondering if it is, in fact, over. Antonoff and Swift’s creation of the ethereal synth intro is reminiscent of yet another Midnights track, this time being “Labyrinth.”  Swift goes on to sing about infidelity and defines the exact moment the relationship with her muse was over, much like “Style” discusses a pair of lovers, not quite monogamous, experimenting with others but ultimately being drawn back to each other. She describes the tiring end to what the pair once had and goes on to experience life without them, checking back on the muse from time to time and reflecting on how Swift was really just their type, and they will continue to date women similar to her. The song even goes so far as to directly reference Taylor Swift and Harry Styles’ infamous snowmobile accident that allegedly inspired “Out Of The Woods.” Swift is distraught at losing her muse and thinking about their public affairs with others, and she turns to suicidal ideation during the bridge. My jaw dropped when I heard the line “I think about jumping off of very tall somethings,” as Swift usually doesn’t describe the deep pain of loss quite like this. However, as a young woman constantly in the public eye, unsure of how to properly balance this with her private life, it seems like this must have taken a huge toll on her during the 1989 era. Not only is this song extremely catchy, but it’s also heartbreaking and painstaking, and that’s what makes it one of the strongest vault tracks.

If Swift is known for any one thing, it’s her brilliant lyricism and ability to “tell it like it is” unlike any other. These songs are just another indication of this. Though her recent music has drifted further into abstract themes and even more in-depth poetry than we’ve seen in the pop star’s past, she is undoubtedly gifted at writing about relationships. Even though a large portion of her early discography follows this same theme, no two songs sound the same or describe events in the same way. All her pain, love, and emotion are channeled into art, and these vault tracks seem to directly call out potential muses even more vividly than the already-known songs off her ultra-popular album. While I continue to listen to 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and further fall in love with its new offerings, I’m so glad to have given it a first listen using a critical lens, dissecting meanings that I can analyze more as I grow more familiar.