When Taylor Swift announced that she would be releasing “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” on the sixth night of her Eras Tour in Los Angeles, I almost passed out. The album shaped my teenage years, and now, the re-release will help me navigate through my young adulthood.
It was almost two in the morning on Aug. 9, and I was in my room religiously watching the live stream on TikTok of her last show of the Eras Tour because there had been a lot of buzz saying that she was going to announce “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” during the show.
If you are like any sane person, you would not believe everything you hear online, but something about the buzz made me intrigued to tune in, also because “1989” is my album. From the aesthetic of beaches, seagulls, and New York City to the album’s more general themes of female friendships and learning how to shake off the haters, “1989” was the “It Girl” for me.
During the Aug. 9 show, Swift had many costume changes, but what caught me off guard was that Swift was wearing a blue dress during the “Speak Now” set, the signature color of “1989,” followed by a blue dress during the “folklore” set and a blue outfit for the “1989” set.
The album was initially released on Oct. 24, 2014. It catapulted Swift into stardom, and she was everywhere, everything, all at once with singles such as “Shake it Off,” “Bad Blood,” “Wildest Dreams” and “Welcome to New York.” The album was so successful that Swift was coined with the term of “being the music industry.”
I would compare “1989” to a pop Bible. It won three Grammy’s for Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Music Video for “Bad Blood” and the coveted Album of the Year, going on to beat Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly.”
While many of the songs of the re-release sound a lot more crisp due to the advancements of technology, many, including myself, were left feeling there was something not right about the productions of songs like “Welcome to New York,” “Style,” “I Wish You Would” and “How You Get The Girl.” However, songs like “I Know Places” and “Wonderland” sound better than the original.
The album was released on Friday, Oct. 27, almost nine years after its first release, leaving fans with a complete account of what happened between Swift and consensus that her ex-boyfriend Harry Styles helped inspire the record. Swift and Styles dated between 2012 and 2013.
With the release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” Swift announced that she would be releasing five vault tracks: “Slut!”, “Say Don’t Go,” “Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Suburban Legends” and “Is It Over Now?” She even went as far as to say that she didn’t understand how these songs got cut off from the original record.
A standout to me is “Now That We Don’t Talk” — the shortest song Swift has released, coming in at two minutes and 26 seconds. Swift narrates the story of finding herself in the aftermath of a broken relationship, a song that many believe is Swift reflecting on her split with Styles.
The song goes as far as to mention that her ex-lover grew out his hair, something that did happen.
The vault track “Slut!” finds Swift embracing the term in a more meaningful way — she had previously played into the narrative of being a serial dater on “Blank Space.”
Swift could not have gotten to the “Taylor Mania” without the success of “1989.” There’s a reason why its set is so long on the Eras Tour. Everyone knows these songs.
I speak from personal experience as I attended the Kansas City two night show (where, yes, Travis Kelce was in attendance). When you are at the Eras Tour, and you feel like you can’t give anymore after the “folklore” set, the “1989” set comes on, and you feel like you have come back to life, like an IV has been inserted into your bloodstream.
This album will forever and always be one of the best albums I have heard. Since 2014, I have been listening on repeat in rain or shine and will continue to do so with “Taylor’s Version” and the vault tracks.
