- Taylor Swift is re-recording and re-releasing her first six albums to earn back the rights to her masters.
- She has already released her own versions of Fearless, Speak Now and Red, and announced that 1989 will be coming on Oct. 27.
- The five vault track titles for 1989: Taylor’s Version were revealed on September 20.
Taylor Swift took the stage in Los Angeles on Aug. 9 for her Eras Tour and confirmed that her next album, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) will be coming out on October 27. Over a month later, Taylor revealed all five of her vault track titles after she had fans unscramble word clues on Google. The singer has been gifting fans with new and never-before-heard music like crazy over the last few years, and she doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. In three years, she’s released three brand new albums (Midnights, Folklore and Evermore), as well as three re-recorded versions of her old albums Fearless, Speak Now and Red, so she can reclaim the rights to them. Although Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) just came out on July 7, Taylor is already diving into the next era.
The timing of making the 1989 announcement was too perfect, as Taylor closed out the first U.S. leg of her Eras Tour on Aug. 9, which just so happens to be 8/9. The concert wrapped a six show run at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Because of this milestone, coupled with the ‘8/9’ date, fans were wondering for weeks if the singer would be announcing 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at the show — and she delivered. Earlier this year, she confirmed the release date for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) at a different Eras Tour concert.
Official album cover for ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ out October 27. pic.twitter.com/LaCjouiwua
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 10, 2023
Here’s everything we know about 1989 (Taylor’s Version) so far
‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Release Date
The release date for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is October 27, 2023. Ahead of the announcement, Taylor dropped plenty of hits that it would be the next of her six re-recorded albums to come out. On July 7, she released the music video for her Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) song “I Can See You,” and it concluded with a BIG 1989 Easter egg. As Taylor drove away at the end of the video, there was a sign above a bridge that said “1989 TV.” Fans took this as Taylor’s way of letting them know that 1989 would be coming next.
1989 was the fifth album in Taylor’s original repertoire and there have also been plenty of “5” hints recently. In the “I Can See You” video, five security guards chased down Joey King and Taylor Lautner as they tried to rescue Taylor and symbolically help her reclaim her work. Back in October, when Taylor released the music video for “Bejeweled,” her character rode an elevator and got off on floor 3 first (signifying album 3, Speak Now, as the next release). However, she then rode the elevator up to floor 5, hinting that album 5, 1989, would be after that.
The music video for “Karma,” which was released in May 2023, also provided a 1989 hint. At the time of its premiere, the date for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) had already been announced, so there was no more hints needed about that record. The “Karma” video featured Taylor posing as a statue with the roman numeral MCMLXXXIX written on it. Yes, this translates to ‘1989.’
Then, at the August 9 show of her Eras Tour in Los Angeles, she made multiple changes to the set that further hinted at the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) release. During the show, she rocked four never-before-worn outfits, and they were all blue. During the Speak Now, Folklore and 1989 eras, as well as for the surprise songs of the evening, Taylor’s looks were different than we’d ever seen before, as they were all blue for the first time. It wasn’t coincidental, either, because it coincided with the announcement!
‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Tracklist
With all of her re-records, Taylor has included new versions of every original track from the records, so the first part of the tracklist is easily predictable. Although 1989 hasn’t come out yet, fans have gotten a sneak peek at what to expect, as Taylor has dropped the re-recorded versions of “Wildest Dreams” and “This Love” already.
The fun doesn’t end there, though. She’s also dived back “into the vault” of songs that didn’t make each album the first time around. Taylor re-recorded these (mostly) never-before-heard vault tracks from each era, as well, and included those on the Taylor’s Versions of her albums. Fearless (TV) and Speak Now (TV) both had six vault tracks, while Red had seven, as well as three other tracks that weren’t on the original version of Red. Ahead of the 1989 (TV) release, Taylor’s website confirmed that there would be five vault tracks on the 1989 re-record, in addition to the 16 songs from the original album.
Taylor revealed all five of the vault tracks with help from Google on Sept. 20. The “Swifties” were challenged with an internet scavenger hunt where they had to unscramble word clues to uncover the titles of four of the vault tracks. Those four songs were revealed to be “Is It Over Now?”, “Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Say Don’t Go,” and “Suburban Legends.” Taylor revealed that the fifth vault track is called “Slut!”
Here’s the full track list for 1989: Taylor’s Version:
- “Welcome To New York (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Blank Space” (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Style” (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Out Of The Woods (Taylor’s Version)”
- “All You Had To Do Was Stay (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Shake It Off (Taylor’s Version)”
- “I Wish You Would (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)”
- “How You Get The Girl (Taylor’s Version)”
- “This Love (Taylor’s Version)”
- “I Know Places (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Clean” (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Wonderland (Taylor’s Version)”
- “You Are In Love (Taylor’s Version)”
- “New Romantics (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Slut! (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”
- “Say Don’t Go (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”
- “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”
- “Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”
- “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”
Who Are The Songs On ‘1989’ About?
As always, we have to reiterate that Taylor never confirms who her songs are about. However, there are plenty of hints that point to Harry Styles being her main muse for the 1989 album. The two dated in 2012 and beginning of 2013, which lines up perfectly with the Oct. 2014 release date of 1989. One of the most obvious references, of course, is track three, “Style,” which is a literal play on Harry’s last name.
The songs “I Know Places” and “Out Of The Woods” both tell a similar tale about a relationship that seems like it could be doomed from the start. However, the song’s subjects are willing to fight the scrutiny to try to make it work, even if they know it will end badly. Unsurprisingly, Taylor and Harry were the subject of intense media attention during their relationship, and were constantly trying to get away from the eyes that were on them. “Out Of The Woods” actually makes two VERY direct references to Harry, as Taylor sings about his “paper airplane” necklace and the stitches he got on his forehead after a snowmobiling accident when they were together.
Meanwhile, “All You Had To Do Was Stay” and “I Wish You Would” reference the ending and reconnecting in a relationship. In the former, Taylor calls out her lover for leaving her and then trying to come back into her life. But, in the latter, after some time has gone by, she admits that she wishes he would be part of her life again. This reflects the on and off cycle of Taylor and Harry’s relationship, as it’s rumored that they had a fling in early 2012 before publicly getting together at the end of that year. On “This Love,” she sings about resurrecting an old romance, as well.
These days, Taylor and Harry are on great terms. They were even seen chatting at the Grammy Awards in both 2023 and 2021. Some fans are even speculating that Harry could pop up as a featured artist on one of the 1989 vault songs!
Of course, not all of the songs are about Mr. Styles! “Bad Blood” was written about a feud with Katy Perry, but the ladies have since squashed their beef. “Blank Space” is a play on all of the media attention that Taylor’s love life gets, and her way of mocking the fake stories about her romances. The album’s lead single, “Shake It Off,” is a dance track, where Taylor sings about shaking off her haters. Meanwhile, “You Are In Love” was inspired by Taylor’s co-writer, Jack Antonoff, and his relationship with Lena Dunham (the two have since broken up).