Taylor Swift has released bop after bop in the last decade, but not without a fight. After some serious battles with her old record label, there were some tracks that were at risk of never hitting the airwaves. Luckily, these three tracks made it unscathed; and many of them were major #1 hits upon their release. Let’s look at three Taylor Swift songs that almost didn’t make the cut.
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1. “Shake It Off”
Swift’s famous album 1989 was a major departure from her previous country sounds. And it’s one of her most popular albums to date. “Shake It Off” is one of the most prominent singles from the album, and it almost didn’t make it. Her label at the time was not happy with the new direction the album was taking and attempted to block its release. Thankfully, Swift managed to convince them otherwise. The result? “Shake It Off” sat at #1 on the Hot 100 for almost a full year.
2. “Fearless (Taylor’s Version”
This hit song was a re-recorded version of the track from her 2008 album of the same name. The new and improved version of the song almost didn’t make it during her fierce 2021 dispute with her old label Big Machine Records. After successfully fighting for the rights to the masters of her first six albums, including Fearless, the track made it and was well-received by critics and fans.
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3. “Cardigan”
“Cardigan” was a dual writing effort between Swift and Aaron Dessner, founder of the rock band The National. According to comments Dessner made in an interview with The Telegraph, he intended to use the song (as well as the track “Willow”) for The National’s upcoming album. Luckily, Dessner wasn’t sure where to go with the lyrics for the song and Swift reached out to collaborate at the right time, resulting in one of the best tracks on Folklore.
Photo by John Medina
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