A recent episode of The Handmaid’s Tale features Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do”. It precedes Swift’s upcoming Reputation (Taylor’s Version), which continues the singer’s rerecording of her back catalog following the 2019 dispute with her former record label, Big Machine. While the handmaids fight for autonomy, Swift found creative independence by issuing “Taylor’s Versions” of her past albums, with some of the best listed below.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Is It Over Now?”
Swift mined her vault for “Is It Over Now?”, which didn’t make the initial track listing for 1989. The synth-heavy track recalls the 1980s, and Jack Antonoff’s production adds sad nostalgia to Swift’s melancholy as she reckons with a busted romance. It feels like the looming threshold between Swift’s birth year and the coming decade.
“Wildest Dreams”
When most artists rework their back catalog, the updates typically don’t live up to the original recordings that made fans out of listeners. The new recordings might sound “better”, but they often feel worse. But Swift isn’t like most artists. Taylor’s version of “Wildest Dreams” floats in hazy textures, like the original, but also appears more vivid.
“All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”
Red arrived as Swift’s last country album. But the production is more pop than country, and Swift’s giant voice sounds almost too big for the rootsy elements on the record. Listening to Swift revisit this period from the heights of the world’s biggest pop star is interesting. Swift included the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” on the Red reissue, leaning even further into the song’s “With Or Without You” vibe.
“Enchanted”
Swift released Speak Now in 2010. She turned 21 less than two months after the album’s release. And Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) arrived in 2023. You can hear a deepening in Swift’s voice. Not worn, but wise. She was already a star in 2010, but not yet the institution she’d become. “Enchanted” was written about a love interest. But the chorus lyrics in the new version could also be aimed at Swifties.
This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go
I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
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