1989

I feel I have said enough how much I am enjoying all these Taylor’s Version album releases, they are so much more than just re-releases not only because of all the entirely new tracks we are getting but also due to all the effort that has been put into updating and improving upon each track. This was my favorite album of Taylor’s for quite awhile because of just how new and unique it was; any country roots that were still present within the previous album “Red” essentially disappeared. What we got was something so different in the best way possible. So needless to say I was very excited to get this re-release nearly a decade after I was initially blown away by this album.

“Slut!”

Love to think you’ll never forget

Handprints in wet cement

Adorned with smoke on my clothes

Lovelorn and nobody knows

Love thorns all over this rose

I'll pay the price, you won't

These lyrics hit like a tidal wave of reality. In the beginning there is this brief sense of longing; however, it is quickly replaced by a renewed comprehension of the fact that some things are just not going to happen. “Lovelorn…” This really captures the feeling of unrequited love and the fact that most often nobody knows that you are feeling this way especially the individual that you are feeling this way about.

But if I’m all dressed up

They might as well be lookin' at us

And if they call me a slut

You know it might be worth it for once

And if I'm gonna be drunk

I might as well be drunk in love

This is an acknowledgement of the fact that those who find fault will always do so. So why try to conform or to be anything other than who you really are? No matter what you do there will always be those who have something to say about how you are living your life whether it be from societal or familial pressures you will go crazy trying to please everyone. In the end you should only care about self improvement and living your life the best way you know how.

The sticks and stones they throw froze mid-air

Everyone wants him, that was my crime

The wrong place at the right time

And I break down, then he's pullin' me in

In a world of boys, he's a gentleman

Love to think you’ll never forget

We’ll pay the price, I guess

In trying to piece together the narrative of this track I get the sense this is a tale of a relationship that while it speaks of unrequited love it perhaps wasn’t always that way or at least for a time there was enough positive aspects that the negative ones could be ignored. I would guess that it is at least in part due to a case of bad timing. I don’t think it is uncommon for two people to not love each other so fully and deeply at the same time yet that doesn’t mean you don’t care about the person. I have written many times about my thoughts on the complexities of love; I believe that there are scientific, emotional and spiritual aspects to it. There is also this kind of metaphysical, otherworldly aspect to it that I cannot explain at all. It is interesting to look at all the things people find themselves concerned with currently compared to those of people multiple millennia ago. Many things are quite different but one thing that isn’t is the infatuation with love; it was written about and spoken on by the earliest poets and philosophers. I don’t have the facts to say this is absolutely true but my experience has been that love, relationships and everything else that goes with them encapsulates what most music is about today. After thousands of years love continues to perplex and fascinate us; if that doesn’t speak to its intricacies I don’t know what does.

When initially listening to 1989 nearly a decade ago; much of it felt like these brilliantly composed lyrical slaps in the face to all those who spread and perpetuated rumors about Swift, specifically those pertaining to her love life. “Blank Space” was probably the most prominent example of this but I wouldn’t say it is anymore now that “Slut!” is in the mix. With this track Swift seems to be saying something along the lines of I don’t care what they call me it only matter that I am strive to live and love the best way I know. It is just reinforcing the fact that She doesn’t care what all these dissentients think. I am not going to even try to imagine what it would be like having way too many aspects of your life thrust into the spotlight or how I would deal with it. I don’t know what Swift thinks about that aspect of celebrity or how she deals with such things privately and it doesn’t really matter to me. How she handles it in public is amazingly graceful considering some of the comments made about her. Rather than vehemently lashing out she weaves intelligently crafted insults into her tracks which call out her cynics while simultaneously adding character to her lyrics.

Say Don’t Go

[Verse 1]

I've known it from the very start

We’re a shot in the darkest dark

Oh no, oh no, I'm unarmed

The waiting is a sadness

Fading into madness

Oh no, oh no, it won't stop

As I listen to this I can feel the beautiful agony and vulnerability that seep from this track it is painful in the best kind of way.

[Refrain]

I’m standin' on a tightrope alone

I hold my breath a little bit longer

Halfway out the door, but it won't close

I'm holdin' out hope for you to

[Pre-Chorus]

Say, "Don't go"

I would stay forever if you say, "Don't go"

The imagery of walking on a tightrope is a magnificent way to illustrate feeling defenseless and holding your breath this yearning for something to happen. “Halfway…” Will the door not close because against your better judgement you are unable to close it? Do you feel there is a real chance that things could get better? Due to what comes later in the song I think it the former but regardless it is interesting to ponder on what this sense of hope is about. The next part of the song “Say ”Don’t go”…” doesn’t make it easier to discern I don’t think but it does show a willingness to take a chance regardless of the specific circumstances.

[Chorus]

Why'd you have to lead me on?

Why’d you have to twist the knife?

Walk away and leave me bleedin’, bleedin'?

Why’d you whisper in the dark

Just to leave me in the night?

Now your silence has me screamin', screamin'

'Cause you kiss mе and it stops time

And I'm yours, but you're not mine

Oh no, oh no, you're not there

[Refrain]

I'm standin' on the sidewalk alone

I wait for you to drive by

I'm tryna see the cards that you won't show

I'm about to fold unless you

It is this latter half of the track that leads me to the conclusion I mentioned earlier; that being any desire to remain in this relationship it against your better judgement but you just cannot help it. It mentions being lead on, being left for dead and abandoned. “Now your silence has me screamin” “Cause you kiss me…” “And I’m yours…” So many brilliant contrasts here; it is an ingenious way to illustrate how someone can be physically present yet not really be there as they are uncommitted and their heart is elsewhere.

[Pre-Chorus]

(Say) Say, "(Don't) don't (Go) go"

I would stay forever if you (Say) say, "(Don't) don't (Go) go"

[Bridge]

Why'd you have to (Why'd you have to)

Make me want you? (Make me want you)

Why'd you have to (Why'd you have to)

Give me nothin' back?

Why'd you have to (Why'd you have to)

Make me love you? (Make me love you)

I said, "I love you" (I said, "I love you")

You say nothin' back

Longing and heartbreak are oft repeated themes in music and yet I don’t tire of hearing about them something I spoke to in the previous track. For me at least it is not possible to have too many perspectives about love and all its branching subjects. Such themes are explored extremely well in this track along with how truly mystifying and labyrinthine relationships can be and how astonishingly vulnerable you can feel when committing yourself fully to another individual since really all you can do is have faith that these feelings will be reciprocated. This track is a rollercoaster of longing, sadness, intense emotional anxiety and the many other emotions that the ending of a relationship can bring.

Is It Over Now?

This track is similar in its themes as the last one I discussed but it feels as if it is coming from a place of greater emotional distance. By that I mean I get the sense that it was written after a relationship had been over for a period of time as there is a prominent sense of reflection in these words. It is an emotional expedition through the memories of the relationship as the subject ponders on when exactly the relationship had ended or perhaps when they felt it should have ended and the signs that were present went unseen or were ignored. The voyage the track takes you on is so wonderfully done it makes it difficult for me to highlight certain lyrics. I feel that the song should be enjoyed in its entirety so that the tale that is told can be appreciated fully. Of course that won’t stop me from picking out a things that I particularly enjoyed.

[Verse 1]

Once the flight had flown (Uh-huh)

With the wilt of the rose (Uh-huh)

I slept all alone (Uh-huh)

You still wouldn't go

Previously in the tracks I have talked about the subject of the track is the one who cannot seem to let go but that isn’t the case here. It is an interesting change.

[Verse 2]

Whеn you lost control (Uh-huh)

Red blood, white snow (Uh-huh)

Blue dress on a boat (Uh-huh)

Your new girl is my clone

[Pre-Chorus]

Let's fast forward to three hundred awkward blind dates later (Oh)

If she's got blue eyes, I will surmise that you'll probably date her (Oh, no)

You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor (Oh)

You search in every model's bed for somethin' greater, baby

There is a not so subtle implication in this track that the subject is the “one that got away” and now the individual who they left is going to spend a length of time searching for what they had but they aren’t going to find it. It is a remarkably cheeky way of saying that they really shouldn’t have screwed things up and now they will have to settle for second best and I absolutely love it.

In every single one of these re-released albums there is an absurd amount of outstanding new tracks. To be such a prolific songwriter in less than two decades time is truly astounding and despite all that she has done Swift isn’t showing any signs of stopping and I am sure nobody has to guess at the fact that I am awaiting what comes next from her with bated breath.