Taylor Swift's 1989 (Taylor's Version) Vault Tracks Decoded: All the Hidden Easter Eggs
Taylor Swift is bringing us back to 1989, this time on her terms.
The Grammy winner dropped her fourth re-recorded album, 1989 (Taylor's Version) on Oct. 27, exactly nine years after the release of the original 1989. When Taylor initially launched the 1989 era back in 2014, it marked a major milestone in her career as she left the country music scene behind to flourish in the pop genre.
"I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the release of this album I love so dearly," Taylor wrote in an Oct. 27 social media message. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long."
"This moment is a reflection of the woods we've wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark," she continued. "I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of 1989. It's been waiting for you."
In addition to songs that were on the original album, 1989 (Taylor's Version) features five unheard vault tracks—including "Slut!" and "Is It Over Now?" as well as "Now That We Don't Talk," "Say Don't Go" and "Suburban Legends"—that were initially created for the 2014 record but didn't make the final cut of the album.
Taylor—who is in the middle of re-recording her first six albums amid her music rights battle—first announced 1989 (Taylor's Version) back in August.
"The 1989 album changed my life in countless ways, and it fills me with such excitement to announce that my version of it will be out October 27th," she wrote on social media at the time. "To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record I've ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane. I can't believe they were ever left behind. But not for long!"
Keep scrolling for a breakdown of 1989 (Taylor's Version)'s five vault tracks, which appear to reference her past relationship with Harry Styles...
Much like Taylor Swift's 1989 song "Blank Space," her vault track "Slut!" addresses public commentary on her love life. "But if I'm all dressed up / They might as well be lookin’ at us," she sings. "And if they call me a slut / You know it might be worth it for once."
When 1989 was originally released in 2014, a number of its songs—including "Style" and "Out of the Woods"—were rumored to be about Taylor's romance with Harry Styles. And in "Slut!" she offers another hint at her famous muse: "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."
Similar to how Taylor previously described the relationship that inspired "Out of the Woods"—noting the "number one feeling" she felt in the romance was anxiety—the lyrics to "Say Don't Go," co-written by Diane Warren, closely mirror that same scenario.
"I've known it from the very start / We’re a shot in the darkest dark," Taylor sings—she'd later use the "shot in the dark" lyrics in her song "Getaway Car" on 2017's reputation album. "Oh no, oh no, I'm unarmed / The waiting is a sadness / Fading into madness / Oh no, oh no, it won't stop."
"I’m standin' on a tightrope alone / I hold my breath a little bit longer," the lyrics continue. "Halfway out the door, but it won't close / I'm holdin' out hope for you to say, 'Don't go' / I would stay forever if you say, 'Don't go.'"
In the lyrics to "Now That We Don't Talk," Taylor—who was linked to Harry from 2012 into early 2013—seemingly references the One Direction star's hair, which he grew out in 2014.
"You grew your hair long / You got new icons," Taylor sings on the track. "And from the outside / It looks like you're tryin' lives on / I miss the old ways / You didn't have to change / But I guess I don't have a say / Now that we don't talk."
In "Suburban Legends," Taylor reflects on a past love that received a lot of attention, likely due to the fact that they were two people in the public eye.
"I didn't come here to make friends / We were born to be suburban legends," Taylor sings on this track. "When you hold me, it holds me together / And you kiss me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever / I know that you still remember / We were born to be national treasures / When you told me we'd get back together / And you kissed me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever."
Over the years, celebrities have compared Hollywood to high school, places filled with whispers and gossip. Taylor even makes a reference to surprising the "whole school" with this specific relationship.
"I had the fantasy that maybe our mismatched star signs / Would surprise the whole school / When I ended up back at our class reunion / Walkin' in with you."
In addition to her relationship with Harry during this era of songs, Taylor also spent time in 2012 with Conor Kennedy, whose family is legendary.
Taylor appears to make direct references to the end of her relationship with Harry in "Is It Over Now?"
In fact, in the song's second verse, she sings, "Whеn you lost control / Red blood, white snow." The lyrics connect with an accident Taylor first mentioned in "Out of the Woods." (Remember when you hit the breaks too soon? 20 stitches in the hospital room.)
"Blue dress on a boat," Taylor continues, a nod to a Jan. 2013 photo of her leaving a vacation with Harry after their rumored breakup. "Your new girl is my clone."
Taylor also includes the cheeky lyric, "You search in every model's bed for somethin' greater, baby," in "Is It Over Now?" An apparent reference to Harry's relationships that followed after their breakup. (He's been linked to models Kendall Jenner, Nadine Leopold and Camille Rowe over the years.)
The lyrics to this song also offer a connection to another beloved 1989 song, "Clean." In "Clean," Taylor details the aftermath of heartbreak and how she won't risk going back to a relationship after calling it quits with that person. "10 months sober, I must admit," she sings on that track. "Just because you're clean, don't mean you don't miss it."
In "Is It Over Now?," Taylor mentions a similar time period. "Let's fast forward to three hundred takeout coffees later," which, if you had one coffee a day, would be nearly 10 months. So, as they say, the math is mathing.
1989 (Taylor's Version) is out now.
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