1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) ALBUM REVIEW 🩵
There is a popular saying that lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice, but Taylor Swift has proven that wrong with the release of 1989 (Taylor's Version). Nine years to the day after she released her career-defining pop record, 1989, she has done it yet again in the process of reclaiming the ownership of her first six albums. 1989 was a major turning point for Taylor that would go on to define the rest of her career from that point forward. She started experimenting with pop music on Red two years prior in 2012, but it wasn't until 2014 when she made the full transition over to the pop music genre. This album solidified her as the superstar we all know her as today.
Anyone that knows me knows how much I adore 1989, it has always been one of the most important albums for me, made up of sixteen songs that I have listened to probably more times than any other in my life. I could go on and on (and I will) about how much I love every single song from 1989. I have found endless inspiration in it at every stage of my life throughout the past nine years, whether it is through the lyrics, visual aesthetics or the messages of this music. I was fifteen when it was first released and now that I'm twenty-four, I truly feel like this album shaped so much of who I am today. It has soundtracked my life in every regard over the years. With all of that being said, I definitely had the highest expectations going into the re-released version of this album. The original 1989 is just so perfect and I had my fingers crossed that she would be able to even come close to the magic of the original with the release of Taylor's Version. I would say 1989 (Taylor's Version) is overall the closest match to the original thus far, any noticeable changes only further enhanced just how perfect the source material from 2014 is. That is what I was hoping for most of all with this album.
"In the world we live in, much is said about when we are born and when we die. Our birthday is celebrated every year to commemorate the very instant we came into the world. And a funeral is held to mark the day we leave it. But lately I've been wondering... what can be said of all the moments in between our birth and our death? The moments when we are reborn," Taylor wrote in the album's liner notes in 2014. This album is obviously inspired by the decade in which she was born, with many of these songs referencing pop music of the 1980's with blaring synths and infectious choruses. She worked primarily on these songs with Max Martin and Shellback, a duo known for their ability to create timeless pop classics.
She also worked for the first time with an artist that was relatively unknown at the time as a producer outside of his own work, Jack Antonoff. He has said many times that she was the first person to recognize him as a producer. Over the past nine years, the creative partnership that Taylor and Jack have built has come to be one of the most important in modern pop music. Jack has also gone on to become one of the most influential music producers of this generation, one that has helped create so many of the best albums of the past decade. His music also changed my life in so many ways that I have written about countless times over the years, but it all started for me with this album! I loved getting to revisit 1989 now with the context of seeing what these early collaborations between them eventually turned into with every album they made hereafter.
This album is just as relevant today as it was the day it was first released in 2014. It's really interesting to see the way history is repeating itself in a lot of ways. The echoes of 1989 are heard throughout every single album she has made from that point forward, whether it is sonically or lyrically referenced. The massive impact it had on pop culture in the mid-2010's seems like nothing compared to the insurmountable popularity she is experiencing right now in her career too. 1989 is her most successful album she has ever released, which continues to make a lasting impact on pop music nine years later and will continue to for years to come. In terms of opening week sales, 1989 was also the highest of her career, only surpassed by - you guessed it - 1989 (Taylor's Version). All of that also comes with a lot of media attention as well, for better or worse. History seems to be repeating itself in regard to the type of publicity she has been getting as of late. The emphasis on her dating life by the media, to the point that it often overshadows the actual music she is making, is highly reminiscent of what was happening around the time of the creation of the original album. Songs like "Blank Space" and "Shake It Off" have never felt more poignant than they do now for that very reason.
Creating a spectacle is kind of what 1989 is all about, parts of it are very much meant to play into a certain image or caricature of herself - with all of the magic, madness, heaven, and sin. However, at its core this album sets out to reveal who she is underneath all of that at the same time. Her unbridled confidence and creativity is on full display throughout this record. 1989 is one of the many moments in her career that Taylor takes back the narrative on what the public's perception of her is and proving to everyone that she is self-aware enough to be in on the "joke" too. In the prologue of 1989 (Taylor's Version), Taylor wrote, "You see - in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut-shaming - the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today, the jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath, the media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt." For her to go and make a song as sharp and layered as "Blank Space" at this time was such an empowered thing for her to do. Not only is it literally the perfect pop song, I think it is also a really interesting commentary on the way women are so often treated and even villainized in the media. At the height of being labeled a "serial dater", she went and played into that whole narrative by creating a satirical, sensationalized version of herself that people thought she actually was. She went ahead and owned the perception that she's a nightmare dressed like a daydream and that she can make the bad guys good for the weekend, even if it was veiled in irony. When talking about it now, she said it has a bit of "wink and humor", while recognizing the "pain behind the satire".
That level of self-awareness and self-deprecation is also very present on "Shake It Off", which was our first glimpse of what we were in for with 1989 as the first single. Much like "Blank Space", it pokes fun at the rumors about her and turns it into something that can actually benefit her. "I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain, that's what people say," Taylor sings in the opening lines, "I go on too many dates, but I can't make 'em stay, at least that's what people say". I still remember the first time I heard it when she debuted it on a livestream from the Empire State Building. Looking at it retrospectively, this was the biggest turning point in her career which set the tone for all that was to come after. She already achieved massive success as a country artist with her first four albums, only dabbling in pop music here and there, but "Shake It Off" really kickstarted the machine that hasn't stopped since. It is such a classic in her discography. While "the players gonna play, play, play, play, play, and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate" is one of the sillier verses in her discography, it is just so catchy and pure, unadulterated pop perfection.
"Wonderland", originally released as a deluxe track, takes a different songwriting approach than much of this album while still following many of the same chaotic themes as songs like "Out of the Woods" and "I Know Places". It takes the imagery of Alice in Wonderland and uses it as a metaphor for this whirlwind romance she had at the time. However, instead of having a happy ending like the real story, "Wonderland" depicts a fairytale gone wrong, as she sings the line, "You searched the world for something else to make you feel like what we had, and in the end in Wonderland, we both went mad". It subtly grapples with what is reality and what is just their perception of the situation, much like the real tale written by Lewis Carol. Much of the album up to this point is very rooted in reality and is so direct and straightforward with who she is singing about and the experiences she went through. While the storytelling of this song is draped in metaphor, it is still so obvious as to who she is singing about. From the mention of green eyes, to the more telling "Cheshire Cat smile" reference, the way she was able to blend reality with the tropes of the classic story is so intriguing and intricately done. It's interesting that this is one of the only songs from 1989 that is written like this, but it also feels like a foreshadowing of the songwriting style she would heavily lean into with future releases.
1989 is hit after hit after hit. Every time I listen to it, even after all these years, I am still finding new songs and new lyrics that I love. No other album has this run of hits that this one does. Even the slower moments of this album are still pop perfection and among some of the best ballads of her discography.
"Wildest Dreams" is one of my favorites, the updated version of it feels so cinematic with grand, sweeping instrumentals that sound so gorgeous. After all of the ups and downs that she portrayed in this album, this is a moment that Taylor is succumbing to the inevitable fate of this relationship and just hoping that when it's all over, he won't forget about her. She sings, "I can see the end as it begins, my one condition is, say you'll remember me, standin' in a nice dress, starin' at the sunset, babe, red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again, even if it's just in your wildest dreams".
"'Wildest Dreams' is kind of a good example of the way that my outlook on love has changed. Over the years, I think, as you get more experience under your belt, as you become disappointed a few times, you start to kind of think of things in more realistic terms. It's not like you need someone and that's it, you know, if they like you and you like them, well, it's gonna be forever, of course. I don't really look at love like that anymore," Taylor told Yahoo! Live in 2014. "I think the way I see love is kind of a little more fatalistic, which means, to me, that when I meet someone and we have a connection, the first thought I really have is, 'When this is over, I hope you think well of me.' So, this song is about having that immediate connection with someone, and these were my vivid thoughts right as I met him."
"This Love" also features a similar outlook, even directly referencing "Wildest Dreams" with the lyric, "In silent screams, in wildest dreams, I never dreamed of this". It is about the cycle of a relationship, with the underlying message of "if you love someone, set them free", and if it's meant to happen it will happen. After so much back and forth in this album, this again is kind of her moment of surrender and acceptance. The vocals are so layered and beautiful, with incredibly vivid lyricism that conveys the emotions so powerfully. "When you're young, you just run, but you come back to what you need" is such a moving line, especially in hindsight. In contrast, "You Are In Love", originally a deluxe track for the album, looks at love in a different light, as she sees the way her two friends love each other. It's really beautiful and captures the small daily moments that add up to mean so much. "You can hear it in the silence, you can feel it on the way home, you can see it with the lights out, you are in love, true love", she sings. "One night, he wakes, strange look on his face, pauses, then says, "You're my best friend" and you knew what it was, he is in love" is such a gorgeous and sincere lyric that I have always loved. One of the most beautiful lyrics she has ever written is, "You two are dancing in a snow globe 'round and 'round, and he keeps a picture of you in his office downtown, and you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars, and why I've spent my whole life trying to put it into words".
Between all of the big singles and beautiful love ballads, is a trio of songs that has always felt like the soul of 1989 to me. "All You Had To Do Was Stay", "I Wish You Would" and "How You Get The Girl" have always felt so connected in my mind thematically with yearning for her wildest daydreams to become a reality. It all feels straight out of a soundtrack for an 80's movie in the best way. The on-again-off-again relationship at the center of much of this album is told in every stage they went through in their time together. "All You Had To Do Was Stay" is a culmination of yearning and confusion she was experiencing in the aftermath. "You had me in the palm of your hand, why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?" she sings in the chorus. At her shows before she performs "Betty" from Folklore, she often says something along the lines of "I love to explain to men how to apologize," which is very much the category that these three songs fall under as well. "How You Get The Girl" is basically a step-by-step guide to that exact situation, as dramatic as your favorite rom-com.
"I Wish You Would" is one of my favorite moments from the album, this was the first song she worked on with Jack Antonoff and it really captures that signature nostalgic sound he is so well known for in his production. "I think, for this song, we wanted to create sort of a John Huges movie visual, with pining and, you know, one person is over here and misses the other person, but it's too prideful and won't say it, meanwhile, this other person is here and missing the same person, they're missing each other, but they are not saying it," Taylor told Yahoo! Live. "I had this happen in my life, and so I wanted to kind of narrate it in a very cinematic way, where it’s like, you're seeing two scenes play out, and then in the bridge, you’re seeing the final scene, where it resolves itself." It has a lot of back and forth in the storyline, with a tension that never quite gets the resolution the two characters were hoping for in the "crooked" love story depicted. I love the lyric, "I wish you would come back, wish I never hung up the phone like I did, I wish you knew that I'll never forget you as long as I live and I wish you were right here, right now, it's all good, I wish you would". I love the drama of it all, it is such a great song.
When thinking of some of the most important and impactful songs from 1989, one of the first that comes to mind is the final track of the standard album, "Clean". It is an all-time career highlight that Taylor wrote and produced with Imogen Heap, whose influence I feel is even more prominent on Taylor's Version of it. Out of every song she has re-recorded thus far, this is absolutely one of the best yet. The production and vocals are so layered and sound so ethereal. It is the perfect way to close the chapter on this album and all of the emotions that came along with it. It represents the end of a chapter, but also the start of a new one as well. "The rain came pouring down when I was drownin', that's when I could finally breathe, and by mornin' gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean", she sings. It is about overcoming all of the things that have once held you back, whether that is in regard to another person, an addiction, mental health struggles or all of the other ways you may be holding yourself back in your life. It is such a powerful message and one of Taylor's songs that I feel transcends the original intention of who it was written about and has taken on a new life and meaning.
The secret message of this song is a phrase that she centered the entire album around, "She lost him, but found herself, and somehow that was everything". That quote just feels so potent and beautifully describes all of the highs and lows depicted in this album. 1989 as a whole is about turning a hard situation into something so beautiful and meaningful that will be able to transcend place and time. It encapsulates all of the reasons why music is such a powerful medium.
In a similar way, I was also so moved by the final paragraph she wrote in the album's liner notes in 2014, "I hope you know that you've given me the courage to change. I hope you know that who you are is who you choose to be, and that whispers behind your back don't define you. You are the only person who gets to decide what you will be remembered for. From the girl who said she would never cut her hair or move to New York or find happiness in a world where she is not in love..."
For 1989 to have been this successful not once, but twice, is a testament to how incredible this entire album is and the long-lasting impact and relevance it holds in pop music. Getting to relive an album like this for the second time is such a wonderful and rare experience to be able to have. I know that I will be getting down to this sick beat forevermore!
Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! If you are interested in reading my other Taylor's Version reviews, click here or the links below. I have so many other Taylor Swift related articles linked below too, with many more to come, so be sure to check them out! 🩵
Photo Credit:
Taylor Swift, Taylor Nation, TAS Management and Beth Garrabrant
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