Following the announcement that Taylor Swift has officially purchased the master recordings of her first six albums, a pursuit widely publicized since 2019, her journey to reclaim her music has reached a defining milestone. This moment, along with the path she took to get here, marks a significant turning point in Taylor's career.
She has been very vocal about re-recording her first six albums as a way to reclaim ownership of her early work after the rights to the original master recordings were sold by Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta to Scooter Braun and his company, Ithica Holdings in 2019 for $300 million. In a 2019 letter, Taylor says she was never given the option to buy the rights back to her albums, and the masters being sold to Scooter Braun was her "worst case scenario". She continued by saying, "This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term 'loyalty' is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says 'Music has value', he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it." In 2020, the masters were sold again to Shamrock Holdings without her knowledge. She ended her letter by saying, "Thankfully, I am now signed to a label that believes I should own anything I create. Thankfully, I left my past in Scott's hands and not my future. And hopefully, young artists or kids with musical dreams will read this and learn about how to better protect themselves in a negotiation. You deserve to own the art you make."
Around this time, she revealed her intention to re-record these albums in their entirety, ensuring that she would own her work outright. Even though she didn't own the rights to the original master recordings at the time, she did always have ownership of all of the lyrics and melodies because she wrote them all. She was eligible to begin re-recording in 2020 and released Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) the following year. In 2023, she also released Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version). One of her most ambitious projects yet ended up completely changing the trajectory of her career and legacy as an artist going forward. It also sparked an interesting conversation in the music industry surrounding transparency in recording contracts and the value of owning the work you create.
For the past four years, Taylor has meticulously re-recorded much of her earliest work, breathing new life into the songs while highlighting the artistry and influence that have defined her enduring impact on the music industry since her 2006 debut. As a fan, the Taylor's Version re-recording journey has been really such a special way to revisit the music that shaped so much of my life and get to hear it for the first time all over again. It really was such a celebration for everyone that has both grown up with this music and been impacted by it in a significant way.
One of the most exciting aspects of these re-recordings has been the inclusion of the new songs "From The Vault", which are tracks that were written during the original album eras but never officially released until now. These songs often provided deeper insight into those periods of her life, adding even more context to the creative choices she made across those original records.
Since these songs had never been heard before, Taylor had the opportunity to rework their production, bringing them closer to her current sound. On most of these tracks, she collaborated with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, two producers who have played pivotal roles in her musical evolution since 2013 and 2020, respectively. Several featured artists also appeared throughout these bonus tracks, many of whom had a significant presence in her life during the creation of the original albums, whether as friends, musical influences, or collaborations that didn't make the cut the first time around. Often these songs even featured foreshadowing to certain lyrical themes or phrases that she would eventually rework into other songs with future releases.
Alongside the announcement of Taylor purchasing the rights to her early work, she also gave an update about what will happen with the two remaining albums that were yet to be re-recorded; her self-titled debut album and Reputation. Taylor did say that the re-recorded version of her debut album is finished and will likely eventually be released, but Reputation (Taylor's Version) is never going to be released in it's entirety, although some of the tracks cut from the original album may eventually be released one day. "The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life and i kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it," Taylor wrote in her announcement letter in May 2025. "All that defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposely misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief. To be perfectly honest, it's the one album in those first sic that I thought couldn't be improved upon by redoing it."
She continued, "These two albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about. But if it happens, it won't be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now."
Hearing Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) for the first time will always be one of my favorite listening experiences ever. To be able to relive those albums through a new lens of maturity is proof that time really can heal most anything and you just might find who you're supposed to be. Those specific releases felt closest to what her initial intentions with the re-recordings were. Not only did it feel like a celebration of the original eras, they were also mostly genuine improvements as well. As much as I loved the overall Taylor's Version journey and the experience of getting to relive those eras again, there was also this impossible standard to reach with inevitable comparisons to the original albums. I don't think any other contemporary artist could have pulled off a project like this as well as Taylor has, reintroducing her music with a sense of purpose while still honoring the original magic.
It was almost an impossible feat from the start to try to fully re-capture the lightning-in-a-bottle moments that those six records embodied at the time they were made. Each album was shaped by deeply specific times in Taylor's life, with emotions being pertinent and current to what she was actually going through in the moment.
With that being said, it was interesting to hear Taylor essentially say that herself regarding the status of Reputation (Taylor's Version), which echoed my own thoughts on the project as well. The courage and conviction it took to write some of these songs in the first place is something that can't be easily recreated. That album was created under such specific circumstances that you truly just had to be there for to really grasp the significance of. It just didn't really feel necessary to revisit that album, as the power of the original still stands just as strong as it did in 2017. I felt the same about 1989 too, as it didn't need to be improved in any way either, so the only place to go was either on par or less than the quality of the original. Thankfully 1989 (Taylor's Version) was overall a close match to the original, which is all I could have hoped for with that release.
While an album like Speak Now (Taylor's Version) had strong moments, it didn't quite fully capture the magic that made it so special when it was first released in 2010. The original remains one of the most formative albums of my life, so I'm naturally biased toward it to begin with - but I think there was a natural disconnect in her performances overall. That is to be expected though, as I can imagine a woman in her 30's doesn't necessarily carry the same passion and angst for songs written about the trials and tribulations of being nineteen, when she is now so far removed from it. In contrast, I always knew that Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version) had the potential to be the best re-recording of them all because there is the most room for improvement, just based on how far she has come vocally since that time. Especially now it really comes back around to the meaning of the Taylor's Version project in the first place.
I've been planning to do a definitive ranking of these vault tracks ever since Taylor began these re-recordings, keeping a mental checklist of all the songs along the way. Even though there's always the possibility of more vault tracks surfacing in the future, now that the re-recordings have seemingly reached a natural conclusion now that she owns all of her work, these core selections are the most representative of the original mission behind the project as a whole. So many of these are true gems in her discography, if nothing else, the top ten of this list really makes the efforts behind remaking these four albums all worth it. These songs are a testament to her artistry, resilience, and unwavering dedication to her craft.
"Timeless" is about Taylor going into an antique shop and imagining the love stories between couples in old photographs. She compares it to her own hopes of having a timeless love that transcends the ages, as if it is straight from a Nicholas Sparks love story. It also feels like such a flashback to so much of the classic country music Taylor made throughout her early releases, with songs like "Mine", "Ours" and even as early as her first album with "Mary's Song (Oh My My My)". About halfway through, it does start to sound a bit clunky lyrically and goes a little long, but is a creative concept overall.
favorite lyric: "That's when I came upon a book covered in cobwebs, story of a romance torn apart by fate, hundreds of years ago, they fell in love, like we did and I'd die for you in the same way if I first saw your face".
"Electric Touch" is one that I have always been very torn about my stance on. In regard to Taylor, she sounds incredible and lyrically it's a great song too. The production is crisp and modern from Aaron Dessner, while still feeling reminiscent of songs like "Haunted" or "Story of Us" and fits with the rest of Speak Now. I just know that I would have a much different opinion on this song if it was just Taylor solo. However, in regard to the Fall Out Boy feature, I honestly couldn't hate it more. Maybe it's because I don't necessarily have any kind of nostalgia for the band, but the vocal mixing on Patrick Stump's voice doesn't match the rest of the song at all and it ends up pulling me out of the emotional arc that Taylor introduces in the first half. I understand her sentiment behind having them feature on this song, as the vault songs seem like an ode to the artists that inspired her in 2010 during the creation of the original Speak Now. However, it is just such a bad fit for a feature on this track. favorite lyric: "Still hoping that the fire won't burn me just one time, just one time"
"Foolish One" is a cute track that paints Taylor as a hopeless romantic waiting at her mailbox for love letters that never arrive. It's overall a fun and simple song that sounds as if it was ripped from the pages of her diary as a teenager.
favorite lyric: "Foolish one, the day is gonna come for your confessions of love, when all is said and done, he just wasn't the one"
"Better Man" is one of two songs featured on Red (Taylor's Version) that didn't make the original 2012 cut, but were instead recorded and released by other artists later. Though Little Big Town's 2016 version is a great song in its own right, Taylor's raw and intimate performance feels especially true to the emotional core that runs through the rest of the album.
favorite lyric: "I know the bravest thing I ever did was run"
There are a lot of sonic parallels between the tracks Taylor and Jack Antonoff worked on for Midnights and the vault tracks from 1989 (Taylor's Version). While "Suburban Legends" sounds very similar to a song like "Mastermind", I think it actually fits it really well and keeps her early work distinct from her newest material, while also blurring the lines between all of the eras. With that being said, it is one of the least memorable vault songs from that album, partially because some of the others are among the greatest she has ever released.
favorite lyric: "You kissed me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever"
"We Were Happy" is a quietly emotional reflection of a love that once felt perfect, and mourning a future together that will no longer happen. It's bittersweet and nostalgic, with backing vocals from Keith Urban that add so much warmth to the track.
favorite lyric: "We used to walk along the streets, when the porch lights were shinin' bright, before I had somewhere to be"
"I Bet You Think About Me" is such a fun and sarcastic return to Taylor's country roots. It reminds me a lot of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" with her delivery and playful energy that Chris Stapleton helps elevate even further.
favorite lyric: "But now that we're done and it's over, I bet it's hard to believe, but it turned out I'm harder to forget than I was to leave and yeah, I bet you think about me"
"Don't You" is such a sweet and delicate country ballad, paired with Jack Antonoff's signature synth production. The blend of acoustic and modern electronic elements gives this song such a dreamy quality that has always stood out.
favorite lyric: "Sometimes, I really wish that I could hate you, I've tried, but that's just somethin' I can't do"
"Bye Bye Baby" is such a heartbreaking breakup song, capturing the emotional nuance that made Taylor's early songwriting stand out. It is understated and emotional, reflecting the tone of some of the other great Fearless deep cuts.
favorite lyric: "You're all I want, but it's not enough this time and all the pages are just slipping through my hands and I'm so scared of how this ends"
"Babe" is the other song from the original Red era sessions that didn't make the cut for the original album, but went on to find new life with Sugarland in 2018. While she initially performed backing vocals on their track, Taylor's solo version brings such a sharp edge to the song and fits seamlessly into the rest of the Red narrative.
favorite lyric: "I break down every time you call, we're a wreck, you're the wrecking ball"
"Say Don't Go" is another 1989 vault track that feels so Midnights to me, but I also love the way it has the nostalgia and dreaminess of a Bleachers song too. From the start, I have always loved the way she and her collaborators give these songs From The Vault a new life with updated, modern production.
favorite lyric: "Why'd you whisper in the dark, just to leave me in the night? Now your silence has me screamin', screamin'"
"When Emma Falls In Love" sounds very reminiscent of Train's "Drops of Jupiter", which is fitting since she used to cover that song on the Speak Now Tour. It's a very cute song about her friend, presumably Emma Stone, who she views as this larger-than-life figure that is so cool and everything Taylor wishes she could be. The chorus is so sweet and I love how true it feels to who she was at that time in her life. favorite lyric: "Yeah, between me and you, sometimes I wish I was her"
"Message in a Bottle" was the very first song Taylor ever wrote with Max Martin and Shellback, which went on to be the start of one of her most successful creative partnerships. Written a decade earlier during the original Red sessions, the song finally was given new life on Red (Taylor's Version) with ELVIRA's vibrant electronic production. It's sonically so different from the rest of the album, but serves as a fun and lighthearted moment that clearly foreshadows the full-pop aesthetics she would go on to explore deeper in later releases.
favorite lyric: "'Cause you could be the one that I love, I could be the one that you dream of, message in a bottle is all I can do, standin' here, hopin' it gets to you"
When finalizing the original 1989 track list, Taylor revealed that it was between "Slut!" or "Blank Space" to make the final cut. That's so crazy to think that if it was reversed, we would've gone nine years without "Blank Space"! That is one of the greatest songs she has ever made, one that continues to be one of the biggest highlights of her career to this day. The message of "Slut!" and "Blank Space" is very similar, with her just owning the negative characterization projected onto her and turning it into something positive, or at least profitable. I have to imagine that "Slut!" originally had a very different sound than the mid-tempo dream pop track we have today, and I would love to be able to hear the very first version of it. Following the release of 1989 (Taylor's Version) in 2023, there have been unconfirmed rumors surrounding the possibility that "Slut!" was originally intended to be a collaboration with The 1975, but for obvious reasons it was scrapped and Taylor released the solo version instead. If this were to have been a collaboration, as originally planned, I could've seen "Slut!" easily making the top five of my ranking. But this is why we can't have nice things, right?
favorite lyric: "And if they call me a slut, you know it might be worth it for once"
"That's When" feels like a full-circle moment for the release of Fearless (Taylor's Version). Taylor was the opening act on Keith Urban's tour during the Fearless era back in 2009 - now over a decade later this is such a meaningful reunion. Their voices blend effortlessly and the chorus is so catchy, it is absolutely one of the best unreleased songs from this album.
favorite lyric: "And you watched me go and I knew my words were hard to hear and harder to ever take back"
Hayley is such an incredible vocalist and I have always wanted her and Taylor to collaborate. A major portion of Speak Now was inspired by Paramore's music at the time, so this collaboration feels so natural for them, both as artists and longtime friends. The song details Taylor feeling like she has fallen from grace in the public eye and looking back at how she "once had an empire". It feels reminiscent of the themes within "Nothing New", having intense feelings of self-doubt and feeling as if those that once built you up so high are on the verge of knocking you down to the ground again. It truly gives so much insight to her mindset at the time of her writing this album and opens up a side of her that wasn't really shown on the standard tracks of Speak Now.
favorite lyric: "People look at me like I'm a monster, now they're screamin' at the palace front gates, used to chant my name, now they're screaming that they hate me, never wanted you to hate me"
The very first song released From The Vault was the beautiful "You All Over Me" featuring Maren Morris, which went on to set the tone for the rest of the unreleased tracks to come. It feels very close sonically to the sounds she and Aaron Dessner explored throughout folklore and evermore, particularly songs like "peace" and "betty" share much of the same mellow, understated production elements. Maren has a subtle contribution to the song with backing vocals, but her tone compliments the song so beautifully. "You All Over Me" feels so reflective and has such an innate warmth that makes it stand out as one of the very best of the Taylor's Version project.
favorite lyric: "But no amount of freedom gets you clean, I've still got you all over me"
I still can't believe "Mr. Perfectly Fine" was in the vault for 13 years! In a 2021 Amazon promotion, Taylor shared her thoughts on this song; "It was definitely an early indicator of me sort of creeping towards a pop sensibility. I’ve always listened to every type of music and even though Fearless is a country album, there were always these pop melodies creeping in." If this song was released on the original version of the album, I definitely could've seen it being one of the big memorable hits from Fearless - I can only imagine what other musical gems she hasn't released yet!
favorite lyric: "Hello, Mr. 'Casually cruel', Mr. 'Everything revolves around you', I've been Miss Misery since your goodbye and you're Mr. 'Perfectly fine'"
The week Taylor and Ed met in 2012 they wrote two beautiful songs together - the classic "Everything Has Changed" and the previously unreleased "Run". Getting to finally hear the other song they made together in the earliest days of their friendship is so special. "Run" is a song that just feels so comforting and nostalgic, as if it was already a part of the original track list years ago. Ed was a relatively new artist at the time Red was released in 2012, and it's amazing to think of how far they have both come since that time. Since then, they have written so many incredible songs together throughout their long-lasting friendship.
favorite lyric: "And the note from the locket, you keep it in your pocket, since I gave it to you, there's a heart on your sleeve, I'll take it when I leave and hold it for you"
"The Very First Night" is such a glittering burst of energy, it radiates so much nostalgia and whimsy in a way that instantly reminds me of some of my other favorite deep cut tracks from Red like "Holy Ground" or "Starlight". It captures the same kind of sweet romanticism that has always defined the heart of Red to me.
favorite lyric: "I wish I could fly, I'd pick you up and we'd go back in time, I'd write this in the sky, I miss you like it was the very first night"
"Forever Winter" is one of the most special and emotional moments from the Red (Taylor's Version) vault. The way Taylor captures the weight of mental health struggles and emotional isolation is just so devastating. The unconditional love and empathy that shines through is such a beautiful symbol of friendship and her ability to bring light to the darkest moments.
favorite lyric: "Too young to know it gets better, I'll be summer sun for you forever, forever winter if you go"
One of the best songs released From The Vault is "I Can See You", which served as the lead single of Speak Now (Taylor's Version). It is such a fun and flirty song, which was produced by Jack Antonoff and features all of Bleachers on the instrumentals. I always love the music she and Jack make together and I am so curious to hear how different this song was intended to sound back in 2010, because it is completely transformed now. Sonically, it is so different than anything they have ever made together before. The melody and guitar riff are both so infectious.
favorite lyric: "You won't believe half the things I see inside my head, wait 'til you see half the things that haven’t happened yet"
"Now That We Don't Talk" is absolutely one of my favorite songs Taylor has ever made, I have been so obsessed with it ever since I first heard it. It's also the shortest song she's ever made, but it packs so much of a punch in the short two-and-a-half-minute run-time. It really proves how strong she is as a songwriter to be able to make a two-minute song or a ten-minute song, and both are captivating and lyrically vivid in their own ways with so much depth. She really goes all in on "Now That We Don't Talk", not holding back at all and has the best delivery back it up. Taylor is so detailed in describing the moment in which she saw someone she once loved at a party and all of the memories and emotions that came flooding back along with it, but also realizing that she's better off without them.
favorite lyrics: "You grew your hair long, you got new icons 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" // "I don't have to pretend I like acid rock, or that I'd like to be on a mega yacht with important men who think important thoughts, guess maybe I am better off now that we don't talk"
Another instant classic from 1989 (Taylor's Version) is the very final track, aptly titled "Is It Over Now?". It details the ups and downs she experienced at this time in her life as she wonders if her relationship is really done. It is so catchy, brutally honest and fits so well with the rest of the album. It draws many parallels to songs like "Style", "Out Of The Woods", and "I Wish You Would" - three of my favorites from the original track list. it actually feels like an alternate version of "Out Of The Woods", recalling many of the same specific memories of their time together. I can see why this song wasn't included on the original at the time for that reason, but it's great we are able to get the full picture all these years later. She is just so honest on this song, I was blown away by the level of specificity and unfiltered thoughts that she included on it. Hearing these lyrics now almost ten years removed is so iconic to look back on. It was the absolutely best song to end 1989 (Taylor's Version) with.
favorite lyrics: "Let's fast forward to three hundred takeout coffees later, I see your profile and your smile on unsuspecting waiters" // "If she's got blue eyes, I will surmise that you'll probably date her, you dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor, you search in every model's bed for somethin' greater, baby"
If Taylor's song "22" is all about embracing the fun aspects of this age and being "happy, free, confused and lonely in the best way", then "Nothing New" is the complete opposite. Taylor talks so candidly about her struggles with growing up and also with accepting the fact that she is nothing new anymore in the context of her fame. The line, "how can a person know everything at 18 and nothing at 22?" is such an incredible lyric and one that I think many young adults can relate to, especially from the female perspective. I cried the first few times I listened to it because of how deeply I connected with the message, it also felt very pertinent at the time because I had just turned 22 myself and all of it felt very relevant for my life at the time. Very few songs have been able to connect with me in such a deep way like this before, the only others I can think of off the top of my head are "Ribs" and "Liability" by Lorde as well as "mirrorball" and "The Archer" by Taylor. It takes such a talented songwriter to be able to express these emotions and shared experiences into words. Phoebe and Taylor remind me a lot of each other in that they can perfectly put complex emotions into words in such an eloquent and unique way through their music. I love the way they go back and forth on the bridge, with some of the most evocative and emotional lyrics of the entire album. They are two of my all time favorite lyricists for this very reason.
favorite lyric: "And I wake up in the middle of the night, it's like I can feel time movin', how can a person know everything at eighteen, but nothing at twenty-two?" // "I know someday I'm gonna meet her, it's a fever dream, the kind of radiance you only have at seventeen, she'll know the way and then she'll say she got the map from me"
Undoubtedly the defining song of Taylor's entire career is the masterpiece, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)". I thought that the 10 minute version would be sort of a novelty of a song that I would listen to a few times and go back to only listening to the standard version of it, but that wasn't the case at all. It's as if she managed to thread every emotion explored throughout the record into one sweeping, cinematic piece. It gives such a deeper insight into this album in it's entirety, every single lyric and choice she made on the initial release of this album completely makes sense now. There are so many lyrics where my jaw literally dropped as I first listened to them and just as I thought the song was over, there was still three minutes left. I have heard it countless times now and am still blown away by the magic of this song.
It is very different from the original, the instrumental is very mellow and soft in the classic Jack Antonoff style of production, which I think actually suits the song much better. They have collaborated on dozens of some of the greatest pop songs to ever exist, but "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" will forever stand out as one of the biggest highlights of their prolific collaborations. Lyrically she is much more bitter and angry at the person she is singing about and even herself to an extent, compared to her perspective of the original portraying her looking back sadly at the situation. At some points it's as if she is ranting in a stream of consciousness because some of the lyrics are so personal in a way she has never opened up about before.
In her interview on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Taylor went more in depth about how this song came to be, "I showed up for rehearsals for the Speak Now World Tour, and I was really upset and sad, and everybody could tell – it was like really not fun to be around me that day. And so I started playing guitar and just kind of playing the same four chords over and over again, and the band sort of joined in, and I started ad-libbing what I was going through and what I was feeling, and it went on. The song kept building and building and building in intensity, and the song just went on for about, you know, 10 to 15 minutes of us doing this." The song had to be cut down to around 5 minutes (which is still fairly long), because it isn't very common for someone to release a song of that length, especially in 2012 before the rise in streaming, when radio and CD sales were the most common forms of consuming music. For years, fans have begged for her to release the full version of the song and the timing was perfect for it to finally come out as the final track of Red (Taylor's Version). When the original Red was released, "All Too Well" was never a single, or had a music video, or played on the radio - it was purely the fans that made this song into the classic it is today. I love that it is finally got the treatment it deserves with this release and multiple alternate versions, a short film, live performances and more. It is so deserving all of the hype it gets and was well worth the wait.
favorite lyric: "Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it, I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still tryin' to find it" // "And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue? Just between us, did the love affair maim you too?"
Thanks for reading! I have written in-depth about all four of the Taylor's Version releases, along with the rest of Taylor Swift's albums - all of which are linked below and more coming soon!
Photo Credit: Taylor Swift
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