Taylor Swift (Daniel’s Version)

Do you like Taylor Swift? I don’t know if I would say that I do. On one hand, she has won numerous awards, reached the top ten on 30 separate occasions, and has the most charted songs in the U.S. out of any other female artist. But I feel like Drake releases the same four songs every year and I’m meant to kiss his feet for letting me hear another dick-swinging track. No thanks. I don’t think it is a question of would I say I’m a Swifty, but can I?

Simply put, I don’t listen to her often. When I was younger, I would certainly find myself tapping my foot to Shake It Off as my mum picked me up from yet another winter bowling birthday party, but as I connect my phone to my Bluetooth-friendly car, I rarely listen to the prodigious pop queen. I rarely bowl anymore. I’m not a particular fan of communal shoes, especially when they are ‘cleaned’ by a teenager who thinks dowsing themselves in Lynx Africa means they don’t need to shower.

I want to listen to her more. I don’t know where to start. As I skim her many albums, various hits jump out. Blank Space, We Are Never Getting Back Together, Love Story, I can’t help but gravitate towards the songs I know, skipping over the ones I don’t. It’s unfair, so many songs never make it into an artist’s canonical pantheon of hits, but I just feel so tempted to return to my nostalgia. Why would I change my musical routine if I get to wear out my favourite songs over and over again?

Because there is more to see, more to like, more to not; so many songs that I may have missed back when my musical knowledge was capped by my limited angsty-teen brain. Thankfully (for me), I don’t need to figure out where to begin.

Unthankfully (for her), Taylor doesn’t own any of the master recordings of any of her songs from any of her albums released before 2019’s Lover. Why? The story is long, but the essentials are: Kanye owns the songs (yes, the egotistical bully who interrupted Swift as she received a career-defining award, and then made a song saying he made her famous because of it) so now she is re-recording her old songs.

Each song and album annotated as Taylor’s Version, she has begun to re-release her old records starting with Fearless, Red following shortly after and 1989 on the horizon. The albums include all the original songs, bonus tracks off the deluxe/platinum editions, dusty tracks from the vault, and any alt-versions. This isn’t just a new coat of the same paint – each album has been reimagined, modernised with fresh album arts and music videos reflecting Taylor’s more mature tone with most of the songs staying relatively the same except for richer sounding vocals (albeit minimal as Swift has always had a high-level of production).

I haven’t listened to most of the bonus tracks as I tend to like the original and leaner product, but there is one alternate track that has caught many ears. All Too Well, originally released in 2012 on Red, follows one of Taylor’s infamous breakups. Red (Taylor’s Version) features the original song alongside a ten-minute version which, according to Swift herself, was the original length of the song before being cut down.

The song explores her relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal, from beginning to breakup. Many of Taylor’s songs focus on her personal relationships, but All Too Well is special. Where the original sounded bittersweet about their several months together, the juicer counterpart feels angrier, a lot more bitter than sweet. This newer version captures a duality, the oxymoronic nostalgia of a young-love relationship. There is a happiness hidden away amongst the murky memories, but they keep getting clogged up by the annoying realities that just won't be forgotten.

When Swift and Gyllenhaal dated, they were 20 and 29 respectively. I’m 21 and would feel very weird in that kind of a relationship. How can I function in a relationship with such a clear power dynamic? What do I say when I can’t pay for dinner again because I’m a broke student and they have had a career for half a decade? Admittedly, Taylor was a smidge wealthier than a normal undergraduate, so I guess that wasn’t a problem.

Although he is never named in the song and their ages are never mentioned (though she does reference that there was a gap), All Too Well’s accompanying music video/short film casts Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) and Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) as the doomed couple. Sink is 19 and O’Brien is 30. The effect is startling. He looks like a grown man grooming an awed child, especially considering her role in the Netflix thriller is that of a kid. It oddly feels like a conscious version of Call Me By Your Name. I know many people love the coming-of-age film, but I can’t get past the element of paedophilia, especially considering the author’s outspoken comments regarding his feelings towards 14-year-olds and the fact that Armie Hammer looks like Chalamet’s father.

I should like Taylor Swift. She does everything I like. Her art doesn’t end with her music but extends into her image. She doesn’t seem to stay in one place too long, trying out different genres as she discovers her own tastes. She isn’t afraid to be personal, to be explanatory without being overt. She takes a stand when she needs to, relying on her fans to follow her as she asks them to listen to her new versions. Not only are they following her – her top Spotify songs are exclusively re-recordings – but she is also picking up new ones along the way. I’ll see you in 1989.