Taylor’s version – what does it mean?

“It fills me with such pride and joy to announce that my version of Speak now will be out July 7” Taylor Swift posted to her Instagram. While many avid Taylor Swift fans will know what this means, other people who aren’t such devoted Swifties are left in the dark. 

Following the recent announcement and release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s version)”, lots of people are unsure as to why Taylor Swift is re-releasing her old albums and labelling them as Taylor’s version. In April of 2021, Taylor Swift began releasing her rerecorded music, when she dropped “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”, which was a new take on her 2008 album: Fearless. 

Prior to the release of Fearless (Taylor’s version), Taylor said in a blog post “For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead, I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music, I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums.”. 

Like many artists, Swift does not own the master tapes to those old recordings, so Taylor’s version is her way to take back control over her early music. Taylor urges her fans to listen to the Taylor’s version of their favourite albums and songs if they are available. By doing this, her fans are directly supporting her, rather than letting other people make money from her old music.

During her Friday night May 5 Eras Tour show in Nashville, Taylor Swift announced that her third rerecorded album – Speak Now Taylor’s Version – would be released on July 7. The songs in Speak now (Taylor’s version) include:

• Enchanted (Taylor’s version)
• Mean (Taylor’s version)
• Speak now (Taylor’s version)
• Dear john (Taylor’s version)
• Better than revenge (Taylor’s version)
• Last Kiss (Taylor’s version)

Following her success on her US era’s tour, she will head to Mexico City for four shows before stopping in Buenos Aires, Argentina and both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil in November. 

She is then coming to the UK and Europe. Performing in 2024 in Wembley Stadium, Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Anfield Stadium in Liverpool and The Principality Stadium in Cardiff before heading into countries in Europe including France, Italy, Germany and Sweden. Lots of Portuguese Swifties are also in luck as the Era’s tour has repeatedly sold-out stadiums with an average ticket price of just over $250.

The UK’s official charts say, “Taylor Swift is blowing away the competition, en route to her tenth consecutive UK number 1 album” they also go on to say that “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the re-recording of Taylor’s critically acclaimed 2010 third LP Speak Now, is currently outselling the rest of the Top Ten combined, already pulling in an astounding 48,000 chart units over the weekend”. We urge anyone listening to Speak Now – passionate Swifties or not – to listen to Taylor’s version and support Taylor directly. 

Sophie Yr9 

Boston High School Newsroom