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Taylor Swift\'s \'1989 (Taylor\'s Version)\' poster
Taylor Swift\'s \'1989 (Taylor\'s Version)\' poster
Beth Garrabrant / Republic
Culture > Entertainment

Taylor Swift Teased Potential ‘1989’ Vault Song Lyrics & The Fan Theories Are Flying

Karly Ramnani

Just days before the arrival of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on Oct. 27, it looks like Taylor Swift just gave fans a glimpse into two of her vault tracks, but she’s not saying which ones quite yet. A couple of photos posted to her Instagram story contain lines written on white paper in what appears to be Swift’s handwriting, along with links to presave 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Swifties have already started coming up with countless theories about the lyrics and their context, and they all seem pretty convincing. 

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is the fourth album Swift’s re-recorded and is re-releasing in an effort to reclaim the rights to her masters. It will include the sixteen tracks released on the 2014 version of 1989, in addition to a “vault” of previously unheard songs that didn’t originally make the final cut of the album. Through a series of Google puzzles that quite literally broke the Internet, Swift revealed four vault track titles – “Is It Over Now,” “Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Suburban Legends,” and “Say Don’t Go” – on Sept. 19. That same day, she posted a video to social media hinting at the fifth vault track title, later confirmed to be “SL*T!”

As for the lyric in Swift’s Oct. 24 story, it reads,“Let’s fast forward to 300 takeout coffees later / I see your profile and your smile on unsuspecting waiters.” Most users on X (formerly known as Twitter) think the lyric is from the new track “Now That We Don’t Talk.” I can get behind this, as it seems to detail the time she spent with a love interest before they stopped talking. 

Others think the lyric could be from “SL*T!”, and is about Swift catching a love interest checking out another girl. “If this is from Slut, my bet is she gender-flips and the guy is her lover (past or present) with wandering eyes, and if he were a girl he’d be labeled a slut,” wrote one fan on Reddit. That would honestly be genius. 

However, as a Gilmore Girls stan, I have to say this is the most solid fan theory I’ve seen all day.

In a post shared to her story on Oct. 25, Swift teased a new set of lyrics that read “Aquamarine moonlit swimming pool / what if all I need is you.” Eagle-eyed fans noticed the kiss mark in the top right-hand corner of the picture and noted that these lyrics are written in glitter gel pen. Some Twitter users think this one might be from “Suburban Legends,” and I have to agree.

Aside from lyric theories, a few fans are pointing out the similarities between these lyric reveals and the rollout of 1989 back in 2014. Every day leading up to the album’s release, Swift  posted a picture of handwritten lyrics from each song to Instagram in a similar fashion. Since Taylor Nation retweeted one fan post about this parallel, it could be safe to assume that Swift’s intentionally recreating what she did nine years ago. 

In the original Aug. 9 announcement, Swift shared that she’s especially proud of this set of vault tracks, so it goes without saying that I’m seated. 

I can’t wait to see what Swift has up her sleeve with 1989 (Taylor Version), and I have no doubt that it’ll blow my mind. 

Karly Ramnani is a junior at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, studying music industry, with a strong passion for art and journalism. They discovered this amazing community shortly after starting college, and are super stoked to a national writer for Her Campus this semester. Karly worked with Her Campus in Fall 2022 as well, as the Entertainment & Culture Editorial Intern. Other outlets they've written for include All Country News, The Honey Pop, Medium, Newsbreak, and their own startup music blog Playlists & Polaroids. They currently serve as a campus ambassador for Amazon Prime Student and Tinder. When they're not writing blogposts and music reviews, you can find them composing and performing music, putting their nose in a rom-com book, binge watching "The Summer I Turned Pretty," or crying over Taylor Swift.