Was it not just yesterday that we were blasting “We Are Never Getting Back Together” out of our car windows or jamming out to “I Knew You Were Trouble”? Actually that was way back in 2012, the last time Taylor Swift released an album.
Now the wait is finally over! On Oct. 27, Taylor Swift is dropping her fifth studio album titled 1989. The singer calls this her first “blatant pop music” album, officially omitting any country tracks from the record. Taylor already debuted her first single and music video from 1989 titled “Shake it Off”, an upbeat and empowering tune we can all relate too.
Before her album drops in a few weeks, here are some surprising 1989 facts!
1. “Shake it Off”, Taylor’s first single and music video from the album, was a super high-security video shoot! According to Taylor’s Rolling Stone interview, the shoot occurred at a secret sound stage in Van Nuys, California. It was allegedly so top secret that security guards were positioned at every door and the windows had to be blacked out. With her success, Taylor and her management have good reason to be worried about leaks.
2. There are no “boy-bashing” songs on the album! Really! Long-gone are the days of subtle name-dropping about exs, as Rolling Stone describes the album as “wistful and nostalgic, not finger-pointy or score-settling.” Swift also told the magazine, “Different phases of your life have different levels of deep, traumatizing heartbreak. In this period of my life, my heart was not irreparably broken. So it’s not as boy-centric of an album, because my life hasn’t been boy-centric.”
3. Even if Taylor claims there is no shade thrown at boys in her new album, there is a song about another popular female artist who Taylor alleges attempted to sabotage her Red tour. Rumor has it, “Bad Blood” is about fellow artist Katy Perry, who last year hired out several of Taylor’s dancers onto her own tour. To add fuel to the fire, Katy and Taylor both dated singer John Mayer. After Taylor’s Rolling Stone interview was released, Perry subsequently tweeted a salty “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing…”, more or less confirming the rumors.
4. There are 13 songs on the album, plus bonus tracks! However, Taylor is so afraid of wiretaps that she won’t play them for anyone without earphones.
5. Although Taylor says she isn’t bashing any boys on the album, three of the 13 songs happen to be about former flame and One Direction member Harry Styles. “I Wish You Would” is supposedly about an ex who purchased a house two blocks from hers, while “All You Had to Do Was Stay” is about a boy with commitment issues. The not-so-subtlety titled “Style” is described as a “Miami Vice sounding throwback.”
6. 1989 is not only Taylor’s birth year, but one of the years in music she looked to for inspiration. Some of the Eighties pop acts she says influenced her album include Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and “Like a Prayer”-era Madonna. These artists are sure to have inspired some great tracks on 1989.