Why “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” Means So Much to Me

Valentine’s Day came early this year when Taylor Swift released the re-recorded version of her song “Love Story” on February 12th.

For Taylor Swift fans, this release marks the beginning of the long-awaited journey for Swift to once again own her music. After Scooter Braun bought the rights to the masters of Swift’s first six albums (an opportunity Swift herself was not given), she announced her plans to release re-recorded versions of all of her music, allowing her to own this new version of her work.

Along with the release of “Love Story (Taylor’s Version),”  Swift announced that the entirety of her second album, Fearless, will be released in all its re-recorded glory on April 9th. Along with the original songs from the album and the bonus tracks from the Platinum edition, Swift is also releasing six new songs, written at the time of Fearless’s creation. These songs were scrapped from the original version of the album, but, as Swift wrote on her Instagram, these additional songs will allow fans to “have the whole story, see the entire vivid picture, and let [us] into the entire dreamscape that is [her] fearless album.”

As a longtime fan of Taylor Swift, I couldn’t be happier to see her finally begin to own her music. “Love Story” was the song that caused me to become a fan in the first place, and it truly seems like a full-circle moment that it’s the first song she’s re-released. I love that she chose to add (Taylor’s Version) to the names of the new albums, highlighting the fact that this work is now forever and always hers.

The music video for “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” was filled with pictures and video clips of Taylor Swift and her fans way back in 2008, giving the song a new meaning: now it’s about us. The opening lyrics, “we were both young when I first saw you / I close my eyes and the flashback starts,” seem more fitting now than ever.

Some fans have been speculating as to why she would begin the process by releasing Fearless, her second album, before Taylor Swift, her self-titled debut. There’s been a lot of theories, but my personal favorite is that she’s actually planning to release Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) last, because, upon its release, she will finally own her own name.

I’m counting down the days until April 9th, and I can’t wait to see what Fearless (Taylor’s Version) has in store for us all.

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