No one is doing it like Taylor Swift. Her impact on the music industry is evident in the rising stars we see today, such as Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray, who are both self-proclaimed swifties. Her 15-year-long career is incredible, consisting of nine albums, 10 Grammys, multiple films and television appearances, five concert tours and countless other achievements. On top of dropping two surprise albums, Folklore and Evermore, Swift has spent 2020 gearing up for re-recording her first six albums.
In June of 2019, Swift announced to fans in a Tumblr post that her masters were sold by her previous label, even after she had expressed interest in being the one to make the purchase so that she could own all of her work. They would not allow it unless Taylor exchanged a new album for each of her old ones. That’s when she decided to leave and signed to Universal Music Group in November of 2018. Swift wrote in the post “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.” The person who purchased those masters, Scooter Braun, was someone Swift had a rocky history with and was crushed to find out he now owned her masters. When Taylor appeared on Good Morning America in August of 2019 (which I was lucky enough to attend!) she announced that she would be able to re-record her first 6 albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation, and would therefore be the owner of those re-recorded albums.
The wait since then has been long, and this past November marked when Taylor could start re-recording the first five albums, with Reputation eligible for re-recording in November of 2022. Fans have been anxiously waiting for any clues of the re-recording process and speculating how the songs will sound since some were country songs recorded almost 15 years ago. Will she change any of the lyrics? Will she re-shoot the album cover? Will the same artists be featured on songs they were previously?
Some of those questions were finally answered on Thursday, February 11th, when Taylor appeared on Good Morning America once again to announce that her re-recording of her 2008 album was completed, and that “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” would be released that night. In her Instagram post announcement about the album, she wrote “it’s called fearless (Taylor’s version) and it includes 26 songs”, which includes six unreleased songs that didn’t make the cut of the 2008 version. Fans also know Taylor all too well to not notice the hidden message she included in the statement, which spells out “APRIL NINTH”, leading many to believe that Fearless (Taylor’s Version) will be released on April 9th.
“Love Story” is a song that holds special meaning for Taylor and fans alike, as the 2008 hit was one that launched Swift into the spotlight and introduced her to many fans. The fact that now Taylor has re-recorded makes fans proud that she has overcome this obstacle and now owns the rights to “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)”. I have been a huge Taylor Swift fan for 14 years now, and with Fearless being one of my top favorites of hers, I can’t wait to hear the new version. I’m so happy the re-recording will be released soon, and many young girls can grow up with this album just like I did.