As a 1989 girl since its 2014 release, I may be a little biased when it comes to this extremely hot take. As someone who has patiently (and sometimes impatiently) waited for 1989 TV since Taylor Swift began announcing her re-recordings, hearing these vault tracks for the first time was a pretty cathartic experience. As I sat and listened to the entire album at midnight on October 27, 2023, I was transported back to my 4th-grade self, watching the “Blank Space” music video almost every day and buying the album on my iPad Mini. The vault tracks felt like stepping into a time machine that brought me right back to 2014, listening to the album all over again. So, while they might not be the collective fan-favorite vault tracks, here are some reasons why they are mine.
- “Slut!”
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With the album’s boldest title, “Slut!” is one of my favorite vault tracks released so far. While so many people thought it was going to be a rock song or “Vigilante Shit”-esque before its release, its soft drum line and synth rhythm surprised a lot of listeners. This story is so strong because it addresses the media scrutiny of her “man-hopping” lifestyle that she was subjected to for most of her career. This song definitely gave Midnights vibes, as do a lot of these vault tracks, but I think that this song was perfect for 1989 because it resonates strongly with what the media was saying about her in that era.
Favorite Lyrics: “Everyone wants him, that was my crime / The wrong place at the right time / And I break down, then he’s pulling me in / In a world of boys, he’s a gentleman.”
- “Say Don’t Go”
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My first reaction to this song was that it sounds like the more upbeat older sister of her other 1989 track,” Clean”, while the lyrics are more “All You Had To Do Was Stay.” This is a classic Taylor Swift track, with a chorus and bridge that you can scream in the car with your friends or alone. Additionally, this is one of her songs where her songwriting abilities shine. She is able to articulate her feelings into a song that her fans have experienced in the past, and it makes this song an instant break-up classic.
Favorite Lyrics: “Why’d you have to / Give me nothin’ back? / Why’d you have to / Make me love you? / I said “I love you” / You said nothin’ back.”
- “Now that we don’t talk”
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This is one song that highlights Taylor Swift’s genius writing and producing. It is the shortest song in her discography at two minutes and 26 seconds, which I think was done purposefully. In a song that expresses those weird “situationships” where there is never real closure, she perfectly encapsulates the confusion and emotion in this track. The abrupt ending of the song represents the abrupt ending of these relationships that so many people experience in their late teens and 20s which pulls it back to her 1989 era, when she was 25 years old.
Favorite Lyrics: “What do you tell your friends we / Shared dinners, long weekends with? / Truth is, I can’t pretend it’s / Platonic, it’s just ended.”
- “Suburban Legends”
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This song fits so well with the 1989 aesthetic, and I could just picture this track being on 1989 when it was originally released. It communicates a relationship in your 20s that could last forever or end in heartbreak. Her fantasy in the song that she and her lover would last so long that they would go to a class reunion together captures the seemingly simple thoughts and dreams that so many think of when they are in love. This is unapologetically my favorite vault track on 1989, and it has been on repeat since its release.
Favorite Lyrics: “Tick tock on the clock, I pace down your block / I broke my own heart ’cause you were too polite to do it / Waves crash to the shore, I dash to the door / You don’t knock anymore, and I always knew it.”
- “Is it Over Now?”
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I can definitely see why this track is a Swiftie-certified favorite, and I agree. This is an iconic track that would have broken the internet in 2014. Convincingly about her ex-boyfriend Harry Styles, based on some lyrics in the track, Taylor Swift did not have the fondest memories of him when she wrote this song. This track reintroduces the lack of closure that was addressed in “Now That We Don’t Talk,” but amps the situation up to 100 and leaves nothing unsaid. This was the perfect song to end the album with, claiming her ownership of 1989. As a Harry lover and a Swiftie, I am still waiting patiently for a collab, but this song is almost equally as iconic.
Favorite Lyrics: Let’s fast forward to 300 awkward blind dates later / If she’s got blue eyes, I will surmise that you’ll probably date her / You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor / You search in every model’s bed for something greater, baby.”
1989 is one of Taylor Swift’s most prized albums, where she defied all expectations that were put on her and succeeded immensely. The controversy that the vault tracks are too similar to Midnights is valid, but I have always seen Midnights as 1989‘s older, wiser sister. Having Midnights be released as I was entering my college years and having 1989 (Taylor’s Version) release as I am about to enter my 20s makes these two albums intertwine at a pivotal point in my life. This is why this album was so special to rehear, and why it was so magical to hear the vault tracks that perfectly close Taylor Swift’s 1989 era.