Over the years she’s been in the industry, Taylor Swift has released 11 albums and many more EPs. I’ve been a fan of Taylor’s music for as long as I can remember.
The first album I memorized was one of her albums in 2010. I was five and my stepsister was 16 and she constantly played Taylor in her bedroom while she did my hair every morning before school, so Taylor’s music was ingrained in my brain for most of my life. I think the first song off of Taylor’s album ‘Speak Now’ that I had memorized was Enchanted.
Swift has been re-recording her first six studio albums after the rights to her music were sold from under her. Speak Now(Taylor’s Version) is the the third album she’s rerecorded. While the announcements for the first two re-recordings were special, this album’s announcement easily tops them all. Swift, a Nashville native played Nissan stadium for 3 consecutive nights in May. During the show on the first night leading into the surprise song section of the show, Swift announced that Speak Now Taylor’s Version would be available on July 7th. The re-recorded album is six tracks longer than the original making the new number of tracks 22.The re-recorded version is around 37 minutes longer making it 104 minutes in length.
Mine
The first track is definitely not one of my favorites from the album. The song was written about one of Taylor’s ex boyfriends, it remains unclear who the song may be about. While I’m not the biggest fan of the song my favorite lyric from this song would have to be. “You learn my secrets and you figure out why I’m guarded. You say we’ll never make my parents’ mistakes.” This song would probably get a 5 out of 10 from me.
Sparks Fly
This song is rumored to be about singer Jake Owen who Taylor opened for in 2006. While Swift has never denied nor confirmed it, some fans still believe it to be about him. This track like it’s preceding one is not one of my favorites off the album. My favorite lyric would probably be, “The way you move is like a full on rainstorm and I’m a house of cards.” If I had to give this song a ranking it would be 5 out of 10.
Back To December
This song is about actor Taylor Lautner, who dated Swift briefly in 2009. The song touches on regretting ending a relationship after you’ve already done it but accepting that it’s over. This is one of my favorite songs by Taylor, however it’s not one of my favorites from this album. My favorite lyric from this song is, “It turns out freedom ain’t nothin’ but missin’ you.” I would give this song a 7 out of 10.
Speak Now
This song was written because of one of Taylor’s friends. She had been in love with this boy since they were kids and he was getting married to another girl. I don’t really care for this song at all. If I had to pick a lyric I like the most it would be, “Horrified looks from everyone in the room, but I’m only looking at you.” I would give this song a 3 out of 10.
Dear John
This song is about John Mayer, who was 32 while he was romantically involved with 19 year old Swift. Swift saw releasing this song as writing an email you never send but this time actually clicking send. This is probably my favorite song that was from the original album. My favorite lyric from this song would have to be, “Wondering which version of you I might get on the phone tonight. Well, stopped picking up and this song is to let you know why.” I would give this song a 9 out of 10.
Mean
The song is what I would say a song that most kids and teens could relate to. Because regardless of your popularity or whatever, you’ve probably been made fun of or teased about yourself. I don’t really hate or love this song. If I had to pick a part I like the best it would be, “Someday, I’ll be living in a big old city, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean.” I would give this song a 7 out of 10.
The Story of Us
This was the last song written for the album. This song is about Swift running into Mayer at an award show where both of them were pretending they didn’t care about the other one being there. I’m not the biggest fan of this song but my favorite part of the song is, “Trying to look busy, and you’re doing your best to avoid me.” I would give this song a 6 out of 10.
Never Grow Up
This song is about the duality of being happy and sad when you move out of your childhood home. This song is extremely relatable for me because I’ve always planned to go out of state for college but recently it’s been hitting me that to do that I have to leave the people and the once place I’ve always had. My childhood home and my family. This song usually makes me cry every time I listen to it. My favorite part of the song is, “I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone.”
Enchanted
This song is about Taylor’s crush on Adam Young from Owl City. Although the pair never dated he wrote a song in response to this song. This was the first song I ever memorized fully so I may be biased but this is one of my favorite songs from the album. If I had to pick a lyric from this song that I like most it would be, “Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy.” I would give this song a 7 out of 10.
Better Than Revenge
This song is about Joe Jonas who Taylor dated in 2008. My favorite part of this song is, “I’m just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey. You might have him, but I’ll always get the last word.” I don’t really care for the song but I would give it a 7 out of 10.
Innocent
This song is about Kanye West and the 2009 VMA’s incident, where he got on stage while Taylor was accepting her award and said the award should have gone to Beyonce. I like this song a lot more than most songs on this album. My favorite part of the song is, “You’ll have new September’s. Everyone of us has messed up too.” I would give this song a 8 out of 10.
Haunted
As far as I know this song has no personal connection to Taylor’s life. I’m not the biggest fan of this song, however my favorite part of the song is, “It’s getting dark and it’s all too quiet And I can’t trust anything now.” Like I said previously I don’t really care for the song so I’d give it a 5 out of 10.
Last Kiss
This song is about Joe Jonas again. A somewhat fun fact is that the intro to this song is 27 seconds long and that’s how long the phone call where Joe broke up with Taylor lasted. I like this song pretty well, my favorite part of the song is, “And I’ll keep up with our old friends just to ask them how you are.” If I had to rate this song I would give it a 7 out of 10.
Long Live
This is a song I feel like a lot of people can relate to. Some people revisit high school and look back on memories and I feel like this song is like that. My favorite part of the song is, “Singing long live all the mountains we moved, I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you.” I would give this song a 9 out of 10.
Ours
As far as I know this song has no personal connection to Taylor’s life. I really like this song surprisingly. My favorite lyrics are, “Don’t you worry your pretty, little mind. People throw rocks at things that shine, And life makes love look hard.” I would give this song a 8 out of 10.
Superman
As far as I know this song again has no personal connection to Taylor’s life. I don’t really care for this song but it could definitely be a worse song. My favorite lyrics from the song would have to be, “Go save the world, I’ll be around. Forever and ever here.” I would give this a 7 out of 10 mainly because I wouldn’t knowingly put the song on.
Electric Touch (Ft Fall Out Boy)
This is the first song from the vault, which means it was written for the album but didn’t make the final cut. I do not like this song at all. I was looking forward to it because I grew up with my parents listening to Fall Out Boy and I grew up listening to Taylor so I assumed I’d like it. But I was wrong. If I had to pick a lyric I like most it would be, “Got a feelin’ your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life.” I would give this song a 4 out of 10.
When Emma Falls In Love
This song is rumored to be about Taylor’s close friend and actress Emma Stone. Swift has not confirmed this. I don’t have a great opinion on it, but I like the song enough. The part I like the most is, “When Emma falls in love, I’m learning.” I would give this song a 6 out of 10.
I Can See You
I Can See You is the first song from this album to have a music video. The music video stars Joey King, Taylor Lautner and Presley Cash who all have personal connections to Swift’s personal life at the time of the release of the original Speak Now album. King and Cash both starred in the music video for Mean at the original release time. While Lautner dated Swift in 2009 and her song Back To December is about him. This is probably one of my favorite songs from the vault. My favorite part of this song is, “And I could see you being my addiction, you can see me as a secret mission.” I would give this song a 8 out of 10.
Castles Crumbling (Ft Hayley Williams)
This song features Hayley Williams from the band Paramore. The band has previously opened for the very first show of Taylor’s Eras Tour. The band will join her for 14 dates on the European leg of the tour. This song made me think of Katniss from The Hunger Games movies. This is by far my favorite song that was added to the album for the re-record. My favorite part of the song is, “Now they’re screaming at the palace front gates, used to chant my name. Now they’re screaming that they hate me.” I would give this song a 9 out of 10.
Foolish One
This is another song from the vault that I liked a lot. As far as I know there’s no personal connection to Taylor’s life through this song. My favorite part of this song is, “And you will say you had the best of intentions. And maybe I will finally learn my lesson.” I would give this song a 7 out of 10.
Timeless
This is the final vault song and this album and usually I would say that she saved the best for last but in this case I strongly disagree with that. This is probably my least favorite song on the entire album.The song is about Taylor’s grandparents. If I had to pick a lyric I liked the most it would be, “I thought about it as I started looking’ ’round at these precious things that time forgot.” I would give this song a 4 out of 10.
Overall I would give this album a 8 out of 10, I will listen to it again but not all the songs, I would say depending on your perspective this is either a hit or a miss. Again I’m biased but I would say it was a hit.
