Brynne’s take:
1989 first came out in October 2014. I would always ask to listen to it in the car on the way to school, on long weekend drives, to dance classes and back home. Finally, I got my very own pink headphones, so I could listen to my own music while we were in the car. I downloaded 1989 on my phone and plugged them in. I remember talking to my dad about music and how he didn’t only like the most popular songs from the bands and singers he listened to. Opening the album, I scrolled down to the last song on 1989, Clean. I decided this was going to be my song. The song that not everyone knew, but I could say was my favorite. I listened to Clean alone around 15 times that day. Flash forward to 2023, putting in my airpods instead of pink headphones, full of anticipation to hear the album. Scrolling down to the last song “Clean.” I could remember exactly why this song was and still is my favorite off of Taylor Swift’s magical album, 1989.
Lily’s take:
I was only six when 1989 came out in October of 2014. I don’t remember the actual album releasing but I remember my mom constantly playing it. I walked around the halls of my elementary school singing Wildest Dreams and Shake It Off. My favorite song back then was Blank Space and I would listen to it every day on the way to school. Once I got older and was able to pick and choose my own music, I still went back to 1989. It’s one of those albums that you don’t get sick of, from Welcome to New York to New Romantics I never get tired of it. My favorite song now is You Are In Love, which is definitely different from my old favorite. You Are in Love is a slow song that has a deeper love feel while Blank Space is an upbeat song about a new love or a crush. Following the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), I can’t stop listening.
Lily and Brynne’s Top 3 Vaults:
“Slut!” is definitely not what I expected it to be. To me, it was either gonna be an upbeat song or a sad song but it was neither. It is a melancholy love song which is not what you expect from the title. Throughout most of Taylor’s career, she has been slut shamed for “dating too much” while male celebrities go through the same amount of relationships without criticism. I can relate to this because the song to me is her saying it doesn’t matter what people are saying about her because she is with someone she loves. This can be interpreted as being friends with a hated person or staying friends with someone no matter what other people say.
Is It Over Now? Is something I wasn’t even sure what to expect. Almost every line is a dig on whoever this song is about (*cough cough Harry Styles*). It isn’t exactly a sad song but it is a song about being sad or confused. It seems like it’s written from the perspective of wanting to let go of someone but you can’t.
Say Don’t Go has a very similar feel to “Clean” even from the opening. Taylor’s vocals start deep and then the chorus hits with that familiar upbeat and synth pop feel that makes 1989 its own. The song is a bittersweet story about Swift’s seemingly stop-go relationship. The minute I heard this song, I loved it. The song has a flawless balance between classic Taylor sad-cry-scream the lyrics song, but meshes completely with the indescribable feeling of wind blowing through your hair as you sing the words out of the car window. A perfect blend of feelings written in a powerful ballad and by far one of 1989s best vaults.
1989 Taylor’s Version allowed Swift to reclaim her songs, new recordings and royalties. Not only does this allow Taylor to make her own money, but it gives her ownership over what she created, and reinstates the hard work she put in all those years ago.