Taylor Swift released her fifth album “1989” on October 27, 2014. Now nine years later, she has released “1989 (Taylor’s Version).”

Many people think that her new album is better, but she changed so many things about the original songs that the whole feel of the overall album changed.

“1989” was originally written and re-recorded nine years ago when the songs were more relevant to her emotions and life at the time. She had just moved to New York, was dating Harry Styles, was starting to jump into her next phase in her music career, and was struggling with an eating disorder. 

For singers, you write and produce songs that you are emotionally attached to and that relate to your current situations. This is what made her original recordings so much better. She was singing and writing what she felt at that specific time in her life. 

The original “1989” was also the album that really made the switch for Swift to change from a country singer to one of the world’s best pop artists of all time. She has been on the Billboard 100 since November 11, 2006, with “Tim McGraw” from her debut album to now with “Cruel Summer” from her album “Lover.” 

Even the original cover has a whole life and story of its own. It represents a picture leaked of a post she made on Instagram with an ‘80s Polaroid camera and film just a week before the album dropped. You could only see her mouth and did not see her whole face which at the time was odd for someone young like her but she pulled it off with her bright red pouty lips which is her staple facial feature. 

Some may say that the original album is better because the songs are how they were originally written and recorded in the present of her life. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is now officially owned by Swift and is getting all the credit she deserves. As well as added her five vault songs to celebrate the release: “Slut!,” “Say Don’t Go,” “Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Suburban Legends,” and “Is It Over Now?” 

Even though these new songs are exciting and a fun way to celebrate her new ownership of the album they still are not relevant to her personal life. They do not sound as relatable as they would have when they were originally written nine years ago. 

The original was recorded how her voice sounded nine years ago and has since then matured so much that the sounds are not the same. New songs were re-recorded with her older, more mature voice. Some of the songs like “Shake It Off” and “Wonderland” have new melodies, changing the energy of the song from how it was originally meant to sound and feel. 

“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is good but nothing can top the nine-year-old masterpiece her original fifth album provided for all of her adoring fans.

“1989 (Taylor’s version)” came out on October 27, 2023. This album is the fourth re-recorded album, and has 22 songs including five “From The Vault” and one from “Deluxe.” 

“Taylor’s Version” is the better version because this is the time where she is being recognized for owning her songs after having to re-record her album due to them being stolen.  

The music in her songs have developed and you can clearly hear each instrument playing, while in the original all of the instruments are overlapping each other. 

The lyrics have changed, because her perspective has changed. This adds a new experience for fans hearing the songs almost as if they are hearing them for the first time again.   

Taylor has grown with her voice and her singing ability that when she re-recorded the album, she sounds different. When she re-recorded the album she can do whatever she wants with it and collaborate with people without telling her fans. 

Her voice not only has developed but she has also moved on from the feelings she had from 2014 and has decided to change it up a little bit to put a whole new perspective in her music and for people to understand that she has moved on. 

In the re-recorded album there are many easter eggs where she encourages her fans to try and figure out what will be coming out next. In the original she did not have any because at the time she had not yet decided to re-record the albums and make it her version. 

Swift released five songs from the 150 unreleased songs that she wrote back in 2014. She released those songs because it felt right at the moment. 

Even though “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is the better version, many fans prefer to listen to the original version of “1989,” because the songs were written in the moment of her feelings. 

The “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” album is part of the albums that Taylor herself owns. “Taylor’s Version” is the better version, because the music we listen to is Taylor’s and she is the one being recognized for it.