By now, it is common knowledge that worldwide popstar Taylor Swift is re-recording and re-releasing her old albums. By re-recording her old music, she is reclaiming her masters, or the original recordings of her music. In revamping her music, she is improving and releasing songs that almost made it on the original albums – “From the Vault”– to give listeners a bigger incentive to listen to and stream the new recordings.
Her most recent is the album “1989,” which hit streaming services and record stores on Oct. 27, 2023. I will be honest, “1989” was never one of my favorite albums, but I was excited for the Vault songs nonetheless. In this article, I will talk primarily about the Vault tracks from “1989,” (since they are the newest) but more broadly rank all of her Vault tracks. See the included image for my exhaustive ranking.
To create this ranking, I used tiermaker.com. I changed their five categories to “Immaculate” at the top and, following on down, “Beautiful,” “Good,” “Okay,” and “Not for me.” As I listened to each song, I put it in one of these categories based on my own preferences and which one I felt it fit best into musically.
In the top tier, “Immaculate,” I put “Mr. Perfectly Fine” from “Fearless,” “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” and “I Bet You Think About Me” from “Red,” “Electric Touch” from “Speak Now,” and “‘Slut!’” from “1989.” These are my favorites for their lyrics, musical elements and mixing, and just the pure joy that they evoke when I listen to them. “‘Slut!’” is beautiful because I love the lyrics. The combination of musical elements and words sound so elegant as Swift gracefully and empoweringly reclaims the word that so many people have used against her.
“Say Don’t Go” and “Suburban Legends” from “1989” got put in the second category, “Beautiful.” I really like these songs because they elicit such raw emotions. “Say Don’t Go” sounds like the song version of screaming this after someone as they are leaving and the heartbreak that goes with it. “Suburban Legends” is a little bit lighter and more romantic. She sings the line “We were born to be suburban legends,” playing on the expression of being “the talk of the town.” I love the word play that she uses in all of her songs, but especially this one.
“Is It Over Now?” and “Now That We Don’t Talk” were both placed in the “Good” tier. “Is It Over Now?” is quite good as it portrays confusion and tired anger as she is done with this guy who is leading her on in many ways. “Now That We Don’t Talk” sounds like she is trying to convince herself that it is for the best that her relationship ended and therefore distance herself.
One big critique that I have about all of the Vault songs from “1989” is that I feel like a lot of the musical elements and choices in both of these songs are ones that we’ve heard a lot in the rest of “1989” and especially her most recent new (not re-recorded) album, “Midnights.” This is not a bad thing, I just wish that she had pushed the boundaries of the songs or style a little bit further.
Overall, Swift’s Vault songs have been very good. The exceptions are the songs that I put in the lower two tiers as it is clear that those songs weren’t chosen for the original album simply because they aren’t as good. However, it’s still fun and exciting for fans to get new songs as she re-records each album. I am generally pleased with the Vault from “1989” and will have these songs on repeat for the next little while.
