Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was released on 7/7/23 (same day as the Singapore concert general sale, but that is my tragic story for another time). Some key differences in the Taylor’s Version album:
Additional songs ‘from the vault’
Her voice has definitely matured. It sounds nicer and more mellow, but it also lost the teenage angst and young kid sound. Speak Now was recorded starting in 2008 when TS was 19 years old. In contrast Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was recorded some time after 2021 when she was 32. Can’t say which one is better, they are just different variants.
She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think
She’s an actress, woah He was a moth to the flame
She was holding the matches, woah
The original version places the blame squarely on this other girl for seducing her man, which TS later regrets as such a situation would actually be the fault of both the girl and her guy for cheating on her. While the new version is more morally and ethically correct, the original lyrics do pack a better punch for being explicitly bitter and angry about a girl who seduced your man.
One last note about Speak Now: it is my opinion that Long Live is the best song in here. It’s an aspirational song (for most of us). If you ever get to experience some of the sentiments conveyed in “Long Live”, congratulations. You have made it. You really have.
Quick summary of the origins of the (Taylor’s Version) albums:
Due to the way her recording contract was set up, TS’s first few albums were owned by the label Big Machine Records.
When Big Machine Records was sold to a new owner, TS’s wanted to buy back ownership of her albums, but the new owner refused to sell.
TS still owns the rights to the songs and music, it is only the specific recording that is owned by the studio.
So TS performed the music and got it recorded again, and released it as her own. Thus the various (Taylor’s Version) albums floating around and selling (and streaming) very well.
Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was released on 7/7/23 (same day as the Singapore concert general sale, but that is my tragic story for another time). Some key differences in the Taylor’s Version album:
Additional songs ‘from the vault’
Her voice has definitely matured. It sounds nicer and more mellow, but it also lost the teenage angst and young kid sound. Speak Now was recorded starting in 2008 when TS was 19 years old. In contrast Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was recorded some time after 2021 when she was 32. Can’t say which one is better, they are just different variants.
Lyric change in one song, “Better than Revenge”:
“Better than Revenge”:
“Better than Revenge (Taylor’s Version)”:
The original version places the blame squarely on this other girl for seducing her man, which TS later regrets as such a situation would actually be the fault of both the girl and her guy for cheating on her. While the new version is more morally and ethically correct, the original lyrics do pack a better punch for being explicitly bitter and angry about a girl who seduced your man.
One last note about Speak Now: it is my opinion that Long Live is the best song in here. It’s an aspirational song (for most of us). If you ever get to experience some of the sentiments conveyed in “Long Live”, congratulations. You have made it. You really have.
Quick summary of the origins of the (Taylor’s Version) albums: