Taylor Swift has been a household name for almost 15 years. With 9 studio albums under her belt, being named artist of the decade, and 10 Grammys to her name, Taylor is without a doubt one of the most influential artists of this era. 2 of her albums were released this past year, with her earlier one, Folklore, being nominated for 6 Grammys.
Even just recording and putting out both Folklore and Evermore in less than a year is a huge task, but it’s one that Swift took on while adding even more to her plate. In 2020 alone, Taylor released a Netflix documentary titled Miss Americana, Folklore, and Evermore, as well as a studio recording film on Disney Plus.
Recently, Love Story, a hit from 2008, has once again topped the charts. No, this isn’t some fluke or a sudden comeback; it’s actually Taylor’s rerecording of her past work, starting with her second album Fearless.
Taylor is rerecording her music due to a disagreement over ownership with Scooter Braun and her previous label Big Machine. A contract stated that Taylor would not have ownership over her first 6 studio albums until November 2020, and as soon as that month hit, Taylor got right to work on her rerecordings. Keep in mind that Evermore was a surprise release in December, and so Ms. Swift had a lot going on this year– pandemic and all.
Swift announced that Love Story (Taylor’s Version) would drop as a single before the rest of her rerecorded Fearless album comes out on April 9th. The release date of the album was a callback of sorts to longtime Swifties. In a graphic posted to Taylor’s Instagram, she wrote a long paragraph detailing her Fearless release. What eagle-eyed fans noticed, however, is that some letters in the post were capitalized, and when put together, they spelled out April 9th. In Taylors first albums, she was known for capitalizing letters in the song descriptions of the CD liner that often revealed a meaning or little-known fact about each song.
Taylor has been through so much in her career, in terms of both dramas as well as musical growth and experimentation. A callback to her earlier days with the secret message is comforting to her fans who have grown up with her and supported her since she first released Fearless over 12 years ago.
While Taylor’s version of Fearless is set to be released soon, there has been no news on when to expect her other re-recorded albums. Many people are confused that Taylor opted to release Fearless first, given that it’s her second album. But this does make some sense, as it was her first big hit and won multiple Grammys. There has been speculation as to when she will release her other albums. Some die-hard Tiktok Swifties are convinced she’ll drop Speak Now Taylor’s Version on July 9th, as it’s a lyric from the song Last Kiss on the Speak Now album. Of course, these are all guesses and it all comes down to Swift who is known for crazy intricate clues and numbers with her releases.
April 9th can’t come soon enough Taylor! We can’t wait to see you take back your work and do it gracefully.
Feature Image Credit: Rolling Stone
