‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ is Finally Here — Listen to Taylor Swift Revisit the Past

At long last, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has arrived. The third release in Taylor Swift’s series of rerecorded albums, this updated version of her third studio album flashes all the way back to 2010. Then, she was entering her twenties with her first entirely self-written record under her belt, a giant step that solidified the same legacy she’s attempting to protect by recording every album before Lover to gain control of her own master recordings.

“I always look at this album as my album, and the lump in my throat expends to a quivering voice as I say this. Thanks to you, dear reader, it finally will be,” Swift shared in a statement when the album was first announced. “I consider this music to be, along with your faith in me, the best thing that’s ever been mine.”

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) features new “Taylor’s Version” recordings of “Back to December,” “Mean,” “Mine,” “The Story of Us,” “Sparks Fly,” and “Ours.” It also includes cuts like the angst-fueled “Haunted” and “Dear John,” which she has already asked Swifties to avoid using as an excuse to recenter John Mayer as public enemy number one. There’s also “Better Than Revenge,” which Swift is revisiting in her 30s, having lived and matured more than when she wrote the song’s somewhat problematic lyrics at 19.

“I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20,” she shared earlier this year. “The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions, and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing… and living to speak about it.”

There are six previously unreleased songs included on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) including “Electric Touch” with Fall Out Boy and “Castles Crumbling” with Paramore’s Hayley Williams. The others “From the Vault” tracks are titled “When Emma Falls in Love,” “I Can See You,” “Foolish One,” and “Timeless.”

From Rolling Stone US.