Taylor Swift’s Vault Tracks (and When I Think She Wrote Them)
So, I’ve found myself in a bit of a weird position. My current job as a radio traffic reporter comes with a SAG-AFTRA membership, meaning that I can’t talk about (basically) any film or TV online until the strike ends. While this is a good and necessary part of the process, it’s not the most convenient thing in the world for someone who helps run a film and media publication. This is all a very long-winded way of saying that instead of talking about how good [REDACTED] was, or how I’m going to see [REDACTED] tonight, I’m here to talk to you about Taylor Alison Miss Americana Swift herself—on this, the day of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s birth.
If you’re not already aware, Miss Swift is in the middle of the long process of re-recording her first six albums. This is because the record deal she signed at the age of 15 did not give her ownership of her masters. When she left the company a couple of years ago, she offered to buy them herself (something she had more than the means to do). Instead, Scott Borchetta sold them to Scooter Braun, manager of such artists as Justin Bieber (shitty ex of her best friend, Selena Gomez) and Kanye West (Kanye West). Here’s what Swift had to say on the matter:
“Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity.”
Swift announced shortly after that she would be recording exact copies of each of the six albums in an effort to reduce the originals’ value. Braun responded by forbidding her from using her older music (at the time, the vast majority of her catalog) in [the documentary about her that came out in early 2020]. It’s a conflict so messy (and ongoing!) that it has its own Wikipedia page. I won’t bore you with any more details.
What I’m here to talk about, though, are the vault tracks. Whenever Our Lady of Me Hee Hee releases a new re-recorded album, it comes with a few tracks that are marked as “from the vault”—i.e., were written for their respective albums, but scrapped. As of today, there are 25 in total.
Here’s my take, which I can’t fathom is a hot one, but which I can’t find anyone else saying out loud: I truly think she wrote some of these, like, last year. I mean, “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” says “Fuck the Patriarchy” three years too early, something that’s already stirred some controversy—but I believe it goes deeper than that.
Without further ado, everyone: here are Taylor Swift’s Vault Tracks and When I Think She Wrote Them.
THE FEARLESS TRACKS
This is a horrible album to begin on, because I truly do believe she wrote all of these at the time. “But Sienna!” you say, “she says ‘casually cruel’ on ‘Mr Perfectly Fine!’” Well, yeah! She found a phrase she liked, used it, it didn’t make the album, and she found another spot for it later. Very normal of her!
My other evidence for this is that unfortunately, aside from a banger or two, they are not very good songs. And Fearless is a great album! But I can understand why these were cut. I honestly think that the lukewarm response to the majority of these songs informed her approach to vault tracks going forward—you can’t just throw some shit out there and expect everyone to slop it up.
THE RED TRACKS
This is where it gets juicy. Red (Taylor’s Version) somehow (fortunately!) ended up one of the most anticipated re-records, breaking Spotify and CD sale records alike (and WHERE were all of you in 2012?). I think she knew that Red was considered by many a near-perfect album—it was ranked 99th on Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time, beating Grammy darling 1989 to be the highest-ranked album in her discography (it is worth noting that voting closed before the surprise release of folklore). So Swift knew that she had to step it up: what’s the point of re-releasing a perfect album if you’re only going to make it worse? At the very least, she’d have to make some tweaks here and there.
TRACK 23: “NOTHING NEW (FEAT. PHOEBE BRIDGERS) (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)”
I know she wrote this in 2011! It’s in the Lover journals! Don’t come for me! But I do definitely think she made some tweaks—I would even venture to say the bridge is entirely new (for no particular reason). My biggest qualm with “Nothing New” is that if it was finished in its final form over a decade ago, why the fuck didn’t she put it on the album? There are some clunkers on there!
TRACK 25: “MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)”
Yeah, this is from 2011. Nothing about it reads Red to me, so I’m glad she cut it, but I’m also glad we got to hear it! A little happy medium for us vaultheads.
TRACK 26: “I BET YOU THINK ABOUT ME (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)”
The fact that this is SO clean and polished makes me believe that she definitely made some tweaks to it (and slay!). The fact of its STANCE makes me believe that even if she wrote it before the tracklist was finalized, she wrote it after all the other songs. The breakup songs on Red are not often critical of her ex, and even when they are, it’s in a sad way, not a mocking one (except on “ATWTMVTVFTV,” which I’ll get to soon). The Taylor in this song is in a miles-different place than the one in the rest of Red—the one who wrote “Sad Beautiful Tragic” and “State of Grace” and “Holy Ground” and “All Too Well” and “I Almost Do” and “Red” and “The Moment I Knew”—and I will die on that hill. That Taylor was too close to the breakup to be truly cruel about it; no matter how badly he wronged her, he was still the guy who pierced the room like a cannonball, and you can’t be too mad at a guy like that (until the next one comes along). The one who wrote “I Bet You Think About Me” sounds a hell of a lot like she has enough distance and experience to understand that the relationship wasn’t even too great in the first place—far from the borderline covetous treatment she gives it in those other tracks.
TRACK 27: “FOREVER WINTER (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)”
This is also from 2011. If anything, I’d bet she started it earlier, then brought it up to rework it for Red. Though I get that it would have been a bad fit thematically, I’m glad she got to release it in the end.
TRACK 28: “RUN (FEAT. ED SHEERAN) (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)”
This has to be from 2011, because there’s no other reason she would ever release it on purpose. Boring, unmemorable song.
TRACK 28: “THE VERY FIRST NIGHT (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)”
This definitely has a bit of a modern-Taylor sensibility to it, but I do buy it being a predecessor rather than a fake. It’s fun! I hear the Red vision in it!
TRACK 29: “ALL TOO WELL (10 MINUTE VERSION) (TAYLOR’S VERSION) (FROM THE VAULT)”
She wrote this shit LAST YEAR!!! For my thoughts on its attitude relative to the rest of the album, see “I Bet You Think About Me.” This, though, has a MUCH more mature tone to it. And in this case, she’s not just contradicting the viewpoint of the rest of the album—she’s taking a preexisting song and rewriting the entire story. The relationship depicted in “All Too Well” was “a masterpiece” ‘til the guy tore it all up. Sure, he was a dick for running scared from the one real thing he’d ever known, but she didn’t have a bad word to say about how he was in the relationship itself. I’m not saying this was true to life—it almost certainly wasn’t—but during the piece of her life Taylor captured in the original “ATW,” she definitely believed it was.
The other thing that really gets me about this is that it’s literally not 10 minutes long, nor did she ever PRETEND a 10 minute version existed (until her fans misinterpreted a quote and ran with it). They took a tight, perfect song, stretched it as far as it would go, and then padded the rest with a long ass outro. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast screaming the words at the Eras tour, but lord almighty.
Also: “And I was never good at telling jokes, but the punchline goes / I’ll get older, but your lovers stay my age” HER ASS IS SPEAKING IN RETROSPECT!!!
THE SPEAK NOW TRACKS
I fully believe all of these were written back then. “Timeless,” “Foolish One,” and “When Emma Falls In Love” are unmistakably 2009-2010 Taylor material. “I Can See You” is the most tragic song of all—it reads as the first draft of what could’ve become a much-better Speak Now song. (I’m biased, though; Speak Now was my favorite of hers until evermore came out). My one catch is “Castles Crumbling”—what the fuck is this about? The 2009 VMAs? I feel like that’s the narrative she’s trying to push, but I don’t buy it. It really does feel like post-naïvety (or mid-loss-of-naïvety) Swift, and as we know, we won’t be seeing her until at least after Red. I’d honestly buy it if you said she wrote this post-1989 in a distraught pop-punk flurry, realized it wouldn’t cohere with the reputation re-release, and tucked it in with the Speak Now vault tracks.
THE 1989 TRACKS
These are ALL from 2013-2014. I know they’re brand new, but this is my real and genuine stance. I think it’s safe to say that Taylor holds the 1989 era very dear—even with her mental health struggles and catastrophic fall from grace. I’m sure she made some slight adjustments, but the truth is that 1989 is much closer to her current artistic sensibility than any of the other re-recordings have been so far. I do see why they were cut, though—can you believe she was choosing between “Slut!” (fine) and “Blank Space” (potentially the best pop song she has ever released)? Dude.
Where do we go from here? I think that with only reputation and her self-titled album left, Red will always be the worst vault-track-fudging offender. rep is recent enough that I can’t see her making too many major changes, and half of the “vault tracks” she wrote as a young teen are already on the internet; all she has to do is give them the proper studio treatment. And I’m excited! But truth be told, I am far more excited for the feature film she claims to be working on (???), which I swear to god I will give a fair an honest review in this publication. Until next time, fellow birds <3
