It’s back to basics for Taylor Swift… but with a twist.
Over the years we’ve seen the singer deviate from her initial sweet and demure image to a more
quirky and edgy persona. Composing songs such as ‘You need to calm down’ and ‘Look what you
made me do’, Twist both acknowledges the persistent rumours surrounding her and utilises
humour to counteract such claims. Speaking to Vogue, Swift explained her song ‘Look what you made me do’, stating that “the first verse is about trolls and cancel culture”.
With the release of albums such as ‘Lover’ in 2019, as well as ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’ in 2020, we’ve
seen the songwriter return to more romantic roots, albeit with a more mellowed tone compared to
her usually upbeat compositions. Her recent song ‘Willow’ reached the number 1 spot in the
Australian Aria charts, her second 2020 chart topper after ‘Cardigan’. But more recently the artist
has delved deeper into her past.
Reviving one of her classics, Taylor Swift has given new meaning to her song ‘Love Story’ by
presenting it as a dedication to her fanbase for the support they’ve shown her throughout the years. In a lyric video posted to the artist’s official YouTube channel, lyrics to her song appear alongside various images of the singer embracing her fans or performing for them on stage.
The artist followed this up with a tweet on the 15th of February asking,
“So who’s gonna tell 18 year old me that our love story would still be going strong all these years later? Thanks for the ways you fill my life with love 24/7.”
Reception to the song’s re-emergence has generated mainly positive comments. A fan on Twitter
wrote: “To hear the songs that I grew up with for the first time again is honestly so surreal. I’m so proud of you for never giving up. I love you”.
The re-recording of her hit song comes in conjunction with the re-release of her 2008 album ‘Fearless’, but now under Swift’s full ownership and control. This follows on from an issue in 2019 where her
catalogue master recordings from Big Machine Records were sold to Ithica Holdings, a company
owned by Scooter Braun who Swift has publicly shown disdain for due to his manipulative bullying.
When asked by Robin Roberts in a 2019 interview for ‘Good Morning America’ about the artist’s plan
to re-record music, the songwriter replied:
“…it’s something that I’m very excited about doing because my contract says
that, starting November 2020, so next year, I can record albums one through five all over again. I’m very excited about it. Because I just think that artists deserve to own their work. I just feel very passionately about that…”
The album is comprised of 26 songs, 20 with updated vocals, and 6 that have never been released to
the public. With ‘Love Story (Taylor’s Version)’ at almost 12 million views in just 4 days, the impact of the singer/songwriter is undeniable, but it also truly shows that in a torn, pandemic-stricken world
where melancholy and societal displacement run rampant, a little love and support can go a long
way.
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