I powered through and listened to this entire album today. To be fair, I did what I have been doing…listening to the first minute or so of each song and then moving on to the next one. I usually listen until the chorus. There’s a lot of going back and forth between the TV and the OG to see if there’s a difference. And with this one, I didn’t really notice a lot of difference. Like, at all. Then again, I only listened to the OG once and didn’t have years of listening to it over and over before the TV was released. I still feel like there’s an improvement in the sound quality.
Here are some random thoughts I had as I listened to what came before the vault tracks:
“Blank Space” sounds a touch different with the background music.
“Style” sounds exactly the same. So do a lot of the other ones.
Were Swifties disappointed in the Taylor’s Version for these songs? There really is not much noticeable difference. Every time I noticed a big difference, I’d go back to the OG and it’s the same. Again, the disadvantage of only hearing the songs once, before listening to the TV.
Big difference with her voice on “New Romantics”.
The vault tracks:
17. “Slut!”—“Being this young is art.”, “Handprints in wet cement”. Does she have a star on the walk of fame? Do they do that for singers? Or did she date someone who has one? “I’ll pay the price, you won’t”—Woah! She’s right though. Worth it? How? Worth it because she’s in love? “You’re not saying you’re in love with me.” Um…didn’t that happen in “All Too Well”? Where he didn’t call it love? Is this another Jake song? Harry Styles, John Mayer, Taylor Lautner have stars on the walk of fame…thanks Google!
18. Say Don’t Go—Deep, low voice. Dude! Another bad heartbreak! “And I’m yours, but you’re not mine.” That’s deep! “Trying to see the cards” “I’m about to fold”. Clever.
19. Now That We Don’t Talk—Interesting sound with her voice. “You got new icons”? What does that mean? “Guess maybe I am better off”—I was kind of captivated by this. Very much like a story.
20. Suburban Legends—I like the title already! Interesting! “Flush with the currency of cool” Oh that’s good! Ok, so this isn’t something that actually happened, a ‘what if’ kind of thing. Lots of good lyrics! “I broke my own heart, ‘cause you were too polite to do it.”
21. Is It Over Now?—“You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor.” Oh god! Harsh! Omg! What is happening?! This is kind of dark and a serious attack on somebody! She’s pulling out all the punches!
All these vault tracks reference famous, powerful, popular men. I need to read the book! Ack!
22. Bad Blood (featuring Kendrick Lamar)—Oh my this is good with Kendrick adding his lyrics! Omg! Lol! This is…I don’t even know the word! Really good though! Like how Katy Perry had Nikki Minaj rap on her “Swish, Swish” song about Taylor. Do I need to start listening to Kendrick Lamar now? I liked his addition to this.
I am SO ready for Reputation now! On the title page to that section of the book, it says that she viewed Reputation as “a goth-punk moment of female rage at being gaslit by an entire social structure”. Um, and it’s partially inspired by Game of Thrones?! Yes, please!
Also, no offense Swifties, but I’m glad to be done with the Taylor’s Versions. I felt like it was slowing me down going from the OG to the TV. I’m ready to get to these later albums that have been so highly recommended. I feel like I’ll get caught up faster now. I’m running out of time.
We’ll see how it goes now…
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