Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is Coming Out July 7th 2023

Taylor Swift has finally unveiled her long-awaited (and long-theorised) re-recording of her third studio album, Speak Now. The not-quite-country, solely self-written with her hair not-as-curly album that came out before Red, it was the era of drama and heartbreak, penned so evocatively and eloquently in the way only Taylor Swift can.

The wait leading up to the reveal has yielded many fan-made album covers, some of which I actually think could go toe-to-toe with the real thing, photographed by Beth Garrabrant, who also lent her expertise to Folklore and Midnights. Fan-made inspirations aside, another incident that has come out of this is theft. Yep. An employee of a warehouse in France where they were keeping the vinyls reportedly stole ten copies of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and tried to sell them online before he was caught. The man, who has an extensive criminal record, has now been sentenced to eight months in prison. Apparently, out of the ten copies he stole, there are still two records out there that haven’t been recovered.

Anyway, let’s talk about the From the Vault tracks. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve been this excited for a re-recorded album of hers since I saw the featured artists on Track 17 (‘Electric Touch’) and 20 (‘Castles Crumbling’). I mean, come on, Fall Out Boy and Hayley Williams (lead singer of Paramore)? The titles literally sound like they could be original songs from their respective bands, and Taylor even calls them “the artists who I feel influenced me most powerfully as a lyricist at that time”. Screaming. Crying. Throwing up. It’s like I’m 15 years old again, in the best way possible.

There is also, interestingly, another name-drop in the title of Track 18, called ‘When Emma Falls in Love’. The Emma referenced in the title has been speculated to be Emma Stone, whom Taylor was good friends with during her Speak Now era. Around that time, Emma Stone was dating her The Amazing Spider-Man co-star Andrew Garfield, who she would be in a relationship with up until their split in 2015 – the end of an iconic celebrity couple, à la Zanessa and Jelena. While both of them have since well moved on, I’m sure this song will be the icing on top of the nostalgia cake for everyone.

With the original tracks on Speak Now being about some of the most publicised of Taylor’s past relationships (‘Last Kiss’, ‘Back to December’, ‘Dear John’ anyone??), the release of this re-recording will no doubt spark new discussion of old topics. In case you missed it, Taylor Lautner, the purported inspiration of ‘Back to December’ even made a cheeky Tik-Tok where he kneels with his hands clasped solemnly to ‘Dear John’ in the background, titling it #prayforjohn. It’s like he knows he’s the best ex (well, besides Joe, but that’s a story for another time).

Looking back at Speak Now, it’s hard not to get lost in the vindication that comes from comparing her personal life then, with the messy break-ups and the Kanye thing (the one before the other Kanye thing), and now, with the critical acclaim and mansions and adoring fans who believe she can do no wrong. Consider ‘Mean’ (“Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me / And all you’re ever gonna be is mean”) and ‘Better Than Revenge’ (“You might have him, but I always get the last word”). Speaking of nostalgia, this line in ‘Innocent’ – “It’s okay, life is a tough crowd / 32 and still growing up now” – was about Kanye West back then, but can also be applied to Taylor now, who is currently 32 years old, in some crazy déjà vu way.

For Taylor’s long-time music fans though, the ones who listened to Speak Now on old CD players in their childhood bedrooms revelling in the melodrama, dreaming of grand romantic gestures and having it all someday, this re-recording isn’t just an era-defining album, it’s what it means to never grow up.