There’s been a lot of controversy over if the new Taylor Swift songs that came out on “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” were worth being released or not. Taylor has wrote many songs throughout her career, with a lot of them not being released. That is where the term “from the vault” comes from, meaning songs that she wrote and recorded, but never released officially. I have listened to Taylor’s music thoroughly and paid attention to detail in all of her songs and albums. So, here is my honest opinion and ranking on her five new songs that are from the vault. To start off in fifth place I chose “Say Don’t Go.” It was alright. The instrumentals were a little bland, and this song was not put to it’s full potential. I personally think this one could have stayed in the vault, meaning it just should’ve been an unreleased song. In fourth place we have “Suburban Legends.” I liked this song, but it sounded a little too similar to her song “Mastermind” from “Midnights.” In third place we have “Sl*t!;” this is one of her songs that is alluding to how the media perceives Swift and the way she writes songs about all her exes. Taylor even says this in the song “Sl*t” are, “Love thorns all over this rose / I’ll pay the price you won’t.” Now for a gem: in second place we have “Is It Over Now?” This is a great song, referring to how even though things are ended in relationships, it can sometimes feel like there is still a chance. Lastly, coming in at number one is “Now That We Don’t Talk.” I put this song on top because the whole song is just a 10/10. The song is based around a relationship that ended and all the things you are still thinking but can’t say if you are going no contact. Swift says in the song, “Remind myself the more I gave / you’d want me less.” It is wonderfully written and performed. This was definitely a song I’m glad she did not keep in the vault.
A lot of Swifties believe that these new songs were inspired by her ex-boyfriend Harry Styles, with whom she had recently broken up when “1989” was first released in 2014. Some of the lyrics that allude to this theory are on her song “Is It Over Now?” For instance, Swift describes a “blue dress on a boat,” which addresses the picture of her looking sad on a boat in a blue dress that was published by the Daily Mail in January 2013. The photo was allegedly taken as she was leaving a vacation in the British Virgin Islands after Harry Styles and her had broken up.
