Taylor Swift Surprises World With Unexpected Release
September 21, 2021
Bigger than life, multi-talented singer and songwriter Taylor Swift released the re-recording of her hit song “Wildest Dreams” Friday morning. The term “Taylor’s Version” has also been added to the title. The song was initially released in 2014. The success of it won massive awards for Swift at events such as the BMI Awards in 2016 and the ASCAP ceremony in 2017 where she was honored songwriter of the year. At the time, Swift was under the record label Big Machine Records.
Action was taken when Big Machine Records was unexpectedly sold to a new company and Swift was not given any prior knowledge of this business deal. She did not own her music and she never would either because of manager Scooter Braun. In a blog post, she wrote: “For years, I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past.”
This is not the first song with ‘Taylor’s Version’ added to the title. This past April, the world got to hear one of her early albums once again, in “Fearless (Taylor’s Version).” “Fearless” debuted in 2008. Swift’s fans who hear her sing the same songs again have nothing but good things to say. They comment that Swift has not only grown as a singer but the way she sings the lyrics has even been improved. When “Fearless” was recorded, she was only 18. Swift is now 31 at the time of her “Fearless Taylor’s Version” release.
I interviewed two extremely big Taylor Swift fans the day of the release. Gracie Chesmore and Siobhan Armstrong are well versed in all things Taylor Swift. They both attended the 2018 Reputation Tour at Gillette Stadium and held tickets to go to the 2020 LOVER tour that was ultimately canceled by COVID-19. Chesmore and Armstrong were both in English Language Arts class when they heard about the release. They both said they were “shocked, surprised, and very excited” at the news. Armstrong added, saying, “Seeing the new song made my day.”
Since the release, Billboard music has given the song the title of “Favorite new music release of the past week”. Looking ahead, Swift will release Red (Taylor’s Version) on November 19th. This album will be a track of 30 songs, including never before released “vault” songs. At this point, we need to watch Taylor Swift’s moves closely. Who knows what else she might surprise release!