Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Republic Records
Back in 2010, Taylor Swift was in a state of transition: coming of age and leaving her teenage years behind, moving out of her parents’ house and crafting songs that touched on more mature topics. The result was Speak Now, an impressive, entirely self-written album full of heart-wrenching piano ballads, pop-punk-inflected songs, and towering anthems by an artist who was still considered a “country singer” at the time. Before Swift declared she was “happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time” on Red, Speak Now was brimming with “open letters” tackling the nuances of young love—how all-consuming, messy, and beautiful it all is.
And with its release that October, it gave Swift a voice—one that fought back against those who insisted an 18-year-old girl wasn’t writing her own songs. Though it’s been 13 years since Swift’s aptly titled third record was released, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which arrived on Friday, bears the same kind of emotional weight the original album once did. Swift is now in another period of transition, navigating a new level of celebrity thanks to six albums released in the last three years and the daunting, ongoing process of re-recording her first six LPs after the devastating loss of her masters. And just like that original 2010 release, Speak Now (TV) quite literally gives Swift her voice back.
But since Swift is now revisiting her work through a 33-year-old’s lens, not everything on Speak Now (TV) is the same. Much like her friend and tourmate Hayley Williams, who has since disavowed an anti-feminist lyric in Paramore’s breakout hit “Misery Business” (“Once a whore, you’re nothing more”), Swift has re-approached a cheeky but controversial lyric in her blistering pop-punk anthem “Better Than Revenge.” The line “She’s better known for the things that she does / On the mattress” has been generously tweaked to, “He was a moth to the flame / She was holding the matches.” Internalized misogyny isn’t an easy thing to break as a young woman, but 13 years is a lot of time to do some soul-searching. It’s a clever update, but longtime fans will still likely have a soft spot for the original lyric, just as most of us do for our flawed, teenage selves.