Her 2006 self-titled debut and 200891裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淔earless91裸聊视频� had inspired both acclaim and criticism for her bold bridges and keen lyricism 91裸聊视频� these are masterful country-pop songs, critics argued, but surely a teen idol wasn91裸聊视频檛 responsible for them. Swift proved her detractors wrong on 91裸聊视频淪peak Now,91裸聊视频� an album that arrived just before her pivot from country91裸聊视频檚 youngest hope to pop91裸聊视频檚 freshest voice.
The album served as a close document of her nascent fame and future career ambitions, and now, 13 years on, it91裸聊视频檚 back. released Friday, is the third release of the six albums The Taylor91裸聊视频檚 Version albums, instigated by music manager Scooter Braun91裸聊视频檚 sale of her early catalog, represent Swift91裸聊视频檚 effort to control her own songs and how they91裸聊视频檙e used 91裸聊视频� a fitting ethos for 91裸聊视频淪peak Now,91裸聊视频� a record built exclusively of her own voice.
In preparation for 91裸聊视频淪peak Now (Taylor91裸聊视频檚 Version),91裸聊视频� The Associated Press reached out to Taylor Swift scholars to discuss all the ways listeners can and should think about the release.
ADOLESCENCE TO ADULTHOOD
Before 91裸聊视频淪peak Now91裸聊视频� became 91裸聊视频淪peak Now,91裸聊视频� the working title was 91裸聊视频淓nchanted,91裸聊视频� named after the power ballad of the same name. The mythology ( ) behind the shift is that Swift91裸聊视频檚 label president at the time, Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta, to move on from whimsy and fairytale iconography 91裸聊视频� she was entering her 20s and this LP warranted a more mature title.
Transition creates an interesting framework for thinking about this album: Written largely between the ages of 18 and 20, released when she turned 21, 91裸聊视频淪peak Now91裸聊视频� is a collection of songs on a precipice 91裸聊视频� of adulthood, of fame, of declaring ownership but still concerned with the subject matters that concern a young adult. There are crushes (91裸聊视频淪uperman,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淪parks Fly91裸聊视频�) and bittersweet breakups (91裸聊视频淏ack to December,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淚f This Was a Movie91裸聊视频�), alike.
91裸聊视频淵ou hear a youngness when you listen to these songs,91裸聊视频� says musicologist Lily Hirsch, author of 91裸聊视频淐an91裸聊视频檛 Stop the Grrrls: Confronting Sexist Labels in Music from Ariana Grande to Yoko Ono.91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 all about these romantic relationships. The world hinges on all of that, which is so typical of that age. So, it is interesting hear the re-recordings bring a more mature voice to those earlier preoccupations.91裸聊视频�
Elizabeth Scala teaches a course on Taylor Swift91裸聊视频檚 songbook at the University of Texas at Austin as an introduction to literary studies and research methods.
91裸聊视频淚 think 91裸聊视频楽peak Now91裸聊视频� is still in the vein of 91裸聊视频業 don91裸聊视频檛 have enough life experience at my ripe age of 18 to give you a fully autobiographical anything, but I91裸聊视频檓 going to use what I read and what I know from other people,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� she says of the songs91裸聊视频� lyrical content, which still manage to 91裸聊视频渕ake really beautiful, coherent things out of the messiness and inaccuracy of our memories.91裸聊视频�
IN CONVERSATION WITH HER CRITICS AND CELEBRITY
Coming a year after Kanye West interrupted at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, 91裸聊视频淪peak Now91裸聊视频� is the moment in Swift91裸聊视频檚 career where she began to use her celebrity as a mirror to her interior life.
91裸聊视频淢ean,91裸聊视频� a takedown of a rock critic, becomes a banjo-led treatise on antagonism of any kind; the blues-y 91裸聊视频淒ear John91裸聊视频� centers on a young woman91裸聊视频檚 tumultuous relationship with an older man.
91裸聊视频淚nsults are everywhere in music, and men don91裸聊视频檛 get the same flak for it,91裸聊视频� Hirsch says, in reference to 91裸聊视频淒ear John91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淢ean.91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 this idea that women especially are supposed to take the high road, turn the other cheek and all of that, and men can get away with the low road, and they certainly do in music. It91裸聊视频檚 a kind of double standard. Women are labeled 91裸聊视频榗atty91裸聊视频� when confronting bad behavior, like in 91裸聊视频楧ear John.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
A common pastime among Swift fans is to unearth the identities of her songs91裸聊视频� subjects. But, to Scala, 91裸聊视频渢he most boring way to think about Taylor Swift is in terms of her biography.91裸聊视频�
At a recent stop of her Eras Tour in Minneapolis, Swift seemed to agree, playing 91裸聊视频淒ear John91裸聊视频� live for the after delivering this introduction:
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 33 years old. I don91裸聊视频檛 care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote and the memories we made together. So what I91裸聊视频檓 trying to tell you is, I91裸聊视频檓 not putting this album out so you should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 billion years ago.91裸聊视频�
Scala sees a throughline between this album and its successors, with 91裸聊视频淒ear John91裸聊视频� as a precursor to and 91裸聊视频淢ean91裸聊视频� as prescient to a song that parodies how she91裸聊视频檚 been portrayed in the media.
REVISIONIST HISTORY
Much surrounding the re-recording of 91裸聊视频淪peak Now91裸聊视频� has centered on 91裸聊视频淏etter Than Revenge,91裸聊视频� a pop-punk song that takes aim at another woman instead of the man that wronged them both. It takes both sonic and thematic cues from Paramore91裸聊视频檚 2007 pop-rock hit 91裸聊视频淢isery Business,91裸聊视频� a similar song . (In fact, on 91裸聊视频淪peak Now (Taylor91裸聊视频檚 Version),91裸聊视频� Paramore singer Hayley Williams lends vocals to a 91裸聊视频渧ault91裸聊视频� song, 91裸聊视频淐astles Crumbling.91裸聊视频�)
In the original chorus of 91裸聊视频淏etter Than Revenge,91裸聊视频� Swift sings, 91裸聊视频淪he91裸聊视频檚 an actress / She91裸聊视频檚 better known for the things she does on the mattress,91裸聊视频� a rare lyrical misstep in a career underscored by poetic turns of phrases (in the opener 91裸聊视频淢ine,91裸聊视频� she sings 91裸聊视频淵ou made a rebel of a careless man91裸聊视频檚 careful daughter91裸聊视频�). In her 2023 91裸聊视频淏etter Than Revenge91裸聊视频� version, the lyric becomes 91裸聊视频淗e was a moth to the flame / She was holding the matches.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚f we think about 2010, slut-shaming rhetoric certainly existed in movies and shows. She91裸聊视频檚 certainly not the only one who has done this at that time,91裸聊视频� Hirsch argues, quick to point out that Swift has also been the target of sexist vitriol.
Swift91裸聊视频檚 alteration of the song in her re-recording follows a lineage of other pop stars doing the same. and to songs deemed offensive. Weird Al no longer performs his Michael Jackson parodies. And because Swift hasn91裸聊视频檛 performed 91裸聊视频淏etter Than Revenge91裸聊视频� live for well over a decade, she hasn91裸聊视频檛 needed to confront this particular song, in this particular way.
91裸聊视频淲e are willing to replace the old version with Taylor91裸聊视频檚 Versions because they are exact replicas, as much as they can be,91裸聊视频� Scala argues. 91裸聊视频淚f she does something different, it becomes a different song.91裸聊视频� A different song, this time, owned by Swift.
ART EVOLVES WITH TIME
91裸聊视频淔rom a literary historian91裸聊视频檚 point of view, when you first hear 91裸聊视频楽peak Now,91裸聊视频� you could only look at her career up to that point: It meant something in her creative timeline,91裸聊视频� says Scala. 91裸聊视频淎nd now we have the rest of her career to compare it to, so it91裸聊视频檚 hard to listen to the record the same way. You can compare it to the older recording, but its deeper and richer.91裸聊视频�
Technology has changed from 2010. So has Swift: Her voice has matured, no longer possessing the sweet self-restraint that colored her earliest releases.
Each release comes with a few 91裸聊视频淔rom the Vault91裸聊视频� tracks, unreleased songs from each album91裸聊视频檚 period reimagined for the current moment. They, too, give a fuller picture.
AN EXERCISE IN ARTISTIC AUTONOMY
Beyond all of the music and cultural considerations, the fact is: Taylor Swift is re-recording this album to own her work, like she is doing with so many of her records 91裸聊视频� but this is the only album in her discography that is entirely self-penned, the one celebrated for its dismissals of exploitative male characters and poetic embrace of girlhood.
In fact, it91裸聊视频檚 hard not to think of 91裸聊视频淐ould91裸聊视频檝e, Would91裸聊视频檝e, Should91裸聊视频檝e91裸聊视频� from her where Swift sings 91裸聊视频淕ive me back my girlhood, it was mine first,91裸聊视频� as a self-reflection of her 91裸聊视频淪peak Now91裸聊视频� self. That track is a creative reclamation of the teen who wrote 91裸聊视频淒ear John91裸聊视频� as an adult; 91裸聊视频淪peak Now (Taylor91裸聊视频檚 Version)91裸聊视频� is the literal reclamation.
91裸聊视频淥wning these masters, she decided to take back that control,91裸聊视频� Hirsch says. 91裸聊视频淚 love what it communicates: that we all have power, we don91裸聊视频檛 have to just sit back and take these situations, especially when it concerns our own voice.91裸聊视频�
Maria Sherman, The Associated Press
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