Fans went wild on August 9, 2023, when Swift walked out on stage at SoFi Stadium’s Eras Tour Show in Los Angeles, wearing blue. For those not down with Swiftielore, blue is the official colour that represents her fifth studio album, 1989.
This simple moment was a sign to her fans that she was about to announce her next re-recorded album, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at her final Eras Tour show of her US Leg.
When it came to the surprise songs set, Swift walked out wearing blue (again), saying, “Welcome to the acoustic set.”
“I just wanna talk to you guys for a second about…this tour and what you have done. This tour, I hear so many people talking about how they wanted to come to these shows just because of you guys, and the joy and the friendship and the open-heartedness,” she began.
“The nicest thing in the world is how you guys have approached this tour with such excitement and you’ve got so into it and dressed up.”
Swift elaborated how her career has grown over the years noting that she has always wanted to own her own work.
“The way that you have celebrated that, you really decided that it was your fight too and you were 100 per cent behind me, and that if I cared about it, you cared about it. I’ll never stop thanking you for that. It’s so generous of you,” she said.
“Now here we are, on the last night of the US leg of the Eras Tour, in the eighth month of the year, on the ninth day of the month. You might have noticed there are some new outfits in the show,” she added, a twinkle in her eye.
Of course, mega fans knew that the date, which in America was 8/9, signalled the 1989 album title.
“There’s something that I’ve been planning for a really, really, ridiculously, embarrassingly, long time. I think instead of telling you about it, I’ll just sort of show you.”
Swift pointed to the screen where she unveiled the front cover album artwork for her re-recorded album, and the crowd went wild.
Swift also shared the news on Instagram, writing, “Surprise!! 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is on its way to you! The 1989 album changed my life in countless ways, and it fills me with such excitement to announce that my version of it will be out October 27th. To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane. I can’t believe they were ever left behind. But not for long! Pre order 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on my site.”
Taylor Swift Takes Over Google With Vault Song Reveal Game
To reveal the titles of the so-called ‘Vault tracks’ on 1989 (Taylor’s Version), i.e. the songs that were left off the original album, Swift devised a masterminded plot.
Essentially, Swifties needed to google ‘Taylor Swift’, for a little Vault icon to pop up in the bottom right hand corner. If fans unscrambled the first message, they would notice it read 1989 (Taylor’s Version). If they typed this into Google next, then they could open the Vault and have a go at solving a series of puzzles.
To solve the puzzle, fans simply had to unscramble the words and then type the answer into the google search bar to see if it was right. If it was, that would be considered one puzzle solved. Swifties were tasked with solving 33 million puzzles in order to release the tracks from their Vault.
Of course, all this Googling saw ‘Taylor Swift’ and ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version) rise to the top of Google Trends. But we also saw some of the answers, such as ‘sheep’ and ‘golfclub’ rising through the ranks, which was rather hilarious.
Some of the more funny prompts included:
- Hint: smashing. Answer: golfclubs (clearly referencing the ‘Blank Space’ video clip
- Hint: bad blood. Answer: she wasn’t doing anything (referencing when Swift stood up for a concert goer being harassed by a guard)
- Hint: loudest and brightest city. Answer: New York City (an enduring motif of the album).
Over the next 24 hours, Swifties would go on to solve all the puzzles and release the entire track list of 1989 (Taylor’s Version). So, without further ado, here it is.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) Track List and Vault Songs Revealed
- “Welcome to New York (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Blank Space (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Style (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version)”
- “All You Had to Do Was Stay (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Shake It Off (Taylor’s Version)”
- “I Wish You Would (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)”
- “How You Get the Girl (Taylor’s Version)”
- “This Love (Taylor’s Version)”
- “I Know Places (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Clean (Taylor’s Version)”
- “Wonderland (Taylor’s Version)”
- “You Are in Love (Taylor’s Version)”
- “New Romantics (Taylor’s Version)”
1989 (Taylor’s Version) Vault Tracks:
- “Slut! (Taylor’s Version)” (From the Vault)
- “Say Don’t Go (Taylor’s Version)” (From the Vault)
- “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version)” (From the Vault)
- “Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version)” (From the Vault)
- “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version)” (From the Vault)
Will There Be Any Collaborations On 1989 (Taylor’s Version)?
While fans had been holding out for a Selena Gomez feature and ‘Style Featuring Harry Styles’ on 1989, the back cover of the album doesn’t appear to have any collaborations.
Swift also has been rumoured to be doing a collaboration with Nicki Minaj on a song fans are calling ‘Saggitarius’, however this has not made the list either.
It has fans wondering, are there collaborations they just haven’t announced yet, or is this a fully-Taylor album? Either way, they can’t wait until the album is released.
When Is 1989 (Taylor’s Version) Being Released?
Australian fans don’t have too much longer to wait until they can listen to the whole 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album. It’s due to be released on October 27, 2023.
