Although Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour recently wrapped its first North American leg, Swifties stay winning. All the blood, sweat, tears—and, tbh, lots of delusions and intricately thought-out theories—have finally paid off for once, because with Taylor’s sparkly new blue performance outfits came an official announcement for 1989 (Taylor’s Version). During the final stop of her Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on August 9, the Grammy winner revealed her original pivot into pop music will be released this October (!!!).
1989 is home to some of Taylor’s biggest hits like “Shake It Off,” “Style,” and “Bad Blood,” so you know the new version is going to hit that much harder. Buckle up and get ready to grab your passport and my hand as I feast you with every little detail about 1989 (Taylor’s Version), from its release date to collaborations and (obviously) all the Easter eggs.
When does 1989 (Taylor‘s Version) come out?
Get ready to reenter your own personal 1989 era this fall, because 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is dropping on October 27, 2023—exactly nine years after the original version of the album was released.
Tay announced her next rerecord during the surprise song portion of her Eras Tour date at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on August 9. Before she performed an acoustic rendition of the album’s fan-favorite bonus track “New Romantics” on her guitar, the mastermind pointed to the brand-new album art that was displayed on the massive screen behind her. I mean...look at that smile! There’s no denying 1989 is one of her favorite musical children, and she took to social media to share that exact sentiment.
“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,” Taylor wrote. “To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE rerecord 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.”
Where can I listen to 1989 (Taylor's Version)?
Of course, the album will be available to stream and scream-sing along to on major platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Or if you really want to throw it back to 1989, you can snag a pale-blue pressed vinyl you can purchase on her official website.
Are there any features in 1989 (Taylor’s Version)?
The fun part about the previously unreleased tracks from Taylor’s Vault is that they usually include collaborations with other amazing artists who have ties to the singer-songwriter. Past features on vault tracks have included Phoebe Bridgers, Maren Morris, Hayley Williams of Paramore, and Fall Out Boy to name a few.
The fans who find solace in the short-lived romance between Taylor and former One Direction crooner Harry Styles are holding out hope for some sort of collaboration as the duo has been friendly and openly supportive of each other. Sure, “Style” featuring Harry Styles may be a bit of a reach, but one can dream, okay?
There’s also a chance Taylor may revisit vault tracks with longtime friend and producer Jack Antonoff as 1989 marked the first time she collaborated with him on a long-form project. Her first collaboration with Jack, “Sweeter Than Fiction” from the film One Chance, dates back to 2013, and they most recently joined forces on a remix of her Midnights hit, “Anti-Hero.”
On August 24, eagle-eyed fans noticed that the Queen of Rap, Nicki Minaj, posted a response to a tweet mentioning Taylor. The original post pointed out that Nicki and Taylor are the only female artists with 100 or more entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Fighting the urge to say Sagittarius tingz right now so bad,” Nicki wrote.
A Swiftie on TikTok also pointed out that Taylor referred to Nicki as her “favorite Sagittarius” while accepting an award at this year’s VMAs on September 12. Nicki and Tay do share the same star sign, so perhaps there could be a vault track called “Sagittarius.” More on that theory here:
@eurosweetheart Sagittarius tingz ???????? #swifttok #taylorswift #1989taylorsversion #1989tvvaulttracks #nickiminaj #sagittarius @Nikki @JessiSwiftTok ? original sound - swiftiesweetheart
Given all the love between these two recently, it seems likely that Nicki could jump on a vault track for the rerecord. It’s also important to note that Tay and Nicki squashed beef at the 2015 VMAs during the original 1989 era. Interesting.
As of right now, though, no features have been officially confirmed.
What about the 1989 vault tracks?
Speaking of vault tracks, Swifties officially began their search on Google on September 19. When you search “Taylor Swift,” a lil blue vault appears with a word search game to unlock the titles of the five vault tracks. Here’s how it works, according to the search engine:
Love’s a game—and so is our latest Easter egg in Search. Wanna play? Here’s how it works:
Search for “Taylor Swift” in the Blank Space (ahem, a Search bar). Click on the blue vault and solve one of the word puzzles. It may take a second, since there are 89 puzzles to get through (á la “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”)—don’t say we didn’t warn ya! But nothing lasts forever. You’ll be helping Swifties around the world get out of the woods (or unlock the vault) as everyone collectively solves 33 million puzzles. And that’s how it works, that’s how you get the vault track titles!
Dying to see how this one ends? We promise that the wait isn’t gonna be forever, but the prize will definitely be worth the pain. ’Cause, darling, we’re a Swiftie dressed like a search engine.
Then Taylor herself entered the chat with her cryptic vault social post that we’ve seen ahead of every Taylor’s Version release. “You can tell me when the *search* is over…if the high was worth the pain.” she captioned the clip, subtly hinting that Swifties should head to Google.
Upon playing the game, fans decoded two possible titles from the scrambled letters: “Lust” or “Slut.” They were quick to theorize that Sabrina Carpenter may make an appearance on the rereleased album because of the latter, as she sings, “I’m a homewrecker / I’m a slut” on her own song “Because I Liked a Boy.” Oh, and Sabrina is also opening for Taylor on her international leg of the Eras Tour, so it’s not totally far-fetched.
None of Taylor’s 1989 vault tracks have been fully unraveled just yet, but you already know we’ll keep you in the loop once we’re out of the woods with this search.
Are there any 1989 (Taylor’s Version) Easter eggs?
Many of Taylor’s music videos are catalysts for one of her favorite things: Easter eggs. Her self-directed “Bejeweled,” “Lavender Haze,” and “Karma” videos were packed with clues that led to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)—aka her last rerecorded album that was released on July 7, 2023—and “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” is no different.
The video—which stars Taylor’s ex Taylor Lautner, Joey King, and Presley Cash—tells the story of the Grammy winner reclaiming her masters through a badass secret heist, of course. There are multiple hints that teased 1989 as Taylor’s next rerecord, including a literal bridge that reads “1989 TV” and imagery that calls back to other visuals from the iconic era. (We’ve got you covered with a full deep dive on those Easter eggs, ICYMI.)
On July 4, 2023, Tay took to Instagram to share pics from her annual Fourth of July party—a celebration that hit its peak during the 1989 era in 2014 when Haim, Gigi Hadid, and her ex Calvin Harris were in attendance. This year, she shared a snap of herself with Haim, Selena Gomez, and more friends, which sent fans into a frenzy as she hadn’t acknowledged her tradition since she began rerecording her albums.
Taylor initially began teasing 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in 2021 when “Wildest Dreams” went viral on TikTok. She finally joined the app and made her SwiftTok presence known with a video partaking in the trend, which dramatically zooms in on the subject while the dreamy ballad serves as its soundtrack. At the time, she had recently announced Red (Taylor’s Version) was on the way and playfully teased her Midnights track “Glitch” with, well, a glitch.
@taylorswift Burnin’ it down ???? #wildestdreamstaylorsversion #slowzoomeffect #swifttok ? original sound - Taylor Swift
Not to mention, most of the surprise songs Taylor whipped out during the Eras Tour happened to be from her fifth studio album, which was originally released in 2014. So most of the signs pointing toward 1989 were pretty much in plain sight!
***
This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.
