Taylor Swift Drops Re-Recorded Fearless Album: Decoding Every Vault Song

On Fearless (Taylor's Version), Taylor Swift released six songs that never made it on the original album. Scroll on to decode the meaning behind each track.

By Kaitlin Reilly Apr 09, 2021 5:27 PMTags
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It's official: Taylor Swift's first re-recorded album is here.

At midnight on Friday, April 9, the superstar singer released Fearless (Taylor's Version), the re-recorded version of her Grammy-winning 2008 album.

Fans will recall that the "Blank Space" artist decided to re-record her masters after a dispute with her former record label, Big Machine. Though she worked with its founder Scott Borchetta at the very beginning of her career, she chose to walk away from the label in 2019, prior to her seventh album Lover, so she could own her future recordings. The decision to re-record her first six albums came after it was announced that Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun, who Taylor accused of "bullying" her, had purchased Big Machine and with it, her masters. Scooter has since sold the master rights to her songs. 

Now, however, Taylor is ready to move on with her own versions of her previous albums—and fans are really reaping the benefits. In addition to new version of beloved hits like "Love Story," "Fifteen" and "White Horse," Taylor has gifted Swifties with six unreleased songs "from the vault," including tracks that feature Maren Morris and Keith Urban

In a letter to fans about Fearless (Taylor's Version), the 31 year old wrote, "Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really *knows* that body of work. For example, only I know which songs I wrote that almost made the Fearless album. Songs I absolutely adored, but were held back for different reasons (don't want too many breakup songs, don't want too many down tempo songs, can't fit that many songs on a physical CD)."

"Those reasons seem unnecessary now," she continued. "I've decided I want you to have the whole story, see the entire vivid picture, and let you into the entire dreamscape that is my Fearless album."

Here are the new songs fans can enjoy right now. 

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"You All Over Me" (feat. Maren Morris): This is the first "From the Vault" song Taylor released. It's also the first time she has worked with country superstar Maren, who provides background vocals. Fans noticed that the song, which is about reminiscing about a former relationship, has an interesting parallel to the titular track "Fearless." While "Fearless" opens with "Something about the way / the street looks when it just rained / there's a glow off the pavement," this song opens with "Once the last drop of rain has dried off the pavement / Shouldn't I find a stain, but I never do."

"Mr. Perfectly Fine": This up-tempo song was also released prior to the album's official drop. Many fans believe it to be about Joe Jonas, who famously dumped a teenage Taylor in a short phone call. One such person who is listening to it on repeat is Joe's wife Sophie Turner, who took to her Instagram Story to declare that the song was "not NOT a bop." It also features the descriptor "casually cruel," which Tay would use again in her Red track "All Too Well."

"That's When" (feat. Keith Urban): "That's When" is a song of love lost and found gain—almost as if "Back to December," off her album Speak Now, had a happier ending. In a recent tweet, she wrote of the special bond she and Keith share, "I'm really honored that @KeithUrban is a part of this project, duetting on That's When and singing harmonies on We Were Happy. I was his opening act during the Fearless album era and his music has inspired me endlessly."

"We Were Happy": Taylor leans into her country roots on "We Were Happy," which references her significant other's "daddy's farm" that Taylor hoped to buy. (So, uh, probably not about Joe?) Keith provides backup vocals for this track. 

"Don't You": Fans suspect that this song may be about Joe as well, as he, famously, began dating actress Camilla Belle not long after ending this with Taylor. Lyrics include, "Hey, I knew I'd run into you somewhere / It's been a while, I didn't mean to stare / I heard she's nothin' like me / I'm sure she'll make you happy."

Taylor Swift/Beth Garrabrant

"Bye Bye Baby": Some fans will recognize this song as "The One Thing," which was previously leaked but never released officially. Taylor tweaked the lyrics of the song featuring that line, hence why its new name is "Bye Bye Baby." Some fans speculate that her placing the song last on the track list is a way of nodding that she's closing the chapter on Fearless. But don't worry, Swifties: Taylor still has five more albums to re-release!

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