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cnab · 10 months
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why I think taylor's rerecords are in the order that they are
Taylor could have easily published her rerecorded albums in the order they were originally released, but she didn't. Instead, she used the albums to craft a narrative, one about a reclamation of her power.
Four of the six albums have titles that are relevant to this narrative: Taylor Swift, Fearless, 1989, and Reputation. Fearless was a natural choice for the first rerecorded album -- the title is a statement, a middle finger to Scooter Braun. Through publishing Fearless first, Taylor is publicly stating that she is not afraid to reclaim what is hers.
The other three albums listed above have personal titles: Taylor's name, birth year, and, well, reputation. Of these three, it makes sense to put 1989 first, as someone's birth year is less often talked about than their name or reputation. It may not be less personal than the other two things, but it's less often brought up. 1989 is also three years older than Rep, so publishing it first allows more time between the original Rep album and the rerecord.
Unless we're incredibly mistaken, Rep will be the fifth album to be rerecorded. This one had to come towards the end of the list, as it couldn't be rerecorded earlier than 2022. Reclaiming Rep as the second to last album, though, allows Taylor to do something very powerful: as the final rerecording, she will reclaim her own name. After she takes back Taylor Swift, all her music will be hers again, and Scooter Braun will no longer hold power over her.
So now we have the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth spots in the rerecord list occupied. What about Red and Speak Now? If Taylor had published Speak Now as the second rerecorded album, the rerecords would have been published in the exact same order as they were the first time, except for Debut coming last. By releasing Red second, Taylor established that she was releasing the rerecords in a different order, thus facilitating Debut being the final rerecorded album.
This ordering crafts a narrative of Taylor taking back what is hers: it begins with a statement that she does not fear the person who took her music from her, then builds as she reclaims her career, her past, and what is important to her. Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version) will be the culmination of this effort: a final reclamation of her identity and power in the face of Scooter Braun. I, for one, am very excited to see that happen.
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