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With the string of hits that Taylor Swift had on “1989” — including “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Bad Blood” and “Wildest Dreams” — it’s tough to see how she could have any good stuff left over from that era.
But with Friday’s release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” — her re-recording of her fifth studio LP, which won the Album of the Year Grammy in 2016 — Swift is the gift that keeps on giving with bonus material from the “1989” sessions.
Here, we rank the five previously unreleased vault tracks, from worst to best.
5. “Slut!”
With her eternally girlish persona, Swift has never really given us a grown-and-sexy vibe. And wholesomeness is her whole brand. So hearing her fantasize about letting her inner slut out over a mood-lit midtempo beat feels like a stretch. And the “drunk in love” lyric only makes us remember just how hot it was when Beyoncé was riding her surfboard on top of Jay-Z.
4. “Suburban Legends”
For someone who never got the full high-school experience, Swift has made a career out of connecting with the high-school girl in all of us. And this wistful remembrance captures the innocence of a young love who would “kiss me in a way that’s gonna screw me up forever.”
3. “Now That We Don’t Talk”
Swift’s exes can always be found in the Easter eggs that are hidden on her albums. And here it appears to be Harry Styles — who dated the “Anti-Hero” singer in 2012 — getting the Taylor treatment over pulsing synth-pop. She even seemingly references him changing up his style by growing out his hair in 2014: “And from the outside, it looks like you’re trying lives on/I miss the old ways/You didn’t have to change.”
2. “Is It Over Now?”
It also sounds as if Styles could be the subject of this breakup song. When she sings “You search in every model’s bed for something greater, baby,” it could definitely be a reference to the “Watermelon Sugar” stud being linked to models such as Kendall Jenner, Nadine Leopold and Camille Rowe. But for us regular folks, this track nails the emotional entanglement of that ex you just can’t shake.
1. “Say Don’t Go”
It’s hard to imagine how this one didn’t make the cut when “1989” was first released. Swift is in her sweet spot, in all her unrequited feels. “I would stay forever if you say don’t go,” she sings in the big, cascading chorus before finally accepting, “But you won’t.” And although the dude may be out the door, you’re instantly hooked.
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