Taylor Swift’s Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version): Youthful Energy Gives Way to Wisdom

Taylor Swift is continuing her journey of creative ownership as she remakes Red and 1989 within the “Taylor’s Version” series. These are probably the two biggest records the Swifties…myself included…have waited for, so it is no surprise that Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version) broke the internet when it dropped. There are many interesting connections to her first remake, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which will be very interesting to explore.

Musically, Swift’s remakes are close to identical to the older versions. She ensured this by bringing back the original musicians from those records. It appears that they are cutting these tracks as soon as possible. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) dropped early 2021 and now she is teasing Red (Taylor’s Version) on her Insta and dropping the lead single off of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in quick succession. You get the feeling that it is like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and she is recording everything back to back with some final production work she can tweak over time. It is great to see her releasing these records so quickly, because fans have waited so long for them. I like the momentum for these records as it increases the likelihood that they will be finished and in my vinyl collection.

Where the Taylor Version tracks get really interesting is in her vocal. 1989 originally dropped in 2014 and Taylor’s vocal has deepened and smoothed out over time. Listening to Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version) you can hear her deeper vocal and the slightly slower pace throughout the track. This is in stark contrast to the highly produced and youthfully energetic vocal in the 2014 version. There is a weight to the vocal that gives the track a wisdom and gravity to it, as opposed to the youthful naivety in 2014. These are slight differences that you can pick up over multiple listens, but they give the track an added dimension, which keeps it fresh.

I think 1989 is a perfect pop record and a top five pop record ever, so I am very excited to see 1989 (Taylor’s Version) finally hit the stores. I really enjoy the subtle differences you can hear from multiple listens…it’s like little Easter eggs that gives you deeper insights into the song. It is great to see Swift re-releasing these records and getting to dig back in to these pop gems.

Listen to Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)