Taylor Swift has spoken. On May 5, the “Lavender Haze” singer gave Swifties the long-awaited news they’ve been waiting for: the release date for “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).” Swift made the announcement during her Eras Tour stop in Nashville, TN., her hometown. “I think rather than me speaking about it, I thought I would show you, so if you would direct your attention . . .” Swift said during the concert, per Variety. As she trailed off, the screens behind her were filled with the new cover art for the “Speak Now” rerelease, as well as the album’s July 7 release date.
The 33-year-old singer also made a statement via social media. “It fills me with such pride and joy to announce that my version of Speak Now will be out July 7 (just in time for July 9th, iykyk ?),” she tweeted. “I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20. The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing . . . and living to speak about it.”
She went on to reveal the rerelease will also include six songs from “the vault.” “With six extra songs I’ve sprung loose from the vault, I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) with you on July 7th,” she concluded.
Swift also included a special note for fans about just how special “Speak Now” is to her. “I always looked at this album as my album, and the lump in my throat expands to a quivering voice as I say this,” she wrote. “Thanks to you, dear reader, it finally will be. I consider this music to be, along with your faith in me, the best thing that’s ever been mine.”
On June 5, Swift revealed the full tracklist for the album, including the titles of the six “From the Vault” songs. One vault track features Fall Out Boy and another features Paramore lead signer Hayley Williams. Swift wrote in the tweet with the album’s back cover, “I’m VERY excited to show you the back cover of Speak Now (my version) including the vault tracks and collaborations with Hayley Williams from @paramore and @falloutboy. Since Speak Now was all about my songwriting, I decided to go to the artists who I feel influenced me most powerfully as a lyricist at that time and ask them to sing on the album.” She added, “They’re so cool and generous for agreeing to support my version of ‘Speak Now.'”
Swift added, “I recorded this album when I was 32 (and still growing up, now) and can’t wait to unveil it all to you on July 7th.” Longtime fans of Swift will know she wrote every song on “Speak Now” solo in response to accusations that she wasn’t a true songwriter.
“Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” will be Swift’s third rereleased album. Way back in 2019, she announced that she was going to rerecord her first six albums and all the music she released before she changed record companies. She alleged that her previous company, Big Machine Records, wouldn’t let her buy back her master recordings, so she would just make new ones. New versions of “Fearless” and “Red,” also called “Taylor’s Versions,” came out in 2021, which made a lot of fans think that she’d release more of the rerecorded albums in 2022. But Swift ended up changing things that year with the release of “Midnights.” Many Swifties believe “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” will be next.
Swift has technically released a re-recorded version of a “Speak Now” song already. In March, she released four new songs, including “If This Was a Movie (Taylor’s Version)”; the original was a deluxe track on “Speak Now.” However, the new version got album artwork from “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” and is not featured on “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Read on for everything we know about “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” so far.
Related: The 25 Best Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked
