It hasn’t been long since Taylor Swift announced that she officially owns all her music, and as soon as the announcement was made, fans knew exactly which song they wanted to go back to. The master recordings for Swift’s first six albums were all infamously sold away from her in 2019, and after they changed hands again in 2020, Swift began to embark on her re-recording journey of her Taylor’s Versions, beginning with 2021’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

Now, Swift’s hard work has paid off, and her re-recordings have devalued her master recordings enough to allow her to buy them back. While the Swifties have been loyal in listening only to the Taylor’s Versions of her original songs, they were more than excited to return to the originals again when the time came – most notably one track off Swift’s 2010 Speak Now album that is no doubt one of the singer-songwriter’s most controversial to date.

Taylor Swift’s Original “Better Than Revenge” Is Still The Favorite

Despite The Song’s Controversial Lyrics

“Better Than Revenge,” the angsty, rock-infused track off Speak Now, has long since been a fan-favorite, although there’s one particular part of the song that’s also quite controversial. The revenge anthem aimed at another girl who Swift claims to have stolen her ex is filled with bitter yet relatable statements, and one in the chorus is particularly rough in retrospect. Singing about this girl’s reputation, Swift insists that “She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress.”

In the years since the initial release of “Better Than Revenge,” this line has fallen under scrutiny for playing into misogynistic ideas about women and slut-shaming them. This left Swift with a critical choice going into her Taylor’s Version re-recording of the track: should she remain faithful to those brutally honest lines she wrote all those years ago, or take the opportunity to make a change and think of something different?

Taylor Swift buying back her original master recordings actually says a lot about the Taylor’s Versions re-recordings she’s been releasing.

Swift ultimately went with the latter, shocking fans on the day Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was released by changing the line to “He was a moth to a flame, she was holding the matches.” Although Swifties understood and respected the sentiment of this change, many fans were actually quite disappointed that she changed it at all. There was something about her original biting words that was lost in translation with the new lyrics, thus leading the original version to be the fan-favorite.

Swift’s Lyric Change Actually Caused Even More Controversy

Fans Were Upset The Original Line Had Been Rewritten

As stated above, most, if not all, Swifties understood and respected Swift’s decision to change the lyrics, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a massively controversial move. Plenty of fans weren’t afraid to say that they preferred the original line, as brutal as it was, and they longed to hear it uttered in Swift’s more mature voice. Many Swifties even continued to sing the original line instead of the adjusted one at Swift’s Eras Tour when she played “Better Than Revenge” as a surprise song.

This meant that the moment Swift announced she officially owned all her old music, most Swifties made a beeline right back to the original “Better Than Revenge,” with many fans even cracking jokes about the misogynistic line on social media to show their appreciation for Swift’s original version. The nostalgia of the track and the angsty feelings Swift could only have produced at such a young age is more than likely the motivating factor behind all of this.

Preserving The Original Music Is Important, Even If Changes Are Made Later On

Swift Was Right To Both Change Her Newer Version & Keep The Original The Same

It’s certainly curious that Swift’s attempt to right a wrong she had made many years ago was met with such backlash, but it does prove an interesting point about music, and all art, on a much greater scale. It can, of course, change on a case-to-case basis, but on the whole, Swift’s “Better Than Revenge” proves that the preservation of original versions is important, even if there are parts of it that age poorly over time – especially when fans have bonded so strongly to it.

Taylor Swift is widely known for her love and heartbreak songs. However, the stereotypes that that’s all she writes about are completely wrong.

Swift was still right to change the lyrics in the version she produced at an older age, and certainly in singing it differently whenever it’s performed live, but what I really appreciate is that preservation of what she had first recorded at such a young age. It shows where she was at in that part in her life, and what the greater culture and dialogue was surrounding situations like these. It also shows how far we’ve come since then; we recognize that this is no longer the correct way to speak about someone.

That’s what art has long since done for our culture, dating back to some of the earliest forms of art in human history. They’re used in the study of society, culture, and more for a reason. Music is no different, and in this case, Taylor Swift has exemplified it perfectly – so don’t be afraid to go back to the original “Better Than Revenge” and have a self-indulgent moment of remembering how you felt the first time you listened, and how far you’ve come since then.