One of the most hotly debated subjects among Taylor Swift buffs and onlookers before the firing of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was whether she would alter a specific line in Better Than Revenge, which some believed had not aged well since the original version was released in 2010. And, it was valid: She recently changed the lyric in question for the 2023 version.
“She’s more known for the things she performs on the mattress,” has been a particularly quotable diss line from the song for the past 13 years. The phrase has been changed to “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches,” in her revised version of Better Than Revenge. The reworked sentence better reflects her feminism as an adult because she has frequently discussed how women’s dating lives, including her own, shouldn’t be subject to criticism.
When Swift penned the song at the age of 19 or 20, many felt that she should have a more progressive view of women’s sexuality than she did at 33. However, some felt that the lyric should be kept exactly as it was written. A few fans who had early access to Speak Now and shared screenshots of the lyric sheet spread the news of the revised lyrics on Thursday afternoon. On social media, Swifties’ initial reactions were divided, with some worrying that they would have to defy the rules and dig out their old Big Machine copies to enjoy the fan favourite the way they remembered it.
However, the majority of Swift fans already knew that the lyrics will be changed. That didn’t stop many of them from making memes about how upset they were over the switch, though, to be fair, most of them appeared to be lighthearted declarations about their devotion to memories rather than critical checks of the shift.
There is a long-winded practice of artistes sacking contentious phrases that are perceived as offensive, such as the recent instance in which Beyonce and Lizzo both reissued their summer albums last year with a word that alludes to physical infirmities but is commonly used as slang cut-out. Black Eyed Peas initially performed a song using a different slang term for people with mental problems in the title, then they later changed it, and the new song went on to become popular. Elvis Costello made the decision to quit singing Oliver’s Army, a song that contained a politically sarcastic use of the N-word, rather than continuing to sing a self-censored version. However, at a concert this year, he debuted a new version that contained a whole new verse.
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Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is streaming on all platforms.