We’ll have to wait awhile for Taylor Swift’s next “Taylor’s Version.” I’m guessing Reputation will come next, allowing Swift to wrap up the project with her self-titled debut. I can’t wait to hear the gems unearthed on those two releases.
In the meantime, Swift’s most recent release — 2022’s Midnights — came with its own batch of bonus tracks. They aren’t old enough to have made it into the vault, but that’s all the better for fans who get to hear them right away.
Once again, I wish some of these tracks had made the final album cut. In the case of Midnights, I would replace ‘Question…?’ with today’s SOTD in a heartbeat. ‘Hits Different’ is a blast, equal parts funny and touching, and would have been a highlight of the album.
But then, I guess it’s a smart move to hold some winners back in order to sell CDs to the Swifties. Clearly there’s no point in second-guessing Taylor Swift.
I washed my hands of us at the club
You made a mess of me
I pictured you with other girls in love
Then threw up on the street
Like waiting for a bus that never shows
You just start walkin’ on
They say that if it’s right, you know
Each bar plays our song
Nothing has ever felt so wrong
[Chorus]
Oh, my, love is a lie
Shit my friends say to get me by
It hits different
It hits different this time
Catastrophic blues
Movin’ on was always easy for me to do
It hits different
It hits different ’cause it’s you
[Post-Chorus]
(‘Cause it’s you)
[Verse 2]
I used to switch out these Kens, I’d just ghost
Rip the band-aid off and skip town likе an asshole outlaw
Freedom felt like summеr then on the coast
Now the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings
And I never don’t cry (And I never don’t cry) at the bar
Yeah, my sadness is contagious (My sadness is contagious)
I slur your name ’til someone puts me in a car
I stopped receiving invitations
[Chorus]
Oh, my, love is a lie
Shit my friends say to get me by
It hits different
It hits different this time
Catastrophic blues
Movin’ on was always easy for me to do
It hits different
It hits different ’cause it’s you
[Post-Chorus]
(‘Cause it’s you)
[Bridge]
I find the artifacts, cried over a hat
Cursed the space that I needed
I trace the evidence, make it make some sense
Why the wound is still bleedin’
You were the one that I loved
Don’t need another metaphor, it’s simple enough
A wrinkle in time like the crease by your eyes
This is why they shouldn’t kill off the main guy
Dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief
In the good in the world, you once believed in me
And I felt you and I held you for a while
Bet I could still melt your world
Argumentative, antithetical dream girl
[Verse 3]
I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway
Is that your key in the door?
Is it okay? Is it you?
Or have they come to take me away?
To take me away
[Chorus]
Oh, my, love is a lie
Shit my friends say to get me by
It hits different (It hits different)
It hits different this time
Catastrophic blues
Movin’ on was always easy for me to do
It hits different (It hits different)
It hits different ’cause it’s you
[Outro]
Oh, my, love is a lie
Shit my friends say to get me by
‘Cause it’s you
Catastrophic blues
Movin’ on was always easy for me to do
It hits different (Yeah)
It hits different ’cause it’s you
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’m not sure if, in the era of subscription services like Apple and Amazon music whether these bonus or vault track additions really matter so much from a sales perspective, but it’s nice that fans are treated to so much extra content.
I’d say that’s true for everybody but Taylor Swift. She’s able to release a CD or vinyl-only edition with one bonus track and move massive numbers of physical media — even if the song will eventually make it to streaming services.