Taylor Swift’s newly released “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” has brought back her fan favorite hit “Dear John” and resurfaced her alleged romance with musician John Mayer.
Swift re-recorded her 2010 album at the age of 32, and revisited some of the emotions she felt back then. The much anticipated re-record was released on July 7, and has fans buzzing about her romantic link to the “Gravity” crooner, who is rumored to be her inspiration for the album’s fifth track.
Mayer and Swift never publicly confirmed their romance, but the two did perform together a handful of times in 2009 after collaborating on Mayer’s song “Half of my Heart.” The collaboration came about after Mayer tweeted that he wanted to work with Swift.
Mayer had an idea for the song “called ‘Half of My Heart,'” saying, “I want to sing it with Taylor Swift.”
TAYLOR SWIFT’S ‘SPEAK NOW’ RE-RECORDED DISS TRACK SENDS FANS INTO FRENZY WITH CHANGED LYRIC
Taylor Swift’s re-release of “Speak Now” has put her alleged relationship with John Mayer back in the spotlight with the song “Dear John.” (Getty Images)
He added: “She would make a killer [Stevie] ‘Nicks’ in contrast to my [Tom] ‘Petty’ of a song.” At the time, Swift was 19 and Mayer was 32.
Following the end of the rumored relationship, each musician released a break-up song many believed was about the romance. Swift released “Dear John” on “Speak Now” in 2010 while Mayer released “Paper Doll.” Fans picked out lyrics from the song “Dear John” that seemingly referenced the romance, including, “Don’t you think nineteen is too young / To be played by your dark twisted games / When I loved you so?”
Swift has never confirmed the song is about Mayer, but she did tell People magazine at one point, “A lot of times when people’s relationships end, they write an email to that person and say everything that they wish they would have said. A lot of times they don’t push send.”
“Putting it on the album was pushing send.”
John Mayer and Taylor Swift perform onstage during Z100’s Jingle Ball on Dec. 11, 2009. (Getty Images)
TAYLOR SWIFT RELEASES RE-RECORD OF ‘SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR’S VERSION)’
John Mayer and Taylor Swift share a hug onstage during the 41st Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Ceremony on June 17, 2010, in New York City. (Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Mayer has spoken about the song and claimed the release “humiliated” him.
“I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that,” Mayer told Rolling Stone in 2012, assuming the song was about him. “It was a really lousy thing for her to do.”
“I never got an email. I never got a phone call,” he said. “I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you’ve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?”
He also called the 12-time Grammy Award winner’s song “cheap songwriting.”
“I know she’s the biggest thing in the world, and I’m not trying to sink anybody’s ship, but I think it’s abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, ‘Wait till he gets a load of this!’ That’s bulls—.”
Swift recently played “Dear John” live for the first time in over a decade as she used it during the surprise portion of her set list for “The Eras Tour.” Swift hadn’t sung the song live since the “Speak Now” tour ended in 2012.
Before 2023, Taylor Swift hadn’t played “Dear John” live since her “Speak Now” tour. (Getty Images)
Taylor Swift performs on the opening night of her “Speak Now” tour on March 23, 2011, in Birmingham, England. (Getty Images)
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Before Swift sang “Dear John,” she had one note for her fans.
“I get to stand on this stage every single night of this tour and watch some of the most beautiful things happen, I watch you guys make friends with each other,” Swift began. “I watch you bond. I watch you give each other friendship bracelets.”
Taylor Swift played “Dear John” for the first time live in over a decade while on The Eras Tour. (Getty Images)
“I was hoping to ask you that as we lead up to this album coming out, I would love for that kindness and that gentleness to extend onto our internet activities,” the singer said. “I’m putting this album out because I want to own my music, and I believe that any artist who has the desire to own their music should be able to, that’s why I’m putting out this album.”
“I’m 33 years old. I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote and the memories we made together,” she continued. “I’m not putting this album out so that you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 billion years ago.”
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Taylor Swift performs during The Eras Tour at Gillette Stadium on May 20, 2023, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (TAS Rights Management/Getty Images)
“Dear John” was included as a track five song on Swift’s “Speak Now” album. The pop star unintentionally fell into a pattern of dropping her most vulnerable and cathartic song into the fifth spot on her track lists and “Dear John” was no exception.
“I didn’t realize I was doing this, but as I was making albums, I guess I was just kind of putting a very vulnerable, personal, honest, emotional song as track five,” Swift said during an Instagram Live. “So because you noticed this, I kind of started to put the songs that were really honest, emotional, vulnerable, and personal as track five.”
Swift’s track five is a “welcome addition” and “an important release” on each album, according to pop culture expert Rob Weiner.
“Taylor Swift’s release Track 5 comes as a welcome addition to her catalog of excellent music and is an important release.”
“The way an artist creates patterns through their music with lyrics and rhythm connects them with an audience who listen to what the artist is trying get across,” Weiner, who works as the pop culture librarian at Texas Tech University, told Fox News Digital. “Swift’s ability to write her own music and be a strong role model and artist means something to her fans. There is a good reason why she is selling out stadiums. Fans feel as though Swift is talking to them. By making herself vulnerable through her songs, particularly track #5, Swift is being honest about the experiences of life.”
Taylor Swift is currently on tour for the first time since 2018. (Scott Legato/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
“Fans relate to this, and the songs connect with them on a deeper level than just the typical ‘have fun’ type of pop song. Sure, Swift can sing pop songs that are fun, but she wants her fans to go deeper and understand who she is and connect with them on an emotional level,” he added. “Artists who are honest often create music that helps bridge the gap between audience/artist. To her fans Swift is more than just an entertainer, but someone they can relate to who goes through trials and tribulations just like anyone does.”
Other songs that Swift has released as a track five include “All Too Well,” “All You Had To Do Was Stay,” “Delicate,” “The Archer,” “My Tears Ricochet,” “Tolerate It” and “You’re On Your Own, Kid.”
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