Taylor Swift surprise re-released “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” this past Friday as part of her saga to regain her masters, leaving fans extremely confused as to what the singer has in store for the next couple of months. 

In March, Swift released a snippet of her version of “Wildest Dreams” as part of the soundtrack for the animated movie “Spirit Untamed.” This led fans to believe for months that the singer-songwriter would release “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” as her second re-recorded album, right after “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” which came out in April. However, she shut down these rumors by announcing that her next re-release would be the autumnal record “RED (Taylor’s Version).” 

For months, fans had been asking the multi-genre singer for a lead single from “RED (Taylor’s Version),” which she kept quiet about. But it was not until the original version of “Wildest Dreams” went viral on TikTok that Swift decided to surprise release her version of the 2014 song. 

While us Swifties did not think in our wildest dreams that she would do something like this, from a marketing perspective, this move was exceptionally astute. In today’s world, TikTok is arguably the most influential app among younger generations. Artists nowadays push for their songs to go viral on the app so it can increase their popularity. Therefore, it is logical that Swift would release her version of “Wildest Dreams” after the increased acclaim for the tune these past couple of weeks on the app, especially considering the fact that she is hoping people will stop streaming the original version of the track. 

On the other hand, sonically, the singer achieved exactly what she wanted, having her version of the song sound almost the same as the original version. Being one of her most beloved and popular tracks, and also part of her most successful album “1989,” it is understandable that Swift did not want to make many alterations to “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version).” She is able to transport listeners back to her “1989” era, having us sing about a love that we are not yet ready to let go at the top of our lungs. 

Despite all the shock that came with the release of this track, the glory of this song only increases my excitement about what she has in store for her fans. While we cannot expect anything from her, one thing is becoming clearer—it is Swift’s world and we are just living in it.