It\u2019s time for Speak Now (Taylor\u2019s Version) <\/em>\u2014 and the Swifties have plenty to celebrate. The re-released album<\/a> comes with all of their old favorites, plus six new songs from the vault. So, now\u2019s as good a time as any to look back over the inspiration behind the fan-favorite Taylor Swift album.<\/p>\n Nostalgic fans \u2014 the ones who were listening back when Speak Now <\/em>came out<\/a> for the first time in October 2010 \u2014 know there\u2019s a lot of lore surrounding this album. Many songs do refer to Swift\u2019s romantic past, inspired by ex-boyfriends, but that\u2019s far from her only source of inspiration<\/a>. Harsh critics, painful memories (hi, Kanye), and sweet moments on tour also influenced this era. \u201cI always looked at this album as my album, and the lump in my throat expands to a quivering voice as I say this, thanks to you, dear reader, it finally will be,\u201d Swift wrote<\/a> on Instagram in May when announcing the re-release. \u201cI consider this music to be, along with your faith in me, the best thing that\u2019s ever been mine.\u201d<\/p>\n As you get ready to listen (or re-listen), here\u2019s a full breakdown of Swift\u2019s reported \u2014 and, sometimes, confirmed \u2014 inspiration behind every song on Speak Now (Taylor\u2019s Version).<\/em><\/p>\n In \u201cMine,\u201d Swift tells a story of two people falling in love \u2014 even if their relationship starts out with some fears and commitment issues. “I was reflecting<\/a> back on a boy I liked at a certain time,” she explained the song to Rolling Stone<\/em>, per Self<\/em>. “The song is about what it would be like if I actually let my guard down.”<\/p>\n Though Swift has never explicitly said who \u201cMine\u201d was written about, fans think it\u2019s referring to her rumored short-lived fling with Glee\u2019<\/em>s Cory Monteith<\/a>, since they were reportedly together a few months before the song was released. Plus, an IG account run by Monteith\u2019s mother<\/a> posted a Story, featuring a photo of Monteith and Swift with the song \u201cMine\u201d playing over it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Swift\u2019s song \u201cSparks Fly\u201d is rumored to be about country singer Jake Owen, whom Swift opened for back in 2006. Back in the day, she wrote a blog post about her show with Owen<\/a>, which happened to be in Portland, Oregon. In the album booklet for \u201cSparks Fly,\u201d she left \u201cPortland, Oregon\u201d as a code, clueing fans into her inspo behind the romantic track \u2014 even if she never confirmed any romance with Owen. Plus, Owen has hazel-green eyes, making this theory a bit more convincing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Swift wrote \u201cBack To December\u201d about her 2009 relationship with Taylor Lautner<\/a>. For a long time, fans speculated Lautner inspired the song, considering her lyrics reference his \u201ctan skin\u201d and \u201csweet smile\u201d \u2014 plus, the line about \u201chow you held me in your arms that September night \/ The first time you ever saw me cry\u201d seems to reference Lautner hugging Swift after Kanye West interrupted her at the MTV Awards in September 2009. The Twilight <\/em>actor confirmed that he inspired the song during a 2016 Facebook live, per Billboard<\/em>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n At first glance, Swift\u2019s \u201cSpeak Now\u201d song doesn\u2019t seem to reference a specific person. In her album booklet, the code simply read: \u201cYou always regret what you don\u2019t say.\u201d However, fans have a theory that Swift wrote the song for her friend<\/a> (and Paramore singer) Hayley Williams when Williams attended her high school boyfriend and Paramore bandmate Josh Farro\u2019s wedding. The song describes attending an ex\u2019s wedding and debating whether or not to interrupt the ceremony. The lyrics read, \u201cI lose myself in a daydream \/ Where I stand and say \/ Don’t say yes, run away now \/ I’ll meet you when you’re out of the church at the back door \/ Don’t wait, or say a single vow \/ You need to hear me out \/ And they said, \u2018Speak now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Although Swift has never said so, fans believe \u201cDear John\u201d is about her relationship with John Mayer. (To be fair, the song\u2019s title does heavily imply it.) Mayer seems to think so, too. In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone<\/em>, the singer said the song \u201chumiliated\u201d him<\/a> and \u201cmade [him] feel terrible.\u201d <\/p>\n Plus, the duo dated when Swift was only 19, something the lyrics point out: \u201cDear John, I see it all now, it was wrong \/ Don’t you think nineteen’s too young \/ To be played by your dark, twisted games when I loved you so?\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In \u201cMean,\u201d Swift sings about her critics \u2014 predicting that years from now they\u2019ll still be \u201cdrunk and grumbling on about how I can’t sing.\u201d According to rumors<\/a>, Swift was supposedly <\/strong>referring to critic Bob Lefsetz in the song. (Lefsetz wrote a scathing review<\/a> of her 2010 Grammys performance with Stevie Nicks, claiming she killed her career in one night.) It was far from the only time he wrote about the singer. In March 2023, he dedicated another blog post to criticizing Swift\u2019s Eras Tour tickets.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Swift wrote \u201cThe Story Of Us\u201d about running into her ex at an awards show. In her album booklet, she clued fans in that the award show in question was the CMT Awards<\/a>. In 2010, she told USA Today <\/em>that the song tells a personal story of “running into someone<\/a> I had been in a relationship with at an awards show, and we were seated a few seats away from each other.\u201d She added, \u201cI just wanted to say to him, ‘Is this killing you? Because it’s killing me.’ But I didn’t. Because I couldn’t. Because we both had these silent shields up.\u201d Mayer and Swift were both performers at the 2010 CMT Awards.<\/p>\n She also let slip to USA Today<\/em> that the same person who inspired \u201cDear John\u201d also gave her the idea for this track, so it\u2019s likely about a run-in with John Mayer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Swift\u2019s \u201cNever Grow Up\u201d is a personal song about growing pains, specifically when you move into your first adult apartment. It sounds like a song directed to her younger self, wishing that she enjoys her childhood. The lyrics read, \u201cTake pictures in your mind of your childhood room \/ Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home \/ Remember the footsteps, remember the words said \/ And all your little brother’s favorite songs \/ I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Swift\u2019s song \u201cEnchanted\u201d is about having that \u201cwonderstruck\u201d feeling when meeting someone new. In her album notes, she annotated the name Adam, hinting at her crush on Owl City\u2019s Adam Young \u2014 though it\u2019s never been confirmed the two actually dated. Young later responded with a cover of the song<\/a>, changing the lyrics to reference Swift directly: \u201cI was never in love with someone else \/ I never had somebody waiting on me \/ ‘Cause you were all of my dreams come true \/ And I just wish you knew \/ Taylor, I was so in love with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cBetter Than Revenge\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBetter Than Revenge\u201d is widely believed to be about Camilla Belle, who dated Joe Jonas after Swift. In it, she sings about an \u201cactress\u201d who stole her boyfriend. In 2017, Swift gave an updated perspective on the song during an interview with The Guardian<\/em>. \u201cI was 18 when I wrote that,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the age you are when you think someone can actually take your boyfriend<\/a>. Then you grow up and realize no one take someone from you if they don\u2019t want to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Swift wrote \u201cInnocent\u201d for Kanye West<\/a>, following his infamous interruption of her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Awards. “I think a lot of people expected me to write a song about him,\u201d she explained writing \u201cInnocent,\u201d per MTV.<\/i> “But, for me, it was important to write a song to him.” The lyrics include, \u201cWho you are is not what you did \/ You’re still an innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Swift has kept the inspiration behind \u201cHaunted\u201d private, and even the clue in her album booklet is vague: \u201cStill to this day.\u201d <\/strong>When she first released the song in 2010, Swift explained the song on her website, \u201c’Haunted’ is about the moment that you realize the person you’re in love<\/a> with is drifting and fading fast. And you don’t know what to do, but in that period of time, in that phase of love, where it’s fading out, time moves so slowly. Everything hinges on what that last text message said, and you’re realizing that he’s kind of falling out of love.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Swift\u2019s song \u201cLast Kiss\u201d about an unexpected breakup is widely believed by fans to be written for Joe Jonas after they dated in 2008<\/a>. Swift chose the code words \u201cForever and always\u201d for her Speak Now <\/em>booklet, referencing the title of a song she wrote for Jonas on her Fearless <\/em>album.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cLong Live\u201d is a song Swift reportedly wrote for her fans and her team, wrapping up her Fearless <\/em>tour<\/a> at Gillette Stadium<\/a> in 2010. In it, she sings, \u201cIf you have children someday \/ When they point to the pictures \/ Please tell them my name \/ Tell them how the crowds went wild \/ Tell them how I hope they shine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n There aren\u2019t many fan theories about Swift\u2019s inspiration for \u201cOurs,\u201d but the singer has shared that she wrote it about a personal relationship that wasn\u2019t exactly popular with her friends and family. \u201cI wrote it about this guy that nobody thought I should be with<\/a>, so I wrote this song specifically just to play it for him,\u201d she said in an interview with VH1.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cSuperman\u201d is rumored to be about Mayer since Swift linked the song lyrics to her code word for \u201cDear John.\u201d In the album booklet, her secret message for \u201cDear John\u201d is \u201cLoved you from the very first day.\u201d And in \u201cSuperman,\u201d Swift sings, \u201cHe’s not all bad like his reputation \/ And I can’t hear one single word they said \/ And you leave, got places to be and I’ll be okay \/ I always forget to tell you I love you \/ I loved you from the very first day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cElectric Touch (feat. Fall Out Boy)\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In vault track \u201cElectric Touch,\u201d Swift sings about falling for someone \u2014 still unsure how it\u2019ll end. Swift doesn\u2019t drop many clues about who it could be about, but she sings, \u201cGot a feelin’ your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life.\u201d This sounds a lot like a precursor to her lyrics in \u201cDear John,\u201d which read, \u201cBut I took your matches before fire could catch me \/ So don’t look now \/ I’m shining like fireworks over your sad empty town.\u201d Could \u201cElectric Touch\u201d be an earlier version of Mayer in Swift\u2019s eyes? It\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cWhen Emma Falls In Love\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are a few different theories surrounding Swift\u2019s vault track \u201cWhen Emma Falls In Love.\u201d Ahead of the song\u2019s release on July 7, fans pointed toward Swift and Emma Stone\u2019s friendship<\/a> as potential inspo behind the track. There\u2019s not a ton to go off of here, but they were close around Speak Now\u2019s <\/em>original release, back when fans were obsessing over Stone\u2019s relationship with Andrew Garfield.<\/p>\n![\"Cory](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2023\/7\/6\/db29506b-17e1-4f9e-a816-ce4beef957a8-getty-184069060.jpg?w=760&h=526&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
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