The vault tracks are one of the most brilliant strategic decisions in Taylor Swift's re-recording project. By including previously unreleased songs from each album's original era alongside faithful recreations of the existing tracklist, Taylor gave fans a reason to choose Taylor's Version that went beyond principle — she gave them new music. Across four Taylor's Version albums, she has released 26 vault tracks, ranging from songs that could have been singles to interesting curiosities that reveal her creative process. Here is every vault track, ranked.
The Masterpieces
All Too Well (10 Minute Version) from Red (Taylor's Version) is not just the best vault track — it is one of the best songs Taylor Swift has ever written. The extended version adds verses that deepen the narrative with devastating specificity: "You kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath." The ten-minute runtime, far from feeling indulgent, reveals a song that was always too big for its original five-minute frame. It debuted at number one and inspired a short film, and it retroactively reframed what Red was always about.
Nothing New (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) from Red (Taylor's Version) takes second place. Written when Taylor was 22 but delivered with the weight of a decade more experience, it asks the question every artist dreads: "How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?" Bridgers' duet vocal adds a generational dimension — two women at different career stages sharing the same fear of irrelevance. It is one of Taylor's most emotionally intelligent songs.
I Can See You from Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is the vault track that became a genuine hit. The song's slinky, mid-tempo groove and its narrative of secret desire felt like a missing piece from the Speak Now era, and its live debut at the Eras Tour became one of the most electric moments of the show. It proved that vault tracks could compete with the best album tracks.
The Near-Greats
Is It Over Now? from 1989 (Taylor's Version) is the vault track that 1989 needed. Sharper and more cutting than anything on the original album, it reframes the breakup narrative with an edge that Style and Out of the Woods only hinted at. Better Man from Red (Taylor's Version) is a song Taylor wrote for Little Big Town that works even better in her own voice — a country ballad about knowing you deserve more but still missing what you had. Mr. Perfectly Fine from Fearless (Taylor's Version) is the vault track that made Sophie Turner post about it on Instagram, calling it "not NOT a bop." It is catchy, confident, and provides a missing link between Fearless-era Taylor and the pop songwriter she would become.
The Hidden Gems
Message in a Bottle from Red (Taylor's Version) is pure pop craftsmanship — a song that could have been a hit on any album and that reveals how far Taylor's pop instincts had developed even during the Red era. Say Don't Go from 1989 (Taylor's Version) has a chorus that burrows into the brain and refuses to leave. Electric Touch (feat. Fall Out Boy) from Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is a collaboration that sounds like it should have existed in 2010 — a punk-pop energy that suits both artists perfectly.
The Deeper Cuts
The remaining vault tracks range from solid to interesting. Forever Winter, Run, The Very First Night, and Babe (all from Red TV) each have their defenders. Castles Crumbling (feat. Hayley Williams) from Speak Now TV is a collaboration that works better conceptually than sonically. We Were Happy, Don't You, and Bye Bye Baby from Fearless TV are the most clearly "early demos" of the vault tracks — lovely, simple, and clearly written by a teenager, which is both their limitation and their charm.
What the Vault Tracks Tell Us
Taken as a body of work, the vault tracks reveal something important about Taylor's creative process: she has always written far more songs than she releases, and the quality floor of her unreleased material is remarkably high. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) was sitting in a vault for nine years. Nothing New existed for a decade before it found its perfect duet partner. I Can See You waited thirteen years to become a concert highlight. The vault tracks suggest that for every album Taylor has released, there is a shadow album of near-equal quality waiting in the wings — and that the re-recording project, beyond its business implications, is an act of artistic archaeology that has enriched her catalog immeasurably.
