3 Times Taylor Swift Made Someone Else’s Song Her Own

In addition to being perhaps the most famous songwriter on the planet, Taylor Swift is also among the most prolific. Her “Eras” tour clocks in at a staggering three and a half hours, and that’s nowhere near her full catalogue. Still, the “Anti-Hero” singer loves to keep concertgoers on their toes. In the past, that has often included putting her own spin on other artists’ work.

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Taylor Swift Has a New Album on the Way

Swifties everywhere are gearing up for her 11th studio album. The Tortured Poets Department is only a week away, dropping April 19. In anticipation of new material, the X/Twitter user @crumbshizz compiled a thread of “taylor swift covering other artist’s songs and owning them.”

Drawing from that thread, here are three times Swift absolutely slayed someone else’s song.

“My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ‘Em Up”), Fall Out Boy

It was November 2013, and Nashville was questioning Taylor Swift’s country bona fides. “The first thing you need to know about this album is that it is not country, period,” read a Saving Country Music review of her 2012 album Red.

In hindsight, Swift’s performance at the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was a harbinger of the maximalist synth-pop era to come on 2014’s 1989. The then 23-year-old strutted onto the catwalk alongside pop-punk royalty Fall Out Boy rocking a sparkly Union Jack-inspired ensemble. Watch below to see how she commanded the second verse to the emo group’s 2013 Hit “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark.”

“See You Again,” Wiz Khalifa

Speaking of 1989, the album’s fourth single, “Bad Blood,” spent some time at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in 2015. It was eventually dethroned by Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again.” However, far from having “Bad Blood,” Swift brought the rapper onstage during her Houston stop on The 1989 World Tour. The “Shake It Off” singer took over Charlie Puth’s vocals as the pair belted the emotional tribute to the late Paul Walker.

“September,” Earth, Wind and Fire

Do you remember… when Taylor released her cover of Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September?” The megastar returned to her country roots on a pared-down version of the 1978 soul classic, recorded for Spotify Singles.

This is perhaps the most Swiftian cover of all, because the GRAMMY winner couldn’t resist dropping an Easter egg. The original version’s opening line recalls “the 21st night of September.” Swift changed this to “the 28th night of September,” which many fans believed was a reference to her dating anniversary with ex Joe Alwyn. The pair split in April 2023, and social media sleuths believe “9/28” will come up again on Tortured Poets.

Featured image by Jamie McCarthy/WireImage