For an artist who’s been in the spotlight since they were in high school, it’s expected that they may come to regret some of the more naive choices they made on their early work, and for pop icon Taylor Swift and her 2010 song “Better Than Revenge,” this is all too true.
The lines “She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think, she’s an actress, whoa/ She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress, whoa” has become somewhat infamous over the years, receiving criticism for “slut-shaming” the girl Swift sings about in the song, rumored to be ex Joe Jonas’ then girlfriend Camilla Belle. But as Billboard.com reports, the re-recording of “Better Than Revenge” featured on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) features an altered version of the last line, Swift now saying “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches, whoa.”
This isn’t the only song lyric that Swift has landed into hot water for. In 2006, she released the song “Picture to Burn” as a part of her debut self-titled album, which featured the lines “So go and tell your friends that I’m obsessive and crazy/ That’s fine, I’ll tell mine you’re gay.” For all subsequent releases of the song, as well as live performances, Swift sings the final line as “That’s fine, you won’t mind if I say” instead.
Speak Now is just another of the now many albums Taylor Swift has re-recorded for her Taylor’s Version series, spurred by her inability to purchase her masters from entrepreneur Scooter Braun back in 2019. More recently, Swift has been enjoying massive success with The Eras Tour, which is expected to generate $4.6 billion in consumer spending within the U.S. She also made headlines with her collaboration with rap newcomer Ice Spice for the remix of “Karma” from Swift’s latest album, accompanied by a music video and live performance.
Watch the lyric video for “Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift below.
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