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She refers to herself as the one true thing youve ever known. In a scene set 13 years later, the older Fake-Jake stands outside in the snow (still wearing that regret-scented scarf), gazing longingly at the older, wiser narrator (the actual Taylor Swift) as she reads from her novel All Too Well. A poster declares it a stunning debut.

In case you havent got the message yet, Taylor wins.

Swift has built a career on turning crash-and-burn love affairs into superb tell-all pop songs. In her world, romances start like Mills and Boon and end like Burton and Taylor. Almost without exception, she is the injured party. Its emotionally, lyrically and musically compelling, but theres not much room for the idea of two sides to every story.

In a sense, Swifts campaign to re-record her past works is all about having the last word too. And in this its hard not to support her.

She was furious when Scott Borchetta, boss of her old label Big Machine, sold the rights to her first six albums in 2019 to music manager Scooter Braun, with whom shed had a long-running feud (Braun onsold a chunk of those rights to a private equity firm last November). So she has set about re-recording, virtually note-for-note, those six albums, to be released under her new and vastly improved deal with Universal.

Red (Taylors Version) is the second album to be released under this arrangement, following Fearless earlier this year, and its impact on the value of the original recordings is likely to be significant.

Writer-director Taylor Swift, centre, with Dylan OBrien and Sadie Sink, the stars of her short film All Too Well.Credit:Evan Agostini

The original 2008 recording of Fearless was dislodged from the Billboard top 200 album chart in April when the new version debuted at number one. The new version of Red has again made Swift the most streamed artist in the world. Her short film has racked up more than 32 million views on YouTube in just three days.

Perhaps most importantly, when it comes to licensing Swifts music for movies, TV shows and commercials in the future, its likely to be her versions that get precedence. No brand or show will want to risk a backlash from the fanbase like the one Jake Gyllenhaal has had to deal with over the past few days.

She may occasionally cast herself as the victim, but whether shes taking on a label or an ex-lover, Taylor Swift is anything but. The importance of controlling the narrative, and turning it to her advantage, is something she knows all too well.

Email the author at kquinn@theage.com.au, or follow him on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin

Read more from the original source:
Taylor Swifts All Too Well short film: control the narrative, you win - Sydney Morning Herald