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Now That We Don't Talk (From The Vault)

1989 (Taylor's Version) [2023]

“Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]” is a song written by Taylor and Jack Antonoff that appears on 1989 (Taylor’s Version), her fourth re-recorded album. It was released on October 27, 2023. To date, it is the shortest song in Taylor’s discography.

Background and Release

1989 (Taylor’s Version) marks the fourth in a series of albums that have seen Taylor re-recording her Big Machine catalog, as an alternative for fans to listen to. In comparison to the original albums that put money in the pockets of parties who purchased the masters to those records along with the label as a whole without Taylor’s permission, she fully owns these re-recordings. Previous re-recorded albums were Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and RED (Taylor’s Version), both released in 2021, as well as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which was released in July 2023.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) was released on October 27, 2023, on the ninth anniversary of her fifth original studio album, 1989 (2014). The original album was Taylor’s first “official pop” album after she had marketed her first four albums to country radio, and it transformed her artistry and image from country to pop. As with her other re-recorded projects, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) features five newly-recorded “From the Vault” tracks that Swift had written but left out of the original track listing. Jack Antonoff co-wrote and co-produced four vault tracks with Taylor.

Lyrical Theme

Taylor wrote “Now That We Don’t Talk” in 2014 together with Jack Antonoff. The song summarises the peculiar part of a breakup after the sharp edges of heartbreak dull down — the realisation that your ex can go on and live lives you’ll never know or be a part of, and the sting of that particular reckoning. Upon the song’s release, Taylor shared on Tumblr Music:

«'Now That We Don't Talk' is one of my favorite songs that was left behind. It was so hard to leave it behind but I think we wrote it a little bit towards the end of the process and we couldn't get the production right at the time. But we had tons of time to perfect the production this time and figure out what we wanted the song to sound like! I think it's the shortest song I've ever had, but I think it packs a punch. I think it really goes in. For the short amount of time we have I think it makes its point.»

Taylor Swift

Live Performance

“Now That We Don’t Talk” received its first live performance acoustically on guitar on November 24, 2023, in São Paulo (Brazil) during one of Taylor’s shows on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). It was the first surprise song of the night.

Critical Reception

Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said the song showcased Taylor’s “acerbic wit”. Paste critic Elizabeth Braaten described the song as “an inevitable instant classic in Swiftian lore”, and The Line of Best Fit critic Kelsey Barnes praised Taylor’s falsetto on the track as being “deliciously infectious”. NME‘s Hollie Geraghty deemed “Now That We Don’t Talk” the best “Vault” tracks from 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Uproxx writer Josh Kurp complimented the track’s 1980s musical sensation and said it has radio hit potential.

Commercial Performance

After 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was released, “Now That We Don’t Talk” debuted at No. 2 on the singles charts of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It debuted at No. 4 in Ireland and No. 9 in the Philippines. The track also charted in the Top 100 of singles charts in several European territories including Norway (No. 33), the Netherlands (No. 35), Lithuania (No. 44), and Sweden (No. 51). In the United States, “Now That We Don’t Talk” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated November 11, 2023, with first-week streams of 28.2 million, trailing behind the week’s chart topper “Is It Over Now?“, another track from 1989 (Taylor’s Version). This chart achievement extended Taylor’s record for the most Top 10 singles (49) and most top-five singles (31) on the Billboard Hot 100 among women. On the Billboard Global 200, it also debuted at No. 2 behind “Is It Over Now?”, with global first-week streams of 55.9 million.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You went to a party
I heard from everybody
You part the crowd like the Red Sea
Don’t even get me started
Did you get anxious though
On the way home?
I guess, I’ll never ever know
Now that we don’t talk

[Verse 2]
Your grew your hair long
You got new icons
And from the outside it looks like your’re trying lives on
I miss the old ways
You didn’t have to change
But I guess I don’t have a say
Now that we don’t talk

[Chorus 1]
I called my mom
She said that it was for the best
Remind myself the more I’d give, you’d want me less
I cannot be your friend
So I pay the price of what I lost
And what it cost
Now that we don’t talk

[Verse 3]
What do you tell your friends,
We shared dinners, long weekends with?
Truth is, I can’t pretend it’s platonic
It’s just ended

[Chorus 2]
So, I called my mom
She said to get it off my chest
Remind myself the way you faded ’til I left
I cannot be your friend
So I pay the price of what I lost
And what it cost
Now that we don’t talk

[Bridge]
I don’t have to pretend I like acid rock
Or that I’d like to be on a mega-yacht
With important men who think important thoughts
Guess maybe I am better off
Now that we don’t talk
And the only way back to my dignity
Was to turn into a shrouded mystery
Just like I had been when you were chasing me
Guess this is how it has to be
Now that we don’t talk