That's When (From The Vault)

Feat. Keith Urban | Fearless (Taylor's Version) [2021]

“That’s When (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]” is a song on Taylor’s re-recorded album Fearless (Taylor’s Version) [2021]. It used to be an unreleased song, written by Taylor around the time of the creation of her second studio album, Fearless (2008). Country singer Keith Urban is featured on the track.
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Background and Lyrical Theme

Over a decade on from its initial release, Taylor was re-visiting her second album with the release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version). As part of her unprecedented battle to regain ownership of her own music, she was re-recording her first six albums, with Fearless being the first to see the light of day. Alongside re-working the album, there were a few surprises, including the unearthing of previously unreleased track “That’s When (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]”. Taylor told Apple Music in April, 2021:

«I wrote the song ‘That’s When’ when I was co-writing a lot in Nashville. I would go to school, get picked up by my mom, and get driven downtown to go to songwriting meetings. I showed up to the songwriting session and the first idea I played them [Brad Warren and Brett Warren] was this idea called ‘That’s When.’ We ended up ultimately writing a song about someone who is in love, in a relationship, but just all of a sudden is like, ‘Wait. I need some space, I need to think about this.’ And kind of leaves…and what does the other person do?»

From the Vault

Songs “from the vault” were written when Taylor was between the ages of 16 and 18 in the run-up to the release of album two. Back when she initially released Fearless in 2008, these tunes were held back for various reasons, including the fact that you couldn’t cram that many songs onto a physical CD. But in 2021, with the re-recording of her second album, Taylor wanted to let fans “into the entire dreamscape that is my fearless album.” In an interview she mentioned that she changed the structure of “That’s When” quite a bit before she officially released it in 2021:

«In ‘That’s When’ I changed the perspectives because […] it wasn’t a duet originally. It was about a girl, and the person she loves comes to her, and says, ‘I need some space away from the relationship’. And she’s like, ‘Fine, whenever you wanna come back you can.’ And over time I just wanted to change the story into me singing about needing space from the relationship, even though I love the person. And that person being gracious enough to be like, ‘Take your time, whatever you need’. Because I just had not really explored that angle before, of needing your independence and somebody granting it to you.»

Feature from Keith Urban

Taylor’s long time friend Keith Urban is featured on the song. In an exclusive video published on Apple Music, Taylor recalls the moment she rediscovered “That’s When” and decided she wanted it to be part of Fearless (Taylor’s Version):

«Looking back through [the songs] that I had written that I wanted to go on the Fearless album initially, I stumbled upon this song. I thought, ‘This would actually make a really amazing duet.’ And the only voice that I could hear in my head was Keith Urban. Thankfully, he said yes. I remember during the Fearless era, Keith was a really wonderful figure in my life. He was somebody I opened up for on tour. I was a huge fan, I listened to his music constantly. He was just constantly a positive part of my life when I was 18. And so now we have this incredible duet, featuring Keith. I actually called Brad and Brett Warren to tell them that I had decided to cut the song. They were like, ‘We think 15 years is the longest we’ve ever had a song on hold.'»

Keith also shared his excitement on Twitter: “Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner asked if I’d join their band and I said hell yes!! They said you’re gonna love our lead singer — she’s fearless 😉 We got to sing together and were so happy, and I said that’s magic when stars align like that !!!!!”

Lyrics

General Information
ArtistTaylor Swift
AlbumFearless (Taylor’s Version)
FeatureKeith Urban
ReleasedApril 9, 2021
RecordedNovember 2020–February 2021
Written2005
StudiosKitty Committee (London)
Forbes Street (Sydney)
Electric Lady (New York City)
Rough Customer (Brooklyn)
Conway (Los Angeles)
GenreCountry
Length3:09
LabelRepublic Records
SongwritersTaylor Swift
Brad Warren
Brett Warren
ProducersJack Antonoff
Taylor Swift
FEARLESS CHRONOLOGY
We Were HappyThat’s WhenDon’t You
Song Artwork
Lyric Video
Official Audio