“We Were Happy” is the twenty-third track of Taylor Swift’s first re-recorded album ‘Fearless,’ originally released in 2008. This is one of the six brand new tracks on the re-recorded album tagged ‘From the Vault.’ On the track, Taylor reminisces of love once was and the happy memories that are leftover from it.
The move to re-record her first six albums stemmed from the long-standing legal feud between Taylor Swift and her former record label ‘Big Machine Records,’ first of which will be her second studio album ‘Fearless’ from 2008. The re-recorded ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)‘ contains six never-before-heard tracks including a collaboration with Keith Urban. The album releases on April 9, 2021.
Songwriting credits of the track include Liz Rose who was a frequent collaborator of Taylor Swift during the ‘Fearless’ era.
Listen to “We Were Happy” by Taylor Swift
Buy ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Album on Apple Music & Amazon
“We Were Happy” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Verse 1
Taylor recalls to a time when she was with the person she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. But somethings changed, and they are together no more. She remembers the long walks she used to take with her lover under the moonlight. She also recalls how they sat, for seemingly endless hours, under porch lights and talked about everything. It was a simple time. Taylor Swift did not have to catch a flight for a world tour or be at the studio to work on her next album or address some public controversy. Looking back at those time, she realizes that she was genuinely happy and content with what she had.
Chorus
Taylor Swift still remembers how they talked about their future for hours and hours. He was talking about how he was going to own and run his father’s farm. This makes us think that she is referring to a time from her teen years in Nashville, Tennessee.
Verse 2
In the second verse of “We Were Happy,” Taylor takes a further trip down nostalgia. She recalls how they used to watch sunsets. Hendersonville in Nashville is bordering the river of Cumberland.
Interestingly, Taylor adds “That’s sort of how I feel right now” right after recalling the above memory. This makes us think that Taylor is comparing her current life to the sun going down, emphasizing the ‘going down’ part and dusk settling around her.
Bridge
Moving on is the toughest part of any breakup. It can get easier with more experience, but when it comes to the matter of breaking your heart, more experience isn’t necessarily something we look forward to. At some point, we cannot help but feel as if we are not worthy of someone’s love. Sometimes life takes its own course and makes us sacrifice things/people we don’t want to. That’s how life is. We just have to dust ourselves up, get back up, and move on.
We can only wish for some fond memories to fall back to like Taylor does in this song. At least you know that you were genuinely loved at some point. That’s worth something.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics to “We Were Happy” on Genius.