Taylor Swift Quietly Updates ‘Reputation’ Lyrics on Apple Music, Raising Questions About the Album’s Future
Taylor Swift has made subtle but noticeable lyric changes to two songs from Reputation, a development that has drawn attention not because of its scale, but because of the album’s unresolved place in her re-recording era.
The updates appeared after Swift’s catalog was added to Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos feature, which offers spatial audio mixes designed to enhance clarity and depth. Shortly after the rollout, listeners noticed revised lyrics in “I Did Something Bad” and “Delicate,” prompting questions about whether the changes were technical artifacts of remastering or deliberate artistic revisions.
On “I Did Something Bad,” Swift alters a line from the second verse. The original lyric “If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing / I don’t regret it one bit ’cause he had it coming” now appears as “If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothin’ / And if he calls me a bitch, then he had it coming.” The change intensifies the song’s framing of power, gender, and retaliation, replacing a generalized statement of justification with a more explicit provocation.
The revision to “Delicate” is comparatively minor. Where Swift originally sang “Oh, damn, never seen that color blue,” the Dolby Atmos version replaces the opening phrase with “Goddamn.” While the adjustment is small, its presence alongside the more substantial change on “I Did Something Bad” raised questions about whether listeners were hearing a revised vocal take rather than a purely technical remix.
Apple Music has not indicated that the tracks represent newly recorded versions, nor has Swift’s team announced any changes to Reputation’s official status. Dolby Atmos remastering can involve isolated stems, alternate vocal tracks, or subtle mixing decisions that expose differences previously buried in earlier masters. In that context, the lyric variations may reflect production choices rather than a new creative statement.
Still, the reaction underscores Reputation’s unusual position within Swift’s catalog. Unlike her other early albums, has yet to receive a Taylor’s Version release, and Swift has repeatedly suggested that it occupies a distinct emotional and artistic space.
Earlier this year, when announcing that she had regained ownership of her masters, Swift addressed the album directly. While confirming that her self-titled debut had been fully re-recorded, she struck a more cautious tone regarding Reputation. She wrote that the album would only return “when the time is right,” adding that any future release would be framed as a celebration rather than an act of reclamation.
Swift has also publicly stated that Reputation was the one album among her first six that she felt “couldn’t be improved upon” by re-recording, a remark that set it apart from the broader Taylor’s Version campaign. That statement has fueled speculation that may ultimately re-emerge in a different form, potentially through vault tracks rather than a full re-recorded album.
The timing of the lyric changes coincided with Swift’s recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where she discussed her evolving relationship with her early catalog. Notably, when referencing songs she still found herself listening to, Swift cited “Ready For It”, a Reputation track, rather than material from her debut or Fearless. The comment stood out as one of her more direct acknowledgments of the album in recent months.
Swift also reiterated in a recent Time interview that unreleased Reputation vault tracks remain in her archive, describing them as “fire.” While she offered no timeline or release plans, the remark confirmed that material from the era still exists and remains unreleased.
Despite the renewed attention, there is currently no indication that the lyric changes signal an imminent announcement. The revisions may be limited to Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos versions, and Swift has not commented publicly on the alterations.
