It isn’t just a gimmick. Ryan Adams’ song-by-song cover of Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ album is weirdly original. It’s full of misery and emotion — more than its pop parent. Adams doesn’t add any sugar-coating. He’s created a real treat.

Swift’s ‘1989’ was among Bridget’s 2014 favorites. After just a few days, I’m really enjoying the 2015 Ryan Adams version. Here are my notes for all 13 songs:

1. Welcome to New York:

Love the seagulls in the opening and their flow into something that almost sounds orchestral. But only for a moment. For Swift, this album began with a clear signifier: this is a pop record — forget about the last vestiges of her country past. Whatever happened before can be forgotten when you move to New York. When Adams begins, we hear those birds and something vaguely Old World. Are these the same seagulls that appear screen-printed in the sweatshirt on Swift’s original ‘1989’ Polaroid cover? Should we ponder their presence? Or are they completely devoid of meaning — for Swift and Adams? As things progress, Adams does something great here in the empty spaces. Silence. It’s a perfect alternative to what we hear in the Taylor Swift original. Instead of pop’s EDM-inspired drop-the-bass effect (scattered throughout the Swift version), Adams uses silence to highlight breaks in this song. Taylor’s vocals are far more clear. But that’s not too surprising. It’s kind of a crappy song. Adams’ album-leading paean to New York (and a particular New Yorker) is infinitely better.

2. Blank Space:

This is everything I hoped to hear from Adams’ take on the album. His slight falsetto makes it perfectly precious. And his sad delivery flows beautifully. It’s a perfect contrast to Swift’s rat-a-tat-tat half-rapping delivery. She enhances her clinical take with robotic percussion. He let’s the song run with only the most sparse accompaniment until it’s nearly halfway through. Then Adams drops in the lightest strings and most minimal bass plucks. An organ appears. Barely. It’s some sad stuff. As for Swift, the cheerleader-like way she sings about “loving the game,” has a lovely irony. We don’t get that with Adams. His take on the refrain stresses a lyric that’s matured from the original: “so goddamn reckless” rather than Swift’s “we’re young and we’re reckless.” It’s all sadness from Adams. And it works so well.

3. Style:

I actually really like Swift’s original. It’s a solid pop song. Even her often-annoying punctuated delivery is matched well with the thumping beat. It works well. And the lyrics almost lose meaning as a result of the catchiness. Adams makes this into more of a cohesive story song. And he launches a rocker right from the start. By the closing, Adams mimics Swift’s punctuation and turns it into a symbol of high energy — without losing the rock elements.

4. Out of the Woods:

This is a repetitious song. Adams minimizes its infinite hook, focuses on the sadness at hand, and moves effectively to some measure of hopefulness. Hope remains questionable in the end. Well done.

5. All You Had To Do Was Stay:

Not the most significant song on ‘1989.’ But I was so curious to hear how Adams would handle the electronic “stay!” shouts that pepper the original. No shouts from Adams. He adds spice elsewhere. The song opens with a perfect throwback bass line. His sound is less 2015 than 1989.

6. Shake It Off:

Swift created a perfectly relatable pop song. But her terrible Casio horn noise. Ugggh. The sadness and irony of Adams’ take are delicious. Halfway thorugh, Adams pauses the lyrics for an equally artificial Casiotone — matched well with the real metronome-like rim shots that reverberate throughout. Adams ignores the barely audible giggle that Swift underlays as she describes going “on too many dates.” There’s no fun from Adams here. None at all. But it’s still pretty enjoyable.

7. I Wish You Would:

Swift’s original is nothing memorable for me. Adams turns it into something that could appropriately follow “Halloween Head.” And he throws pedal steel into the equation. Good stuff. But the song stays a bit forgettable

8. Bad Blood:

Indeed. Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes. Swift’s original version is a remarkably upbeat tune for a decidedly downbeat set of lyrics. But that’s her schtick. Ryan Adams gives this one the full Ryan Adams treatment. You hear it and you know it’s a downer. When Adams sings “it’s so sad to think about the good times,” well, you can hear that he means it. There is sadness. And he’s going to wallow all over it. He’s definitely not going to make a pop anthem out of it.

9. Wildest Dreams:

The breathy original has heartbeat percussion and feels a little like a stylistic Lana Del Ray knock-off made for middle school girls. It’s pretty bland. The take from Adams is a killer. With vocals that lean toward Roy Orbison and a healthy twang. He swapped gender pronouns to make it effective. And it all works quite nicely.

10. How You Get the Girl:

When Ryan Adams announced this project, I was most curious to hear how this tune would turn out. It seemed like the biggest challenge in the batch. Here’s a song with great pop sensibilities, clearly aimed straight at the Taylor Swift target audience. It’s positive and uplifting and hopeful. Ultimately, “get” becomes “got” and we know everything turned out fine for this couple. Thank goodness, Adams delivers it slowly and, at first, alone. Occasionally, a well-placed thump pushes it along. Sweeping strings lend some countrypolitan flavor in the final minute, give way to an ethereal church organ. It’s restrained and shorter than the original. But Adams twists the ending. In his conclusion, the hook never changes. Adams’ protagonist may still be waiting “forever and ever.” Perhaps. He never delivers a “that’s how you *got* the girl” final line.

11. This Love:

From the start, Swift’s original sounds most compatible with the classic Ryan Adams style. Comparatively devoid of electronics, this is one song that Swift even opens with a lightly strummed guitar. Adams delivers the opening lines of this one with the silky smoothness of Willie Nelson — which is to say, the opposite of smooth. It remains a little rough until Adams builds to some high notes. Good stuff. The sparse piano arrangement is beautifully recorded.

12. I Know Places:

For a song that’s only truly relatable for those of us constantly pursued by paparazzi, Swift keeps this one catchy and begs a sing-along. The Adams version isn’t too far flung from its parent. It has a Spanish feel. But the sweetness of the chorus is excited and believable. Adams makes these lyrics sound more attributable to normal lives.

13. Clean:

Oh. I just realized that this album has thirteen tracks. The dirty, wine-strained dress of Swift’s song becomes a shirt for Adams. But everything gets cleaned up by the end for both of them. So many metaphors upon metaphors in this song. Too many. Adams delivers a much more listenable version — maybe because he paces it differently and certainly because he can sing without the stop-and-start technique that Swift all too frequently employs. I guess that makes it easier to suggest a sing-along opportunity. As Adams finishes, we return to a few seconds of the sounds that started us off: seagulls.

More to Hear

• Zane Lowe interviewed Adams and Swift for Apple Music. It’s a conversation worth hearing.
• Pitchfork summarized that interview.
• There’s a similarly entertaining Ryan Adams interview on Grantland.