Make It Anyway" as an answer song to Swift's "Hey Stephen"; although he had written it when they toured together, he only had time to finish recording it in 2011. The song was made available for download through the iTunes Store and streaming through YouTube in April 2011. After a dispute with Big Machine Records in 2019, when she had signed a new contract with Republic Records, Swift released her re-recorded version of Fearless, subtitled Taylor's Version, on April 9, 2021. Fearless (Taylor's Version) includes the re-recorded version of "Hey Stephen", also subtitled "Taylor's Version". One day before the album was released, Swift teased a snippet of "Hey Stephen (Taylor's Version)" onto her Twitter account. "Hey Stephen (Taylor's Version)" is produced by Swift and Christopher Rowe. Music and lyrics "Hey Stephen" is a playful country pop and teen pop song. The track features a drum beat reminiscent of that on the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" (1963), and both begins and ends with Swift's humming. NPR Music writer Maria Sherman commented that the drum beat evokes the sound of Motown girl group records, which she deemed "the most romantic, nostalgic sound in the world". The production incorporates an upright bass, a gut string guitar, a subdued Hammond organ (B-3 model), and girl group-styled ad-libs. Rolling Stone described the track as "an upright-bass-propelled groove". Before the final refrain, Swift chuckles. In the re-recorded "Hey Stephen (Taylor's Version)", Swift's vocals became richer and less breathy, and the cymbals in the interlude are louder. The finger snaps at the end of the original 2008 track were provided by country musician Martina McBride's children and their friends; they visited Swift one day when she was recording at McBride's husband John's recording studio. The lyrics are about an unrequited love for a seemingly out-of-reach boy named Stephen. They incorporate imagery—such as kissing in the rain and waiting for the love interest by the window—that recurs on many of Swift's other songs. At one point, Swift sings, "Hey Stephen, why are people always leaving? / I think you and I should stay the same," pleading the love interest to stay with her for fears of having to say goodbye. In the bridge, Swift sings about the reason why Stephen should date her, "All those other girls / Well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?" Music scholar James E. Perone commented that this part