This article won third place in the 2022 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony.
No matter if you were a fan of the original version, going through a heartbreak or in a healthy relationship, Red (Taylor’s Version) has proved to be a must listen.
Red (Taylor’s Version) joins Fearless (Taylor’s Version) on the shelf of records Taylor Swift now rightfully owns after the original recordings to her first six albums were sold without her permission. Even with the unfortunate circumstances, we can be thankful for the blessings we received from the unideal situation.
The album includes 16 songs and three bonus tracks from the original album released in 2012, her single “Ronan,” as well as nine songs that have never been released by Swift called “From the Vault.”
Even with the new mature vocals and subtle changes in the production, Taylor’s Version still portrays the same ideals of young and messy heartbreak.
“Musically and lyrically, Red resembled a heartbroken person. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end,” Swift said in a statement.
And boy was she right, and then some.
In the more well known singles, “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and “22,” the new lightness in the production brings a different youthful tone to the songs compared to the originals, even with her matured vocals.
Songs that have been long favorites of mine such as “I Almost Do,” “The Moment I Knew,” and “Come Back…Be Here,”(notably all sadder songs) almost feels even more gut wrenching, if that’s even possible.
But just like any album, there tends to be a few songs that are skip-worthy. After giving them a second chance during my first listen, I’ve changed my mind on a few songs that I usually black-listed when it came to my playlists.
“Stay, Stay, Stay,” even though it still has the annoying production in the beginning, somehow became a track I can sing along to. “Girl At Home,” with its new pop sound, is less stale and more current than the previous version.
A few songs “From the Vault” were originally released by other artists and made it on the album as well.
“Better Man,” which was originally sung by Little Big Town, now with Swift’s vocals, hits different. There’s something about Swift singing the line, “But I just miss you and I just wish you were a better man” that hits a place in my heart a lot more than the original version.
“Babe,” originally released by country duo Sugarland, which did feature Swift on the track, has a more pop-country feel compared to the previous version. The new backing vocal of Swift singing “What about your promises,” gives the song a different vibe to her failed relationship we didn’t get to experience before.
The other seven unreleased songs were so beautifully crafted that it’s almost a crime she’s held onto them for the last decade.
“Nothing New,” featuring Phoebe Bridgers, is so hauntingly beautiful, you almost feel guilty for loving a song about artists losing their “novelty” and getting replaced by younger artists.
“I Bet You Think About Me,” featuring Chris Stapelton brings us back to Swift’s country roots, relating to all those out there who have an ex who is still hung up on them, even if they were the cause of the breakup.
“The Very First Night,” embodies the feeling of reminiscing on a young love and wishing they could go back to when they were together. The upbeat and almost 1989 like sound, will get you on your feet and make you reminisce about that first love.
The highly anticipated 10 minute version of her song “All Too Well” closes out the album perfectly. The song, which also has a short film to go along with it, takes the original six minute version and breaks your heart just a little more.
The song, said to be about actor Jake Gyllenhaal who she dated in 2010, takes you on a journey through their train-wreck of a relationship.
New lines such as, “And I was thinking on the drive down, anytime now he’s gonna say it’s love, you never called it what it was” and “You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath” are both lines that are disappointing to have never made the original version.
It’s safe to say that November 12 was not a good day to be Jake Gyllenhaal.
Even though I wasn’t able to relate to a lot of the songs as a whole, there are bits and pieces of them that took me back to those certain moments in my life: heartache, love and the messiness of those feelings. That’s the point.
As Swift put it best, “The world is a different place for the heartbroken” and she captured that beautifully for the second time.
