Taylor Swift re-released her album, Red on Friday, November 19th. The album includes multiple songs that she had previously written but never released, and an extended version of her well-known song, “All Too Well.”
Fans all anticipated that the album would be impressive, but no one expected how heartbreaking and emotional it would be. These songs are guaranteed to make you feel like you’re enjoying a warm cup of tea, while also watching a sickening, tragic -romance film.
Since beginning the re-recording of her old albums, Swift has started to introduce songs that she says are “from the vault.” These are songs that she wrote before the release of the album that didn’t make the cut. Red (Taylor’s Version) includes nine phenomenal songs from the vault, including those featuring with Phoebe Bridgers, Chris Stapleton, and Ed Sheeran.
One of Swift’s “vault” songs was actually released on the original album, but it was thoroughly “shaved down to fit the standard timing of a song,” according to an interview that Swift gave on The Tonight Show. “All Too Well,” which has been a fan-favorite since it was introduced in 2012, was originally a ten- minute song that Swift stripped down for her album.
However, she decided to re-release the track in its totality. This song includes numerous, never-before-heard lyrics that fans now know to be the story of how a 21-year-old Swift was taken advantage of by her ex-boyfriend, Jake Gyllenhaal.
Some of Taylor’s finest lyricism is included in this ten minute song. This includes lyrics like “And there we are again when nobody had to know./You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath.” This takes listeners through what it felt like to be in a relationship where she was silenced and placed into the background of her significant other’s life.
Along with the ten- minute track, Swift wrote and directed a short film that represents the meaning behind the lyrics. Sadie Sink (Stranger Things), playing Her, is conveyed to be in a sweet and happy relationship with Him, played by Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf). Fans know the context of the song, and they can confidently assume that the short film is one big mirror effect of Swift and Gyllenhaal’s previous relationship.
The short film portrays the happy couple slowly burning out, including a heartbreaking scene of the two fighting over Him dropping Her hand in front of his friends, in an effort to avoid intimacy. The screaming match features the female character calling him out for his behavior, and the male character invalidates her accusations, then talks her out of being upset with him. The conclusion of the short film is one that you should definitely see for yourself.
The only flaw that could be pointed out in this album is in two songs: “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Although her voice has evidently matured and become more stable, the two songs aren’t properly executed by Swift on this album, due to the fact that she has simply outgrown the sort of immature, teenage style of anger those songs need in order to actually be enjoyable for the listeners.
Overall, Red (Taylor’s Version) is one of Taylor Swift’s best albums to date, and it is guaranteed to invoke emotions in you that you may not even have known you had the capacity to feel. Everyone who has the chance should take the time to listen to this album.
And if you enjoy Red, you might also enjoy Fearless (Taylor’s Version).
