Taylor Swift - Red (Taylor's Version)
by Beth Walsh
Taylor Swift recently re-released her album Red in her effort to regain ownership of her masters. The album went straight to number one despite it being released for the first time in 2012.
On Red (Taylor’s Version), if Swift is anything, she's generous. The album has 30-tracks and has a runtime of 2 hours and 10 minutes. As well as re-recording the original album, nine bonus tracks were added. These are songs she wrote back in 2012 that didn't initially make their way onto the album. The tracks feel like secrets that Swift finally trusts her fans enough to tell. They are by far the most exciting part of the album for those familiar with the original work.
The changes made to the original album are subtle and only enhance what was already there and rarely attempt to change it. There are a few changes that reflect Swift’s transition from country star to popstar, like the even more exaggerated “Wee-Eees” in the chorus of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
Swift achieved a rare nostalgia by transporting her fans back to the moment they heard the opening drum beat of “State of Grace” in 2012, but also allowing fans to reflect on how they’ve grown and changed since they first heard the record. Through her look back Red, Swift teaches us that we must look upon past versions of ourselves with grace to continue to grow in the future.
Red is one of Swift's least cohesive bodies of work. Many stories are explored and the range of emotions covered is intense. Swift switches from "All Too Well," where she breaks down a whirlwind of a love affair that ended in the deepest heartbreak of her life, to singing about the joys of being young in the upbeat pop track, "22." I will admit that I experienced some emotional whiplash while listening, but Swift did a phenomenal job capturing the emotional range and instability of a 20-something girl. Now that I can return to the album with the fresh eyes of a 20-something girl, I know the feeling of your world crumbling around you one minute, to having the most fun of your life the next.
One of the only other people capturing the attention of young women at the moment the way Swift does is Phoebe Bridgers. They sing together on "Nothing New," where they chronicle the experience of being a young woman in the music industry and the fear that comes with being unwanted now that they have grown up. This track single-handedly sums up the discussion on the tumultuousness of growing up that Swift explores throughout the album.
We can’t discuss Red (Taylor's Version) without discussing “All Too Well” (10 Minute Version). Swift made history with this song by overtaking Don McLean's "American Pie" as the longest song to ever reach number one on the Billboard charts. The 10-minute ballad was accompanied by a short film that is rumored to be a dramatic portrayal of Swift's relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal. The song tracks the euphoric rise and epic downfall of the relationship and the trauma it left behind. Swift does not hold back how she feels about the man she dated. In an eerily retrospective lyric she says, "And I was never good at telling jokes, but the punch line goes 'I'll get older, but your lovers stay my age,'" critiquing men, like Gyllenhaal who only date women significantly younger than them. "All Too Well," is a triumph in story-telling from Swift that once again solidifies her as one of the best songwriters in the industry.