Today, November 12, was the release of Red (Taylor’s Version) written and sung by Taylor Swift. In 2012, Swift released the initial album, Red. After Scooter Braun bought her masters she made the decision to record her albums to own the masters to them once again. Her first re-release was Fearless, but now Swift has released Red (Taylor’s Version) and it is a 5 star album. Red (2012) got snubbed at the Grammys, so I am hoping that Red (Taylor’s Version) will pick up the Album of the Year Grammy at the Grammys.
There are 30 songs total on this album, which is considered a very large album. 20 are original, 9 of the songs are brand new and 1 is another song of hers from the Red era. The album starts with the traditional first song, State of Grace and ends once again with the deluxe tracks of Girl at Home and State of Grace acoustic. The songs share the same original lyrics, but the growth in Swift’s voice is the biggest difference. Her voice has changed to a much mature and stronger sound.
My favorite part of the (Taylor’s Version) albums are the vault tracks. These vault tracks are songs Taylor wrote as a potential song for the album, but didn’t make it on. These songs include: Better Man, Nothing New (ft Phoebe Bridgers), Babe, Message In A Bottle, I Bet You Think About Me (ft. Chris Stapleton), Forever Winter, Run (ft. Ed Sheeran), and The Very First Night.
The song Ronan is a poem originally written by his mother Maya Thompson. Swift found the poem on his mothers blog about the four year old who died of Stage 4 Neuroblastoma and created a song to raise awareness. I personally cannot listen to this song without tearing up. Thompson has also confirmed on her Twitter about a music video coming out in memory of Ronan, who would now be 14.
Better Man was written and given to Little Big Town, while Babe was written and given to Sugarland. Nothing New is a slower song about growing up as a woman and the touch of Phoebe Bridgers is amazing. Message In A Bottle is my new main character’s poppy song about love. I Bet You Think About Me (ft. Chris Stapleton) gives off “old Taylor” country vibes. Forever Winter and The Very First Night are about a relationship that went wrong, both incredible lyrics. Run (ft. Ed Sheeran) is Swift’s 3rd collaboration with Sheeran, the second on Red.
The part of the album I was looking forward to the most was All Too Well (10 Minute Version). To be quite honest with you, I have been looking forward to this full length version of the fan favorite since I was 8. The original lyrics are an absolute masterpiece. The 10 minutes of this song are quite possibly the best way to spend 10 minutes of your life. There is also a short film starring Dylan O’Brien and Sadie Sink coming out tonight for a visual to the song.
There are absolutely no flaws with this album. I could talk about the album on and on for hours. I showed it to my mom this morning and she cried with this masterpiece. If you are looking at getting back into Taylor Swift or want to listen to new music I recommend giving Red (Taylor’s Version) a listen.