Autumn, the best season ever, is once again making its vision for the beautiful red leaves on all of the trees. But red isn’t just the color of the leaves, it’s also the name of my favorite Taylor Swift album. Ever since it originally came out in 2012, this album has been responsible for turning me into a Swiftie. I’ve always loved Swift’s music, but didn’t become a fan until Red came out. This album means the world to me because it just feels so personal and is a roller coaster of emotions. To finally hear all 30 songs that were supposed to be on this masterpiece is like a dream come true. I’m very honored to be able to hear my favorite album the way Swift intended it to be. So grab your tissues and your friends because it’s time to cry and dance to Red (Taylor’s Version).
One of my all time favorite songs that truly captures my heart for this album is “Holy Ground”. The fast tempo of the song and energetic vibe will have you reminiscing about the good times in a past relationship. With lyrics like “But I don’t want to dance, if I’m not dancing with you” has me singing my heart out every time. There is never a dull moment whenever this song comes on. “22” will always be nostalgic to me because it brings me back to whenever I would put this song on and dance to it with my best friend in her room. We would yell out the lyrics at the top of our lungs and dance till we couldn’t dance anymore. Hearing Taylor’s version years later only makes me want to experience those good memories all over again. Let’s admit it, we all like singing the lyrics “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22”. And some people (aka me) are still going to use it as their caption for their 22nd birthday.
I couldn’t write this review without mentioning the ten minute version of “All Too Well”. This is something that many of us Swifties have waited for such a long time to hear. We all joke about how Jake Gyllenhaal should return the infamous scarf and go into hiding. Truly, nothing could have prepared us for finally being able to hear the anticipated 10 minute version. The lyrics “You kept like a secret, but I kept you like an oath. Sacred prayer and we’d swear to remember it all too well, yeah” deliver a crushing blow to our hearts. None of us were ready to hear the lyrical pain that Swift once had to go through. To make it even more emotionally painful, Swift includes the lyrics “You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine”. This feels extremely painful because it hints that the break up happened due to their age difference. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry like most people did, I was just genuinely listening to what she went through. And through listening to that, it made me question how badly did Jake screw up? What did he do to make her write a ten minute version of a song?
One of the best vault songs on this album would have to be “Babe”. This was originally supposed to be on the 2012 version of Red, but Swift went on and gave the song to Sugarland and featured on it. As someone who is a big fan of “Babe”, I was thrilled to find out that it was going to be featured on Taylor’s Version. The intro lines of “What about your promises, promises” already highlight the differences from the original. This song will have you screaming the lyrics in the kitchen like you were going through the same experiences. Quick shoutout to “Girl at Home” because this song has always been great and became even better. Some Swifties don’t like this song, but with the very pop sounding update, I think they will be jamming out to this now.
I screamed the lyrics with all of my heart, felt nostalgic, and danced in my dorm at almost 1:00 in the morning because Red (Taylor’s Version) is a beautiful musical masterpiece. This will go down as one her best albums she has ever created. There will never be a time that I won’t be listening to this album. Every single song is superior and will find its way into my bloodstream and hopefully many of yours. Thank you Taylor for creating this colorful and emotional album. Thank you Jake Gyllenhaal for inspiring some of the best songs I’ve heard in my entire life. Red (Taylor’s Version) is out now and is luring all of you to give it a chance. I hope you enjoy this album as much as I treasure it. Sometimes we’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time, but at least we have Taylor to listen to.
Photo Credits from:https://media.traklife.com/taylor-swift-announces-red-taylors-version/