Before we begin, I must officially backpedal my past RED slander - the extent of which was really only “it is my least favorite album.” Even the origin story is shaky at best; I have brushed it off for years as “RED is a breakup album, and came out when I was in a young, lovey relationship so it didn’t resonate.”
So, it is now that I must apologize to all of my friends who have heard this narrative, because after revisiting my notes (my brain & a google of “RED release date”) I realized that I was *not well* in this period of my life. Without bringing down the mood too much, I will tell you that season was lived through the cloud of unmanaged anxiety. And knowing how deep Miss Taylor Alison Swift can cut with her lyrics…it was for the best that I didn’t listen to RED and get sent down any extra emotional spirals, y’know?
But what is it that makes these re-recordings so special, aside from TS now rightfully owning her intellectual property? After sitting with it for a couple weeks and spending way too much time on #swiftok, this is what I have gathered: Taylor’s Version helps us revisit the past from a perspective only time can give; to look back - perhaps not with kinder eyes, but certainly wiser ones. To validate what your past self knew, to hold it weighty in your palm, to make peace with its place in your story. It is, inherently, a promise that one day you will look back on the past and not be crushed by its weight.
Strap in, this is a long one. Subtitles are hidden messages from the OG RED liner notes.
State of Grace
I love you doesn't count after goodbye
OK after much listening - all the tracks produced by Christopher Rowe are very interesting re: mixing. I feel like they come across a little flat until you really crank the volume - and then they open up and become immersive, especially with headphones or in a car.
MOSAIC BROKEN HEARTS? i have been singing “mostly with broken hearts” for YEARS. sure, whatever, i guess it’s more poetic the other way.
We are alone, just you and me
Up in your room and our slates are clean
Just twin fire signs, four blue eyeswhen you are in the height of your adolescence, every new relationship feels very BIG. you feel like a grown up, like you’re ready for romance, maybe you’re flattered that a 30 year old likes you, you immediately start thinking of “forever.” you know it could change everything, and you don’t yet know if it’s for the better.
her vocals are extremely measured here; are we going to lose some of the original emotion down the tracklist? (reader, we didn’t.)
RED
SAG
um…i don’t have any favorite lyrics from this song?
but i do have a least favorite:
Fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword
And realizing there's no right answer
your old favorite SONG?! i have been singing TUNE all this time. what is wrong with my ears??? guys i’m worried about me.
RT my tweet from 2012 that said “I hope english teachers everywhere are using @taylorswift13’s Red to teach simile/metaphor.”
the enunciation! the clarity! the outro! 👩🏼🍳💋
Treacherous
Won’t stop till it’s over
the lyrics, the delivery - she builds tension effortlessly
and i’ll do anything you say, if you say it with your hands
WAIT A DAMN MINUTE is this about John Mayer? (i’m never speaking up again, i’ll use my hands)
the internet says this and I Knew You Were Trouble are about the same person…so I think it’s John? wow. i liked it better when i thought this was about Dianna.
I Knew You Were Trouble
When you saw me dancing
the me ee ee ee ee’s are just…weird?
me when taylor does her own backing vocals: 🤯
AHHHHHHHH! (these sound better though fr)
she NAILED the “trouble, trouble, trouble”
they really cover up her belt at the end of the bridge, wtf!
All Too Well
Maple latte
production 💯 - this sounds so crisp like fall air
enunciationnnnn MA’AM!
TEEballTEEM
kept the emotion in the bridge AND with better vocal control! I DIE!
after listening to ATW10 42,714 times i really miss the extra parts. but a classic is a classic and the editing she did years ago makes this a perfect song.
like, literally perfect. 🥇
22
Ashley Dianna Claire Selena
this seems like it was really fun to re-record.
Happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time
THE SPOKEN PARTS ARE SO MUCH BETTER
truly a crime to other 1989 babies that this came out right after we turned 23.
still waiting on my “32” remix miss ma’am!
I Almost Do
Wrote this instead of calling
if i learn one thing from this song, it’s that Taylor is much stronger than i am 😂
I bet it never, ever occurred to you / That I can't say hello to you and risk another goodbye 😮💨
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
When I stopped caring what you thought
WHAT?
the weee’s are giving this
I simply MUST know what indie record Jake thought was much cooler than Taylor’s 🙄
the way I sang this in a club about my now husband…💀
once again, speaking parts are MUCH better even though as a concept, i do not like them.
wish the rest of the song had the same energy as the last chorus.
Stay Stay Stay
Daydreaming about real love
this song is…very saccharine.
all you had to do was stay is the superior “stay” sister 😤
“That’s so fun” is so cute…was this in the OG? (ed. note: yes, it was.)
The Last Time
LA on your break
the thing about ATW being on this album is that it culturally overshadows the other KILLER breakup/conflict songs on the album, one of which is this song.
these drums 😩 reminds me of how she uses percussion in folklore/evermore
gary lightbody is SANGIN’!!!
i saw this song described somewhere as pre-exile and i heartily endorse that.
Holy Ground
When you came to the show in SD
TONIGHT IM GONNA DANCE!
FOR ALL THAT WE’VE BEEN THROUGH!!
BUT I DON’T WANNA DANCE!
IF I’M NOT DANCING WITH YOU!!!
Sad Beautiful Tragic
While you were on a train
once again overshadowed by ATW but it also feels like…six months after all too well.
In dreams
I meet you in warm conversation
We both wake
In lonely beds
In different cities
And time
Is taking its sweet time erasing you
And you've got your demons
And darlin' they all look like me(a nightmare dressed like a daydream?)
The Lucky One
Wouldn't you like to know
i like this song’s narrative concept, but i don’t particularly love the song.
(and like…Lucky by Britney was already the perfect version of this narrative?)
it is astounding and heartbreaking to think she wrote this & Nothing New at such a young age; the entertainment industry is so fucked up.
it’s very predictive of what she did pre-reputation, when she disappeared! (i don’t want this to come true, but i can definitely see her taking this path again by her mid-to-late 30’s)
Everything Has Changed
Hyiannis Port
this song is about Dianna Agron. i don’t make the rules.
And all my walls stood tall, painted blue
And I'll take 'em down, take 'em down
And open up the door for you
And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies
The beautiful kind, makin' up for lost timethis song is the embodiment of coming back from a heartbreak and realizing that you are capable of falling for someone else.
the parallel of: never saw you coming/never be the same to everything has changed !!!
Starlight
For Ethel
A BANGER
Don't you dream impossible things?
this is among the best of her early “fictional” songwriting, something we saw her master in folklore/evermore.
Begin Again
I wear heels now
lololol Jake didn’t like her to wear heels OK BRO
this is such a brilliant DRAG of him
The Moment I Knew
very much “It’s hard to be at a party when you feel like an open wound”
What do you say
When tears are streaming down your face
In front of everyone you know?this hurts 😩 it’s not her best song musically but but she is baring her SOUL
Come Back Be Here
I think this is like…the second time I’ve heard this? (back in the day the deluxe tracks were Target exclusives and then would come out months later)
the bridge and last chorus hit SO HARD, picture me screaming:
Girl at Home
I have NEVER HEARD THIS
Dying to know who this is about
update apparently this is about zac efron? god the early 2010’s were embarrassing.
State of Grace - Acoustic
don’t love the staccato note changes.
she sounds so sweet and GOOD. i love this song.
Ronan
like soon you’ll get better, I absolutely refuse to listen to this song sry goodbye
Better Man
ALTO RIGHTS!!! i fucking love her lower register.
this is everything i wanted!!! this song is so good UGH!!!!
SUMtimes 🤠
the harmonies are fantastic - initially i wished they were turned up but - this is about taylor’s performance, not the group like it was for LBT
And I gave to you my best and we both know you can't say that 👀
is this about John? Jake? her dad??? oh wait reddit says Calvin?! Ugh.
EDIT: timeline-wise, there’s no way it could be Calvin. but i will say it does capture how jealous he probably was of her success, and “the bravest thing i ever did was run” is giving GETAWAY CAR!
Nothing New
wowowowowowowow
Criticize the way you fly
When you're soaring through the sky
Shoot you down and then they sigh
And say, "She looks like she's been through it"PHOEBEEE she broke the verse curse!
How long will it be cute, all this crying in my room?
blondie, you really didn’t have to roast me like this!
How did I go from growing up to breaking down?
on release day i was playing this over our speakers and tyler walked in and found me with a single tear running down my cheek
I see why Scott didn’t like this 🤡
How can a person know everything at eighteen
But nothing at (thirty)-two?…is how i sing it when i really want to cry
has someone checked on Olivia Rodrigo is she ok?
Babe
what about your promises, promises? (gettin’ lil tired of your broken promises, promises…😆)
“I’m here on the kitchen floor” is such a classic Taylor note progression
the production on this is brain-scratching-good. the LAYERS!
omg jack produced this of course i love it
HORNS in the back?!?!?! pure serotonin. (false god!)
part of me cannot help but hear this song in jennifer nettles’ accent
Message In a Bottle
meh. are we in a spin class? (@ignitecyclebhm)
ohhh ok it’s Max Martin and ELVIRA (taylor use more woman producers challenge!)
this is very indicative of how 1989 would feel!!
I Bet You Think About Me
listen, this woman can WRITE A DAMN COUNTRY SONG.
Betterrrrrr 🤠
ohh i love their voices together. taylor’s voice is made for harmonizing.
But it turned out I'm harder to forget than I was to leave
ORGANIC SHOES LOLOLOLOL
OH MY GOD! SHE’S INSANE! SHE WROTE A SONG ABOUT ME!!!!
she really pulls NO punches
Forever Winter
i…cannot think about this song too hard or i will sob.
i like that this isn’t romance-tinged. the brother song to peace.
I'd fall to pieces on the floor
If you weren't around
Too young to know it gets better
I'll be summer sun for you forever
Forever winter if you go(But I'm a fire, and I'll keep your brittle heart warm
If your cascade ocean wave blues come)
Run
very 2012 mumford-y…actually this sounds very much like it could’ve been on one of Ed’s albums!
i don’t LOVE Ed but their voices pair so lovely. love that bestie moment for them. definitely a good choice to go with Everything Has Changed over this.
the thing w/ vault songs is that some songs you are shocked were hidden from you all these years, and some you go “ok, I see why this didn’t make the cut”
The First Night
i think some of these older/vault songs falter or fall flat because in this time taylor was very much writing for (being pushed to write for?) her (then weaker) upper range - and now we are so used to hearing the richness of her voice in her mid-low range.
a certified banger, with -decent- lyrics.
OK #swiftok really has me believing that “Didn't read the note on the Polaroid picture / They don't know how much I miss HER” …i really cannot believe that she wouldn’t try to rhyme that by at least saying “ya”
ATW TEN FUCKING MINUTE VERSION
the SNL performance was nothing short of legendary:
first thought was WOAH this production…very wavy synth…oh it’s JACK!
she very clearly kept the short version as true to the original as she could for reproduction’s sake, and then incorporated tweaks into this one.
You taught me 'bout your past, thinkin' your future was me
ok it’s taught here and tell in the OG…really gaslighting me here, blondie!
oh. mygod. this keychain line is embarrassing.
And I was thinkin' on the drive down, "Any time now
He's gonna say it's love," you never called it what it was
'Til we were dead and gone and buried
Check the pulse and come back swearin' it's the same
After three months in the grave
And then you wondered where it went to as I reached for you
But all I felt was shame and you held my lifeless frameYOU KEPT ME LIKE A SECRET BUT I KEPT YOU LIKE AN OATH
the high harmonies on “break me like a promise”!!!!!!!
THEY SAY ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL
BUT I’M IN A NEW HELL EVERY TIME YOU DOUBLE CROSS MY MINDthe idea you had of me - WHO WAS SHE?
that’s what happened! YOU
it’s supposed to be fun turning 21 😭😫
love the slight pause between: after plaid shirt days//and nights when you made me your own
sounds like she’s smiling at 6:42 and i love it
And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue?
Just between us, did the love affair maim you too?A POET.
you remember it ALL.
don’t come for me but…i feel like she had to stretch out the outro to make the 10-minute cut!
last thoughts: with the full lyrics and context of gaslighting in the video, All Too Well goes from a haunting memory to an affirmation that she was THERE and she remembers! “I remember it all too well for you to tell me that I remember it wrong, and you were there so I know you do too.”
if you made it this far, you’re a real one.
till next time,
🧡
jess