Red (Taylor’s Version) Navigates Years Of Growth, Love and Heartbreak

Red (Taylor’s Version) is the second re-recorded album by Taylor Swift, following Fearless (Taylor’s Version) that was released in April of 2021. 

The albums are her way of regaining ownership of her music after she lost artistic and financial control of the master recordings to her first six albums in 2019. 

And turns out she is doing it all too well.

Released on Nov. 12, Red (Taylor’s Version) features 30 tracks, including re-recorded versions of every song from the deluxe edition of Red (2012), as well as a ten-minute version of the fan-favorite track All Too Well, which was previously unreleased.

And almost a decade later, the album still rings true to the concept that fall is the perfect time to reel over a love that didn’t make it to Christmas.

The re-recorded version is true to the original. There aren’t many noticeable changes in rhythms and instrumental backgrounds, but Swift’s voice clearly has matured in the last decade. 

For the “From the Vault” tracks, Swift included songs she originally wrote for artists and cut from the original 2012 album, such as Babe first released by Sugarland and Better Man by Little Big Town. 

Better Man captures the feeling of getting out of a toxic and abusive relationship and accepting the sorrow that follows after the breakup. 

In Babe, Swift finds herself looking back on a failed relationship. 

She also included some songs that were never released such as Nothing New featuring Phoebe Bridgers and I Bet You Think About Me with Chris Stapleton. 

In a diary entry released to Swift’s fans during her Lover era, she said Nothing New is “about being scared of aging and things changing and losing what you have.”

In I Bet You Think About Me, Swift confronts one of her ex’s after she moved on, but he hasn’t. Swift puts the blame on her lover for leaving for superficial reasons, which included differences in background and upbringing.

The subject of the song is most likely actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who Swift dated back in 2010. Swift sings, “You grew up in a silver spoon gated community. Glamorous, shiny, bright, Beverly Hills.” The Donnie Darko actor grew up in Los Angeles and was born to a film producer and screenwriter.

In the music video, Swift portrays herself as her ex’s vision of her on his wedding day. Her ex, who is impersonated by Miles Teller, keeps seeing Swift and the color red, an indication that he is still thinking about her, even at his own wedding. 

But the gem on Red (Taylor’s Version) is the long-awaited 10-minute version of All Too Well.

The extended version of the anthem is something that Swifties have been waiting for almost a decade after she revealed that the original lyrics had been cut to last less than five minutes to make the song radio friendly.

Many believe Swift took inspiration for the song from her relationship with Gyllenhaal.

In the song, Swift sings, “You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine and that made me want to die.”

Gyllenhaal and Swift began dating when she was 20 and he was 29. 

Swift also references their age gap, by singing, “And I was never good at telling jokes but the punchline goes, ‘I’ll get older, but your lovers stay my age.'”

Swift also wrote and directed the short film for All Too Well (10 Minute Version) which features actress Sadie Sink and actor Dylan O’Brien, who portrayed a couple in an unstable relationship.

The short film also showcases vivid imagery from the song. From the red scarf in the lyrics “left my scarf there at your sister’s house,” to the scene of the couple “dancing ‘round the kitchen in the refrigerator light.” The actors also have a similar age gap like Gyllenhaal and Swift had during their relationship.

Red was more than just an album. It was the album that paved Taylor’s way into pop music stardom and was a true portrayal of young heartbreak. 

Red (Taylor’s Version) is that and much more. With its vocals and production, it feels like an old familiar friend but, at the same time, it seems new and exciting.

There’s something special about listening to an album that as a middle schooler navigated love and loss, which were both foreign concepts to me at the time, and being able to get a remastered version of that when you are 19. 

I feel the same can be said about a now 31-year-old Swift re-recording songs that she wrote as a heartbroken 22-year-old. 

Red (Taylor’s version) can best be described as Swift’s emotional punching bag filled with maple lattes, changing autumn leaves and a knitted warm sweater.

Despite living in the heat of Miami, get cozy and go listen to Red (Taylor’s Version).