A Swifty’s Guide to “Red”

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Nitya Borra, Contributing Writer

Taylor Swift rereleased her hit album “Red”, portraying a new spin on fan favorites to put forth unexpected additions to her album and added a twist to each individual song from the original album. She recently released “Red (Taylor’s Version)” on November 12, 2021 in order to rightfully gain ownership over her songs, which were sold without her own permission. With this album, Swift shares her perspective on a severed relationship with her ex with eccentric, emotional lyrics that continue to encourage fan speculations. 

Swift still included her past home run singles including  “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22.” In an interview on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Swift states that her new songs were ones she always wanted to release but just didn’t make it into the album at the end of the day. Swift was unfortunately forced to cut out lyrics of her songs to fit her original album. Popular new song editions to the album include “Message in a Bottle,” “I Bet You Think About Me” (featuring Chris Stapleton), and the new 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”

On the release date, Swift tweets, “This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on Red.”

 “I Bet You Think About Me” is a new edition that many fans love, in which Swift explains that she hopes that everything makes her ex boyfriend think of her and about her, even after she moved on. Fans are still unconfirmed and unsure about who this song is about, but the speculations continue.

In “Message in a Bottle,” Swift describes a long-distance love story and the commitment she is willing to show regardless of their distance. A message in a bottle was and sometimes still is commonly used to communicate between castaways to use as a direct method of rescue, inspiring Swift’s song. In addition, Swift may have mentioned the concept involved behind the lyrics expressed in “Message in a Bottle” earlier on in 2021. 

One of the biggest hits from “Red” is the song, “All Too Well,” in which Swift wrote and sang about her past relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhall about her intense heartbreak that her fans deeply related to, making this song the standout track of the album.

Swift released a 10-Minute Version of “All Too Well”, with lyrics involving more heartbreak expressed than ever before. Swift mentions their age gap through the lines,“And I was never good at telling jokes, but the punch line goes/ I’ll get older, but your lovers stay my age.” Swift also includes, “But you keep my old scarf from that very first week/ ‘Cause it reminds you of innocence…” Swift adheres to significant symbolism of the scarf in the song as well as in “All Too Well: The Short Film.”  

Swift even wrote and directed the short film for “All Too Well” starring well-known  actors Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien as the lead roles. The 15 minute short film is a romantic drama based off of  Swift’s song, which is unique, entertaining, creative, and a thrilling roller coaster of emotions. This short film brings Swift’s “All Too Well” lyrics to life.

Regardless of whether you are a Swifty yourself or not, Swift’s “Red Taylor’s version” is far better than the original, considering Swift’s ownership, the new hit song editions with mind-blowing lyrics, and the amazing 10 minute version of “All Too Well” as well as All Too Well: The Short Film. Regardless, Swift continues to deliver and she really outdid herself with “Red: Taylor’s Version”.