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by hope Shelley
The queen of heartbreak songs is back, taking everyone on a nostalgic walk through the past along with some new additions.
Taylor Swift released her new album, “Red (Taylor’s ver- sion)”. “Red” was an album previously released in 2012. “Red (Taylor’s version)” is all those songs she released on the past album along with some new songs from what Swift calls “the Vault.”
Songs in the Vault are songs that Swift wrote at the time she released her album, but they were never published. She kept them thinking that she would release them in a later album or the songs didn’t make the cut in the record label’s viewpoint.
These songs still remained strong in Swift’s heart and she kept them all these years to release now with the other songs from that album, so we get to see a deeper point of view of what life was like for Swift at that point in time. She has always said all her songs are like a journal for all the fans to see inside.
Swift is recreating her old albums because she never owned any of her music before the al- bum “Lover.” She signed a con- tract with the record label, Big Red Machine who owned all her work and original songs.
Now that she is remaking her albums she gets to claim her work and own it. Now she has more flexibility as an artist and gets to do what she wants with her music.
This new album, “Red (Tay- lor’s version),” has 9 new songs from the Vault, and 21 songs from the original “Red” Album she recreated. She also collabo- rated with a few popular artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran and Gary Lightbody. “Red (Taylor’s version)” has a wide variety of genres of music, she also has a 10 minute song which she made into a short film.
Her most popular release on this album was the 10 minute song that fans have been dying to hear. On the original album “Red” she released the song “All Too Well” which was 10 minutes long when she first wrote it, then she realized that it was an un- reasonable length of time so she took parts out and got it down to around 5 minutes.
Not knowing how well the song would do, it actually be- came a fan favorite. Some fans say that it is the best song Swift has ever written. Now with this rerelease of the album she gave us the 10 minute version, and not only did she release just the song she released a short film of the song starring Sadie Sink, Dylan O’brian, and Taylor Swift herself. She wrote and directed the short film.
The “All Too Well (10 min- ute version)(Taylor’s version)” gives you a new perspective on the song with the added lyrics. Once you watch the short film it creates that story for you and it shows you a piece of what Swift wanted her fans to see what is going on in her mind.
She believes that this version of the song was the one that was meant to be heard. There are so many intricate lyrics lost in those 5 minutes, that we needed them to be recovered to add to the emotions you feel when listening to the song.
Another popular release on the album was the song “I Bet You Think About Me (feat. Chris Stapleton)(Taylor’s version).” Swift released a music video to this song which was directed by Blake Lively. This song has a bit of a country twang and tells a strong story of a breakup and how after it all he still thinks of
her. In the video, she is dressed in red, and she lets her goofy side show through while mess- ing around at a wedding. She is taunting the man getting mar- ried, because it seems as though he can’t stop thinking about her. A popular line from the song is “I’m harder to forget than I was to leave.”
“Nothing New (feat. Phoe- be Brigers)(Taylor’s version)” is a softer song that has a somber feeling when listening to it. It talks about the feeling of fame wearing off and how you’re only in the spotlight for so long until something new comes along and takes your place.
At this time Swift was strug- gling with these feelings at the age of 22. This song reminds me of the song “The Lucky One” which was released on her first “Red” album along with the new one.
The song “Better Man (Taylor’s version)” you may have heard from the popular artists Little Big Town. This song was originally written by Swift and she sold the lyrics to them.
On this new album she re- leased a version of her singing it. It’s nice to hear her sing the lyrics she worked so hard to write with her emotion.
One song that resonates with you on the album is “Ronan (Taylor’s version)” . This is one of the old songs recreated, but it is a sad song that makes you tear up every time you listen to it. It’s about a little boy dying from cancer.
Swift saw the blog from his mother, and Swift put together a song for the mother with quotes from her blog. This song shows how willing Taylor is to give back to her fans, and is an advocate for helping those in need.
The album “Red (Taylor’s version)” is very well thought out and executed. It is fascinating to hear all the old songs that fans grew up with, now recreated with Swift’s more mature voice, along with pieces of the past that have been unlocked with songs in the Vault.
