Red by Taylor Swift // 13 Year Anniversary Review
Red carries an incredibly impactful legacy, not just one as one of the defining albums of Taylor Swift's career, but as a turning point that paved the way for so many artists that followed. It truly shaped a new generation of pop and country music in an insurmountable way. Largely seen as one of the most influential and successful country-pop crossovers in modern music, she redefined her signature sound and made a genre-defying statement that marked the beginning of her artistic transformation.
While she would go on fully embrace pop with 1989 two years later, the seeds of that shift were first planted here. During the creation of Red, Taylor worked with longtime collaborators Liz Rose and Nathan Chapman on tracks that leaned into her country and singer-songwriter roots. At the same time, she introduced new collaborators in the mix with pop producing legends Max Martin and Shellback, who ended up helping her craft some of the most iconic hits of her entire career. Red proved that there are truly no bounds when it comes to how she creates her art.
"I really just wanted to have every single song reflect a different kind of sonic shade. And what I mean by that is, for me, as a country artist, on your fourth record, I don't think you should only get to use certain instruments, and that certain other kinds of styles of music and influences should be off-limits," Taylor said in a 2012 interview with SPIN. "I just really liked painting with all different kinds of colors on this record. I kind of approach the songs from an emotional place, like, how did that emotion actually feel?"
At its core, Red represents the intense, all-encompassing feelings that come with being in your early twenties - all of the trails and tribulations that leave you feeling happy, free, confused and lonely in the best way. This music served as a lifeline during those miserable and magical times, documented with the kind of specificity, passion, and honesty that only someone living it in real time could express. This album may have been shaped commercially by the big singles, like "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "22" and "I Knew You Were Trouble", but beneath those big pop hits lies some of the greatest gems of her entire career.
Taylor started working on Red while in rehearsals for the Speak Now Tour in early 2011. As the story goes, she started writing what went on to be "All Too Well" in a lyrically dense, stream-of-consciousness jam session with her backing band, wanting to just get out all of the emotions she had been dealing with into a song. The song follows her recollection of specific memories of plaid shirt days in Upstate New York with the autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place, to the intimate familiarity of dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light - and of course the infamous scarf that she left at his sister's house. It went on to become the emotional centerpiece of the album and among the most beloved she had ever written.
Red is what I've come to view as Taylor's version of Blue by Joni Mitchell, her own generation-defining breakup record for the modern day. The parallels are striking; the title and album cover alone are absolutely referential to the 1971 classic. Like Blue, Red is deeply visual and diaristic, as they paint a vivid portrait of their heartbreak, longing, and self-discovery. Perhaps more importantly, both albums went on to birth and inspire some of this generation's most compelling singer-songwriters, as well. Both albums are steeped in emotional intensity, vulnerability, and raw honesty - putting into words the timeless feelings that so many experience but rarely articulate with such clarity. In all its complexity, Taylor captured the emotional aftermath of a relationship that lingered longer than it lasted, a short-lived romance that reshaped her in ways she was still uncovering as she wrote.
In the pursuit of reclaiming her early work, Taylor revisited Red and re-recorded the entire album in 2021 as part of her second Taylor's Version album release. While the original Red didn't necessarily leave much room for improvement, as it was already a career-defining masterpiece, the strongest addition to the project came in the form of the From The Vault tracks. The bonus songs she released for Red (Taylor's Version) are among the most emotionally rich and revealing of the entire re-recording project. Ruminations on her shelf-life as a woman in the music industry, grief, and the complexities of falling in and out of love are all explored throughout these previously unreleased tracks. They offer a deeper, more nuanced perspective on the emotional landscape she was navigating at the time, revealing thoughts that may have felt too personal or too vulnerable to share back then.
Songs like "Nothing New" and "Forever Winter" open up a side of herself that she may not have been ready to reveal in 2012. But hindsight brings clarity, and these tracks now serve as a vital window into her inner world during the making of Red. Perhaps the most revealing moment From The Vault is a lyric in "Nothing New" that brings so much new perspective to her life and deepest thoughts during this time. She sings, "How can a person know everything at 18 and nothing at 22?"
Taylor also released updated versions of two songs she wrote with Ed Sheeran on one of the very first days they met in 2012. At the time, he was still a relatively unknown artist, and their collaborations, "Everything Has Changed" and the previously unreleased "Run", feel like a beautiful time capsule. They're a reminder of how crucial he was to this era, and how their creative chemistry helped shape the emotional tone of the album.
One cannot mention the impact of Red, especially the emotional weight of Taylor's Version, without delving into the significance of the long-awaited masterpiece, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)". It's as if she managed to thread every emotion explored throughout the record into one sweeping, cinematic piece. It offers a deeper insight into the album in its entirety; suddenly, every lyric and choice she made on the original release makes complete sense. A song that had taken on a life of its own in the hearts of fans for a decade was now stretched into its most complete and devastating form.
Sonically, it's very different from the original. The instrumental is mellow and soft, in the classic Jack Antonoff style of production, which I think suits the song even better. They've created some of the greatest pop songs to ever exist, but "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" will forever stand out as one of the most powerful highlights of their prolific collaboration. Lyrically, she's much more bitter and angry, not just at the person she's singing about, but even at herself to an extent. It largely feels like a confrontation of the parts of herself that maybe she couldn't face at the time she first wrote it but now with hindsight and healing, she was finally ready to say it all.
The themes introduced on Red, heartbreak, longing, and the burning intensity of young love and loss, have echoed throughout the entirety of Taylor's discography. What's been most rewarding to witness is how the meanings and intentions behind these songs have evolved over time, gaining new layers of perspective as she's grown. So much of Taylor's work centers around love in all of its many forms, and watching her relationship with love itself shift and mature has been one of the most compelling through-lines of her career.
On her 2019 album Lover, which she described as a "...love letter to love itself," Taylor closed the record with "Daylight", a song that completely redefines the emotional thesis of Red. In one line, she rewrites the very sentiment that once defined her understanding of love, "I once believed love would be burning red, but it's golden, like daylight". It encapsulates so much growth with a soft radiance that beautifully contrasts the chaotic fire that once consumed her perception of love as a whole.
If you are interested in reading more of my reviews on Taylor's music, I have written countless articles throughout the years which are all linked here and below! Check out my full review of Red (Taylor's Version), along with my experience seeing so many of the original costumes and props of this era at the Taylor Swift: Storyteller exhibit in New York City back in 2023. Many more are linked below and coming soon always!
-Melissa ❤️
All photos are my own!
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