Swift’s version of ‘Red’ is a ‘State of Grace’

Best known for smash hits and calling out ex-boyfriends through breakup songs, Taylor Swift rerecorded one of her most popular albums and did just that. Released Nov. 12, “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is a combination of songs she rerecorded from the original 2012 album and new songs that were supposed to be on the original but never made it. Following the release of “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” there were a lot of high hopes for this album, and as always, Swift did not let her fans down.

Swift was 22, but even as a young artist, this album made her one of the most successful popular artists of this generation. Since 10 years have passed since “Red,” there is a lot of maturity shown in her 2021 version. Songs like “Starlight” and “Begin Again” were beautiful in the original, but the subtle changes make the songs just a little bit better—if that was even possible.

Swift features several other artists including Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Phoebe Bridgers and Gary Lightbody. “Everything Has Changed” featuring Sheeran was on the original as well but the rerecording meshed the two’s voices even better than the first.

However, not everything in the remake works so well. Songs like “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and “Girl At Home” did not live up to the “Red” version. This was an extreme let down for listeners since these songs were such a big part of “Red.”

One of Swift’s most popular songs “22” is best known for the background singers throughout the song. In Taylor’s version, she got rid of the backup singers and just used her own voice as backup, which sounds a little weird.

But, Swift finishes “Red (Taylor’s Version)” off strong with a 10 minute version of “All Too Well.” Swift added multiple extra verses to this version and fans went crazy. This version seemed to tell a deeper story than the original and fans just cannot seem to get enough, trying to decode, breakdown and find out who “All Too Well” was meant to be about.

In the end, the complaints are minor, and only the Swifties will be able to pick out most of the differences. Plus, everyone will cheer Swift’s quest to get ownership of her songs back… well, maybe everyone except her ex-boyfriends.

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