Taylor Swift is now rerecording some of her old albums in order to make them more original and her own. She previously re-released her album Fearless in March of 2021 and just recently re-released Red. The first version of Red came out in 2012 and Red (Taylor’s Version) was released on Nov 12, 2021.
In the newer Red there are some key differences between the re- release and what was originally released. On the new album she re-recorded every single song on the first Red. She also added her 10 minute version of All Too Well and there are also 8 new songs from the vault that she had originally planned to be on the album but did not make the final cut in 2012. Then at the end of the album there is a message for Taylor explaining the album very briefly.
Taylor re-recorded her previously released songs, some to name being Treacherous, I Almost Do, and Stay Stay Stay. She redid some of her most known parts in her songs such as her speaking part in the song We Are Never Getting Back Together and her giggle at the end of the song Stay Stay Stay. Taylor kept some of the most iconic pieces of her songs in the track but she also changed things like her background instrumentals in some of her songs, such as Girl At Home. The original Girl At Home is very tamed and calm with a build up to the chorus of the song while the re-released version just starts very up beat and the pre-chorus lowers in volume then rises again in the actual chorus again. She also got people that were featured in the original album to collaborate with her again, the two features being Gary Lightbody and Ed Sheeran. Sheeran is actually in one of the unreleased songs too. Phoebe Bridgers was featured in Nothing New from the vault. My favorite original songs from the re-released album are The Last Time featuring Gary Lightbody, The Moment I Knew, and Starlight. The Last Time is incredibly well written and I love the difference in their voices. Lightbody has a very dark and deep sounding tone while Taylor has a super airy and light hearted voice so the two sounds contrast each other very well. The Moment I Knew is also a personal favorite of mine because the cello in the beginning of this song is very distinguishable and gives this song such a deep and meaningful touch. Starlight is another great re-recorded song because it is very upbeat and so fun to jam out to.
Along with all of the original songs she released 8 songs that were written to be on Red but did not make the final cut. These songs included Better Man, Nothing New, Babe, Message In A Bottle, I Bet You Think About Me, Forever Winter, Run, and The Very First Night. My favorite of the newer songs is The Very FIrst Night. It gives such a good description of how it feels when things start off so well and everything feels so good but no one understands what you miss after something goes wrong. As well as 8 unreleased songs she also put her 10 minute version of All Too Well on the album. The version of All Too Well in the original album is 5 minutes and 28 seconds but her first version she ever wrote was about 10 minutes long which she shortened because at the time of release she believed you could not produce a 10 minute song. The new version is so amazing and so many Taylor fans are absolutely obsessed with it. Taylor added multiple new verses and she even had a short film recorded with famous actors, Dylan O’Brien and Sadie Sink. The parts being played were actually never given names and only said to be Him and Her.
The last recording on Red (Taylor’s Version) is a short message from Taylor. She explains that Red was written to resemble a heart broken person and all of the messiness within the emotions connected with heartbreak. I believe Swift perfectly illustrated all the emotions of heartbreak and the ups and downs people go through when they split up with their partners. These sharp changes in emotions can even be seen in the lineup of songs. You go from listening to All Too Well which is just a heart wrenching song to hearing 22, a song all about having a good time with her best friends and forgetting about all of life’s issues.
This re-released album is so well put together and you can see all of the hard work Taylor puts into this. She constantly tries to give her fans the best that she can and this album absolutely shows that. I believe Red (Taylor’s Version) was amazingly well done and these songs will definitely be added to my playlist.