On October 22,2012 Taylor Swift came out with her highly anticipated album, Red. Her leading single was the catchy, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", followed by "Begin Again" and "I Knew You Were Trouble".
Her album was something different as she expressed in her webchat on August 13, 2012 to fans about the her new album. Swift said that she wrote her songs on this album completely different than the Speak Now album that came out two years ago. On Speak Now, she wrote each song, but Red was a different story, where she worked with different song writers. The song, "The Last Time" featured Gray Lightbody from Snow Patrol and "Everything Has Changed" featured Ed Sheeran.
Red includes the tracks:
1) "State of Grace"
2) "Red"
3) "Treacherous"
4) "I Knew You Were Trouble"
5) "All Too Well"
6) "22"
7) "I Almost Do"
8) "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
9) "Stay Stay Stay"
10) "The Last Time"
11) "Holy Ground"
12) "Sad Beautiful Tragic"
13) "The Lucky One"
14) "Everything Has Changed"
15) "Starlight"
16) "Begin Again"
Her deluxe version which was only available at Target, and the one I bought that day it came out, also included:
1) "The Moment I Knew"
2) "Come Back. . .Be Here"
3) "Girl At Home"
4) "Treacherous" (Original Demo Recording)
5) "Red" (Original Demo Recording)
6) "State of Grace" (Acoustic Version)
Here are the two covers: the regular first, and the deluxe after that.
The thing I love most about these songs are the lyrics. I am not the most successful songwriter or poet, but I adore these beautifully sown together words. Here is a line or two that I love from each song:
State of Grace: "Love is a ruthless game/unless you play it good and right"
Red: "Losing him was blue, like I'd never known/Missing him was dark gray, all alone/Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met/But loving him was red"
Treacherous: "And all we are is skin and bone/Trained to get along"
I Knew You Were Trouble: "No apologies, he'll never see you cry/Pretends he doesn't know that he's the reason why"
All Too Well: "And you call me up again/Just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest"
22: "We're happy, free, confused and lonely in the best way"
I Almost Do: "And I just want to tell you/It takes everything in me/Not to call you"
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: "I'm really going to miss you picking fights/And me falling for it, screaming that I'm right"
Stay Stay Stay: "I'd like to hang out with you/For my whole life"
The Last Time: "This is the last time I'm asking you why/You break my heart in the blink of an eye"
Holy Ground: "And I guess we fell apart in the usual way/And the story's got dust on every page"
Sad Beautiful Tragic: "Words, How little they mean when you're a little too late"
The Lucky One: "And they tell you that you're lucky but you're so confused/Cause you don't feel pretty, you just feel used"
Everything Has Changed: "Come back and tell me why/I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time"
Starlight: "He said 'Look at you, worrying too much about things you can't change./You'll spend your whole life singing the blues if you keep thinking that way.'"
Begin Again: "What's past is past"
The Moment I Knew: "I try not to fall apart/And the sinking feeling starts/As I say hopelessly/He said he'd be here"
Come Back. . .Be Here: "And this is when the feeling sinks in/I don't want to miss you like this/Come back. . .be here"
Girl At Home: "I just wanna make sure/You understand perfectly/You're the kind of man who makes me sad/While she waits up/You chase down the newest thing/And take for granted what you have"
Many fans have expressed that they don't like her new sound, which is a more pop sound. Red is definitely experimentally with different sounds, such as dub-step. Many feel she needs to stick to her roots, country music. The genre where she came out with "Tim McGraw" back in 2006. Honestly, I had my doubts about Red. I am a die hard Taylor Swift fan. I have such an unhealthy obsession with her and her music that I could probably single handily support her for the rest of her life. I know, so fangirl of me.
Both "We are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "22 are my guilty pleasure songs. I can't help but sing along with them every time I hear it. Although the songs, "Red", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "All Too Well" and "The Moment I Knew" are my favorites. And I realize that I really like her album, even though it is the farthest she has ever been from her roots, I listen to it all the time. The CD is currently on repeat on my iPod and the is playing in my car.
What are your thoughts?
Author's Note: Sources: http://kfox95.com/taylor-swift-announces-new-red-album-release-date-debuts-new-single-in-webcast/
http://www.target.com/p/taylor-swift-red-deluxe-with-6-bonus-tracks-only-at-target/-/A-14237117
And the 'Red' CD. Pictures: hollywoodreporter.com for regular and idolator.com for deluxe
