“Red (Taylor’s Version)” is the reason for my seasonal depression

When “Red” first came out in 2012 I wasn’t a huge fan of Swift, to be honest. I loved the albums before that and the albums following this one, but for some reason I didn’t care for “Red”. This could be because I was only 13 when the album came out and the only heartbreak I knew was the realization that One Direction would never know who I was.

To prepare for this groundbreaking record, I made sure to listen to the album on repeat and since Taylor’s Version came out, I once again have the new album on repeat. After listening to it all day for the past four days I’ve gathered a strong opinion about everything revolving around it.

My favorite song from this album has been “The Last Time” because of how much sorrow is behind the lyrics and the chemistry between Swift and Gary Lightbody, who is featured on the song. 

In the new version those feelings and emotions are still there and stronger than before. This song makes me want to sit in the shower fully clothed and reflect on the words being sung.

The original singles from the album were some of the songs I was most excited to hear, but some of them were slightly disappointing. The energy that was behind the songs weren’t completely there for the re-recording, specifically with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “22”. 

These two songs left me feeling as if something was missing and sounded like Swift wanted to get done with them so she could focus on the other aspects of the songs.

Besides these, the other original songs I believe conveyed the grief and heartache written about before.

Of course, the ten minute version of “All Too Well” is what everyone was looking forward to. This song already captured the heartbreak Swift experienced and made everyone who listened to the song sob, and the longer version only captures the emotional abuse she went through even more.

To go with this song Swift directed a short film starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien, who acted out the relationship and expressed the joys and pains attached to it. This 15 minute film left me in shock and pain, now being able to visually see what Swift experienced in this relationship and relate to more of the song than I once did. 

On this album 10 vault songs were included, with “I Bet You Think About Me” getting a music video that released yesterday, directed by Blake Lively. “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” didn’t get any new music videos, especially for the vault songs, which makes me confused on why this one did, but I’m not upset about it.

Overall, I think this album lived up to the hype for the most part while exceeding my expectations at the same time.

Header Photo: Taylor Swift’s album “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is her newest release. (AGOSTINI/INVISION/Associated Press)