Taylor Swift's 'Red (Taylor's Version)' has arrived
The second installment of Taylor Swift's re-recording project has arrived: her new version of her hit 2012 album "Red." Weighing in at an impressive 30 tracks, "Red (Taylor's Version)" includes every song that Swift wrote for the original version of the album, including the ones that didn't make the final cut.
The new album, released Friday at 12 a.m. ET, features "Better Man," which became a hit for the country group Little Big Town in 2016; "Babe," which was a hit for the country duo Sugarland in 2018; "Ronan," which Swift originally released to iTunes as a charity single; and three new duets: one with Ed Sheeran, one with Chris Stapleton and one with Phoebe Bridgers. Also included is the near-mythological 10-minute version of Swift's beloved anthem "All Too Well," which gets its own short film that premieres Friday at 7 p.m ET.
In a voice memo added to the Apple Music version of "Red (Taylor's Version)," the 31-year-old singer-songwriter reflected on the original album.
"Musically and lyrically, Red resembled a heartbroken person," Swift said. "It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by memories past."
Swift also took to Instagram to thank her fans.
"Just a friendly reminder that I would never have thought it was possible to go back and remake my previous work, uncovering lost art and forgotten gems along the way, if you hadn’t emboldened me," she wrote in a post. "Red is about to be mine again, but it has always been ours. Tonight we begin again."
During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Swift shared the true story of how the extended version of "All Too Well" came to be. Swift, who said she was about 21 at the time, told Fallon that she was "going through a bit of a sad time" while rehearsing for her upcoming "Speak Now" tour.
"I just was really upset and sad, and everybody could tell," she said. "It was really not fun to be around me that day."
So she picked up her guitar and began playing "the same four chords over and over again," Swift said. The song flowed from her organically as she "started ad libbing what I was going through and what I was feeling," she explained. As she was venting through her music, the band joined in "and the song kept building and building and building in intensity," she said.
"The song just went on for 10 to 15 minutes," she told Fallon, crediting her mother for checking at the end of rehearsal if "my sound guy" managed to capture the profound moment on tape.
"He was like, 'Yep!' and handed her a CD," she said with a grin. "The 10-minute version of 'All too Well' is what was originally written for the song before I had to cut it down to a normal-length song."
Swift revealed that releasing the original version of "All Too Well" is "the thing I'm the most excited about."
She also discussed how she mastered the art of hiding "Easter eggs" and encouraged fans to keep their eyes peeled when watching the short film version of "All Too Well," starring actors Sadie Sink, of the Netflix series "Stranger Things," and Dylan O'Brien, of the film trilogy "Maze Runner." Swift announced that she will be premiering the short film at the AMC 13 Theater in New York City's Lincoln Square on Friday afternoon.
Swift's late night tour will continue Saturday, when she will appear as a musical guest on "Saturday Night Live." She hinted that she might perform the 10-minute version of "All Too Well" in its entirety.
Here's the full track list for "Red (Taylor's Version)":
- "State of Grace (Taylor's Version)"
- "Red (Taylor's Version)"
- "Treacherous (Taylor's Version)"
- "I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor's Version)"
- "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)"
- "22 (Taylor's Version)"
- "I Almost Do (Taylor's Version)"
- "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Taylor's Version)"
- "Stay Stay Stay (Taylor's Version)"
- "The Last Time (Taylor's Version)"
- "Holy Ground (Taylor's Version)"
- "Sad Beautiful Tragic (Taylor's Version)"
- "The Lucky One (Taylor's Version)"
- "Everything Has Changed (feat. Ed Sheeran) (Taylor's Version)"
- "Starlight (Taylor's Version)"
- "Begin Again (Taylor's Version)"
- "The Moment I Knew (Taylor's Version)"
- "Come Back...Be Here (Taylor's Version)"
- "Girl at Home (Taylor's Version)"
- "State of Grace (Acoustic Version) (Taylor's Version)"
- "Ronan (Taylor's Version)"
- "Better Man (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
- "Nothing New (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
- "Babe (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
- "Message in a Bottle (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
- "I Bet You Think About Me (feat. Chris Stapleton) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
- "Forever Winter (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
- "Run (feat. Ed Sheeran) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
- "The Very First Night (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
- "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"
