Song-by-Song Review of Taylor Swift's album "Red"

So, it has been a full week and 2 days since Taylor Swift's fourth album "Red" has graced the planet. The numbers came out yesterday and the album sold 1.2 million copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling album in over 10 years. This is Taylor's second album that has sold more than 1 million copies in its first week, the first album being 2010's "Speak Now." The only other artist to have ever conquered that feat was `Nsync, and we ALL know how long its been since they've been on the radio.

Since I am a huge Taylor Swift fan (seriously, could you not tell?) I am going to give you a song-by-song review. I'm only going to include the 16 songs on the main album, so if you want to hear about the 6 additional songs on the deluxe version of the album (only available at Target), you will have to buy it for yourself. (:

1. State of Grace 
This song was one of the pre-released songs on Good Morning America. And let me tell you, I didn't really like it before the album came out. But once I sat down and listened to it in "Red"'s full glory, this is one of my top-played songs on the CD. It just screams concert material, and although it is about love, I feel like it is the "Red" era's "Change" and "Long Live" (if you don't know what I am talking about, then in other words, it seems like the inspirational song on "Red"). It also seems to me like it would sound perfect as the background of a movie. "I'm walking fast through the traffic lights/ busy streets and busy lives/ and all we know is touch and go." That just seems to me like it belongs in the movie's beginning credits. It has a great chorus line, and it is my go-to song for mornings that I just can't get moving. It's about the beginnings of a relationship, and how you never saw a person coming, but now that they're here, you'll never be the same. I really like how it's the first song on the album, because it get's you going and starts off the relationship that she will be singing about on the rest of the album.

2. Red
This is another one of the pre-released songs. I loved it from the first 3 seconds of listening. Of course this song is one of my favorites, because it has that little something extra in the chorus (re-eh-eh-ed, re-eh-eh-ed), and it's the song that defines the album. It's a great upbeat song. Taylor said herself that the song was inspired by all of the crazy, tumultuous feelings that love brings, and the whole album is talking about the different feelings that happen during a relationship. I really like this part: "loving him was like the colors in autumn so bright, just before they lose it all" because it is autumn!!!

3. Treacherous 
This is the first slow song on the record, and I really like it. I don't think I was a fan of it at first, but it grew on me and then of course I thought, "What was I thinking? This song is great!"

4. I Knew You Were Trouble. 
Yes. It's with a period. This song is awesome. It was also another pre-released song, and got a lot of people wondering about how the rest of Taylor's album was going to be. This song is awesome. Did I say that already? The little bit of bass in the background during the chorus (what some people are calling the dub-step in this song, which I know nothing about but admit it sounds really cool here) gives the song the extra push of uniqueness. This is a GREAT song to rock out to. It just makes you feel even cooler for listening to it. Taylor does this little bit of "dub-step" very well.

5. All Too Well
This. Is. my. Favorite. Song. Ever. It's about how she remembers every little thing about an old relationship "all too well" and it's not a good thing. And there's a huge chance (like 98.7%) that it's about Jake Gyllenhaal. This song gets me every time and makes me cry. You can feel the raw emotion that Taylor felt as she was writing this, and as she was reliving it as she recorded it. I cannot wait to hear this song live in concert. This is a slow song with a little pick up towards the end. I feel like these types of slow ballads are where Taylor truly shines and shows her writing talents best. She has these great one-liners, like
1. "you taught me about your past, thinking your future was me"
2. "and I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to"
3. "and you call me up again to just break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest"
4. "time won't fly it's like I'm paralyzed by it. I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it"

*And someone said there is a TEN MINUTE VERSION OF THIS SONG. I HAVE TO HEAR THIS VERSION. The song on the album is already over 5 minutes long, and by the time 5 minutes its up, I find myself reaching for the replay button. You need to listen to this song. Whoever you are, I don't care if you're busy. You need to experience this song. So go look it up now. You can thank me later.

6. 22
This is such a cute, girly song. It's about just letting go of all of your worries for the night and celebrating being young with your friends. Taylor wrote this song for Selena Gomez, Dianna Agron, and some other famous friends of hers as well (just check the hidden message in the lyrics) While this song is great for dancing and just getting hyped up, I'd much rather listen to a deeper song, just because that's how I am. But I still love this song.

7. I Almost Do 
This song is another slow one. There's a lot of slow ones on this album, which kinda disappointed me at first but then I realized that they're what Taylor does best, and I was ok again. Haha. So this one is about the guy that Taylor just can't forget about, and she keeps finding herself about to call him, or about to go see him. And every time she doesn't. she almost does. Her vocals are really pretty in this song. I love it.

8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 
If you haven't heard this song on the radio, where have you been? This song is an awesome "screw you" song, and an awesome song to dance to. But again, I would much rather listen to the songs with more depth. And that's why people misunderstand Taylor, because THESE are the only types of Taylor Swift songs that they put on the radio. While they're very radio-friendly, I feel like it's time for people to realize her other talents, which are songwriting, and let those songs where you have to think about the lyrics to get their full affect play on the radio. But I guess people are dimwitted and don't want to hear deep songs on the radio, or if they do, they don't think of Taylor Swift to be the ones singing them. The world is so unjust! Haha. Anyway, when this song comes up on my iPod, I usually skip it, to be honest. I can listen to that song on the radio.

9. Stay Stay Stay
One of my friends said they counted how many times Taylor sang the word "stay" in this song and she got 29 times. Well, don't let that make an impression on you because this song is fun and quirky and I just love it. The hidden message is "daydreaming about love," so that makes you think that this is her idea of a perfect/ideal relationship that she would want. This song is so cute. The melody just gets you in a better mood when you listen to it. If you have heard Taylor's song "Ours" from the album "Speak Now" then I would say this song is very similar to that one. Just all happy-sounding. Which is exactly how you should feel when you're in love. So I'd say it sounds like all of the butterflies and rainbows you feel when you're in new love. Great job, Taylor.

10. The Last Time ft. Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol
I gotta say that this song is still working itself in my mind. I like it, but I don't completely love it yet. Probably because I keep replaying "All Too Well" and "State of Grace." Anyway, this song starts out with Taylor singing, then switched to the deep-voice Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol. They sound cool together but this isn't my favorite duet on the album. The lyrics are good, "this is the last time I'm asking you this" is talking about a relationship that is kind of bad for both people involved, and they probably shouldn't be together but they keep coming back to each other. This is them begging to give each other one more chance. But in the end, both of them are going to get hurt.

11. Holy Ground
This is another one of my favorites. I love how the verses are so quick but the chorus is so slow. It's a great dynamic and it works well in this song. I love how she has the background vocals singing "Holyyyyyy, holyyyyyy, holyyyyy-ohhhh." in the background. Taylor said herself that this song is about an old relationship that she found herself thinking about one day, and realized that she really felt good about the relationship after the fact. She says she looks back and smiles on that relationship and what they shared. I also really like some of the lines she has. "Well I guess we fell apart in the usual way, and the story's got dust on every page."

12. Sad Beautiful Tragic
This is another slow song. The vocals are absolutely perfect. This song is about a very toxic relationship, but the pain and love was all beautiful anyway. She has a really good line about good girls, "good girls, hopeful they'll be, and long will they wait." You can hear the emotion in Taylor's soft voice in this song, it's kind of a sigh, and a sense of helplessness.

13. The Lucky One
This is a song about Taylor's fears for herself. Basically, she is worrying about how this will all end for her. It is what she has nightmare about, she says. The song talks about how everyone thinks you're so lucky because you have all of this fortune and fame, but what about at the end of the day where you don't matter so much anymore? What happens then?

14. Everything Has Changed ft. Ed Sheeran (who is going on tour with Taylor for the RED tour!!!)
This song is my favorite duet on the album (well, there's only 2!). It's with British (English?) musician Ed Sheeran, and their voices sound heavenly together. Haha. It's about that moment when you meet someone new and have an instant draw to them, instant chemistry. It's about how the day you meet that person, you never saw them coming, but now that they are in your life, you can't stop thinking about them, and how everything has changed since you met them. This song is so obviously about Conor Kennedy, her current (did someone say they broke up?) boyfriend, because she mentions his green eyes and freckles, and the hidden message is "Hyannis Port," which is where the Kennedy compound is. So, no fooling us there, Taylor. This song is so true about the first feelings you have when you meet someone new. And my favorite part is the ever-famous Taylor pronunciation of "everything"-- which she pronounces "everythin." Which I have adopted into my speech since her first album when she pronounced it that way. No shame.

15. Starlight 
Oh, this song...well, let's start with the information about it first. It was written for Ethel Kennedy about Ethel Kennedy, which is stated so in the hidden message in the lyricbook. Plus, it starts out "I met Bobby on the boardwalk, summer of '45."Anyway, I just don't really like this song. It's cute and everything, but it's so cute that it's a little too cheesy for my taste. I haven't listened to it but like 3 times, so maybe that's why it's not growing on me. I don't know, I just don't really like it. Ok. Moving on.

16. Begin Again
This was the first song Taylor prereleased on Good Morning America. This got some fans excited because Taylor is bringing back her old country roots in this song. Well, kinda sorta. Haha. Anyway, I like this song, and the placement of it, because it's about a whole new relationship that you're realizing is already off to a better start than your last. It's about the first date you have with a person after you've ended a relationship.  "It's strange that you think I'm funny cause he never did" is one of the lines, and this lets you know that this is a good date so far. She's already made a music video for this song, set in Paris, and it's a really pretty video. I like the placement of the song on the album (the last song) because it is Taylor moving on from these former relationships she has sang about on the album prior to this song. And Taylor said she "bookended" the album this way on purpose, to mark the beginning of a relationship and the end of a relationship.


So that's my review, folks. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope I inspired you to listen to a song or two off of the album. It really is some good songwriting and some really cool, fresh melodies.