The Swiftening – Pt 5: “Red”

(The Swiftening Series: 1. folklore | 2. Lover | 3. reputation | 4. 1989 | 5. Red | 6. Speak Now | 7. Fearless | 8. Taylor Swift)

We’ve reached the second half of this whirlwind review of every Taylor Swift album, and I think now is a good time to stop and take stock. What have we learned so far?

Well, since I started writing this series, I’ve become an admitted fan of Swift. The complicated role she has played in media and in culture throughout my life, nonetheless, continues to vex me. She is a flawed figure, often tone-deaf in her treatment of social issues and plagued by all the other baggage that comes with being a rich, beautiful celebrity with a legion of devoted fans. At the same time, though, she is admirable. Her artistic vision and penchant for experimentation and transformation continues to amaze me. It is really strange that an artist like her could have existed under my radar for so long, especially considering how massively famous she is. But, better late than never, we might say.

We’ve seen Swift as the lone wanderer in a misty wood, the storyteller, the lover, the scorned villain, the serial heartbreaker, and the heartbroken. But the Swift we haven’t really seen is the Swift who began it all – the girl-next-door. Head full of blonde curls. Cowboy boots. Acoustic guitar. Country Swift.

Here’s the thing I’ve been worried about since I started this series. Of all the musical genres out there, country is one genre I feel I have a bit of a blind spot for. I used to be one of those insufferable “oh I love all genres except country, metal, and rap!” people. I’ve gotten a bit older and realized that genre is less a tool and more a suggestion, and learned a lot about many of the genres I previously would have brushed aside as all bad. I’ve even found favorites in those genres. But country is… well, it’s complicated.

Much like Swift herself, huh?

I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with country as a genre. Unlike littler me, I understand that genre is not a good way to pass judgment. Country actually has a lot of great stuff in its bones – storytelling and lyricism, and mastery of a lot of great instruments (Harmonicas! Banjos! Good ol’ Acoustic Guitar.) The problem is that modern country… popular country… is politically horrible. I don’t have the time or the knowledge to really talk about this in detail, but nowadays country as a genre has become Art of the Right-Wing. Not always, of course, but the association is there. And even when the stuff isn’t gun-toting, America did nothing wrong, nationalist propaganda, it tends to be misogynist… or racist… or homophobic… or all of those things at once! I mean, just look at the backlash Lil Nas X got just for daring to dip his toe into the genre in “Old Town Road.”

All that considered, I haven’t really taken much time to explore what good stuff exists in that genre. It’s something I’d like to do someday. So I’m diving into Swift’s more country stylings mostly blind. I don’t really know a lot about what makes this genre great. I really only have stereotypes in my toolbelt, and that is never how I want to approach any topic.

Thankfully, the album we’re discussing today, Red, is an album in transition between pop and country. If 1989 was the full transformation into pop Taylor, Red is Taylor flirting with pop. There are unabashedly country songs on this album, but much of it is really outwardly pop, even experimenting with electronic and honest-to-god dubstep. Still, it’s really mixed in its messaging because of that, which makes it a slightly less strong album than 1989. But if you remember what I said last week, that means that there’s a lot of messy experimentation to dive into with this one, which means I’m comfortable and happy again. So let’s into it, shall we?

This album opens with the absolute banger “State of Grace.” While I don’t always associate Swift’s singing voice with power, this is a song that really showcases the power of her vocals. The driving drums and simple, rock guitar chords add a lot of lift to it. The song itself is a bittersweet rumination on the pain and pleasure of love, which, I think, is kind of what the whole album is about. My favorite part of this song by far is its chorus, which is brief! Just two lines. “And I never saw you coming / And I’ll never be the same.” Sung with a broad, strong tone, it feels reckless, exciting, and a little dangerous. It’s perfect for this song, and struck me from the moment I first heard it.

Danger and romance. Well, it makes sense for an album called Red, right? The title track, “Red,” comes next, and it’s the connection to country that the first song perhaps didn’t have. It doesn’t work for me quite as well as the song that comes before it, though that’s admittedly a high bar to clear. Still, it’s an interesting melding of country and pop, with twanging guitars opening the song and subtly playing beneath as the song picks up intensity. The strings in general remain fairly country, while electronic elements provide accents. It has energy, but the song itself feels a little obvious to me. Perhaps I’m spoiled, but Swift’s writing tends to surprise me a lot more than this song’s simple color symbolism does.

Some country moments actually do work really well for me, though. Fan favorite “All Too Well” has very much earned the legendary status it appears to have, in my opinion. It’s a subtle, acoustic number that steadily rises in emotion into its renowned bridge. Swift has talked a lot about this song, probably because it’s so beloved, and she mentions every time how shocked she is that it connected as well as it did. She notes that it was an extremely personal song for her, one that she felt no other person could possibly relate to. That’s what makes it so touching, though, I think. It’s in the little details – the scarf she left at her ex-lover’s house, the “little kid with glasses on a twin-size bed”, the memories of the relationship – the song’s strength is its specificity. (This is an impulse I think more songwriters should follow, as I’ve discussed before).

The other extremely country favorite of mine on this album is “Stay Stay Stay,” which I understand to be a bit of a controversial opinion. I get where many people are coming from when they dismiss this one, it’s a very perky and formulaic song… but I think it’s really cute. It’s so earnest with just a note of humor (“you came in wearing a football helmet / and said “Okay, let’s talk”) and it’s an energy I really resonate with. Catchy, too!

Many more of the acoustic moments of this album don’t quite gel with me, and part of me wonders if that is because they are somewhere in between pop and country. “Treacherous” has so many elements I recognize from Swift’s later songwriting – the building tension, the purposeful subtlety – but falls short at the chorus. It’s just not enough of a hook to really sell the pop side of country-pop.

When the production gets a bit more pronounced, though, there are some great moments. I’m really fond of “Holy Ground.” It has a similar energy and feeling to “State of Grace,” though perhaps a bit more grounded. It’s a song about reminiscing about a past relationship and realizing the joy it once had. It’s a fond and sweet song that surprised me when I first paid attention to it. These are, of course, not the most produced moments of the album by far, however.

That award has to go to “I Knew You Were Trouble”, which is the aforementioned dubstep track of the album. Yes, dubstep. 2012 was a wild year, everybody. Now, I’ve already talked a lot about how rap and hip hop are not Swift’s genres, so I will not be arguing today that dubstep is secretly her genre. It’s certainly not the most artistic or subtly written of Swift’s work. But there is something kind of charming about it. Maybe it’s just the sheer absurdity of it all, or the catchy hook (or, honestly, the clever choice to have Swift’s passionate “oh!” part in the chorus come at such an energetic high). I can’t fully discredit it, whatever it is.

The other huge hit from the album was “We Are Never Getting Back Together”. Honestly, if I hadn’t done as much extensive Taylor Swift research as I have, I’m not sure I would appreciate how cutting this song is. This song is about Swift’s highly-publicized breakup with John Mayer. Normally, the celebrity backstory for these songs bug me more than they enhance my listening experience, but knowing what I know about John Mayer (he’s actually a pretty big character in excellent podcast You’re Wrong About‘s episode on Jessica Simpson), he’s a pretty awful person to break up with. Clingy and obsessive. So, the lyrics making fun of his flip-flopping, his big gestures trying to win her back, and the dig at the “indie record that’s much cooler than mine” land in a way I think they were supposed to. It’s catchy and goofy. I certainly won’t be turning this one on in my personal listening time much, but I have no real complaints – it is what it is.

Okay, confession time. I am 22, so I feel like I should have a special sort of insight on “22.” Honestly, though, I kind of wish my feelings and experience aligned more with what Swift cites as quintessential 22-year-old experiences. (The pandemic may be interfering with that, granted). Again, like “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” this is a fun, catchy pop song that works as it is. Certainly not the most artistic, but fun all the same.

You may notice a real division in the way I’m talking about these songs, and that’s a key thing about this album. Red is an album of two minds, soft and introspective and acoustic, as well as big, bombastic, and fun. Perhaps it’s a little awkward here, but I think it’s fun to see the roots of what Swift will do later in her career. I said this about 1989 as well, but going backwards really makes you notice the way she has grown as an artist over her many years.

I’ll wrap up my discussion of this album with a more understated favorite. While perhaps a bit over-wrought and dramatic, I can’t help but love “The Moment I Knew.” The song is explicitly about Swift’s 21st birthday, when her then-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal skipped her birthday party, the culminating incident that led to their breakup. As silly as it sounds, this relatively mundane transgression is turned into this turning point, this deeply sad realization on Swift’s part that a relationship she cared about was not going to work out. The song is kind of country in its lyricism, focusing on telling a story, complete with dramatic strings and an emotional chorus. But it’s pop too, without Swift’s characteristic twang. I think what’s so effective about that is that the best of both genres are here to serve the story, and sell the emotional impact. The little details of how her friends react, her outfit, the little actions that tell the story… it all brings the listener in as Swift makes her decision and things change forever.

Red was a tough nut to crack, I’m not going to lie. It’s vexed me the most so far of her albums. Is that just about this album? Is that because of the change in genre? Is it all going to get much worse? Find out next time, when we cover Speak Now.

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