State of Grace – It was 2012, and I was just starting to shift from compiling Hot 100 stats on an Excel spreadsheet to listening to “real music,” you know, the shit Pitchfork reviewed. I had firmly placed myself in the indie rock cannon, replacing my Lady Gaga CD’s with Radiohead playlists on this crazy little service called Spotify that had just launched in the US. We were still about three years away from full-blown “Run Away With Me” poptimism, and I wasn’t cool enough to listen to Robyn yet, so the latest Taylor Swift album rollout wasn’t even remotely on my radar. However, one day in a momentary lapse of judgement, I hit the Billboard.com link at the back of my bookmarks bar and was greeted with none other than Taylor Swift in a very Pinterest proto-cottagecore cover for her latest promotional single “State of Grace.” Between the newly straightened hair and fading southern accent, I was fully expecting a bubblegum catastrophe of the highest caliber, something to rival the “Baby”’s and “Call Me Maybe”’s of the world (i.e. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”). Imagine the look on my face when in the opening measures of this song, I slowly realize “State of Grace” is the kind of britpop anthem that rivals the best of the genre (“Common People”, “Live Forever”, “Champagne Supernova”, in that order). Stadium-sized soundscapes, soaring vocals, stunning images (“just twin fire signs / four blue eyes” or “mosaic broken hearts”); she managed to nail it on her first try, so much so that she never bothered to try again. “State of Grace” was so Earth-shattering for me that my music taste completely reverted. [10]
Red – A melancholic tale of lost love with lush production, opening chords that call back to “Love Story” and one of the best guitar solos in Taylor’s discography? This song is like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street. [10]
Treacherous – One of the quieter songs on the tracklist, “Treacherous” has an intimate kind of beauty that took me some time to warm up to. While I think “Delicate” is a better execution of a similar concept, I can appreciate how the verses on “Treacherous” seem to tip-toe around your ears before launching into a gratifying post-chorus. Following this with “I Knew You Were Trouble” was also a fantastic choice. [7]
I Knew You Were Trouble – OK, something I’ve been sitting with for the last nine years:
drop != dubstep
What possible frequency response gaslit people into thinking “I Knew You Were Trouble” sounded remotely close to Burial, Skrillex, or even Justin Bieber? I recall that early 2010s club-pop saturation had everyone clutching their pearls at the thought of “genuine” artists (like Ed Sheeran!) getting replaced by gay cyborgs with power tools, and while those fears were more valid than I would have expected, that didn’t mean they could cry “dubstep” at anything tangentially electronic. To Taylor’s credit, calling this dubstep was a smart marketing move at the time to spur controversy, and ultimately, this is an unnecessary tirade on genre classification. However, I do think the labeling has distracted from how well this song has aged. While lyrically not her strongest, the rapid-fire verses, increasingly dramatic bridge, and of course each “OH” she belts out in the chorus make for a lasting club anthem. [7]
All Too Well – In the summer of 2019, I was working an office job that had me planning my untimely demise, my only escape being returning to a university where I would actually see my mental state deteriorate even further. I don’t remember much of it; I don’t remember feeling anything at all. I also don’t remember how I came upon “All Too Well” one afternoon during that summer, but I do remember listening to it for the first time. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a song that was more immediate. The opening guitar lick is the musical equivalent of unlocking a diary and flipping to the page where you wrote about the worst day of your life. It’s all laid out in painful, vivid detail – the photo-album, the refrigerator light, and of course, the scarf. When I get into a certain kind of headspace for long enough, a song can reintroduce me to a whole range of emotion I forgot I could access. Remembering how to feel won’t fix things, but it’ll help you cope. Few songs manage to feel as much as this one. [10]
22 –
[7]
I Almost Do – Not a hint of southern twang in her accent, but country roots set Taylor’s foundation for this song. When discussing Red, most will say that what separates this album from its predecessors is a shift towards pop music. I would argue that the pop potential had been there since “Our Song” graced the stage of Taylor’s ninth grade talent show; what actually surprises me about Red is how devastating her music gets in some of these deep cuts. When writing about Fearless I mentioned Taylor was better at writing about falling in love than out of it; all of that changes with Red. [7]
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Choosing “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” as the lead single for this album was an obvious ploy for Taylor to position herself as a crossover success; the idea being to shock the public with a sonic shift, even if it isn’t indicative of what the rest of the album would sound like. The track is intentionally bratty and a bit vapid, and although she will miss the mark later on in her career, at this point, Taylor is at her most self-aware (barring the “You Belong With Me” music video, where she famously plays both the frizzy-haired nerd and high-heel clad cheerleader). [8]
Stay, Stay, Stay – Overly saccharine, leaves me a bit queasy. [6]
The Last Time – A song sounding similar to another one isn’t always an indication of bad writing, but “The Last Time” is so similar and so inferior to “exile” that Taylor actually wrote this track out of my rotation when folklore was released. [5]
Holy Ground – While she spends most of the runtime of Red picking at the scabs of a dead relationship, Taylor does have a few moments of brightness peaking through. “Holy Ground” takes a similar conceptual approach as the album’s titular track; a retrospective on a failed relationship that’s propelled by the first sense of relief she’s felt in ages. The initial signs of healing feel exhilarating. [9]
Sad Beautiful Tragic – Sounds like a recreation of “Last Kiss” but meanders for too long. [6]
The Lucky One – Widely speculated to be about Joni Mitchell, “The Lucky One” chronicles the story of a star who refused the spotlight and was better off for it. It’s framed here as a fantasy for Taylor, but given the context of her career in 2012, I have trouble believing less attention is what she was seeking back then. Divorced from her persona though, I can’t help but feel endeared to some of these lyrics: “Chose the Rose Garden over Madison Square” and “Now it’s big black cars, and Riviera views / And your lover in the foyer doesn’t even know you”. A reflection on their own fame is staple in any pop star’s catalog, so I suppose now was the time for Taylor to put out hers. [7]
Everything Has Changed – Taylor’s Ed Sheeran cosign in the early days of his career would prove to be possibly the worst thing she’s done for the general public (I’ll say it – worse than releasing “Bad Blood” or “ME”), so please believe me when I say it pains me to write [8].
Starlight – Ethel and Bobby Kennedy historical fanfiction is a hilarious and stupid concept for a song. I love it. [8]
Begin Again – Easily the best album closer in Taylor’s catalog, the ballad manages to toss out each of her insecurities and a record’s worth of relationship baggage in favor of moving on. [9]
The Moment I Knew – Man, fuck Jake Gyllenhaal. [7]
Come Back…Be Here – Production is a bit juvenile. [6]
Girl At Home – I prefer Ariana’s approach. [5]
