Molly Barrett/Winonan
Girls of all ages will never stop feeling a kinship with Taylor Swift. Like, ever.
With her fourth studio album “RED,” Taylor Swift delivers her signature lyrics that seem to be plucked right from the diary next to her bed, with the just as common, yet not-so-subtle jabs at all of her ex-boyfriends.
After four albums all seeming to totally focus on love, I can’t help but agree with the quote circling around the Internet, “Someone should tell Taylor Swift that maybe she’s the problem.”
With the tongue-in-cheek aspect of some of Swift’s songs on the album, some of us (namely, myself) may be wondering if maybe Taylor, on some level, likes getting dumped. After all, this revenge album is providing her with her superstar lifestyle.
Although the content of Taylor’s songs is still the same as her past albums, her sound has changed drastically. Anyone who’s listened to the radio in the past month has no doubt heard her first single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” a song that when I first heard it, I thought it was an “SNL” parody of Swift being played over the radio waves.
The song is definitively pop; the only evidence of Swift’s past country roots seems to be the faint banjo in the background of the chorus. The single is jarring, in your face, yet insanely catchy. This isn’t surprising, considering that Taylor collaborated on the song with Max Martin, a songwriter and producer who has been responsible for co-writing countless Billboard top 100 hits.
The album encompasses everything a good pop album should: songs to dance to, songs to cry along with and songs that just won’t get out of your head. There are country tracks to satisfy her original fan base, but also the more upbeat, dance numbers (even incorporating dubstep, much to true electronic fans’ chagrin) that make the album more diverse and, dare I say it, grown up.
With 16 tracks on the album, there is an extensive amount of tracks for every kind of listener and fan, with a few songs standing up and taking charge while a few others seem to fade in the background with a shrug from the listener’s shoulders.
The first track on the album, “State of Grace,” is one of the stars of the 16 tracks, showing hints of indie rock, where Swift croons, “And I never saw you coming/And I’ll never be the same,” exemplifying her crooning abilities when speaking about lost love.
The second track, “Red,” shows an uncharacteristic auto-tuned chorus, in which Swift sings about the impossibility of getting over someone, describing her relationship by saying, “loving him was red,” which seems to be the catalyst for the title and overall story the album tells.
Swift explains the title of her album further during an interview with Good Morning America, stating that “the songs are all pretty much about the tumultuous, semi-toxic relationships that I’ve experienced in the last two years. In my mind, all of those emotions are red.”
These emotions run rampant in my favorite song off of the album, the fifth track, “All Too Well,” which many critics believe is about Swift’s relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. The song proves that country-pop is what Swift does best; the ballad is as confessional as it is hopeful, with real-life flashback memories that any girl who’s had a relationship end can relate to.
The most controversial song on the album, if there can be such a thing, seems to be the fourth track, “I Knew You Were Trouble,” in which Swift incorporates a dubstep background beat to the chorus. In a completely biased and judgment tinged review, one critic writes, “From that moment of revelation on, we’re sure Taylor and dubstep were inseparable. She’s probably headbanging to some Nero remixes as we speak, as the camera pans up to the sky.”
Swift seems aware that she can’t please everyone, and never has seemed like she has the intention to. “RED” is definitely an album that I will find myself clicking to often in my iTunes, and I guarantee eventually that I will memorize all the tracks, although begrudgingly so. Fans should be aware that this album is a massive change for Swift, but also that the raw and emotional lyrics are still as present as ever.
Love her or hate her, Taylor Swift is here to stay, and as long as men want to date her, we will be hearing from her. Loudly. On every radio station.
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