“Red” by Taylor Swift

The title of this song (“Red”), as with the way various colors are utilized in the lyrics, is meant to convey an emotion. And as specified by Taylor Swift, “red” is intended to relay a feeling of intensity. Or explained differently, it’s like the vocalist is on fire inside. 

And this is not only due to the relationship at the center of this narrative apparently being a thing of the past. But also, even when it was on, it was gratifying yet tumultuous at the same time. So it’s as if in the aftermath of its dissolution, she is deeply confused. But what this all boils down to is an inability on the part of the vocalist to get over her ex.

Or let’s say that she is concurrently happy and regretful that their romance has ended. She can name all of the reasons why things needed to come to an end, but at the same time Taylor can also delineate various aspects of the rapport they shared that made loving the addressee a supremely gratifying experience. 

But alas, the pendulum has in fact swung towards separation. So now the vocalist is “burning red” on the inside. And why is this happening to her? Simply because she is in love with someone who, in the present moment, she very much can’t have.

In Conclusion

So beyond the color-related motif, “Red” is more or less a standard breakup song being relayed from a female’s perspective. And as such tunes tend to go, the thesis sentiment from this piece can also be ascertained as revolving around, most simply put, the singer being heartbroken.

Taylor Swift and “Red”

Thus far, Taylor Swift has made good on her promise to promptly stick it to the man (i.e. Big Machine Records) by re-recording the first six studio albums she put out and this time around releasing them under Republic Records. 

So in actuality the original release date of Red, via Big Machine, was on 2 October 2012. But the re-recorded, “Taylor’s Version” of the track, under Republic, came out on 12 November 2021. And it did so as part of the re-recording of the entire Red album, which was also originally made public in 2012.

“Red” was written exclusively by Taylor Swift, reportedly on an airplane in the middle of the night, and she also co-produced it. On the original recording, the other producers are Nathan Chapman and Dann Huff. But on the Taylor’s Version, she achieved said goal working with Christopher Rowe.

The first recorded live performance of “Red” by Taylor was on the date of 7 October 2012, a few days after the song’s initial release. And the event was the Teen Awards as hosted by BBC Radio 1.

“Red”, which was the fifth single from the album it is named after, proved to be a moderate success by Taylor Swift’s standards. Yes, it has achieved double-platinum status stateside, in addition to breaking the top 10 on three Billboard charts, including the Hot 100. But in terms of its international showing, this song only charted in about 10 countries. And its highest certification outside of the US is going gold in the land down under.

The re-release of Red (the album) resulted in Taylor breaking a couple of Spotify records, one for “most streamed album in a day by a female” and the other for “most-streamed female in a single day”.