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tassium · 5 years

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#TAYLOR SWIFT APPRECIATION LIFE

PART 4 - Red

(part 1, part 2, part 3)

Aaaaand we are back! Time for another dive into the discography of Miss @taylorswift - this time, with her fourth studio album Red.

This is definitely one of my favorite Taylor albums - I think a lot of swifties will agree with me on that. There’s something so achingly beautiful about so many of the tracks, and I really can’t wait to dive in and listen again - it’s been a while since I listened to this whole album with intent.

Without further ado, let’s get into it, shall we?

1. State of Grace

If ever there has been a perfect way to open an album, I think we’ve found it, ladies and gents. Those drums! That electric guitar! What an introduction!

And then there’s Taylor’s voice. Good lord, how I love her vocal performance on this track. Everything from how softly she delivers the beginning of the chorus to those belted notes - having listened to all of the first three albums in such short order, it blows me away to think of how much she improved from the beginning.

There’s also a lot of metaphorical writing choices that I really like. There’s something about that line “twin fire signs, four blue eyes” that just gets me every time.

And then. There’s the acoustic version on the deluxe album, and it’s so different but still so beautiful. Her voice starts off so soft, the song as a whole feels like a lullaby with this treatment. There’s something about the gentleness of this version that just hits me square in the chest.

2. Red

I. Love. Taylor’s. Metaphors. I love them! The descriptions in this song are so evocative, like - especially that one about knowing all the words to your old favorite song. That’s probably my favorite of this song’s selection.

The bridge is so cleverly put together, with the instrumentation perfect to back up the words she’s singing, and then... the final chorus, and her soaring vocals, and just... I love this song so much.

3. Treacherous

This is easily one of my favorite tracks on this album. So much of the lyrical content on this album as a whole is brilliantly evocative and paints such a picture, and I think this song is a highlight example of that. It’s like seeing a music video playing out in my head when I listen to this song. And of course it doesn’t hurt that this song is permanently tied to a trip to see a friend whom I was hopelessly in love with at the time (nothing came of it and I got over it, it was just a whole thing in my head). I’m pretty sure it’s played that role for A LOT of people over the years.

4. I Knew You Were Trouble

I love the almost light, almost too treble-y quality to the verses and prechoruses of this track, and then the chorus kicks in the door and the bass drops and takes you right down with it - to the cold hard floor (too much? yeah, I know)

The bridge bit (all of us remember That Performance where everyone freaked out about the pronoun, right?) is a highlight, thought honestly I have to say I think that’s the case because of the way it takes us into that One Note - at least for me, anyway.

5. All Too Well

Ooof, this track. Right in the feels. Given the right circumstances, this song can easily bring me to tears, and has done many, many times. Everything about it, from the lyrical content itself and her delivery of the words to the absolutely brilliant choices in the instrumentation - I haven’t quite figured out how they made such a driving beat in the second verse feel so soft even as the song builds up - it doesn’t really hit you until you get to the bridge--

And what a bridge it is, l o r d. That hurts, man, every time. The second half especially - what a picture and feeling it brings up to imagine feeling like “A crumpled up piece of paper” and what a comparison drawn in “to break me like a promise.”

6. 22

22 is a BOP and I’ll fight for that. She captured so much of what it feels like to be in your early 20s in this song - miserable and magical indeed. This song is so danceable and fun, which of course I can’t ever resist. I wouldn’t say it’s a work of genius or anything, but most of what Taylor does has at least a touch of genius in it - if only in the way that she can build such a good catchy song that gets stuck in everybody’s head.

“who’s taylor swift anyway? ew.” (I love that bit)

7. I Almost Do

When this song first came out, I only knew the feelings in it in an abstract sense, but since listening to this song the last time and this time for this review, Things have Happened and suddenly it’s hitting me a whole lot harder than it ever did before. Ouch.

I absolutely love the wind up into the “I almost do” in the bridge, and the amount of emotion she pours into that section - really, into the song in general. Also, what a closing line. It’s that same trick she’s been doing forever, but it just works so well here.

8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Speaking of absolute BOPS, this track, oh my god. There are so many delightfully vindictive lyrics - “some indie record that’s much cooler than mine” and that LAUGH in the background is a highlight for me every time. This song is so easy to sing and dance along to.

I especially love the way in the build up to the spoken bridge bit, the instrumental sounds like it’s in another room or something, and it gradually becomes clearer as the song keeps building, and then she hits that note - which, can we just talk about the 1989 era performance of this song at the I heart Music awards? because. Heck man.

9. Stay Stay Stay

So I’m not super involved with the swiftie community because honestly, yall are too much for me and I’m a little afraid of it, but... apparently people don’t like this track? And I don’t get it. Because this is so cute and bouncy and I love it to pieces. The wandering bassline and the ukulele usage along with the beat that sounds like someone clapping, and that cute little guitar riff in the instrumental bits? It’s so much fun! And then her little giggle at the end is like. the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.

I’ll admit I’m not as much of a fan of the “no one else is gonna love me when I get mad” line but that’s beside the point.

10. The Last Time

Oh l o r d this track. Way, way up there on my list of favorites, for sure. I can’t pick an absolute favorite on the album but this would definitely be a contender if I tried. I think this track is absolutely stunning - and I love Gary Lightbody’s voice in the first place, so that certainly doesn’t hurt.

Their voices blend so beautifully, and that deep bass drum beat in the background drives the song so well, and I just... really love this song, okay. Probably my favorite thing about it is at the end when they drop out all the instruments entirely and it’s just their voices being allowed to shine. They’re subverting the typical so much by having him sing the high melody, and I love it s o m u c h.

11. Holy Ground

Another example of great use of instrumentation, the way the drums are so driving, but then they drop out during the first time she’s singing about the holy ground feeling. It really paints a sacred, untouchable feeling onto the remembering of the relationship when it really worked.

I can’t resist doing a little air guitar over the bridge(??) with those ringing chords, which is so much fun, and I’m so glad it’s there. The ending of the song is also beautiful, with those last few words of just her voice. That’s really evocative as well, of the feeling of that “holy ground” relationship being gone.

12. Sad Beautiful Tragic

This song lays this aching feeling all over me from start to feeling. It’s a beautiful piece of music, and the breathy quality to her voice through the verses and early choruses is just stunning. The vocalization in the background is absolutely haunting. Even in the stronger pieces of the song, she manages to hold onto so much of that softness, which is just... something I don’t entirely understand, if I’m honest. There’s something so nostalgic about this track, which I think makes it fitting as the one that leads into the next one...

13. The Lucky One

This song is a bop, okay? The drum work at the beginning of this track pulls me in right from the start. It feels very... vintage, if that makes sense? Like it really works as a throwback to the time period she seems to be trying to invoke. (I’ll even forgive her for mispronouncing foyer)

In the last verse, there’s the addition of guitar that feels like it almost modernizes the song a little bit, which makes sense, since now she’s singing about her arrival on the music scene. It’s just a really excellent use of instruments to build an environment into the song.

14. Everything Has Changed

Definitely another favorite of mine off this album! I’ve been trying to find someone to learn Ed’s part and sing this song with me practically since the album came out.

Their voices blend so well, and I love the choices of harmonies throughout the track. The acoustic guitar lends itself perfectly to a song of this style. One of my favorite parts is definitely the ending lines - “so dust off your highest hopes” - and the way she delivers those lines.

But we definitely need to talk about the music video, because... has there ever been something more adorable than that video? I want the rest of the movie please.

15. Starlight

Listen. She’s a cute little number, and I love the story behind it, and I almost never skip this track if it comes on my shuffle, but I don’t have all that much to say about it. I do like it, though, it’s a jam.

16. Begin Again

I love the soft guitar opening in this song, and the harmonies that come in that are so close to the melody you almost can’t hear them except for how they fill up the audio so nicely.... beautiful. Honestly, though, this song has such a bittersweet feeling to it. Like, to think of the past relationship she’s thinking about, and what it must have been like... ouch. right in the feels. Then, of course, on the other hand, we have the soft happiness of the Wednesday in a café. <3

Bonus track time!

17. The Moment I Knew

This song is a showstopper of a track - the production on this one is gorgeous but honestly, I don’t have a lot of feelings about it in general. But it’s a beautiful piece of music.

18. Come Back...Be Here

I always forget how much I like this song!!! This is another one with absolutely beautiful production, and Taylor’s performance is stunning. Some of the lyrics in this song are just. Right In The Heart for me. It really captures the hurt of long distance relationships, and it hits me really hard every time.

19. Girl At Home

This is probably my favorite bonus track on Red. This song is a BANGER and I will fight on that. Like. Listen. YES, let’s shame the dudes who cheat on their girls! You know what this song is? Growth. This is taking that trope from the first three albums of going after a guy who already has a girlfriend and flipping it on its head and I love it.

She hits some beautiful notes in this song, though I’ll admit she has better power notes. Also, can we talk about “call a cab, lose my number” because... that is ICONIC.

And with that, another album has gone by. We’ve made it to what I think is really the turning point in Taylor’s style of music, though she really transitioned very smoothly from country into pop overall.

Next up: 1989

#taylor swift #red #album review #Taylor Swift Appreciation Life #Our Lady and Savior Taylor Swift

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lcplschutz · 6 years

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-The events of this post take place 43 years after the end of the Lylat Wars-

The hall of Ghost's they called it, a memorial to all who fell in defense of Corneria when she had called. Sven limped slowly through, the cane he used making the only audible sound as he shuffled to the bench, his body showing the years of wear and tear he endured through the wars.

From the corner of his good eye he watched as the faces of long dead men and women as they slowly flashed across the screen. Marines, Navy Pilots, CDF troopers, Black Guards, and now his fallen brothers of the ACI.

"Ooof. " he grunted as his old bones found their way onto the bench, a shaky hand digging into his coat pocket as a scanner registered his still active Identity chip. The screen went blank then flashed with an image of a much younger Sven, during a promotion ceremony.

"Welcome Master Sergeant Schutz"

"Oh shut up you pile of damn...." he was cut off by a short coughing fit. "Gah damnit " he wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he jammed a small card into the reading slot, sitting back as the images changed.

"Now showing records for ACI fire team Bravo three."

"Play all records. " he leaned back, his ear swiveled slightly as he heard someone else come in, hard soled shoes clicking against the cold stone floor as the faces of his squad rolled against the black wall. He was all that was left. Thinking back he thought of everything that had happened, the deaths of parents, the loss of his squad mates, his father figures sacrifice to stop the formation of a hive mind under Corneria City, and his own injuries danced through his mind as his hand brushed against the the old duty handgun he had brought with him.

"Papa" a hand gently rested on his shoulder "are you OK?" the soothing sound of his granddaughters voice filled his ears and the hall, pulling his old mind back to the present.

"Yeah Papa is OK honey, just wanted to say goodbye to some old friends is all. " he wiped his face again, hiding the few tears that had escaped into his grey muzzle as he slowly stood up, setting his gun down on the pedestal. "Is it time?"

She nodded helping him stand, holding him up slightly "The ship is ready and waiting." they took a few steps "Are you sure you want to leave Lylat for the Coby system though?"

He simply nodded, the faces of his fallen brothers and sisters still watching him as he left the Hall, and the planet he fought so hard to protect.

(OOC I kinda felt like an Old man sven post, IDK, maybe it was the beers talking.)

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