Everything You Need To Know About ‘Red (Taylor Swift’s Version)’
It’s official, people — Taylor Swift is re-releasing her 2012 album, Red, next. Yep, that’s right, the singer just announced
Lillie Gissen
It’s official, people — Taylor Swift is re-releasing her 2012 album, Red, next. Yep, that’s right, the singer just announced that Red (Taylor’s Version) is coming out on November 19, 2021, and we couldn’t be more excited! But wait, what can we expect from the new LP? Will there be any special guests featured on it? And is Swift going to include any new songs? Not to worry, you guys, because we went ahead and rounded up all the details on Red (Taylor’s Version). Here’s everything you need to know…
Why Is Taylor Swift Re-Releasing Her Albums?
For those who missed it, the blonde beauty has been embroiled in a feud with Scooter Braun for years now. It all started when news hit the web that the music mogul (who manages Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and more) had purchased her old record label, Big Machine Records, in June 2019 — which meant he now owned the rights to her old songs — and she was not happy about it. The pop star took to Tumblr at the time, where she posted a lengthy note and claimed that Braun and his clients had bullied her in the past. She also said that she was completely blindsided by the news that he had bought the rights to her old songs. Then, a few months later, Swift sent the entire world into a frenzy when she revealed that she had plans to re-record all of her old masters.
“This is my only way of regaining the sense of pride I once had when hearing songs from my first six albums and also allowing my fans to listen to those albums without feelings of guilt for benefiting Scooter,” she explained at the time.
Then, she released her first re-recorded album — Fearless (Taylor’s Version) — on April 9, 2021.
What Do We Know About ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)?’
According to the musician herself, the new version of Red will have 30 songs in total. The original LP — which was mostly inspired by her split from Jake Gyllenhaal — had only 19, which means we’ll be getting 11 new tracks! And get this — one of them is 10-minutes long.
“I’ve always said that the world is a different place for the heartbroken. It moves on a different axis, at a different speed. Time skips backwards and forwards fleetingly. The heartbroken might go through thousands of micro-emotions a day trying to figure out how to get through it without picking up the phone to hear that old familiar voice. In the land of the heartbreak, moments of strength, independence and devil-may-care rebellion are intricately woven together with grief, paralyzing vulnerability and hopelessness. Imagining your future might always take you on a detour back to the past. And this is all to say, that the next album I’ll be releasing is my version of Red,” Swift announced on Twitter. “Musically and lyrically, Red resembled a heartbroken person. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild and tortured by memories past. Like trying on pieces of a new life, I went into the studio and experimented with different sounds and collaborators. And I’m not sure if it was pouring my thoughts into this album, hearing thousands of your voices sing the lyrics back to me in passionate solidarity, or if it was simply time, but something was healed along the way. Sometimes you need to talk it over (over and over and over) for it to ever really be… over. Like your friend who calls you in the middle of the night going on and on about their ex, I just couldn’t stop writing. This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on Red. And hey, one of them is even 10 minutes long.”
The next album that I’ll be releasing is my version of Red, which will be out on November 19. This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on Red. And hey, one of them is even ten minutes long https://t.co/FOBLS5aHpS pic.twitter.com/6zWa64Owgp
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 18, 2021
Many fans are convinced that the 10-minute song will be a new version of “All Too Well,” since she previously revealed that she had to shorten it for the album.
“It had probably seven extra verses and it included the F-word,” Swift once recalled about the song (via Billboard). Plus, in a diary entry (which was released for her album Lover), the 31-year-old revealed that she wrote a song called “Nothing New” for the album, but it didn’t make the final cut. She even shared a snippet of the lyrics.
“I’m getting older and less sure of what you like about me anyway / How can a person know everything at 18 and nothing at 22 / And will you still want me when I’m nothing new?” it read.
One other song that may appear on the new album is “Better Man,” which Swift wrote for Red, but when it didn’t end up making it onto the record she gave it to Little Big Town instead. However, during a recent interview, she said it would be “an amazing idea” to include it on Red (Taylor’s Version).
Will There Be Any Collabs On The Album?
As fans know, when she released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), the pop star included six new songs and two of them included special guests — Maren Morris sang on “You All Over Me” and Keith Urban was featured on “That’s When.” And when it came out, Swift tweeted, “One thing I’ve been loving about these ‘From The Vault’ songs is that they’ve never been heard, so I can experiment, play, and even include some of my favorite artists.” So it’s definitely possible that Red (Taylor’s Version) will have a few collabs too! Unfortunately, we don’t know who they are yet, but we hope she shares some more details soon.
A lot of people are convinced that Ed Sheeran may make a second appearance on the new album! For those who missed it, he is already featured in the song “Everything Has Changed.” But after it came out, he revealed in 2013 that he and Swift had actually recorded a second tune, which didn’t make it. Maybe that’ll be one of the 11 new songs!
“[We] wrote two tunes, actually, one on the record [Red] and another that’s still out in the ether somewhere,” he said.
What Else Is Taylor Swift Up To These Days?
Besides working on her music, the “Cardigan” songstress is also gearing up to star in a brand new movie alongside Anya Taylor-Joy! According to Collider, Swift has joined the cast of David O. Russell’s (who was previously behind movies like Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Joy and more) upcoming unnamed flick. The plot and release date have also been kept a secret for now, but what we do know is that the blonde beauty will be starring alongside Taylor-Joy, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Robert De Niro, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana and more. Wow, talk about a star-studded cast! Deadline reported that production for the movie has already wrapped in Los Angeles.