"Red" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her fourth studio album, Red (2012). She produced the song with Dann Huff and Nathan Chapman. The lyrics are about a tumultuous relationship that ended: the refrain likens the conflicting emotions evoked from the breakup to various colors, including the titular color red that symbolizes the overall intense feelings. "Red" combines styles of country, pop, and rock. Its arrangement incorporates acoustic banjo and guitars alongside electronic vocal processing.
To promote the album Red before its release, Big Machine Records released "Red" via the iTunes Store on October 2, 2012. The song was released to US country radio on June 24, 2013, as a single. Footage from the Red Tour (2013–2014) was compiled for a music video for "Red", released on July 3, 2013. Swift's live rendition at the Country Music Association Awards, featuring Alison Krauss and Vince Gill on background vocals, was released on November 8, 2013. The song peaked within the top 30 on charts and received certifications in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. On the US Hot Country Songs chart, it peaked at number two and charted for 42 weeks, becoming Swift's longest-charting single.
When it was first released, initial critical reception was mixed: some reviews deemed the production experimental and successful in combining country and pop, but some others found it inconsistent or underwhelming. Several retrospective reviews have considered "Red" one of the more memorable songs in Swift's discography. After a 2019 dispute over the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded the song as "Red (Taylor's Version)" for her 2021 re-recorded album Red (Taylor's Version).
Background
Taylor Swift wrote her third studio album, Speak Now, entirely herself and produced it with Nathan Chapman, who had produced both of her previous albums.[1] Released in October 2010, Speak Now expands on the country pop production Swift's past music and incorporates rock stylings.[2] On her fourth studio album, Red, Swift wanted to experiment with sounds other than country pop.[1]
Swift initially continued working with Chapman in her career base of Nashville, Tennessee, until her "started wandering to all the places [she] could go" while she was writing "Red", the title track.[1][3] She wrote the song while on a flight on September 7, 2011; she had finished a concert in Tacoma, Washington, and went back home to Nashville because she felt homesick.[4]Scott Borchetta, the president of Swift's then-label Big Machine Records, overheard Chapman's production and suggested a pop-oriented sound.[5]
Chapman and Swift attempted several times to achieve a pop sound without success. Swift asked Borchetta to recruit the Swedish producer Max Martin, whose chart-topping pop tunes had inspired Swift because of how "how [they] can just land a chorus".[3][5] Even though Swift went to Los Angeles to work with Martin, he did not produce the final version of "Red",[1] which was produced by Swift, Chapman, and Dann Huff—a Nashville-based country producer.[6] Martin produced three other songs for Red instead.[1][7]
The lyrics are about the conflicting emotions recollected from lost romance.[8] Swift said that the track explored a dichotomy of a relationship of hers that was simultaneously "the worst thing" and "the best thing ever".[4] The refrains relate the different stages of this fallen relationship to different colors:[9] the breakup itself is blue, the pining for the ex-lover is dark gray, and the passionate love itself is red.[4] The verses explore both the positive and negative aspects of love: connecting to somebody special feels like effortlessly memorizing every lyric of a favorite song,[4] but it can also get out of control like "driving a new Maserati down a dead end street" and "trying to change your mind once you're already flying through the free fall".[8][17] Jon Dolan from Rolling Stone compared Swift's "stark-relief emotional mapping" on "Red" to the songwriting of Carole King and Joni Mitchell.[17]
Release
To promote Red, Swift premiered one album track on Good Morning America and released it onto the US iTunes Store, each week from September 24 until the album's release date of October 22, 2012, as part of a four-week release countdown.[18] "Red" was released as the second promotional single from Red during the second countdown week, on October 2, 2012.[19] The song was released to US country radio as a single from the album on June 24, 2013, by Big Machine Records.[20]
In the US, "Red" debuted and peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 11, 2012. It was Swift's 13th song to reach the top 10 on the Hot 100.[21] On the Hot Country Songs, "Red" peaked at number two on the chart dated October 20, 2012, and was Swift's longest-charting song, spending 42 weeks.[22][23] By November 2017, "Red" had sold two million digital copies in the US[24] The single was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in July 2018.[25]
The single reached the top 30 of record charts in English-speaking countries, peaking at number five in Canada,[26] number 14 in New Zealand,[27] number 25 in Ireland,[28] number 26 in the UK,[29] and number 30 in Australia.[30] It was certified platinum in Australia[31] and silver in the UK[32] "Red" peaked at lower-tier positions on charts in Japan (number 43),[33] Spain (number 46),[34] and Italy (number 56).[35]
Live performances and music video
Swift performing "Red" on the Red Tour in 2013. Footage of the tour was included in the song's music video
Swift included "Red" on the set list of the Red Tour (2013–14).[46] A music video for "Red", directed by Kenny Jackson and featuring footage from the tour, was released on July 4, 2013.[47][48] It was nominated for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year at the 2014 CMT Music Awards.[49] During the September 17, 2015 concert of Swift's 1989 World Tour in Columbus, Ohio, she performed a stripped-down version of "Red" on an acoustic guitar.[50] It was a "surprise song" on the set lists of Swift's later tours: these include the Reputation Stadium Tour (Pasadena, May 2018)[51] and the Eras Tour (Foxborough, May 2023; Melbourne, February 2024).[52] During an Eras Tour show in Liverpool on June 15, 2024, she sang the track as part of a mashup with her song "The Manuscript" (2024).[52] Swift also performed "Red" during one-off concerts including a private concert in Paris on January 28, 2013,[53]DirecTV's Super Saturday Night (part of a series of pre-Super Bowl concerts) in Houston on February 4, 2017,[54] and the City of Lover concert in Paris on September 9, 2019.[55]
Critical reception
Upon its initial release, "Red" received mixed-to-positive reviews from contemporary critics. Rolling Stone provided a positive review, writing that the production effectively accompanied the "simple but effective" lyrics.[9] Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave "Red" a 4.5/5 rating, applauding the song for expanding Swift's musical versatility and songwriting capabilities: "[toying] with colors like a skilled artist, ... this song is her Sistine Chapel."[56] Marc Hogan from Spin felt the lyrics were memorable, but said that the genre-spanning production made it unfocused.[8] In a lukewarm review, Entertainment Weekly's Grady Smith wrote the lyrics "paint a rather blurry portrait" of the intense emotions Swift meant to express. Smith remarked that while the song was tolerable, the "poppy" production underwhelmed its emotional sentiments.[19]
Reviews of "Red" in the context of Red album reviews remained mixed-to-positive. Jonathan Keefe from Slant Magazine and Randall Roberts from the Los Angeles Times commented that the underwhelming and occasionally clumsy metaphors of "Red" were subpar for Swift's lyrical abilities.[57][58]Billboard appreciated the lyrical sentiments, but felt that the electronic elements might not appeal to Swift's traditional country audience.[12] On a positive side, Jewly Hight from American Songwriter lauded the country-pop production as "sensory, synesthesia-style poetry",[15] and Jon Dolan from Rolling Stone selected "Red" as one of the songs on the album that proved Swift's maturity as a songwriter.[17] Jordan Sargent, in a 2017 retrospective review of Red, called the title track "perhaps the album's best pop song since Swift flirts with Fleetwood Mac".[59]
In a review of Swift's entire catalog, Jane Song from Paste wrote: "Maybe it's not the best Red cut, but it's worth remembering."[60]Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone compared the pop/Eurodisco crossover to the music of Shania Twain and the "color-tripping lyric" to the songwriting of Prince, calling "Red" a representation of "this century's most ridiculously masterful megapop manifesto".[16] At the 2014 BMI Country Awards, "Red" was one of the award-winning "Country Awards Top 50 Songs".[61]
Swift re-recorded the track for her re-recorded album Red (Taylor's Version), which was released on November 12, 2021, through Republic Records.[73] Prior to the album's release, Swift posted a snippet of the re-recorded track via her Instagram on October 23.[74] Compared to the original version, "Red (Taylor's Version)" features a more refined and mellowed production.[75]
The re-recorded track peaked within the top 10 of the singles chart in Ireland and Singapore,[76][77] and top 20 Australia,[78] Canada,[26] Malaysia,[79] and New Zealand.[80] It also charted on the Billboard Global 200 at number 13.[81]
Personnel
Adapted from the liner notes of Red (Taylor's Version)[82]
Taylor Swift – lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter, producer
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