So, I'm a Swiftie. That's English for big-diehard-hardcore-taylor-swift-fan :D And I've got all her 4 albums and over the years her songs do tell the story of my life at some points. Her lyrics hit home HARD. Like really hard. So with this new album Red, it's time to welcome a new Taylor. A Taylor whose gone a different direction of her country roots and explores different styles of music. But Taylor will always be Taylor. The Taylor that I know when I first heard her Love Story :)
1. State of Grace
Everything about the drums and the electric guitar intro screams WOW. They sort of blend together really well and gives you a really good vibe. Which is why this song was used for the opening song of the Red Tour setlist. Perfect. Lyrically, the song doesn't fall below expectations. /We learn to live with the pain/Mosaic broken hearts/But this love is brave and wild/ This song certainly does deviate from the country genre. Everything works in this track. The track transitions effectively from slow upbeat to an almost rock jive and back to the slow upbeat again.
Tour version: Nothing to pump up the crowd with the steady beat of the drums and the guitar joining in. As Taylor sings the first verse, she is hidden behind a big red curtain. A spotlight is shining behind her, casting her magnified silhouette/shadow onto said curtain. And right before the first chorus, the curtain parts and appears to be sucked up into the ceiling. This intro is pretty similar to her Speak Now World Tour Asian and European legs.
2. Red
Ah, the title track. Big expectations ride on this one. The banjos do evoke that sense of nostalgia. Taylor's country touch isn't gone and it ain't going soon. The lyrics describe 'losing him was blue like I've never known' and 'missing him is dark grey all alone'. But I'll never know how 'loving him is like driving a new Masserati down a dead-end street' cause I don't have one T.T
Vocals are soothing and her improvements are noticeable with no attempt to reach the level of Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. Just right.
Tour version: The third track on the concert setlist, Taylor struts her stuff with a glittery red electric strapped on her. The guitar solo with Paul Sidoti was awesome and the backup dancers, the visuals, lighting did more than enough to convey the message that RED IS ALL OVER EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK.
3. Treacherous
Have you ever had one of those songs that you just wanna listen while you're alone in bed? Maybe while you're cuddling with your partner? Or just pondering your love? Because you see, love is treacherous and that's exactly what the third song on this album is. /Put your lips close to mine/As long as they don't touch/ is enough to make you go Awwwwwwww. And those are only the first two lines. The guitar filled track is one of those to listen on those cold nights with the moonlight outside your window. However the electric guitar that comes in later in the song spoils the mood a bit as I find it quite noisy. Vocals are soft and soothing, almost like a lullaby. I said ALMOST.
Tour version: It's pretty much black and white. The stage I mean. With only white lighting (as far as I can remember. I'll do more research). Taylor emerges from a cloud of smoke and starts singing. Halfway through, she stands on a part of the stage that rises slowly. Like a long narrow walkway and she tiptoes her way down it and back while keeping her balance. Treacherous. You gotta emphasize that.
4. I Knew You Were Trouble
Oho this would go down as one of the most iconic songs in her career. A careful foray into dub-step territory. I don't personally like dub-step but it suits quite well in this track. I'm not being bias here. Really. Not. It just sounds good when used in the chorus. Vocals do show some maturity and notes you've probably never heard on her previous albums. And the idea of four (plus Caitlin five) backup singers seemed like a really good idea too, The instruments are splendid. I found the drums and guitars less 'obstructive' and more like something that is necessary and really helps make the track sound good.
Tour version: This has got to be one of my favourite performances. There's a dress change mid song, mildly intense choreography and a musical interlude for her to show off those high notes. This song is intense. Her performing this song at the BRITT Awards and on tour is intense. Watch it yourself!
5. All Too Well
The one that tugs at the heartstrings the most. Like a musical version of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Swift clearly describes the details in her failed relationship as the steady rhythm of an acoustic guitar and electric solos play in the background. The instruments play a role in portraying the intensity of emotions and they play that role well. The lyrics will break you at some point after hearing the song repeatedly. It's so honest and brutal. The vulnerability is clear here. Everything speaks "this didn't work out well". And the vocals on this track truly meant that.
Tour version: No doubt that concert goers cried the most when it came to this song. The transition from the dub-step filled intensity of I Knew You Were Trouble to the tragic emotional ballad is flawless. Swift sits on top of the main stage with a red baby grand piano. She describes having the most difficulty to write this song because there were so many emotions and things that she wanted to write that this song would've been 10 minutes long. In the end she decided to write everything she clearly remembers. The piano playing portion was first strike of a crying frenzy. The bridge was a catalyst for the audible sobs and weeps of the audience. The intensity of the line 'You call me up again just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest' is no joke. She'll make you men cry like you were girls.
6. 22
This fun filled track makes you wish you were 22. And if you are 22, it makes you wish you were Taylor Swift at 22. Fun, vibrant and refreshing. I often find myself picking up my guitar and strumming to this tune. I love the happy sound of the track. Heck even the instruments sound happy :D Swift's vocals excel here, once again showing her growth and maturity over the years.
Tour version: It seems so fun crowd surfing in the middle of the song. That has to be one new addition on my to-do list. Right before the first chord of the guitar, the giant screens show Swift over the years from age 1 up to the age 22. Midway through the song, she jumps into the crowd and is carried by her backup dancers to a smaller stage set at the back of the concert venue.
7. I Almost Do
Do you ever have this feeling of reaching out to your ex or maybe just someone you loved or still love but then you pull away and decide against it? Yeah, I Almost Do too. This song sounds maybe A LITTLE country to me. And that's great! Vocals and instruments are great. Not much else I can say. Go listen to it when you reread past text messages with your ex and maybe you'll find yourself typing out a message that you'll eventually delete right before pressing 'Send'.
Tour version: This song is not included in the setlist but Swift did play the song acoustically during one of her intimate sessions on the mini stage.
8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
The first single from her album Red is seriously addictive. No matter how much you claim to hate the song, YOU WILL SING ALONG WITH IT IN THE END. The song gives a happy go lucky feeling and it just makes you wanna go on and on telling random people that we're never ever getting back together. Seriously. And the telephone rant part makes it almost comical. That's the first song I've ever heard that does that. Woots! Achievement unlocked! The music video is full of people dressed like woodland creatures and what not. Which is acceptable given the nature of the song. It's nice to go a little kiddy sometimes, right?
Tour version: Let's let it all loose! Circus performers on stilts, conjoined twins, bunny people and confetti. Oh and the energy packed crowd telling each other that they're never ever getting back together :D Seriously the concert performance looks so fun I wish I could go even more. Swift (dressed in ringleader attire) stands on the edge of the rising platform (mentioned in Treacherous) and that platform rotates a good 360 degrees around the stage so nobody misses anything. A definite show stopper. Literally. Cause it's the last song on the setlist.
9. Stay Stay Stay
This is definitely a cute song. The kind you listen to and then you find yourself awkwardly dancing by yourself while giggling away. It's upbeat, happy, puts a smile on your face and oh, cute. Yes I've said it's cute twice. Problem? ^^
Tour Version: Swift mixes this up with The Lumineers' Ho Hey while her bass player plays an equally happy rapid bass line.
10. The Last Time (Feat. Gary Lightbody)
Of one of the very first collaborations with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, this track evokes a dark haunting feel of a lover showing up at your door, seeking for forgiveness countless numbers of times and it's just you saying 'no, this is the last time'. Swift and Gary's vocals mix well together although there wasn't significant harmonizing parts. Swift's vocals were again, convincing.
Tour version: If Gary Lightbody shows up as a guest on the Red Tour, I have no doubts they will perform this song together.
11. Holy Ground
This song isn't about a church or something of that matter. Rather it reminisces the good times of a relationship. The instruments and lyrics help execute that driving feel to the song. A feeling that makes you wanna go on and on. It sounds contemporary and a little country pop-ish at the same time.
Tour version: Swift performs this as one of the opening songs of the concert. At a point through the song, she makes her way back to the main stage and backup dancers push around drums in a perfectly choreographed manner. Swift is handed a drum and they begin pounding to the beat in synch. The drum beats are switched up here and there, making the performance interesting. Oh and did I mention that there are also aerialists that bounce up and down from wires in the ceiling with drums in their hands too?
12. Sad Beautiful Tragic
The title itself is a dead giveaway. The steady strums of an acoustic guitar and the solemn vocals of Swift. Add the occasional banjo picking and there you have it. A Taylor Swift classic. As always with Swift's ballad, the bridge is the part where things come pouring out and things get intense. It happens in this track too but to some extent. Her vocals don't climb with intensity like in All Too Well but instead exasperatedly describes a tragic situation.
Tour version: This song is not part of the Red Tour setlist.
13. The Lucky One
Honestly I didn't quite get this song till I listened carefully to the lyrics. In my mind it has something to do with fame and stuff like that. And I would like to admit that this song is the one that I keep skipping (sorry >_<). But I do like the laid back nature of the song even though the beat isn't very much laid back.
Tour version: A video intro of Swift combing her hair and slowly ranting about fame and stuff in black and white film precedes Swift's performance. She is then chased around the stage by paparazzi-looking-guys and cameramen.
14. Everything Has Changed (Feat. Ed Sheeran)
This song was written on a trampoline. I think. I forgot what Swift said in the interview. But anyway, another first of many collaborations to come. Swift and Sheeran's vocals harmonize well together in this guitar laden track with subtle drums. It sounds intimate with the lyrics going 'you'll be mine and I'll be yours'.Ooooh...
Tour version: Ed is the opening act for the Red Tour so there's no question at all that this song is on the setlist. Swift and Sheeran perform this song on the mini stage together with fans screaming their approval with shouts of 'OMG they look so cute together!'
15. Starlight
Before the release of the album, the track listing was revealed and I was caught by this song title in particular. I thought it was going to sound like Enchanted from her previous record. I was wrong -__- The song has something to do with meeting the Kennedy family and she was inspired to write the song when she was shown a picture of someone by another someone which happened to be the first someone's husband. So that's Taylor. She can even write a song just by looking at a picture xD but I do like the song even though it doesn't sound anything like Enchanted. The lyrics portray young teenage love with 'picks me up late one night/out the window we were seventeen and crazy, running wild, wild/.'
Tour version: This song is not on the setlist but Swift did play this song acoustically several times on the mini stage.
16. Begin Again
Something about this song really makes you think of the streets of France, the fancy little restaurants by the sidewalk and the Eiffel Tower. Or maybe because the music video was shot there. Or maybe it's the accordion in the song intro. A song about discovering love one more time as if it's the first time you've fallen in love. This song really makes you feel relaxed and pleased about the prospect of finding new love while you're sitting in your living room/cafe sipping coffee.
Tour version: Swift shows off her guitar picking skills during the intro as she sits on a red stool on the mini stage. Behind her, on the main stage the image of the Eiffel Tower is shown. See? It's all about France.
