I Still See it All in Burning "Red"

Hey Everyone,

    
     So Taylor Swift is another artist that I love. I've been a fan of her since her first album came out in 2006. Her new album "Red" came out last year and I adore it. A lot of her songs are more mature sounding on this album as well as her voice. One song that I am personally relating to tonight and that I have decided to write about is the song on the album entitled "Red".
     Sadly, Taylor tends to keep her inspirations pretty quiet. So I don't really have anything to say on the inspiration part of things. But the song's lyrics should make up for that. So, you could click here and look at them with me through my analysis of the song. So there are a lot of similes in this song. The first one is explained- that "driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street" is fast, passionate, and ends very suddenly. Then "trying to change your mind when you're already flying through the free fall" is a reference to "falling" in love and not being able to do anything about it, not being able to help yourself. And the reference to the autumn leaves are talking about the bright colors- happiness and losing it all is not talking about the color but the happiness flowing out of the relationship and the relationship ending.

     Then the chorus. "Losing him was blue like I'd never known". Blue here represents the inexorable sadness of the initial loss of the one you love. "Missing him was dark grey all alone". This represents how dark everything in her world was while missing this person. It was lonely and bleak and seemingly hopeless. "Forgetting him was like tryin' to know somebody you never met" talks about how impossible it is to forget this person. They are forever imprinted in her mind."But loving him was red." This is the memory of the greatness of the relationship. Red is a vibrant color that stands out against all else. And that relationship was one that stood out. One that was different. And it was passionate and bright and beautiful and one you will always remember. In the next verse it talks about touch and a realization that "all you ever wanted was right there in front of you". This may be literal because sometimes all it takes is a simple touch to spark that realization. The memorization line is pretty straightforward- there's a familiarity about them and it's easy and simple to memorize him. And by that I think she means that  she just knew him really well. The line about fighting is saying that fighting with him was pointless and stupid. And "regretting him was like wishing you never found out that love could be that strong" is basically saying "why would you regret something beautiful?" In the bridge, she talks about trying to let go and move on but she still has the memories of this "red" relationship and she can't get those memories out of her head, making it impossible to move on.
     So as you can see, it's quite a sad yet beautiful song. And it's remembering a beautiful relationship that though you wish it had never ended, is still recognized as something magical.It was an unexpected and shocking loss and it was very hard to deal with. But she looks back on the wonderful things in that relationship and sees them all in red. Metaphorically of course. It's really just saying that it's vivid and bright and yet...painful. I think, at least.
     So, don't let go of those red memories. Don't lose the good times even if your world is blue or dark grey right now. It will take time. It will be painful. But in the end, you'll be stronger and you'll still have those red memories, but they won't hurt anymore. I think that a quote from Taylor works well here:

"Be that strong girl that everyone knew would make it through the worst. Be that fearless girl, the one who would dare to do anything. Be that independent girl who didn't need a man. Be that girl who never backed down."

So no matter how hard it is, be THAT girl. Because she's inside you, just waiting to come out and shine. And if he is out there and you know you'll have the chance to be that girl- show him that girl. And show him what he's missing.

Love to you all,
-Autumn the Music Girl