My Favorite Lyrics From Taylor Swift’s Album Red

Hey ya’ll, hope you are staying safe and are having a great day!

A couple of month’s ago, I did a post about the album Fearless. Taylor Swift had just announced that she was releasing her rerecorded version of the album, and so I wanted to revisit the album and share some of my favorite lyrics from the album with ya’ll.

My favorite Lyrics From Taylor Swift’s Album Fearless

Well, she has just made another new announcement: she is releasing her rerecorded version of Red. Red is one of my favorite albums of hers, in my top three for sure. So I thought I’d do the same thing with this amazing album. It’s going to be hard to pick just ONE lyric for each song, but alas, I had to. I’ll also include the three bonus tracks, as well as the two songs written for the Hunger Games soundtrack. I have a feeling those might be on the rerecord, so I might as well include them. Let’s just get right into it!

State Of Grace

Favorite Lyric: So you were never a saint and I loved in shades of wrong, we learn to live with the pain, mosaic broken hearts

This is a great song to open with, since it completely encapsulates the tones that will be represented throughout the rest of the album, those of a passionate romance that had it’s highs, but also came with intense lows, and seemed doomed from the start. This lyric show the escalation of the relationship, that it started off as intense and just kept going from there. I like the symbolism of using a mosaic- mosaics are often made up of broken parts of glass, so their hearts were broken to begin with. There were already cracks showing, and it ended up breaking even more. But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t have it’s good moments.

Red

Favorite Lyric: Loving him is like driving a new mazeratti down a dead end street, faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly

There’s a certain feeling that comes from driving down the road with the top down. It’s a full on adrenaline rush, until you get to the end. It’s amazing, until it isn’t. It can be the greatest ride you’ve ever taken, until you reach the dead end street, and that rush is gone. Feelings are like that as well. You can fall head over heels for someone, and it lead to a passionate love, but those feelings can change easily.

Treacherous

Favorite Lyric: And all we are is skin and bone, trained to get along, forever going with the flow, but your friction.

It’s so hard to pick just one lyric from this song, since it’s forever going to be my favorite song on the album. It was co-written with one of my favorite songwriters Dan Wilson, who is the reason we have the amazing climax in the bridge. There’s a lot of push and pull in this song, that uncertainty of if you should take that jump, or if it’s better to stay where you are. The wording here to me is genius because she could have easily just said something like maybe it’s better if we play this safe, but I’m curious to see where this could go. But instead she makes the point of how you can pass someone by and they completely change your center of gravity. They catch you by surprise, and cause that friction. And it’s something that catches your eye.

I Knew You Were Trouble

Favorite Lyric: I heard you moved on from whispers on the street, a new notch in your belt is all I’ll ever be

This song to me is what really indicated the direction she would be heading. It’s still one of my favorite music videos of hers, because it really expounds on the story. This line in particular shows how toxic the relationship was, and how easily someone can move to the next thing. All she was was one of the many girls he dated, but she should’ve known that from the start.

All Too Well

Favorite Lyric: Wait, I have to choose? Okay, well here’s one I’ve always liked: You call me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest

It’s so hard to choose just one favorite lyric, because this song deserves all of the hype and praise it gets. She still considers it to be one of the greatest songs she has written. I don’t know if this is true for other songwriters, but I have a list of songs that I wish I had written. And this is one of them. It tells such an intricate story, going through every stage of the relationship, from where it started to how it ended. It’s one of her best bridges, and this line shows how heartbroken she was when it ended. But also the wording… how do you write a lyric like this? So casually cruel in the name of being honest. I really wish I had written that.

22

Favorite Lyric: It seems like one of those nights, this place is too crowded too many cool kids (who’s Taylor Swift anyway, ew)

I cannot wait to hear the rerecorded version of this song and of this lyric. I don’t know why it’s my favorite, I just think it’s funny and perfectly sums up being a millennial surrounded by those “cool kids”. I experienced that as a teenager, a young adult, and even now. And your early twenties are all of the things mentioned here- the greatest time of your life but also the most confusing and frustrating time of your life. Yeah, maybe one day I’ll have things figured out.

I Almost Do

Favorite Lyric: I bet your sitting in your chair by the window looking out at the city, and I hope sometimes you wonder about me.

This is such an underrated song. There are often people we have had in our lives that we so desperately want to reconnect with, or want to go back to. But we know how much it would hurt to do that. You can’t say hello to them, let them back in, and risk losing them all over again. But I like how it ends with this line, that even though you can’t make that call, or go to that place, you still hope that they are doing okay and that they still think of you as well.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Favorite Lyric: And you hide away and find your peace of mind with some indie record that’s much cooler than mine.

If you don’t know the story behind this song, than let me tell you because this is the kind of thing I would do. She was working on another song in the studio when one of her ex’s friends walked in and said that he heard they might be getting back together, and she proceeds to go on this rant about how they aren’t and that “we are never ever ever getting back together”. So Max Martin (who she was in the studio with), said that they had to write this as a song. And even better, she made it a super catchy pop song that would play everywhere because he hated pop music and now he’d be hearing this song wherever he went. I love this lyric in particular because it emphasizes that point, and it’s funny hearing it now that she’s made two indie records. Plus I always sing it as if it’s the 1989 tour version.

Stay Stay Stay

Favorite Lyric: But you carry my groceries and now I’m always laughing, and I love you because you have given me no choice but to stay.

This is such a fun song, and I hate it that I didn’t get to see it performed in either one of the shows I went to for the Red Tour. You can’t help but smile when you hear it, because it’s describing such a pure situation where everything is better together. How you can expect the worse because of your past, but end up finding something beautiful. It’s so sweet and I don’t know what will happen if she doesn’t include the end where she laughs and says “that was so fun”. It’s the best part of the song, no debate.

I did a cover of this song for one of my #musicmondays on Instagram. Go check it out!

The Last Time (feat. Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol)

Favorite Lyric: You wear your best apology but I was there to watch you leave.

This is almost more of a Snow Patrol song that features Taylor Swift, and I’m so excited to hear this one rerecorded. Not only has her voice matured, but his has as well, along with added life experience. So I think it’ll be interesting to hear how the vocals have changed. I love this line in particular because someone can give their best reasons, their best apologies, but in the end, it doesn’t matter because they left. They decided to go, and no apology makes up for that. Because if someone continues to leave, at some point there isn’t a reason that could make up for all of the times they walked out.

Holy Ground

Favorite Lyric: Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress, we had this big wide city all to ourselves.

I absolutely love the verses in this song, and the second verse is my favorite. I love this lyric because every girl knows that feeling; Spinning in a brand new dress, getting excited, and loving the twirly motion it makes. You spin and spin and the skirt flies in the air, and you get that wide eyed grin on your face. And so describing the feeling of a new relationship and your greatest adventures with that person in this way, is perfect.

Sad Beautiful Tragic

Favorite Lyric: You’ve got your demons and darling they all look like me.

This lyric has always been my favorite. It shows the relationship from the others perspective in a way, that she will forever haunt him, that she will be one of those skeletons in the closet. Sometimes things end in that way, where the person you tried your best with ends up being the one who got away, and is another piece of your past.

The Lucky One

Favorite Lyric: How you took your money and your dignity and got the hell out… Chose the rose garden over Madison square.

I’m still dying to know who this song was written about, because there has to be parts of it relating to another singer or musician. But the song also highlights the fears of getting older in the business, of people not remembering you and of being easily replaced by the next thing. I had to put these two together because to me they convey one thought. This former star decided that she didn’t want the fame anymore, and so she left the business with her head held high. She chose to reside somewhere beautiful instead of playing in from of thousands in Madison Square. I admire this woman for that choice, whoever she may be, and so does the narrator, because she understands that choice in the end.

Everything Has Changed (feat. Ed Sheeran)

Favorite Lyric: All I feel in my stomach is butterflies, the beautiful kind, making up for lost time, taking flight, making me feel right.

I will never not get the biggest smile when listening to this song. Even when I think of it, I smile like an idiot. Especially with this lyric, because it describes what is normally an indescribable feeling.

Starlight

Favorite Lyric: He was trying to skip rocks on the ocean saying to me, don’t you see the starlight, don’t you dream impossible things?

I love how this song was written by simply looking at a photograph. I think this one is my favorite because skipping rocks isn’t easy, and on the ocean with the rolling tides would be even harder. And so the hopefulness of the lyric, that you should be dreaming impossible things, fits with the actions. It’s an open ended question as well, because it’s repeated later on. Don’t you dream impossible things? And then echoing that question, as if to say that you should.

Begin Again

Favorite Lyric: You said you never met one girl who had as many James Taylor records as you, but I do.

I’ve always loved this line because I can relate. I love James Taylor, and think he is an amazing songwriter. I’m actually looking for a few of his albums right now, especially Gorillas. But I also love how this line shows that the guy is taking an interest in her, and what she likes. He’s letting her talk, and isn’t being judgmental. I also have to add that the last line of the album- on a Wednesday in a cafe, I watched it begin again, is a great way to close out this album. In fact, it’s one of her best closing lines in my opinion, because it sums up the album as being in a hard relationship, but that even after experiencing heartbreak, you can still believe in love and start again with someone new.

The Moment I Knew

Favorite Lyric: Standing there in my party dress in red lipstick, with no one to impress

I honestly think this song is the saddest on the album, because you can just hear it in her voice. This lyric is my favorite because it perfectly conveys the feeling. You get all dressed up and excited to see that one person in the room, and then they don’t show up. The one person you were trying your hardest to impress and dazzle doesn’t show up. It’s a weird feeling, and one that I think everyone relates to in some way.

Come Back… Be Here

Favorite Lyric: But you’re in London, and I break down, cause it’s not fair that you’re not around

This is my Dad’s favorite bonus track, and yeah, he’s got good taste. I actually never knew that Dan Wilson also wrote this track with her, and that makes me love the song even more.This lyric in particular brings the story to it’s climax. I love the cadence on this line as well, because it feels like one of those screaming at the sky kind of lines. I can picture the protagonist missing that person and being so upset that they scream this line out into the sky, releasing that emotion.

Girl At Home

Favorite Lyric: Call a cab, lose my number, you’re about to lose your girl

I don’t know why people hate this song! It’s an amazing example of girls standing up for each other, and I honestly hope that the girl at home breaks up with him. It’s hilarious but also on point, he’s about to lose his girl.

Safe & Sound (feat. The Civil Wars)

Favorite Lyric: Hold on to this lullaby, even when the music’s gone

So although I’ve never seen or read The Hunger Games, I still really love both of these songs. Safe & Sound has to be my favorite of the two, since it reminds me of folklore and fantasy tales. Even before the folklore and evermore era, she was writing folk songs. This lyric in particular is my favorite because it’s showing that even in the darkest of times, you can still hold on to that glimmer of hope. You can have something to hold on to, that gets you through to the other side of the storm. That’s my take on it, at least.

Eyes Open

Favorite Lyric: And no body comes to save you now, but you’ve got something they don’t

Again, a great song. I like this lyric in particular because sometimes, you have to be your own hero. And in order for you to be able to win the victory, you have to rely on your own strengths. Because you do have something that is unique to you, so using that special quality is what will help you prevail in the end.

So those are my favorite lyrics off of Red! I can’t wait to hear the rerecorded version in November, and to see what the vault tracks end up being. It was hard choosing just one lyric for each song, so I’m going to be sharing some of my other choices with my Patrons. If you’d like to see what those are, you can click the button below to sign up for my Patreon. These will be available for all of my tiers, and I’ll be sharing some more content there soon!

Thanks so much for reading. What’s your favorite song off of Red? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time 🙂