The long-awaited Red(Taylor’s Version) was finally released on November 12, 2021. Fans had anticipated its arrival since its announcement on June 18, 2021. This version of Red includes 30 songs, plus a message from Taylor. By re-releasing Red, Taylor is able to now own her sixteen classic songs such as “22” and “I Knew You Were Trouble”, but what makes Red(Taylor’s Version) special is her “from the vault” songs. The vault is where she places songs that she wrote that were meant to be in Red but were never released. The new songs include “Better Man,” “Nothing New,” “Babe,” “Message In A Bottle,” “I Bet You Think About Me,” “Forever Winter,” “Run,” and “The Very First Night.”

There is also a new version of “All Too Well,” which is ten minutes long. The long breakup ballad now contains even more iconic lyrics such as “**** the patriarchy,” and bashes at Jake Gyllenhaal, the man that Taylor wrote this song about, with “I was never good at telling jokes, but the punchline goes, ‘I’ll get older, but your lovers stay my age,”; Jake ‘Gigglehall,’ as he is now called, is currently 40 years old and dating a 25 year old, which is ironic, because he and Taylor dated when she was 19, and he was 32. 

This song has its own short film that contains the famous Dylan O’Brien and Sadie Sink. Sink appeared as Taylor, and Gyllenhaul is portrayed by O’Brien. Gyllenhaal has been receiving major hate after this has been released, especially on social media platforms such as TikTok. 

The release of Red(Taylor’s Version) has gained much more attention than her first release in 2012. This is partly due to her unparalleled amount of fame and reputation as ‘the music industry’, but it is also believed that this version is better than the first. Long time fans of Taylor Swift remember that critics described the 2012 Red as mediocre instead of recognizing it for the masterpiece it was. Some called many of her songs “inauthentic” and “awkward”. The new releases of “All too Well” and the other vault songs might change their minds because these songs contain even more heart wrenching lyrics, rather than “inauthentic” and “awkward” ones.

 This re-release continues to prove that Taylor Swift is in fact the music industry. She’s making a power move by reclaiming and improving her classic albums. Fans are unsure of what album she will do next but hopes are high for 1989, since she already re-recorded “Wildest Dreams.” Whatever she does next, fans are eagerly awaiting for another Taylor Swift masterpiece.