Taylor Swift’s ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ lyric videos, ranked
Taylor Swift’s ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ lyric videos, ranked
It feels like a perfect night to watch a bunch of cheesy lyric videos, people!
Following her characteristically cryptic run-up to the release, Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of Red is here, along with happy, free, confused, and lonely lyric videos for every single song.
Swift’s fourth album, originally released in 2012, Red (Taylor’s Version) is the second release in her ambitious quest to re-record her back catalogue and flip the damn bird to former manager Scooter Braun.
Now, Red is here, home to such eternal bangers as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “22,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and the fan favourite “All Too Well” extended into a brutal, heartbreaking, and extremely pointed 10-minute version and we all know who it’s about. Released with new material in an ongoing rarities series that Swift is calling “From the Vault,” the album has a number of special guests including Phoebe Bridgers, Ed Sheeran, Chris Stapleton, and Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody.
Swift released lyric videos for every track, so like we did for Fearless (Taylor’s Version), we thought we’d rank them, from least best to absolute best. Is the font good? What extremely literal symbolism are we dealing with? Is Taylor in it? Does it capture the very essence of the song? Why are we in the desert?
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me, and let’s do this.
27. The Last Time
It’s a candle. That’s all! Gorgeous duet with Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, but no mention of candles in it? Next.
26. Forever Winter
Minimal effort for the lyric vid for this heartbreaking, horn-peppered “From the Vault” ballad, but it works. It’s a metaphor. You get it.
25. Stay Stay Stay
We’ve got some out-of-focus lights, curly font, and that’s about it for this bop. Fun points for the animation of “dramatic turnaway” and “mad, mad, mad.”
24. Babe
Is it in the final scene in Inception? Is it a lyric video for one of the new “From the Vault” additions? You tell ME.
23. Come Back…Be Here
I know this song’s mainly about travelling via plane, but I guess a lovely old train station will do for this one. It gets the message of waiting across.
22. The Moment I Knew
Christmas lights truly get their moment to shine in this video, with many a loving close-up. Good cursive font, and that huge transition to “slooooooow mooootion” in the chorus makes up for the distinct lack of action.
21. Holy Ground
This lyric video gives about as much effort as the note Taylor left on the door. But you’ve got to love a classic old-timey film filter and handwritten lyrics.
20. I Bet You Think About Me…
It feels like we’re sitting in the lobby of some kind of immersive theatre experience with this one, starring the apparently “million dollar couch” of this “From the Vault” track. A duet with Chris Stapleton, this track has a high-ish-quality-looking lyric video, even though we’ve got a bunch of weirdly unnecessary zooms on the Chesterfield couch and the side table.
19. Better Man
It’s not a Pearl Jam cover, but a sweeping crossover country-pop ballad “From the Vault.” The song is much better than the video, a generic Father’s Day commercial featuring various items associated with dudes, I guess: whiskey, neckties, bowties, cufflinks, shiny shoes, and a poignantly positioned mirror for reflection.
18. Everything Has Changed
Ol’ pal Ed Sheeran returns for this re-recorded version of “Everything Has Changed,” which runs with the eternal mascot of metamorphosis: a butterfly. There’s not much more to this lyric video, although I can appreciate the insistent pop on “everything.”
17. Message in a Bottle
It’s a literal one for this “From the Vault” track, but it works! Playful transitions and an actual message in a bottle. What it says on the label.
16. Run
Ed Sheeran jumps on another track, this time “From the Vault” with “Run.” As this track hinges around hitting the road and getting the hell outta here, the lyric video is one slow-motion driving shot.
15. Starlight
Now this is pretty. A star-filled sky over an amusement pier with cursive handwriting? Perfect for “Starlight.”
14. Nothing New
A “From the Vault” track recorded with none other than Phoebe Bridgers, “Nothing New” really hammers home the metaphor of running out of time with an hourglass. I love the font on this one, and the fact that the sand runs out in perfect time is just good simple editing, y’know?
13. The Very First Night
Plenty of movement in this one, from spinning beneath a tree filled with lights to the font transitions. Love the energy.
12. Girl at Home
Various shots of Swift performing on the Red tour in silhouette, with a great font. Love it!
11. All Too Well (the original-length version)
Look, if you’re sitting there with a wide-eyed gaze watching this lyric video for the original-length song, I’m with you — it was rare, we were there, we remember “All Too Well” all too well. But the 10-minute version, people (keep scrolling). This video shows a tree atop a hill rolling through the seasons, in need of a little scarf, but I personally would have preferred a kitchen scene in the middle of the night lit only by a refrigerator.
10. I Almost Do
I bet this time of night you’re still up, you’re tired from a long hard week, you’re sittin’ in your chair by the window looking out at the city, and that’s exactly where this lyric video is set. Nothing much happens but the setting is bang on.
9. Treacherous
Cursive script, a misty mountain, local fauna blowing majestically in the wind — this is just the earnest romantic vibe that “Treacherous” deserves.
8. State of Grace
Those unmistakeable big drums mean flashing lights and possible paint smears for the lyric video for Red‘s ever-thrilling opening anthem. Things really get jazzy around the “four blue eyes” mark. There’s also an acoustic version with its own video, which hits different.
7. Begin Again
Now this is lovely, one to watch on a Wednesday in a cafe. The symbolism! A little green shoot grows into a lush flower for Swift’s romantic, dreamy ballad dedicated to blossoming new love.
6. I Knew You Were Trouble
This rules! We’re in the desert for some reason (the cold hard ground?) but the words dance at the right times (the flashing MEs!). And switching to black and white with an old fashioned “film” filter for that angsty bridge? Correct.
5. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Circus-themed with a heap of images of Swift performing this big-time single in her ringleader outfit on the Red tour, the lyric video for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” is super fun. Sassy use of all caps, festoon lighting, and copious amounts of glimpses at that jacket.
4. Red
Pals, for this big power title track, this OTT lyric video is a bunch of tour shots in burning Red font. And we even get splashy colour references! Good stuff.
3. The Lucky One
This one’s getting a bit more music video-y, and appears to be an ode to Britney Spears’ own ode to the perils of fame, “Lucky.” Let me tell you now, we’ve got an animated cityscape of Los Angeles with the word FAME up in lights. We’ve got slow motion shots of a sad Swift brushing the same bit of hair and getting ready for vacuous Hollywood parties.
2. 22
I don’t know about you, but I love this video, miserable and magical at the same time with its little puffs of confetti. Little animations for hipsters, exes, breakfast at midnight, strangers, bad news! A literal list of being happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time. Adorable.
1. All Too Well (10-Minute Version)
To really get the full impact of the extra lyrics in this long-awaited 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” we need this lyric video. The best thing is we all know who it’s probably about, and we actually get to see Swift sing the new version, through animations of torn pages.
“I was never good at telling jokes but the punch line goes / I’ll get older but your lovers stay my age.” Ooft. “Some actress asking me what happened, you / That’s what happened, you.” Argh! “You who charmed my dad with self-effacing jokes / Sipping coffee like you’re on a late-night show / But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willing you to come / And he said, “It’s supposed to be fun turning twenty-one.”
The all caps on “YOU.” though? Perfect.
And of course…
We’re not ranking this one out of respect, but this is just lovely. Released as a charity single and included in Red (Taylor’s Version), “Ronan” was written for Ronan Thompson, who died from neuroblastoma at just three years old in 2011. Swift basically co-wrote the song using quotes (with permission) from his mother, Maya Thompson, who had written a blog about her son. This lyric video, which is a montage of photos of Ronan (also with permission), has the approval of Thompson herself. “Forever ours, thanks to @taylorswift13,” she tweeted. “I am sobbing. It is so painstakingly perfect.”