Valentine’s day is around the corner and for many it is a time filled with love and happiness. However, for some, it will be a day of pretending everything is totally, completely fine. So, even if you are alone or going through a heartbreak, there is no reason why you can’t listen to some good and comforting music at the same time. So, to you, I recommend the ultimate heartbreak album – Red by Taylor Swift. It even goes so far to match the colour scheme.
Taylor Swift is often associated (however unfairly) with breakup songs. While I do want to stress that her discography goes far beyond that, and she has a great range and depth to her music, there is also no denying that she does make really great break up music. No other album of hers does this better than her fourth album Red.
Red is probably her only album that is truly a ‘break-up’ album. The standard version feels like a perfect walkthrough of a breakup. It follows every possible emotion you could feel – from grief and anger to happiness. Some of my personal highlights include: ‘I Almost Do’, a song about wanting to reconnect with an ex despite knowing it is the wrong decision; ‘The Last Time’, a beautiful duet about the near end of a relationship and ‘State Of Grace’, an upbeat song that seems happy at first but is just as emotional as the others.
However, the ultimate break up song is what many consider Swifts magnum opus is her track five: ‘All Too Well’. This song encapsulates how it feels to go through a breakup. She manages to write about her own experience in so much specific detail yet makes it totally relatable. I would also recommend the ten-minute version of the song. Don’t be scared by the track time, it goes by so fast and will completely change the meaning of the original song. If you want to go even further, there is a short film on YouTube directed by Swift that is a perfect backdrop to the song.
However, what I think is the most important song on the whole album, the last track on the standard album: ‘Begin Again’. This song leaves us on a hopeful note, that one day all the pain will go away and love will be found again. I think very few albums can capture every up and down that you face while going through a breakup, but Swift manages to bring them all together in this album.
