Red was released on October 2, 2012, in the US by Big Machine Records as the
second promotional single from Red in 2012 and serves as the album's fifth single on June 24, 2013.
The song finds Swift playing with the idea of colors in relation to her emotions about a relationship.
Before playing the track, Swift explained its meaning: "I wrote this song about the fact that some things
are just hard to forget," she said, "because the emotions involved with them were so intense and, to me,
intense emotion is red." Swift explained that she decided to name the this song as her album title,
as its Lyrics encompass the entire theme of the project.
"Thinking about what that means to me and
all the different emotions that are written about on this album - they're all pretty much about
the tumultuous, crazy, insane, intense, semi-toxic relationships that I've experienced in the
last two years," she noted. "All those emotions - spanning from intense love, intense frustration,
jealousy, confusion - in my mind, all those emotions are red. There's nothing in between;
there is nothing beige about any of those feelings." She explained to Billboard magazine.
Writing this song was a turning point for Taylor, when she decided to work with different songwriters rather
than Nathan Chapman, whom she wrote with on her first three albums. "I turned in 20 songs and I had this
immediate sinking feeling, this can't be done, this can't be it," she explained to Billboard magazine.
"I think the reason I said that was because I made the record exactly the same way I made the last three.
I knew I hadn't jumped out of my comfort zone, which at the time was writing alone and working with Nathan.
'Red' the song was a real turning point for Red the album. When I wrote that song my mind started wandering
to all the places we could go. If I were to think outside the box enough, go in with different people,
I could learn from and have what they do rub off on me as well as have what I do rub off on them."
From the Album:
Red (2012)
Released:
June 24, 2013
Format:
CD single
digital download
Recorded:
Blackbird Studios (Nashville, Tennessee)
Length:
3:41
Writer:
Taylor Swift
Producer:
Dann Huff
Nathan Chapman
Taylor Swift
Music video:
"Red" on YouTube
A music video for the song was released July 3, 2013, the video features footage from the Swift's Red Tour.
It uses the original demo recording of the song in the deluxe version instead of the final version.
Taylor Swift Tour Dates: