Taylor Swift, ‘Red’ – Song Review

Taylor Swift paints a picture of a failed relationship with vivid colors in 'Red,' the third single from her upcoming album of the same name. It's a country tune, but with a kick -- Swifty finally uses a little Auto-Tune in post-production.

Swift opens the track with an automotive metaphor for the crash and burn of a fast-moving relationship, crooning, "Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street / Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly." She echoes the sentiment at the conclusion of the song, repeating the first line to close out the dramatic depiction of love gone wrong.

'Red' features a country twang and a bit of banjo here and there -- just enough to appease Swift's country fanbase without alienating her pop tween set. When she gets to the chorus, she mixes both demographics seamlessly, singing, "Losing him was blue like I've never known / Missing him was dark grey all alone / Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you've never met / But loving him was red."

Here's where it gets weird: She repeats "red" in harmony with herself, in a robotic Auto-Tuned lilt that's more annoying than endearing. It just seems really superfluous to an otherwise solid song, especially when her vocals are stronger than we're all used to hearing them. In attempting to sell everything to everyone, Swift actually sold herself short.