Once again, Taylor Swift has regained her vocal throne. On Nov. 12, 11- time Grammy winner Taylor Swift re-released her album “Red.”  The album featured many of the original “Red” songs which gained popularity such as “22,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “All Too Well,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” 

Along with these hit originals, Swift added 16 never-before-heard songs in collaboration with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Phoebe Bridgers, Gary Lightbody, and Chris Stapleton. These songs were originally written in 2012 by Swift, but were kept off the original version of the album in hopes of being able to add them to the next album. However, the leftover songs soon became forgotten as each new album didn’t seem to connect with the theme of the previous one. She reintroduced the forgotten songs in “Red (Taylor’s Version)” after seeing an opportunity to let them finally be heard. 

Swift announced the re-release of “Red (Taylor’s Version)” in June. Additionally, in Aug., she posted a mini trailer hinting at the new tracklist of her album. The trailer featured a vault with scrambled words flying out of it, meant for her fans to unscramble. She has been known for leaving clues and easter eggs such as this one since her first album.

The “Red” album explored many different genres of music, making it one of the best albums of 2021. The music genres in the album ranged between pop, country, folk, and dubstep. When she wrote the songs for the original album, Swift was 22 years old and hadn’t found which genre she liked best, resulting in her experimental album. The album hit Top 50 on Spotify within 24 hours, breaking the previous record, also held  by Swift for “Folklore,” which received over 90 million streams. 

In 2012, when Swift released the original “Red” album, she had mentioned that the song “All Too Well” was her personal favorite, and was very glad when it lined up with the overall fan favorite because it enabled her to explore releasing the raw version of the song before it got cut down to a normal length. 

“I showed up for rehearsals and I was really upset and sad, so I started playing guitar, the band joined in, and I started ad-libbing what I was going through,” Swift said in an interview with Jimmy Fallon. “The song kept building in intensity, and went on for about ten to 15 minutes, and that was the original version of  ‘All Too Well.’” She went on to say that this was the song she was most excited for fans to hear because it was the original lyrics. 

However, Swift and her fans weren’t the only ones excited for the album to come out. Both the Empire State building and Starbucks were thrilled for the approaching release. On Nov. 12, the day it came out, the Empire State building lit up red in celebration, and Starbucks made Swift’s order, “Tay’s Latte” available to buy for any and all customers who wished to try it. In addition, they played songs by Swift throughout the day.

 Fans are debating whether Swift will release a “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” or “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” next. The excitement never dulls in the Swiftie fandom, as until the next official announcement from Swift herself, fans will go back to micro-analyzing her new content searching for hints at the future.