Once the leaves have started to turn orange, yellow, brown, and burning red, I found myself looking for a way to distract myself when walking to class in the cold weather, which is precisely how I started listening to Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” almost daily. Once I started listening so consistently, it got me thinking about how the album Red (but specifically Taylor’s Version) as a whole really encompasses what the fall season is all about.
Why, though? Why is this specific album so entangled with what I believe to be the fall spirit, just as much as Halloween festivities, the leaves changing to a beautiful combination of colors, and all my favorite pumpkin-flavored drinks and food? The album isn’t something limited to just the months of September, October, and November, and is something I can listen to year-round, so why do I feel this way? Well, there are a few reasons that I think point towards Red (Taylor’s Version) elevating all my favorite autumn experiences and making this time of the year even more perfect when you listen.
1. The Cover is So Fall
The burnt orange color of Swift’s hat and the large beige jacket are one of the most distinctly fall outfits I’ve ever seen, making her look like she walked right out of the cast of Gilmore Girls or Practical Magic. Her clothes in combination with the foliage in the background of the picture and the overall muted tones of the whole picture that make up the cover of Red (Taylor’s Version) scream autumn vibes.
2. It’s a Mix of Upbeat and Slowed Down
I’ve always been someone who associates the very upbeat pop songs of 1989 and Fearless with summer (probably because I attended a summer sleepaway camp where songs from those albums were played all day long). So, if we’re going off of purely the weather, where slow songs fit the vibes of winter and summer is all pop music, then where does fall, a season in which the weather fluctuates daily, fit in?
Red (Taylor’s Version) is a harmonious blend of both traditional pop songs to get you moving on a warm day and more relaxed songs for a chillier, more windy day. If the sun’s out and you’re feeling in a cheerful mood, put on “22” or “Message in a Bottle.” But if the day’s a little colder and the mood of the day is more melancholy, “Nothing New” or “The Last Time” are ideal. Of course, there are also plenty of songs that, to me, seem to lie between those two categories for days when the weather is a mix of warm and cold, like “Treacherous” and “Better Man.”
3. “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault):” The Lyrics
The iconic “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” has been on repeat for me every year since its official release in November 2022. The lyrics of the entire song point towards the fall season in many ways. From the opening line of the song, “I walked through the door with you, the air was cold,” calls to this season. It’s very soon after in the second verse that Swift sings, “Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place,” explicitly saying that it’s the fall. Additionally, this setting holds strong all the way through the 10-minute-long song. Although I am someone who listens to this song no matter what time of year it is, no one can deny that the narrative of the song takes place in the fall, making it the perfect autumn song on the perfect autumn album and one that I’ll be listening to when the fall changes to winter during the first fall of snow this year.
4. “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault):” The Short Film
When All Too Well: The Short Film was released, my life was changed forever, but that isn’t the only reason why I find myself watching it again and again. The autumn imagery, similar to the cover of the album, is undeniable. Whether it’s the cozy sweaters Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien wear in almost every scene, the iconic red scarf mentioned in the lyrics that makes a tangible appearance, or the colors in the background of the characters’ “Upstate Escape,” everything about this short film encompasses Swift’s lyrics in the song and brings to life so much of what makes the lyrics to the song fall coded.
With all of these reasons for why I think Red (Taylor’s Version) is a paragon of fall albums, I’ll continue to keep listening to it almost daily throughout the upcoming weeks. Although we’re almost through fall and the weather is getting farther away from what I normally associate with the season’s typical weather and closer to what I would call the winter, I won’t be making my switch from Red (Taylor’s Version) daily to the more wintery albums like Evermore just yet.
