12. “SAD BEAUTIFUL TRAGIC”
BEHIND THE MUSIC Taylor got out her guitar and composed this one on a tour bus, letting the rhymes of the chorus lead the way. When she got home, she asked Nathan Chapman to record that same day. He agreed, and the vocals from the original demo were used on the album, because that first cut “came across so pure and raw,” according to Taylor.
BETWEEN THE LINES Though it may have been a beautiful affair, in this song we only see the end of it. “Sad Beautiful Tragic” barely raises itself above a whisper, as if the relationship is too sacred, and its dissolution too devastating, to do otherwise. The songwriter told Billboard, “I wanted to tell the story in terms of a cloudy recollection of what went wrong. It’s kind of the murky gray, looking back on something you can’t change or get back.”
FUN FACTS Rookie Mag included this track on its playlist for October 2013, "Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story," along with "Holy Ground" and classic tracks from Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, and Simon & Garfunkel. Listen here: http://rookiemag.com/2013/10/playlist-love-story-ghost-story/.
DIARY DECODER “While you were on a train” could refer to Gyllenhaal, who filmed Source Code, a movie set in large part on a train, while the pair was dating. He also rode a train with Mumford & Sons on their Railroad Revival Tour in 2011. (The rail trip was months after their breakup, but their relationship seems to have been a hard one for Taylor to get over.)
(excerpted from our biography Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition, available wherever books are sold)
Thanks to @taysminionyo for the Swift Notes design!
YOU ARE READING
Swift Notes: Red (A Guide to Taylor Swift's Songs)
FanfictionA song-by-song analysis of Taylor Swift's RED album, excerpted from our just-released-in-stores Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition.
