It’s 2012. The world has rusted into shades of red and gold. The days have grown shorter, and there’s a stillness to the street that only a crisp autumn day can bring. Somewhere, 12-year-old me is dancing to the opening riff of Taylor Swift’s “State of Grace.”

In this little world of mine, I’ve not yet had my heart broken. I’ve not yet become disenchanted with the way things are. Fresh and doe-eyed, I merely play pretend with the themes Swift’s popular autumn heartbreak album “Red” is known for: happiness, freedom, confusion, loneliness.

“Musically and lyrically, ‘Red’ resembled a heartbroken person,” Swift wrote in a June 18 album announcement. “It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild and tortured by memories past.”

An All-American girl with an underdog story, Swift captured the hearts of many with her Grammy-winning 2008 album “Fearless.” On Oct. 22, 2012, the original “Red” was released to critical acclaim. Messy yet mesmerizing, complex yet transparent, the album features an eclectic mix of the singer-songwriter ballads that have become Swift’s trademark. The work also tested a new folk-pop sound that marked Swift’s first venture into the mainstream genre, and would later solidify her as one of the most prolific artists of our generation.

But the true charm of “Red” lies beneath the accolades. The album, at its core, is a raw emotional release.

Anyone who saw the performance of “All Too Well” at the 2014 Grammys might agree. Swift’s vulnerability on stage was so poignant, so heart wrenching, it’s a wonder the audience members didn’t round off their standing ovation with a dedicated march straight to Jake Gyllenhaal’s door to demand retribution.

Now, nearly a decade after its initial release, Taylor Swift has unleashed “Red (Taylor’s Version),” the official re-record of this monumental work.

But “Red (Taylor’s Version)” isn’t just a glossy retread of the same emotionally wrought road we’ve traversed before. Nor is it one last ditch effort to get Swift’s scarf back from Gyllenhaal. Like “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” before it and the re-recorded albums to follow, “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is a daring move by Swift to finally own her work and control her artistry.

For us as listeners, it’s an invitation to revisit our past selves.

Within the scarlet-tinged CD case that houses my original copy of “Red” also lies the girl I once was. Young, innocent and naive. As I entered my teenage years and traded scraped knees in my quiet neighborhood for heartbreak in high school hallways, “Red” became my saving grace. When I didn’t have the words for what I was feeling, Taylor Swift had a lyric. Where there wasn’t a lyric, there was an explosive instrumental — often composed with a catchy guitar riff — to lose myself in.

I danced to the euphoric, bouncy tracks like “Stay, Stay, Stay” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” I sulked to the melancholic pining of songs like “I Almost Do” and “Treacherous.” I screamed to ageless classics like “All Too Well” and “Red.”

And now, 22-year-old me experiences it all over again, with a few extra vault songs thrown in. The feeling is surreal, to say the least. It’s half like catching dinner with an old friend you haven’t seen for years, and it’s half like looking in a mirror just to see your reflection move on its own.

I’m not going to pretend “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is the same album. Sure, they’re all the same songs I know and love, with a few extra vault tracks thrown in (including the long-awaited 10-minute version of “All Too Well”). That’s the old friend part. But there’s also the re-recorded aspect that makes the reflection harder to recognize — maybe it’s a snare that’s not quite as pronounced in the new master, or the lack of Swift’s country twang as she sings certain lyrics. 

But part of me doesn’t even want it to be the same “Red,” because it’s not the same Taylor Swift. I’m not the same Megan. Nor is any listener the same as they were back then. 

One of my friends will hear “The Moment I Knew” and think of blonde hair and a mouth full of lies. Another friend cried for three weeks straight to “The Last Time,” only to see a new romance blossom weeks later with all the sweet intrigue of the album’s closing track, “Begin Again.”

That’s what “Red” has always been, at least to me. Death and rebirth. Each new cycle brings with it new stories, adding layers to the album and imbuing each listen with deeper meaning.

For me, “I Knew You Were Trouble.” is the anthem for a tall boy I once knew, with a resolve as stiff as the denim jacket he used to wear. I can’t hear “Holy Ground” without thinking of another romance, warm as the summer it lived and died in. These days, “Sad Beautiful Tragic” plays in my mind with the image of blue eyes and guitar-scarred hands.

Even Swift herself has admitted to the ever-changing nature of her work. At her 2017 Reputation Tour, she told fans “All Too Well,” a song born out of “catharsis and venting” about her heartbreak with Gyllenhaal, had turned into a positive “collage of memories” of watching her fans scream the words back to her.

The release of “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is an ode to all the emotions we’ve imbued the original album with over the years. As Swift said, “Imagining your future might always take you on a detour back to the past.” I don’t take this detour as an invitation to dwell, though, but rather a chance to have a brief exchange with my past self, if only to say, “Hi, hello. We’re happier now.”

And it’s true. I’m a little older and a little wiser. Not perfect. But I’m happy.

It’s 2021. The world has rusted into shades of red and gold. The days have grown shorter, and there’s a stillness to the street that only a crisp autumn day can bring. Somewhere, 22-year-old me is awaiting the opening riff of “State of Grace (Taylor’s Version).”

I’ve had my heart broken. I’ve been disillusioned. Weathered yet hopeful, and refined by nearly a decade of autumns, I now recognize all too well the themes of love and loss Swift’s popular coming-of-age album is known for.

The speaker crackles to life, and like a phoenix rising from the flame, “Red (Taylor’s Version)” begins again.

And again. And again. Because I’ll probably have this album on repeat for the next few weeks.

Rating: 5/5