red liner notes
Foreword
There's an old poem by Neruda that I've always been captivated by, and one of the lines in it has stuck with me ever since the first time I read it. It says "love is so short, forgetting is so long." It's a line I've related to in my saddest moments, when I needed to know someone else had felt that exact same way. And when we're trying to move on the moments we always go back to aren't the mundane ones. They are the moments you saw sparks that weren't really there, felt stars aligning without having any proof, saw your future before it happened, and then saw it slip away without any warning. These are moments of newfound hope, extreme joy, intense passion, wishful thinking, and in some cases, the unthinkable letdown. And in my mind, every one of these memories looks the same to me. I see all of these moments in bright, burning red.
My experiences in love have taught me difficult lessons, especially my experiences with crazy love. The red relationships. The ones that went from zero to a hundred miles per hour and then hit a wall and exploded. And it was awful. And ridiculous. And desperate. And thrilling. And when the dust settled, it was something I’d never take back. Because there is something to be said for being young and needing someone so badly, you jump in head first without looking. And there's something to be learned from waiting all day for a train that's never coming. And there's something to be proud of about moving on and realizing that real love shines golden like starlight, and doesn't fade or spontaneously combust. Maybe I’ll write a whole album about that kind of love if I ever find it. but this album is about the other kinds of love that I’ve recently fallen in and out of. Love that was treacherous, sad, beautiful, and tragic. But most of all, this record is about love that was red.
1. State Of Grace
Hidden message: I love you doesn't count after goodbye
2. Red
Hidden message: SAG
3. Treacherous
Hidden message: Won't stop till it's over
4. I Knew You Were Trouble
Hidden message: When you saw me dancing
5. All Too Well
Hidden message: Maple latte
6. 22
Hidden message: Ashley Dianna Claire Selena
7. I Almost Do
Hidden message: Wrote this instead of calling
8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Hidden message: When I stopped caring what you thought
9. Stay Stay Stay
Hidden message: Daydreaming about real love
10. The Last Time (featuring Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol)
Hidden message: LA on your break
11. Holy Ground
Hidden message: When you came to the show in SD
12. Sad Beautiful Tragic
Hidden message: While you were on a train
13. The Lucky One
Hidden message: Wouldn't you like to know?
14. Everything Has Changed (featuring Ed Sheeran)
Hidden message: Hyannis Port
15. Starlight
Hidden message: For Ethel
16. Begin Again
Hidden message: I wear heels now
DELUXE:
17. The Moment I Knew
18. Come Back... Be Here
19. Girl At Home
20. Treacherous (Demo)
21. Red (Demo)
22. State Of Grace (Acoustic Version)