{"id":1876,"date":"2020-08-25T10:04:47","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T09:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/taylorswiftswitzerland.ch\/?page_id=1876"},"modified":"2026-09-12T19:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:54:17","slug":"state-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/taylorswiftswitzerland.ch\/index.php\/albums\/red-album\/red-songs\/state-of-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAll RED Songs<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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State of Grace<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Promotional Single | RED (2012) | RED (Taylor's Version) [2021]<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u201cState of Grace\u201d is the opening track of Taylor\u2019s fourth studio album, RED<\/a><\/em> (2012). Written solely by her, it is a soaring rock anthem that marked a notable shift in sound for her at the time, opening the album with an intensity that reflected its exploration of love in all its contradictions. The lyrics capture the exhilaration, uncertainty, and vulnerability of falling in love, while acknowledging that the same feelings that make love extraordinary can also make it devastating. The re-recording, \u201cState of Grace (Taylor\u2019s Version),\u201d was released on RED (Taylor\u2019s Version)<\/a><\/em> in 2021.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTaylor has described \u201cState of Grace\u201d as both an introduction to and a conclusion of RED<\/em>. As the album\u2019s opening track, it sets out its central premise: love can be exhilarating and transformative, but it can also leave you vulnerable to heartbreak. In that sense, the song acts as a warning for everything that follows on RED<\/em>\u2014because, as Taylor put it, love can go either way.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Background and Release<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTaylor released her third studio album, Speak Now<\/em><\/a>, in October 2010. She wrote the album entirely by herself and co-produced it with Nathan Chapman, her longtime collaborator. The album expanded on the country-pop sound of her first two records, incorporating increasingly prominent rock and pop elements. For its follow-up, RED<\/em>, Taylor deliberately wanted to move beyond that established formula and experiment with different sounds and producers. She later described RED<\/em> as an \u201cadventure\u201d in which she wanted to learn from artists and producers she had long admired.\n

\n\u201cState of Grace\u201d was among the first songs Taylor wrote during the early stages of RED<\/em>. She wrote it in Nashville before travelling to Los Angeles to begin working with some of the new collaborators she had sought out for the album. From the beginning, the song represented a significant sonic departure from her earlier work: rather than a country-pop arrangement, Taylor envisioned a sweeping, arena-sized production that matched the overwhelming feeling of falling in love. In a 2012 interview with Good Morning America<\/em>, she described it as follows:\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\u00abI wrote this song about the possibilities of when you first fall in love with someone, and thinking about the different ways that it could go. And it's a really big sound, this song sounds like the feeling of falling in love in an epic way.\u00bb\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTaylor Swift<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTaylor knew early on that \u201cState of Grace\u201d would have a special place in the album\u2019s narrative. She considered the song important enough to define the emotional premise of the entire album, later explaining that its lyric about love being \u201ca ruthless game\u201d set the tone for RED<\/em>. She eventually bookended the album with \u201cState of Grace\u201d and “Begin Again<\/a>“, which she said were inspired by the same relationship: the former captured the beginning of the relationship, while the latter represented its aftermath and the possibility of starting over.\n

\nTo promote RED<\/em>, Taylor released one album track each week onto the iTunes Store from September 24 until the album\u2019s release on October 22, 2012, as part of a four-week countdown. \u201cState of Grace\u201d was released as the final promotional single during the countdown, on October 16, 2012. It immediately topped the iTunes chart.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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