SNL: TAY GOES BACK TO THE "WELL"

Taylor Swift went big on Saturday Night Live. To unfurl her expansive, 30-track re-imagining of her 2012 landmark Red as well as her new short film framing an already-notorious 10-minute revision of the song "All Too Well," the Republic superstar stood before a screen armed only with a guitar and powered through the song's emotional spectrum as the movie flashed behind her. At her feet was a carpet of fallen leaves, a seasonally appropriate metaphor for the song's autumnal perspective.

As you've read elsewhere on our site, Tay will score the year's second-biggest chart bow with the reworked Red. "All Too Well" is presently #1 at Spotify Global and U.S.; domestically, Tay owns seven of the Top 10 and 15 of the Top 20. The song is also #2 at Apple Music, where she has four of the Top 10. Versions of Red (Taylor's Version) are #1 and #3 at iTunes—still a reliable arbiter of instant response—and the extended "All Too Well" is the #1 track. And whether you ponder her progress as generationally definitive pop star, nascent cinematic auteur or ultra-shrewd biz player, there is much to marvel at here. Hit play and tell us we're wrong.