The vindictive princess of country or pop or country-pop has a new record. “Red,”Taylor Swift’s fourth album, released Oct. 22, reflects the color Swift feels after she’s gone through a bad breakup, and raises a very important question: Why does anyone ever date Taylor Swift? Chances are the relationship will fail and she’ll write a song about the whole thing that millions of people will listen to. That girl has got major baggage. Of course, with all the money she has she can probably build herself the perfect robot boyfriend, but then the breakup songs which are her main source of revenue would run dry, leaving her destitute. A curious paradox indeed.

The songs seem enjoyable enough on their own, but over an hour of them is a little too much. Even pretending to be a fan of her music and trying to relate only goes so far. It’s pop-ish; it’s country-ish; it’s whatever, and that’s all she’s going to give. Yes, Swift doesn’t botch it too badly — she is skillful at composing and performing pop hits, and the banjo that can sometimes be made out is a nice touch — but it’s maddening how little meaning there can be in an album when all of it is basically the same and all of it is basically about breakups.

“Sad Beautiful Tragic,” which plays towards the album’s end, may be soft and atmospheric and acoustic-y, but it’s impossible to form an unbiased opinion on it because there’s just been too much of the rest of the album before it. It is probably good, but a definitive opinion can never be formed, because listening to another Swift song again after hearing the album is far too masochistic an undertaking.

There are some tracks that are just aggravating all on their own as well. “22” details how it “feels like a perfect night to … make fun of our exes” — because that totally isn’t petty and childish. The song is average enough to listen to, but it’s far too formulaic and juvenile. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” is a notch higher musically, and very catchy and fun, but is even more unbelievable in its content. “You will hide away and find your peace of mind,” Swift sings, “with some indie record that’s much cooler than mine.” Yes, Taylor, because when someone is going through a rough patch with you, they should definitely listen to your music. What else would they listen to?

But the fact that she wrote a song about this dude, one heavily emphasizing how they are never getting back together, means he isn’t just some inferior sleazeball. She’s got strong opinions about him, and they’re not just never getting back together, they’re never ever getting back together. That’s two “evers”  plus a never for those that can count that high. She sure must have cared about him a lot. And the fact that it’s her lead single that’s sold millions of copies?

That’s the biggest compliment of all.