Taylor Swift Gets Somber for 'Safe & Sound' Music Video

The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards.Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA.February 12, 2012. (Bauer Griffin)more pics Taylor Swift in "Safe & Sound" Last month, it was rumored that country singer Taylor Swift was the frontrunner to play the tragic Eponine in the film adaptation of Les Miserables. It wasn't long before theater geeks expressed their horror, with many noting Swift's limited vocal range and general chirpiness.

While it might be difficult for anyone familiar with Swift's most popular work to think her capable of plumbing emotional depths, her new collaboration with The Civil Wars, "Safe & Sound," reveals a startlingly vulnerable, delicate side to Swift's songwriting.

Swift, who co-wrote the song for the upcoming Hunger Games soundtrack, told MTV, "I had this title that I had been working with called 'Safe & Sound,' and I just knew that I wanted it to deal with the empathy, sort of the more sensitive side, the bittersweet side of this story, never imagining that this would ever be picked for a single, 'cause it's a lullaby."

The "Safe & Sound" music video, released Monday, is also a departure from the high-budget clips for which Swift is best known. The somber piece juxtaposes shots of Swift walking a! lone thr ough a barren winter forest with glimpses of the Civil Wars playing their instruments by a fireplace. It's powerful in its starknessespecially given Swift's reputation for putting on the glitz. Perhaps we underestimated her ability to play tragic.

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