When Taylor Swift dropped her most recent album nearly a month ago, it sent social media into an exuberant tailspin of excitement. Folklore is a departure from the country turned pop sensation's usual MO and marks itself as a stunning testament to Taylor's ability to tell a complex story with lyrics that feel like words taken from the pages of a diary.
Each song is a thread in the wider tapestry that is this stunning indie-folk-pop album, and you don't get the full story until you listen to every single song.
Cardigan
This can be best described as a poppy-bluesy track. It discusses young love and how the narrator feels used and cast aside in their relationship. Not only this, but they feel that they have become a commodity, discarded and used like an old cardigan.
There seems to be a touch of generational conflict in it as well “when you’re young, they assume you know nothing.” In reality, everyone thinks they know everything when they were young. That's the hypocrisy in it all.
Additionally, it's interesting to note the shift in the view of Millennials by the older generations over the years. As a millennial myself, I can unequivocally say that we'd been their favorites until we emerged into the workforce and tried to cash in on the American Dream we were promised, only to realize that it had already been sucked dry, and there was nothing left for the normal working young person. We were used as props and cast aside when we started demanding better treatment.
My favorite lyrics: “But I knew you’d linger like a tattoo kiss, I knew you’d haunt all of my what-ifs.”
Rating: 4.5/5
Exile
This indie-folk ballad is a show-stopping minor key tapestry of harmonies featuring Bon Iver. I won't lie, when I heard his voice, I got very emotional. Taylor delivered on the promise of indie-folk music she made to us when she dropped this album.
For me, this song spoke to a parallel between a complicated breakup and the United State's fall from grace from the American perspective. This perspective (for many) is deeply rooted in disappointment and the fact that we're now in a relationship with a government that doesn't care much for us. There is also, perhaps a commentary on cancel culture and how we talk to each other- whether we're discussing talking heads on the news or each other in general.
We're so busy fighting and talking over each other that we aren't really listening to what the other person has to say, and when we hear one thing that appears (at first glance) to be heinous enough without listening to the broader context, we cancel each other for it. (This doesn't happen in every instance that someone is canceled, but it happens enough for it to be a problem.)
My favorite lyrics: “You’re not my homeland anymore, so what am I defending now? You were my town, now I’m in exile seeing you out.”
My rating: 5/5
Mirrorball
This pop-ballad slow dance would be a wonderful addition to any prom mixtape but has lyrics that might be a little too real for the staged ritual. This song is the anthem for everyone desperate to make friends or yearning for their crush to give them a second glance. Mirrorball was the entire theme of my childhood and teen years, and it hit me too close to home for comfort.
My favorite lyrics: “I’m a mirrorball- I can change everything about me to fit in.”
My Rating: 4/5
The Last American Dynasty
This upbeat, poppy track discusses sexism, grief, and consumerism vs humanism and how a woman reclaims space in a narrative that intentionally demonizes her because she doesn't "act" how a woman should. It's wonderful because no other person can tell you how to grieve. No one else should have lordship over how you behave in the privacy of your own home (as long as no one's hurting anyone else)- no matter how other people feel about it.
When people decide that the preservation of someone else's good reputation is more important than someone else's pain, there is a serious problem. Here's a break down of the song line for line- it looks like it was based on a real story.
My favorite lyrics: "They say she was seen on occasion, pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea and in a feud with her neighbor. She stole his dog and dyed it key lime green."
My Rating: 4/5
Epiphany
This atmospheric choral track reminds me of something I might have heard in church. This melody choice definitely makes sense as the song strikes a parallel about Taylor's grandfather who fought in WWII and passed away, and about everyone currently involved in the pandemic which is looking more and more like a war zone every day.
Taylor draws a heartbreaking parallel between healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID crisis and soldiers on the front lines of a World War (and this is what this pandemic has become). There is no single word to describe how this song's continued relevance makes me feel. Crushed. Angry. Tired.
My favorite lyrics: "With you I serve, with you I fall down, down. Watch you breathe in, watch you breathing out, out."
My Rating: 4.5/5
Mad Woman
This indie track is all about feminine anger and how some men use it to simultaneously instigate and frame us as overemotional and unreasonable. It discusses the role other women play in putting down their own gender to elevate themselves in the eyes of the boys' club to scramble for the scraps of power that the men scrape off their plates and onto the floor. This is probably one of my favorite songs on the entire album.
It reminds me of a quote from Leigh Bardugo, "Girls survive together or they become ghosts."
My Favorite Lyrics: (I had two this time):
“And you’ll poke that bear 'til her claws come out and you find something to wrap your noose around.”
"And women like hunting witches, too. Doing your dirtiest work for you."
My Rating: 5/5
This is me trying
This atmospheric track has a regretful, apologetic theme as she talks about her hiatuses after fielding criticisms about her every move and every song she put out, and every time she's responded to criticism with anger. I know everyone's had that moment after a heated argument when they slam the door and take time to cool off. This is the feeling this song gives off.
Despite all of the things she's been criticized for in the past, she apologizes, wishing she could go back to the small town version of herself that wasn't awash in so much controversy. There is something so relatable about yearning for the person you used to be.
My favorite lyrics: "And it's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound. It's hard to be anywhere these days when all I want is you. You're a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town"
My Rating: 3.5/5
Peace
This atmospheric track is not only honest about those who get into relationships with her, but about the public criticisms about said relationships that have been fired her way. She promises her friends and lovers loyalty, but she can’t promise that their relationship is going to be drama-free for this reason.
My favorite lyrics: "But there's robbers to the east, clowns to the West. I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best. But the rain is always gonna come if you're standin' with me."
My Rating: 4/5
The 1
This pop track is focused on looking back on a relationship for what could have been. Though she knows that she's on her own, now, she reminisces about how things might have been different if they had tried to work things out. Many of Taylor's songs in this track are focused on self-reflection (and boy, have we had a ton of time to dissect ourselves and our decisions to the nth degree in quarantine), and I think that's something we can all connect with. The nostalgic wistfulness of it reminded me of "Back to December".
My favorite lyrics: “If you never bleed, you’re never gonna grow.”
My Rating: 5/5
Betty
This is probably the sound with the most country-styling in this entire album and reminds me of Taylor's old stuff. I enjoyed going back to see it- if only in a snapshot. I think this really fits the theme of this album. Shared history. Nostalgia. Reminiscence. Self-reflection. James did Betty dirty, and he's truly sorry about it. Don't we all make mistakes? What I like most about this song is that he doesn't put words into Betty's mouth or narrate for her. It builds tension in uncertainty about whether or not she'll forgive him.
In this song, we discover that Betty was the narrator of Cardigan! It was sheer brilliance!
My Favorite Lyrics: "If I told you it was just a summer thing? I'm only seventeen, I don't know anything But I know I miss you"
My Rating: 5/5
My tears ricochet
This choral, churchy ballad is angsty, gothic and I absolutely adore it. It has a very big enemies to loves vibe about it, and it makes me wonder if this is tied to the song hoax which appears a little later in this review. This song relies heavily on a narrator that seems to have a lot of ghostly traits, and honestly, it's a brilliant choice. Ghosts are amazing metaphors for the past and for memory- and I think we've pretty well established that this album is a tribute to reflections on the past and feelings of nostalgia- and those things can haunt us like ghosts.
My Favorite Lyrics: "And you can aim for my heart, go for blood/ but you would still miss me in your bones."
My Rating: 5/5
Seven
This folk ballad talks about a child's love for their friend that becomes immortal in the form of a song passed down. It plays on nostalgia (as many of these songs in this album do) by showing us a number of memories in the form of whimsical snapshots of times gone by. The fantastical nature of playing pretend blends the magical elements with the real in order to cope with reality. It shuffled together memories like polaroids and brushes on the fact that you can recollect them however you wish- even if they turn into tall tales by the time you're done.
My favorite lyrics: "I think your house is haunted. Your dad is always mad and that must be why. And I think you should come live with me, and we can be pirates. Then you won't have to cry."
My Rating: 4/5
August
This mellow, laidback track sounds a little like an acoustic song from the '90s. This is a song about how the present slips away and becomes the past so quickly. Before we realize it, the good days are past us, and we can never go back and relive them in a real way- no matter how much we want to do so. The narrator discusses a summer fling and their inability to reclaim those days as her own- just as she can't claim the heart of the person who stole hers. I have a head canon that this song is narrated by the person James cheated on Betty with.
My Favorite lyrics: "I can see us twisted in bedsheets. August sipped away like a bottle of wine. 'Cause you were never mine."
My Rating: 4/5
Invisible String
This folk song touches on one of my favorite tropes in fiction, the red string of fate. The special thing about the red string of fate is that no one can see it, and yet it ties us to the person that we're meant to be with. The narrator went through the wringer to find this person and their relationship allowed them to grow past their demons and become a better person. This song is about self-reflection and the redemption that comes from it. It's about how fate itself intervened to save them and bring them love.
My favorite lyrics: "A string that pulled me/ Out of all the wrong arms, right into that dive bar/ Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire/ Chains around my demons/ Wool to brave the seasons/ One single thread of gold/ Tied me to you"
My Rating: 5/5
hoax
This ballad is about a likely toxic and contentious relationship between the narrator and their love interest. They break the narrator's heart time and time again, but the narrator still loves them. Though they're constantly trying to outplay each other, the love interest is always one step ahead. This one could also be tied to "my tears ricochet".
Fave lyrics: "You knew the hero died so what's the movie for?"
"My only one/ My smoking gun/ My eclipsed sun/ This has broken me down/ My twisted knife/ My sleepless night/ My winless fight/ This has frozen my ground."
My Rating: 5/5
illicit affairs
This folk ballad talks about the dark side of illicit affairs. Keeping it secret is torture, especially when the heart gets involved. It's more a cruelty than an act of love because it's a relationship that never can be. It's a temporary fix that ends up hurting so much more than it was every really worth.
Fave lyrics: "You showed me colors you know I can't see with anyone else/ Don't call me "kid," don't call me "baby"/ Look at this idiotic fool that you made me/ You taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else."
My Rating: 5/5
ความคิดเห็น