PICTURE ME IN THE TREES: Taylor Swift branches out with Folklore
Last Wednesday, I woke up, washed my face, and scrolled through Instagram while brushing my teeth.
What I saw shocked me.
My heart nearly skipped down 16th Avenue when I saw a post from Taylor Swift announcing a new, surprise album to be released Thursday morning.
Folklore, Taylor Swift’s eighth studio album, was released on July 23, 2020. In the past, Swift released a new album every two years or so, but this pattern broke as she felt inspired by her isolation.
Swift’s recent album releases have been heavily marketed with the release of promotional singles and music videos before the album unveiling. It was refreshing to listen to Folklore without first being bombarded with marketing materials for months. To be clear, I don’t think it’s bad to utilize marketing strategies and promotions to sell an album. It’s a smart business decision, but it was nice that this was a total surprise.
It was also fun to listen to it for the first time without having any idea what to expect. This is the first time in recent memory that I listened to a new release without knowing at least one song prior.
On Folklore, Swift worked with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff (Bleachers, fun., Steel Train), Aaron Dessner (The National), Bon Iver, and a mysterious songwriter named William Bowery.
Upon further research, it appears William Bowery does not exist. Many fans believe Bowery is a pen name for Swift’s longtime beau, Joe Alwyn. This has not been confirmed by Swift or Alwyn, but I like the idea of it so I figured it was worth noting.
The album was made by those involved by recording their parts from home and then putting the recordings together.
I’m going to be transparent; I’ve never encountered a Taylor Swift album I didn’t appreciate. Some I definitely enjoy more than others. Overall, I like all of her albums and most of her songs. While comparing Swift’s work can be like comparing apples to oranges, Folklore may dethrone Red, her 2012 release, as my favorite.
Swift is known for her confessional songwriting. In the prologue for Folklore, she stated she was inspired by fiction and stories told by her friends and relatives. The storytelling elements of the songs are reminiscent of works written in the early days of Swift’s 14 year career. Swift approaches this record with maturity, but still somehow manages to capture the magic of a childlike innocence through her lyrics.
Due to the storytelling nature of this album, Swift explores a variety of topics: a teenage love triangle, a woman scorned, the widow of an oil tycoon who “had a marvelous time ruining everything”, star crossed lovers who don’t end up together.
Vocally, Swift shows a variety of range. In some songs, Swift sounds like what one would expect. In others, she channels the likes of Lana Del Rey, King Princess, and similar artists.
Something I immediately noticed during my first spin of the album is that almost every song has a reference to blood in it. Swift uses blood to symbolize family ties and life itself. The allusions to blood and death give Folklore a much darker tone than some of Swift’s previous works.
Every song on this album is high quality. I had difficulty determining which songs to write about because each of them is worthy of celebration. Every time I listen to one of these songs, I notice something else and have a new take on it. I think I could realistically write a novel length piece about Folklore, but I am showing self restraint and not doing that. With that said, some of the songs stood out to me more than others.
The first track is appropriately titled “The 1”. With this song, Swift looks back fondly on a relationship that didn’t last.
Overall the song is pretty cheerful, but it also contains a twinge of bittersweet nostalgia. “You know, the greatest loves of all time are over now,” Swift sings, sentimentally.
Throughout the song, Swift alludes to the relationship not lasting because of outside circumstances.
Nine times out of ten the bridge of any given Taylor Swift song is my favorite part of the song. “The 1” is no exception to this statistic.
In the bridge, Swift wonders what could be:
“I persist and resist the temptation to ask you
‘If one thing had been different,
Would everything be different today?’”
“The 1” is a quite beautiful song. Overall, it is very warm. Listening to it feels like coming home and removing your wet shoes and socks after being caught in the rain all day. In the future, I expect to see it featured in a comedy movie about a woman going through a breakup.
I thought this song was the perfect way to open the album. It sets the tone of the record with a steady beat and the prominent use of a piano. This song is easily one of my favorites on the album because it’s easy to get caught up with emotion when things don’t work out, but it’s nice to reflect on the good parts of the journey too.
“Cardigan” is the lead single off of Folklore, and I think this is the best lead single Swift has used to promote the release of an album. In her past few recent album cycles, Swift has used songs like “ME!”, “Look What You Made Me Do”, and “Shake It Off” as lead singles. It’s no secret that these songs aren’t her strongest, but they are songs that get stuck in your head and make a home there. From a marketing standpoint, it makes sense to promote fun, catchy tracks first, but I think she has a vast array of songs that are stronger lyrically.
I was happy to see the first single of this album was something more artistic, but “Cardigan” also does an exceptional job setting the tone for the rest of the album. The themes in “Cardigan” are echoed throughout the rest of Folklore.
In this song, Swift’s vocals sound a lot like Lana Del Rey. Her voice sounds haunting as she sings about young love not lasting. She sings of the naivety expected to be involved with being young: “When you are young, they assume you know nothing, but I knew you.”
Swift paints a picture with her lyrics in this song. She describes scenes from a loving relationship that turned sour due to infidelity. “Chase two girls, lose the one,” Swift sings, somberly. The narrator of the song compares the ending of the relationship to the ending of Peter Pan. Peter and Wendy don’t end up together. The narrator explains she knew this former flame would return to her porch to apologize and “try to change the ending”.
“You drew stars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding,” is my favorite lyric from this song. It is well-written and delivered flawlessly by Swift.
“Cardigan” is accompanied by a music video full of magic. The video opens with Swift playing the first few notes of the song on an upright piano with a broken key. She is in a dark cottage with a fireplace and a rustic atmosphere. Taylor opens the top of the piano and climbs in. She is transported to a whimsical forest. Swift continues playing the song on a moss covered piano with water pouring out of the side like a waterfall. She then lifts the lid of her piano bench and climbs inside. Taylor Swift is then transported to a dark lagoon. Lightning strikes in the background. She struggles to wade to a floating piano and grips onto it for dear life. Swift manages to lift the lid of the piano and climbs inside. Taylor returns to the dimly lit cottage shown earlier in the video. The video ends with Swift putting on a cardigan.
I thought this music video was fantastic. The video is visually stunning and aligns perfectly with the rest of the album’s visual aesthetics.
In a YouTube comment, Swift stated that three songs on Folklore are telling the story of a love triangle from three different perspectives. Due to this comment, I believe the eighth and fourteenth tracks are both closely related to “Cardigan.”
Track 14, “Betty,” is a song from the perspective of someone named James.
James was dating Betty, but cheated on her with an unnamed individual over the summer. Betty heard a rumor about this affair from Inez, who is usually unreliable but was right in this case. James embarks on an emotional journey to apologize to Betty and get her back. Throughout the song, James plans to show up at a party at Betty’s house to apologize.
James saw Betty dance with a boy at a school dance and got jealous. The narrator explains his transgressions as “just a summer thing.” James then describes the start of the affair by saying the unnamed temptress invited him to go for a ride in his car.
“Betty” and “Cardigan” have a lot of similarities that show they are closely intertwined. The narrator of “Cardigan” mentions broken cobblestones. In “Betty”, James says, “I was walking home on broken cobblestones, just thinking of you.” Both songs also mention kissing in cars. Betty, the narrator of “Cardigan”, repeatedly sings, “When you are young, they assume you know nothing.” Meanwhile, James is singing, “I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything, but I know I miss you.” The most damning evidence of the relation of these two songs is at the end of “Betty,” James shows up to Betty’s house to apologize while wearing her cardigan.
“Betty” is an amusing song. It is one of the few upbeat songs on this album. It is catchy and a lot of fun. Sonically, it reminds me a lot of Swift’s first two albums. If it weren’t for the explicit language and Swift’s matured vocals, I would swear “Betty” was a song that was cut from Swift’s debut album.
I think the other song in this trio is “August”. The narrator of “August” is the young woman James cheated on Betty with. The song recounts forbidden love in a summer that went by too quickly. “Will you call when you’re back at school?” Swift sings, as the narrator. The narrator recounts the time she took James for a ride in her car and how their relationship fell apart. “So much for summer love and saying ‘us’ cause you weren’t mine to lose,” Swift sings wistfully.
Swift evokes warm visuals by mentioning salty, seaside air and summer sunshine.
“August” is my personal favorite song on Folklore. Swift’s vocals and the production quality make it sound lovely and well-rounded. The song has a stunning melodic quality and manages to describe an affair as something quite beautiful. It also has a nostalgic sounding quality that reminds me of the ambiance of my favorite coffee shop on a summer’s day.
The third song on the album, “The Last Great American Dynasty,” tells the story of Rebekah Harkness, the widow of an heir and the former owner of Swift’s Rhode Island home.
In the song, Swift sings of Harkness’ lavish parties and the wild adventures she had after her husband died. According to the song, Harkness was blamed for her husband’s death and spent her inheritance recklessly. She flew all of her “bitch pack friends,” and they regularly attended the ballet and gambled.
Swift describes Harkness as loud and the “maddest woman this town has ever seen”. According to Swift, Harkness was lively and genuinely loved creating chaos. The song even describes an incident where Harkness stole her neighbors’ dog dyed it “key lime green.”
Oh, to marry rich, outlive your partner, and spend their fortune. Sounds like the American dream to me.
During the last third of the song, Swift recalls the Harkness home sitting vacant for 50 years. The house had a period of respite where it was “free of women with madness, their men, and bad habits.”
Until it was bought by Swift. The song shifts to the perspective of Swift; the new loudest, craziest woman in town.
“The Last Great American Dynasty” is definitely a cheery, infectious song. This song is pretty catchy and a lot of fun. Swift’s vocals are strong and playful. I cannot help but smile when I hear this song.
This song is very creative. I personally enjoy a song with a story and Swift tells this story so well. Her use of imagery in the lyrics made me feel like I attended one of these parties thrown by the most shameless women in town. The imagery of a party with a pool filled with champagne provided some much needed escapism from current social distancing recommendations.
All of the songs on Folklore are filled with emotion, but I think “My Tears Ricochet” is one of the most sorrowful.
The somber lyrics describe a funeral scene. The narrator is dead, but someone who wished them the worst still showed up to mourn. Swift sings about the betrayal of this situation with dreadful imagery and references to cremation.
Swift has yet to comment on the meaning of this track, but I would be genuinely surprised if this tune wasn’t at least a little bit inspired by her battle with the founder of her former record label.
For the past year and a half, Swift has been very vocal about leaving Big Machine Records. In the song she states, “I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace.” Subsequently, Big Machine Records sold the rights of the master recordings of her first six albums.
The most direct piece of evidence supporting Swift’s record label feud is the subject matter of “My Tears Ricochet” is the line, “When you can’t sleep at night, you hear my stolen lullabies.” Taylor Swift delivers this line evocatively. Swift further drives the point with the lyrics, “I can go anywhere I want, just not home.”
Swift’s soul-stirring vocals are met with backing vocals reminiscent of a church choir. Moments of “My Tears Ricochet” feature little to no instruments further creating a poignant atmosphere.
My second favorite song on the album is “Invisible String.” The song chronicles Swift’s relationship with current boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. This song is unquestionably the most optimistic song on Folklore.
Over the course of her career, Swift has used a lot of color symbolism and does so strongly on “Invisible String.” The song begins with Swift describing green grass in Centennial Park when she first moved to Nashville. She uses green as a way to symbolize a fresh start. She describes her and her lover’s journeys to present day. In the song, she sings about how it took a while for them to come into each other’s lives.
My favorite line in the song is, “Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to LA.” I think it was a clever way to reveal a rough timeline of when this trip to LA took place as Swift’s “Bad Blood” was released in 2014.
The entire song is a reference to the East Asian myth of the red string of fate. According to the legend, soulmates are tied together by an invisible string. These soulmates are bound by destiny to meet. “Isn’t it just so pretty to think all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?” Swift croons on the song.
Overall, it is a very sweet song that I thoroughly enjoyed.
One of my favorite lines in the entire album is in the song “This Is Me Trying.” In the song, Swift sings about how, despite best efforts, sometimes things don’t go as planned. “They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential,” Swift sings in a hauntingly beautiful tone.
She sings about regretting acting out of anger and describes herself as feeling like “an open wound.” She concludes that she is far from perfect, but “at least [she’s] trying.”
This is just my opinion, but I think “Epiphany” is the most heart wrenching song Swift has released so far. The first time I listened to it I dismissed it as just another sad Taylor Swift song. But then I listened to the lyrics and felt like I got punched in the throat.
The bleak song is about someone escaping the horrors of everyday life by sleeping.
Swift was inspired by her grandfather’s experience serving in the United States military. A battlefield with a soldier bleeding out is the subject of the first verse.
The chorus of this song is very simple, but it is impactful. “With you I serve, with you I fall down,” Swift sings, sorrowfully, “Watch you breathe in, watch you breathing out.”
The song then transforms to the perspective of a healthcare worker, amid the COVID-19 crisis. In the song, Swift sings of how medical professionals may not be emotionally prepared for the trauma attached to tragedies of this proportion. She also highlights how the people dying are human beings with identities and lives, not just statistics.
Both verses of the song end with the lyrics, “Some things you just can’t speak about,” comparing the experiences of healthcare workers to those who have served in battle.
My favorite part of this song is the bridge. In the bridge, Swift sings about the need to escape and comprehend trauma:
“Only 20 minutes to sleep,
But you dream of some epiphany
Just one single glimpse of relief
To make some sense of what you’ve seen”
Is this a song I would listen to casually? No, but I’m glad it exists.This song is heartbreaking, but it is also very beautiful. Swift’s vocals are strong and the melody is simple, but the message resonates. Her use of imagery in this song is impactful. She describes isolation and the act of “holding hands through plastic.” This song is immensely timely and is about the realities of many people today.
This record marks another genre shift for Swift. Folklore is Swift’s first album to be categorized as alternative with an indie sound. Previously, Swift focussed on making country music before transitioning to pop.
Visuals tied to the record incorporate forest and cottage core aesthetics. This is how I felt listening to it:
The album is her most cohesive sounding venture with some of her best lyrics. Somehow, Swift managed to combine the best elements of her previous work while also creating something brand new. Folklore is uncharted waters for Swift, but it still seems familiar and natural. While this record does not contain any upbeat songs Swift has become known for in recent years, Folklore is far from boring with its stripped and raw track list.
I love this album a lot. Swift proudly shows her range as a writer by creating this imaginary world. Another aspect of Folklore I love is the indie sound. The combination of the sound and the lyrics of this record make Folklore Swift’s best album to date.
Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” released in 2012, featured the lyrics “And you go and find your piece of mind with some indie record much cooler than mine.” In all honesty, I don’t know what indie record she was referring to, but I am willing to bet her indie record is much cooler.
Tracklist: