Taylor Swift — folklore (7/24/20)
Alright, I guess I’ll share my thoughts on the new Taylor Swift.
I am not a follower, but I did get swept up in Ryan Adams’ 1989 cover album which proved to me just how strong a songwriter Swift really is.
I still couldn’t bring myself to listen to reputation or Lover, but with all the talk around this new release, I couldn’t resist checking it out.
A big part of what caught my interest and what helps differentiate folklore from her previous albums is that she co-wrote/produced most of it with The National’s Aaron Dessner. The National has grown to be one of the most highly-acclaimed bands in alternative rock and this pairing surely brought a new wave of indie listeners to Taylor’s music.
And it’s a wonderful combination. Taylor’s knack for a strong pop melody and Dessner’s soft alternative approach come together for a tastefully light and easy album.
It is a big album though and I like to break it into four parts, at four songs each.
The first four songs as a group seem hard to beat. Opener “the 1” slowly wakes the album up with this trodding piano over light, folksy guitar. Taylor writes from the perspective of someone reminiscing on what could have been with an ex-lover. Yes, we all know she’s with this Joe Alwyn guy, so you definitely can’t take this song as her own thoughts.
In fact, as the album’s title suggests, this album as a whole is more about stories from Taylor’s imagination rather than about her personal life. That being said, you’ll definitely find her personal experiences woven into some of these.
Lead single “cardigan” is apparently the first part of the album’s “Teenage Love Triangle” (“august” and “betty” being the other two). I’m not getting wrapped up in the whole “concept” of the album but it’s interesting to see how an artist connects the story within separate songs.
Like “the 1,” “cardigan” has a reminiscent feeling to it as Taylor sings longingly of a lost love. It’s a tragic romance type of song that I can see getting under the skin for many, but I don’t find myself feeling much from it. Despite any relatable qualities I may find in her lyrics, Taylor’s just not an artist I can fully connect with.
The music’s still good though. I love “the last great american dynasty.” It’s based around the story of Rebekah Harkness, a famous philanthropist and patron of the arts from the 1900s. In short, it looks at how Harkness was seen as destroying “the last great American dynasty” and how she was criticized due to her position as a woman in power.
While I mentioned this album isn’t about Taylor’s personal life, she actually brings herself into this story at the end of the song. The bridge holds one of my favourite passages of the album and Taylor brilliantly slips in that she bought the “Holiday House” in Rhode Island that was originally owned by Harkness. A generation later, Taylor relates to what Harkness dealt with as a successful woman and she embraces the lifestyle that comes with it.
Closing off the first four of the album is one of the greatest songs of the year in “exile.” The absolutely mesmerizing deep vocals of Bon Iver pair incredibly with Taylor on this heartbreaking track. The two play the roles of a broken-up couple, voicing their differing points of view.
I’ve listened to some Bon Iver before but I have never been so deeply captured by a performance of his until this song. The chorus is already better than any other song on the album but, holy shit, when that bridge comes in the song is taken to another level.
So step right out, there is no amount
Of crying I can do for you
All this time
We always walked a very thin line
The back-and-forth performance between the two is phenomenal and some of the melodic choices with the wordplay create the most unique musical feelings of the year.
The album also has her working with her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff (this guy seems to have his hands in everything). The second group of four starts with one he had a part in with “my tears ricochet.” According to Taylor, it was the first song she wrote for the album.
It paints the picture of a funeral for Taylor herself, with a supposed enemy of hers at the wake realizing they’re no better off without her. The near-soothing organ-like keys give the song a bit of a ceremonial quality. The strings start to rise coming out of the second chorus and the percussion picks up and that’s when the true power of the song is revealed.
“mirrorball” feels a lot more late ’90s/early ’00s to me than most of the album. I love the dreamy atmosphere set up by the echoing guitar, and Taylor’s vocals float on top, reminding me of radio songs I can’t quite put my finger on. She also worked on this one with Antonoff and, like “my tears ricochet,” I find the song reaches its fullest emotion in the bridge that ties everything together.
She’s back with Dessner for “seven.” It’s a look back at childhood as she reflects on a friendship from long ago. It’s a sentimental reminder of a simpler time; when problems could be solved by playing pretend. Dessner has commented on how the song contains one of the most important lines of the record.
And just like a folk song
Our love will be passed on
It’s basically the purpose of the album and the definition of folklore itself: to pass on stories by word of mouth.
Antonoff produced the following “august” and has said that the song along with “my tears ricochet” are his favourites from his collaborations with Taylor. There’s no denying the melodic power of this one. There’s a peppiness in the hook that makes this one of the easiest to enjoy on the album.
It’s again a reflection on an ill-fated romance but the memory doesn’t feel weighed down with regret or sadness. Instead, it feels like a content look back at a first love. You can let the words pull out some pain if you choose. She says “you were never mine” and, at least for myself, when I look at a past relationship in that light I get a bit of a sour feeling in the gut.
She has such a way of building her songs into powerful endings and the outro to “august” is one of the most exciting moments of the album. It’s nothing unheard of but I don’t hear the technique used in much of her music, so when the instruments cut out at 3:06 only to dive right back in, it makes for quite a hit of emotion.
Remember when I pulled up and said “Get in the car”
And then canceled my plans just in case you’d call?
Back when I was livin’ for the hope of it all
Okay, onto part three, the beginning of the album’s second half.
We get “this is me trying.” Another Antonoff track, and another favourite for me; it’s an emotionally strung confession of some of the things Taylor’s struggled the most with. She effortlessly lays down couplet after couplet with pairings like, “They told me all of my cages were mental/So I got wasted like all my potential.”
“illicit affairs” is an incredibly well-written song about, well, cheating. It’s not the most gripping musically for me but it is a very tender look at the highs and lows of a forbidden relationship and I really do think it holds some of the best songwriting on the album.
Leave the perfume on the shelf
That you picked out just for him
So you leave no trace behind
Like you don’t even exist
The Dessner-produced “invisible string” is one of the album’s prettiest tracks. The acoustic guitar work is lovely and Taylor’s lyrics in the verses are quite fresh and slightly playful. It’s a love song; the “invisible string” in reference to this magical force that has always been tying the two lovers together.
So, from what I’m seeing it seems like a part of Taylor’s narrative over the years is that she went mad at some point? Basically, from what I’m reading, it seems that she’s never been lacking in harsh criticism for one thing or another.
“mad woman” has her basically taking on the role that critics have placed her in.
Every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy
What about that?
And when you say I seem angry, I get more angry
Apparently, it’s her first-ever on-the-record song with the word “fuck” in it. It’s cool to see her putting aside the “America’s Sweetheart” label she once fell under. I see this song as a message to all the haters: You think I’m mad? I’ll show you mad.
The final four of the album start off with one of my favourites in “epiphany.” There’s nothing else like it on folklore. It’s a hymnal song. Taylor’s vocals glide like a choir of angels over heavy-hearted keys and she sings about war experiences inspired by her grandfather’s time in the military.
Within the album, I find this to be so refreshing because it truly stands on its own. Despite being one of the longer songs, I almost see it as an interlude because of how far removed it is from the rest of the songs.
Only twenty minutes to sleep
But you dream of some epiphany
Just one single glimpse of relief
To make some sense of what you’ve seen
Speaking of longer songs, we get the longest with “betty.” It’s the final part to the “Teenage Love Triangle” preceded by “cardigan” and “august.” It takes the point of view of a guy named James trying to make amends with Betty, who he cheated on (the summer affair in “august”).
I love the classic folk sound on this one, complete with the use of harmonica. The ear-wormy chorus isn’t really inspiring though and it’s more of that Taylor side that doesn’t get much reaction from me.
“Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?” she sings on the penultimate “peace.” It’s one of the most musically vacant songs, mostly riding a soft and steady synth with this slowly grooving bass guitar. It’s a song to her partner, warning of what to expect by her side.
It’s a vulnerable song and is another amazing display of lyricism but I may just go ahead and say this has the least amount of replay value for me.
I never thought I’d put this much into writing about Taylor Swift but here we are, about to finish a track-by-track review.
And it finishes with “hoax.” It’s no happy ending, I’ll tell you that.
Another musically vacant song, it’s little more than piano with touches of viola, guitar, and bass. Taylor sings about a toxic relationship that seems to have left her broken to the point where it’s all she knows.
Stood on the cliffside screaming, “Give me a reason”
Your faithless love’s the only hoax I believe in
Don’t want no other shade of blue but you
No other sadness in the world would do
It’s about as raw as the album gets and makes for one final dose of emotion from an album that holds plenty of it.
Taylor’s at the type of superstardom where so many of her devote listeners feel like they have a personal connection to her. Every song of hers is more of her story and the more you know about her, the more you’ll be able to understand what the songs relate to.
So, for me, it’s nice to be able to find some enjoyment in the music despite not knowing anything about her. I will never connect with her music in the way many people do but she has proven she can still cut into me with songs like “exile” and “epiphany.”
Ten years ago I was not on board the T-Swift train but with an album like this it’s become pretty clear that I should probably get a ticket.
