I Had a Marvellous Time Ruining Everything
A love letter to Folklore & Evermore.
“So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it” Taylor sings on You’re On Your Own, Kid and my friend Gabby took that lyric to heart this week when she surprised me with custom Taylor Swift themed friendship bracelets. I now understand the importance of having a will. I have also started letting my family know that I wish to be buried wearing these bracelets. I have been dancing around my apartment in what feels like slow motion to “My friends from home don’t know what to say” as if I actually have friends from home. My ‘F The Patriarchy’ bracelet hidden underneath my long sleeves as I watch my boyfriend cook me dinner in the name of FEMINISM.
I have been listening to an illegal version of You’re Losing Me on YouTube where the vocals have been manipulated so much in an attempt to avoid being taken down, that it sounds like it belongs on the Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack. Before anyone accuses me of being a fake fan for not buying the new deluxe edition, I already have the Midnights: Lavender Edition CD. I just can’t bring myself to buy another CD for ONE extra song. We are in a recession, Taylor Alison Swift! The track is good though, and provides more insight into her relationship with Joe Alwyn. She describes a relationship that is dying and how she feels like she is the only one fighting for it. I just don’t know how you go from Sweet Nothing to You’re Losing Me on the same album. I also don’t know how she went from a man with no opinions to a man with too many opinions. You’ve probably already heard that Taylor and Matty Healy are officially over. Taylor’s publicist Tree Paine is probably at the hair salon right now getting her grey roots touched up with a vibrant auburn colour after a stressful few weeks.
I’m currently counting down the days to July 7th. There’s rumours of a Speak Now short film and I need it like Taylor always needs to have the last word. For now, I will settle for reminiscing on all things Folklore and Evermore.
Folklore 📝
In July of 2020, we were in lockdown in Sydney and my life had revolved around vegan cheese toasties, staring at the wall and family game nights via Zoom. If anyone asked I would’ve told them I was doing my best in these uncertain times. When in reality, I had started plucking my own eyebrows, writing bad slam-poetry and applying red lipstick for a day around the house just to feel something. The surprise announcement of the Folklore album made me feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. I don’t think the album could’ve come at a better time. It was the warm hug that I needed. The type of hug where you settle into the persons chest and start to cry, your body shaking as you weep, their hand on your head.
This was the first album Taylor released where all the song titles were written in lowercase letters. As a society, I think it is time we all went into our iPhone settings and turned back on automatic capitalisation. Come on guys, it’s time. We were never too cool or busy for grammar! As a form of protest, any tracks mentioned here will be capitalised. Any other grammatical errors you find here are deliberate and to make sure you’re paying attention!
Prior to this era, we had a series of pop albums from Taylor and I often wondered if she’d ever return to her singer-songwriter roots. It is style that showcases her strengths as a songwriter and also gives her a space to write from other people’s perspectives. Folklore is an album full of lyrics written with an imaginary quill pen to tracks created by Aaron Dessner of The National and Taylor’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff. While her earlier albums hold special places in my heart for nostalgic reasons, Folklore and Evermore align more with adult me. Taylor went from writing about her dream first date on Fearless to writing about divorce, infidelity and standing by a cliff on Folklore.
I want to give this album to people who think they’re too cool and evolved to like Taylor Swift. It is 2023 and there are still people who struggle to wrap their head around multi-faceted women, who wear sparkly dresses and sing about princes and princesses, but also write lyrics like “And if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake?”. I’m often met with eye rolls when I talk passionately about Taylor’s discography, and I truly feel sorry for people who live their lives trying to look cool, neglecting themselves of pure joy (or a good cry). On Folklore Taylor proved she can excel in any genre and continued to defy her critics time and time again. Perhaps one of her biggest achievements is writing relatable and interesting lyrics, despite being wildly wealthy and successful. She even managed to write about her Rhode Island mansion in The Last Great American Dynasty in a way that made her seem like the underdog. The vulnerability on Mirrorball when she sings “I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try” shows that despite her success, she still feels she needs to prove herself and desperately wants people to like her. In many ways, Taylor is an example of someone who has never outgrown their middle-school loser complex. Her relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal also ignited a desire in her to expand her artistry. Taylor went from “With your indie records much cooler than mine” to casually writing Folklore, an indie record so cool that it made Bon Iver and The National want to collaborate with her.
Taylor said that many of the stories depicted on these albums were inspired by books and films she was watching during quarantine. Are you telling me that Illicit Affairs wasn’t inspired by Big and Carrie’s affair in season 3 of Sex and the City? I mean, “Don’t call me KID, don’t call me BABY” is pretty on the nose.
Even when she’s writing from another perspective, so much of Taylor still shines through. Nods to her real-life experiences as a woman in the music industry are explored on Mad Woman, her childhood in Pennsylvania in Seven, subtle hints to her private relationship with Joe Alwyn in Invisible String and Peace.
This album certainly won over some of Taylor’s critics but there will always be those who are committed to misunderstanding her. In the meantime, she sure has had a marvellous time ruining everything, and perhaps that is enough.
Evermore 🍁
Now Evermore, is disgustingly underrated. It was released on the 11th of December 2021, five months after surprise-dropping Folklore. It is Tim’s favourite Tay Tay album. I have been telling people “Tim is an Evermore girlie” against his will. I listened to this album a lot when I was in Colorado in October of last year. It is the perfect backdrop to sipping on a pumpkin spice latte, while wearing warm fluffy socks and early gift-wrapping Christmas presents. I also prefer ‘Tis The Damn Season over Christmas Tree Farm as my Taylor Swift Christmas song of choice. I like my Christmas songs to hurt me. I adore every track on this album and love how natural Taylor fits into this songwriting style. I get the impression this album was made for pure joy, without high expectations of commercial success. “I just couldn’t stop writing” Taylor wrote on Instagram after the announcement of this second-surprise pandemic album.
In many ways, this album feels like an ode to entering your 30s. It may not have a song about ‘Feeling 33’ but it is an album filled with lyrics about returning to your hometown for Christmas, not being ready for marriage and losing a grandparent. A lot of this album has Taylor looking back and reflecting on what she has lost. In Right Where You Left Me she sings about someone who is “Still 23 inside her fantasy, how it was supposed to be”. Her perfectionist tendencies often show up through her lyrics, torturing her of what could have been. She also seems to have matured her perspective on breakups, showing grace and understanding for the end of a longterm relationship on Happiness. I lost my Nanna just over four months ago and I often listen to Majorie when I miss her.
Most of us came out of the pandemic with clinical depression and an extra 5 kilos, but Taylor released two career defining albums and established herself in a new genre. Meanwhile I’m still right where you left me, waiting for my post pandemic glow up. Maybe I’ll sleep in half the day, just for old times’ sake.
I’m literally obsessed with you. I could read your writing forever. CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE!!!!!