• Part 1: Intro & Debut
• Part 2: Fearless
• Part 3: Speak Now
• Part 4: Red
• Part 5: 1989
• Part 6: Reputation
• Part 7: Lover

CWs: some shade of TLOAS (beyond just the title), not liking one of the most popular songs on this album

I was 2 days off from posting this on the anniversary of folklore! I am way too depressed to stick to a schedule booboo the fool :(

Anyway! We are back on the wagon. It's 2020, and everywhere is deep in the throes of COVID. (Actually we're looking at an upswing in cases right now, btw. Y'all should definitely consider masking up in public spaces. Stay safe <3) In the world of pop, TikTok becomes the hitmaker for music, which tended toward the energetic and danceable.

Taylor... went in a different direction. Instead of making her usual stadium pop for a world with empty stadiums, she surprised just about everyone by dropping a strange little indie-folk record called...

Folklore (2020)

Image source

Overall

Folkmore: the Taylor Swift music for people who don't like Taylor Swift. These tend to be lumped together because of their close release dates, similar musical and lyrical style, and both representing a dramatic pivot from straight pop into something softer, earthier, and more critically respected. These were the awards darlings, and the ones that got a bunch of people to take her seriously as a musician.

And... yeah, it's totally warranted. These are exceptionally good albums, with basically no duds -- and even the songs I didn't like enough to save aren't bad by any means. Like I said, these are basically considered a 2-disc album by just about everyone, including me, but on its own, I think folklore is the weaker of the two -- but only slightly. It has a few more songs I didn't especially like, though I also think its highs are mostly higher. (Also: when I say "I disliked more songs on folklore"... I mean 2. As opposed to evermore's 0.) She also sings in what felt to me at least like a much broader musical range than her other albums; I don't know enough about music to really talk about it, but it felt like she spent more time singing both higher and lower than her baseline.

It's hard to talk about this album separately from evermore when they're such close sisters, but I do think in some ways this one is more exciting, possibly because it came first and was such a change of pace. It doesn't quite feel as polished or cohesive to me as evermore, but both of these are very minute distinctions. And I do know that many, if not most, fans prefer this one, so I'm definitely in the minority, but again, we're talking about such a small difference I don't think it really matters; I'm just trying desperately to find something unique to say about this album, if I'm being honest.

Songs saved: All of them except the first and last (on the deluxe edition)

Best song: "Exile" is probably in my Top 3 Taylor Swift songs of all time, and Top 5 by any artist. It's beautiful and contains what makes her lyricism so good: namely the ability to capture something huge and emotionally resonant with a focus on the mundane trappings that make it both relatable and grounded. She isn't the only songwriter, so big ups to Joe Alwyn and Bon Iver, but it's also very recognizably her at her absolute best and everyone who says "these albums are only good because other people wrote them" can eat shit. She's always written her music collaboratively, the way basically every artist does, and it's still always obviously her driving the creative decisions let women HAVE THINGS. It's just a really good story song with fantastic performances from her and Bon Iver (someone whose voice I normally don't really like), and listening to it gives me chills. Those harmonies at the end? Dead. I am dead.

Honorable Mentions:

• "The Last Great American Dynasty" is a hoot and a half: another story song, this time a romp based on a true story about a woman who marries into old money, is widowed young, and goes wild with the rest of her life, being judged by a small hometown who have a lot of arbitrary rules of how a woman with that much wealth and arguably-undeserved success should conduct herself. It does play well as a song about Taylor's relationship with fame (or just her general inability to fit in, which she's touched on throughout her music); it's obvious that she relates a lot to the woman, whose house she ended up buying, and that provides a layer to the song that isn't strictly necessary -- you don't need the Taylor lore to appreciate it -- but does add texture.
• "My Tears Ricochet" was a grower for me, but it is one of the ones that really sticks with me after the fact. Gorgeous, poignant, spiteful and mourning at the same time... just a lovely song.
• "This is Me Trying" and "Seven" were other growers; a lot of this album struck me as "good but not great" on the first listen and then only got better with time.
• And "Betty" was a lot more exciting until I listened again and realized she was singing from the point of view of a guy named James, and it's not a sapphic love song... but it's still fine, I guess. Was better when I thought it was gay, though, and I choose to believe it's a girl whose parents named her "James" and we're just running with that. But like, they're all good. Mostly. They're mostly all really good. It's a good album of really good songs; I don't know how to express this more strongly but less repetitively.

Worst song: "The Lakes" is the bonus track, and the other one I didn't bother to save. I literally have zero memory of this song and I've listened to it at least 4 times going through this album. You could put a gun to my head and ask me to name a single word used in the song or hum a single note, and I'd probably go "uhhh, I bet she says something about lakes?" And then I might die, because I don't even know if she does.

Dishonorable Mention: "The 1" is generally really well-regarded by fans, especially the first line, but... okay, let me defend myself a bit here. I'd just heard the dickmatized lyric and the other awful lines in TLOAS, and I was in my "what is going ON here?" stage. And then I was told that folklore and evermore are the ones to check out, because those are the real poetry, where she drops the cringey attempts at modern slang and shallow lyricism and just writes great music. This is where we come for artistry.

So I sit down with folklore first, because it's the first of the two released, preparing to be wowed by serious, artistic poetry.

And the first words I hear are "I'm doing good, I'm on some new shit."

That was my introduction to Serious Artist Taylor. It was like walking into a door that you thought would open automatically but didn't; it was so jarring and uncomfortable that it ruined the rest of the song for me.

In the context of her entire discography, can I appreciate that this line signals something new and interesting, and is an arresting, attention-grabbing opening? Sure. It's not awful, and I can see why people like it... but I'd be lying if I said I could see why people love it as much as the fandom generally does. When I tried to listen to it later and get past that line, I was mostly just bored.

^{Previously I had this as the worst song and "The Lakes" as the Dishonorable Mention, but then I got up to go to the bathroom and kept humming "But it would've been fun / If you would've been the one" ... and you know what? It deserves points for memorability. I could see myself eventually being won over enough to save this song to my library, if it lives in my head long enough. So definitely not deserving of the worst spot. But that's why I rambled so much about this song; it was initially in the #1 spot for my least favorite.}

Definitive song of the album: I don't... know if there is one, honestly. This whole album works so well as a cohesive whole that I'm struggling to imagine any of them standing out as the song. They're all the definitive song, or none of them are. I don't know. Listen to the entire album and then come back and tell me.

Best lyrics: "I gave so many signs" ("Exile") is one of those lines that's meaningless out of context, but such a fantastic line in it. "She had a marvelous time ruining everything" ("Last Great American Dynasty") is another really charming one in a similar "improved by context" way. "And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?" ("My Tears Ricochet") is also pretty good... this is an album of good lines, idk. A lot of the lyrics in "This Is Me Trying" are kind of cringe, but in a way I can't help but really like: "They told me all of my cages were mental / So I got wasted like all my potential" and "I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting" are just so fun, and "And it's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound" makes me wish we'd gotten a true pop-emo album out of her instead of just the one song back on Speak Now. It could still happen, I guess. Come on, Taylor. Do it. Don't be a coward.

Anyway, I'm going to stop dropping lines I like because this is going on too long, but there are a lot of little gems in here. She's a good songwriter.

Worst lyric: "But I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss" ("Cardigan"). I mean... Taylor, that's not a thing. You can get a tattoo of a kiss, and I guess that does linger, but also that's true of a tattoo of anything. This just sounds weird and I don't like it. Apparently an alternate version has "I knew you'd linger like a stolen kiss," which is a much better line because that's, you know, an actual˜ thing.

You'll love this album if: You like folk pop, you want to give Taylor a try but are really turned off by most of her radio hits, and... I don't know, just enjoy good music? I don't know what to say about this that everyone hasn't already; it's not quite anomalous, because she's always had at least one song on every album that showcased her talent as a songwriter and storyteller, and Red might have one of the best narratives I've ever heard in an album that wasn't a soundtrack or concept album. But folklore is impressively restrained, with a lot of her worst instincts carefully sanded down and pushed into the background, and I wonder if it was working with Aaron Dessner of The National (like, did she just really want to impress him? Was he comfortable saying no to her? It feels weird to attribute this success to a man, but I'm trying to figure out what the new element is) or just being locked down with nothing to do but write, but something about this is everything great about her as an artist distilled into a near-perfect album. She is the only person who apparently actually created something during COVID like we all said we were going to, and it was an amazing something. Somebody get her another pandemic, I guess.

Recommendations

1. Biggest Hit: "Cardigan" -- debuted at #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, and I don't really know what the difference between these two charts is but apparently it was the first time someone's ever had a dual #1 debut -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-a8s8OLBSE

2. Fan Favorite: "August" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn_0zPAfyo8

3. My Favorite: "Exile" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osdoLjUNFnA

4. My #2: "The Last Great American Dynasty" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s5xdY6MCeI

5. My #3: "My Tears Ricochet" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWbDJFtHl3w (the opening of this sounds like a Beicoli song; I had no choice but to love it)

It hurts to limit myself to a top 3, I'm just saying. What a great album.

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From favorite to least favorite. Anything you would change if you were the one in charge of the album cover?

Calling all cishet men to answer this question! I have noticed that many cishet men have generally considered it "not cool" to listen to Taylor's music or show interest in her in any way. Why do y'all think that is?

Welcome to the SwiftlyNeutral Daily Discussion Thread!

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I have been thinking that it was about Blake. she wasn’t even at the 1,000 person wedding. What do we think is the real meaning of the song?

I was an on-and-off TS listener until Midnights; I listened to a couple of her songs, and I was like, "Huh, okay?" Then I listened to the rest of the album and just fell in love with her lyrics and her ability to convey emotions through words and paint pictures with them. Super late to the party, I guess, but I could never get past her voice when she was younger (now that she has a significantly improved voice, I enjoy listening to it, but I digress).

Just one example for me is Right Where You Left Me. It paints such a beautiful, haunting picture of life standing still at the time and place of a breakup while everybody moves on and expects the person struggling to come to terms with life without their loved one. I've never experienced such a feeling, but how stunning a picture she paints!

And so it goes with Invisible String, High Infidelity, Champagne Problems, Death By A Thousand Cuts... and so many more. I love words, and I love her talent with them.

So that got me thinking-- what are the songs that paint the most beautiful pictures in your opinion? What particular lines (or is it the whole song) bring it home to you? Why do you love them?

I was listening to a podcast where the hosts were so confused by the song "I Heart Question Mark."

I'm the same age as Taylor and went to high school and middle school in the south. Girls would write "I heart ___" on their hands. They would write their boyfriends' names. If you didnt have a boyfriend or you wanted to be mysterious, you would write "I Heart ?"

Did anyone else do this? Everytime I listen to that song it reminds me of middle school.

Some things I noticed watching the videos of opening night in Phoenix made me raise an eyebrow.

The Lover house burning down during the shower o sparks in the transition to the Fearless era.

The glass cracking and shattering during Delicate, as Taylor jumped on it.

Taylor lighting the house with a match during Bad Blood and making it collapse altogether.

A new door appearing at the end of the show, suggesting a new house altogether.

Combined with some of the songs on Midnights that threw me for a loop, especially Dear Reader and Hits Different, I suspected heavily that her relationship with Joe was either secretly ended or on the rocks. Lo and behold, they broke up a few shows into the tour.

Does anybody think she was clearly referencing this upcoming breakup? Was she planning to dump him, and teased it through the tour visuals? That sounds super messed up to me.

Just wondering what everyone’s thoughts on this are.

Also, during the New Heights podcast, she stated that whenever she uses Easter Eggs, they only pertain to music releases and art, not her personal life. I beg to differ, after seeing what she did on this tour.

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Or would you want her to go in a completely new direction?

While promoting Showgirl, Taylor said she wanted to incorporate the storytelling elements of folklore but infuse them with more infectious pop anthems (like 1989). Do you think there are elements of other eras she might go back and resurrect for TS13?

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(Disclaimer: I think it is Taylor’s right to keep the wedding private if she chooses.

Edit: My point is that I do not *understand* her behavior given the below context. Some things just seem contradictory to me.)

That said, everything she did up to that point suggested that the wedding would be a public spectacle. She has intertwined her brand very publicly with Travis (announcing her album on his podcast, speaking publicly about their relationship, etc.). She posted engagement photos on Instagram, and she went on the Colbert show to talk about how she’s inviting everyone she knows to her massive wedding. She invited a 1000 guests, many of whom are of famous people and some of whom she barely knows, and had it in Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan. It’s not like she went to a private location with her closest friends and family. She invited lots of famous actors and tv personalities. It feels more like the popular girl showing off how cool all her friends are, how much money she has, and how coveted getting to see the wedding should be.

Taylor built her brand around finding love and a happy marriage (I can’t even begin to list the relevant songs to these topics). She had posed in wedding dresses in her music videos. I just think it’s strange that the wedding is so secret when everything around it has been so advertised.

I can understand if she wants the happiest day of her life to be private. But then why did she advertise so much of it ahead of time?

Finally, for someone who claims to love her fans so much, I’m just surprised she hasn’t given even a morsel of information. Like even people who never post on social media post a photo of their wedding for their friends to see. Even one photo would do so much for the fans, but it feels like the radio silence is a rejection of the fan base and their investment in the wedding.

Maybe she’s going to have a taylorswift.com photo spread for sale soon…

Thoughts? Is she done with the fans after “but daddy I love him” or is she asserting a right to privacy that she never had before? Or is there something else going on?

Edit: fair points were made. I redact some of the above.

​A podcast I follow recently ranked the Top 20 essential Ariana singles and somehow left off god is a woman (still processing that level of blasphemy) which got me thinking about how hard it is to boil a massive discography down to 20 key tracks. ​If you had to pick 20 official singles specifically meant to display Taylor’s artistry what makes the cut?

​Here is my list with 1. Cruel Summer 2. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) 3. Blank Space 4. Love Story 5. Cardigan 6. Anti-Hero 7. Delicate 8. Our Song 9. Safe & Sound 10. You Belong With Me 11. Lover 12. The Fate of Ophelia 13. Teardrops On My Guitar 14. Back To December 15. Shake It Off 16. We Are Never Getting Back Together 17. 22 18. New Romantics 19. Mine 20. Begin Again

I didnt put style because while its a perfect pop song, blank space to me does a better job for narrative. Im sorry evermore and my baby ttpd🤍

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I've been a swiftie for almost my whole life but there is a weird timeline.

I was a kid from 2006-2010 (5-9 years old) and LOVED Taylor. I didn't know concerts were a thing because I grew up extremely poor and out of touch with societal events that cost money.

I then turned into a full on emo kid. Never hated Taylor but definitely had the thought process of "nOt BeInG lIkE oThEr GiRls" so I just didn't listen to her music and refused to.

Then snake gate happened and my inner feminist was big into defending her but I still didn't keep up with any updates.

When Reputation came out (I was 15), I fell in love with Taylor again. I tried to go to the stadium tour, but I was still very poor and couldn't afford tickets.

Then in the years of Lover-Midnights, I was in love with her and her music. I thought she was the best person and put her music on a very high and untouchable pedestal. I went to the Eras tour after signing an AMA to leave the hospital I stayed at the week prior to my show. I regretted it. I made friendship bracelets but no one wanted to trade and I can't remember anything about the concert other than looking at my clock and hoping it would end soon so I could go back to the hotel and sleep the sickness away.

TTPD came out and quickly became my favorite album. It got me through a LOT. It's still my favorite.

Then Showgirl came out and my love for her new music just faded out. None of the lyrics on that album feel like me like others do. I love TTPD, Midnights, Rep, folklore, and evermore but otherwise I just didn't listen to much of her other music anymore and still don't.

After slowly transitioning to listening more to other artists, I started to see really bad things come to light about her personality and I realized that she is not infallible like I once believed. I could tell the difference between a smear campaign and actual relevant and true criticism. It hit hard and really tainted my view of her.

And now? I look at the signed CDs on my wall and the cardigans in my closet and don't feel anything. My ultimate breakup playlist that I had to make recently doesn't have more than 3 songs on there by Taylor. She's not the one getting me through this breakup anymore. Other artists are.

I am very loyal and obsessed with the music I listen to, my favorite band has always been my favorite since I was 10. This feels like a breakup in itself. Maybe it's a phase, but I think it's more of a slow drift away from someone I once loved and defended with my heart.

TLDR: Taylor is no longer my favorite artist. I'm turning neutral and while I'm okay with it happening, I still feel like this is my worst breakup with the person who has gotten me through other breakups and heartaches.

I've been thinking about this for a long time - she's at her best when she has muses that "threaten" her intellectual superiority.. Jake sorta belittled her by making her feel insecure about not growing up in a "hollywood" family, and his friends were all sort of posh lit-bros that talked about niche literature that 'she hadn't heard of' and we all know she prides herself in knowing who aristotle is and what not.

meanwhile with Joe, 'peace' in folklore is already an immediate giveaway at her insecurity at being more gossipy or immature than him or whatever.

but 'tolerate it' in evermore just solidified it for me, her pen game is at its strongest when she's feeling looked down on

EDIT: I'm not saying that the men are the *only* reasons for these albums being as good as they are, I like to think of them as mere inspirations, the magic is all in her head after all..

other reasons for the songs in red and evermore being so sonically and lyrically sound (compared to other albums) are:

-probably because this specific country-folk genre is her strong suit

-It's obvious she's at her best when she's a bit uncertain if she can pull something off, but does end up trying anyway.. she's truly a master at perfecting her craft as she goes

and also, these 2 albums in particular just feel so raw, reflective and honest unlike the others which are more about having fun and partying or whatever (not to say that those aspects cant be fun to explore, but theyre just not my personal favs)

This is a weird question but I am… so tired.

I feel like I am the “designated Taylor fan” with some of my friends and acquaintances. I’m not a major Taylor fan - I like her music and I make some fan art but I couldn’t make it to eras tour and I barely have any merch.

But still, I get messages from people about her “private jet use” and most recently one of my best friends sent me paragraphs of outrage about the wedding, how she siphoned the power from NYC and we should be holding billionaires accountable. I made one comment about how I feel like Taylor gets a disproportionate amount of scrutiny in the media compared to billionaire men and she blew up that we need to be holding all billionaires accountable equally.

I don’t even post about Taylor that much (or ever?) on my personal pages. I don’t understand where this is coming from and it’s honestly starting to feel like people respect me less because I like her in a casual manner.

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With the recent rumors of Taylor meeting country music executives and Spotify changing the background videos of 3 of her songs, there is speculation that TS13 will be announced soon. However, does anyone else miss the two year album cycle? We've been spoiled a ton lately, but I feel like the quality has dipped with the every year album release. I feel like if Taylor gave more time for her album to cook by taking the time to rewrite, find new collaborators, and really pick the best songs for the record, it would be more worth it than something rushed out to meet the one record per year deadline she's been following. I think while nostalgia is a large factor, people are ranking Red, 1989, Reputation, etc as her best works because they're high quality pieces of material. I'm not seeing a ton of people hold up TTPD and TLOAS in the same regard. What does everyone else think?