Published 19:25 IST, July 24th 2020
Taylor Swift's 'Folklore' album goes beyond story-telling & love-stories, Read review
Taylor Swift's folklore album was released yesterday. This album redefines Taylor's place in the music industry as the world struggles through a pandemic.
Taylor Swift is on her way to revamp her country roots. The latest step in this direction is Taylor Swift’s 8th album Folklore. The country-turned-pop artist surprised everybody when she announced the album on July 23, 2020, and released it within few hours of its announcement. So how is Folklore different from Taylor Swift’s 7th album Lover? How did this pandemic affect her songwriting and her expertise in story-telling?
Taylor Swift’s 'Folklore' wins with its subtle tunes and stories
Taylor Swift is the master story-teller and queen of breakup songs. But over the years, the songstress has transformed herself in many ways. Her songs are not only a glimpse of her personal journey but also explain her whims, dreams, and aspirations. Every album that Taylor Swift writes is a reflection of her trajectories, losses, and wins.
Taylor Swift approached the start of her 30s with her 2019 album Lover. Through this 7th studio album, she talked about her dreamy love affair with boyfriend Joe Alwyn, her political stand and other life stories. But while Taylor was planning to take Lover around the globe, the Coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill. This standstill gave Taylor Swift a moment with her thoughts and life experiences.
Naturally, this four months’ quarantine resulted in an album that many Swifties have deemed as something that “saved 2020”. Taylor Swift’s brand new album folklore can be compared to a peaceful walk in a beautiful forest. As Taylor embarks on this 16-song journey, she is lost in her memories and visions. In comparison to Lover’s energy seen in peppy tracks such as You Need To Calm Down, folklore actually offers a state of calm and gives a sense of introspection.
Also read | Taylor Swift Calls Bon Iver & The National 'musical Heroes' As They Collab For'Folklore'
The first song in the album, the 1, which talks about a teen lover affair in the summer that could have ended happily. Just like any other teen love story, the song deals with time and age and how times were simpler back then they could have been something more than just a teenage love affair. The songs Betty and August are written on the same lines. The second song Cardigan and its music video indicate how Taylor's music helped her stay afloat as the waves of uncertainty and toxicity hit her.
Taylor Swift’s album Folklore takes a sharp turn with the songs the Last American Dynasty and Seven. The first song draws a parallel between Taylor Swift and late American composer Rebekah Harkness. The song focuses on how Taylor and Rebekah suffered as they live under a constant spotlight. The song seven focuses on a childhood friendship that Taylor swift remembered during her walk and the struggles are friend faced at the age of seven.
The moment Taylor Swift announced folklore she also announced that she has collaborated with her “musical heroes” Bon Iver and The National. This unexpected collaboration delivered a promising hit in the form of Exile. Taylor Swift and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon deliver a song that tells a tale about a couple who has broken up due to issues that can never be mended. Justin Vernon’s collab with Taylor is not something that Swifties expected after hearing Brendon Urie on Me!
My tears ricochet and hoax talk about a doomed love affair that showed signs of toxicity from the start. Taylor Swift, who knows how to turn a breakup into a tell-all-tale, recalls these incidents and moves on swiftly. The folklore album would have been incomplete without dedicating a song to Taylor’s lover Joe Alwyn. The song invisible string gives fans a new glimpse into their fairy-tale love story.
Overall Taylor Swift delivers an album that shows put her personal life and singing career into perspective. The pandemic not only helped Taylor look back but also create a strong and passionate impression about her past and her aspirational future. Without any bubble-gum pop, folklore gives Taylor Swift’s country-roots and pop queen status a brand new image. An image that has evolved with her and stands as a testimony of a young girl’s journey in the music industry.
Updated 19:24 IST, July 24th 2020