Taylor Swift’s Folklore Review

Last summer the famous Taylor Swift shocked her fans with an album unlike anything she has released. In 2014 Swift made the switch from country to pop with her album 1989. Because of her growth and continued success, no one was surprised and she proceeded to release two more pop albums. But in 2020 she shocked everyone by releasing a surprise folk and indie inspired album less than a year after her pop release, Lover. Folklore was written in the depths of lockdown in response to COVID-19 and the themes of isolation, self-discovery and deep sadness are shown throughout the album. In collaboration with Aaron Dessner of The Nationals and Big Red Machine, Jack Antonoff of fun. Bleachers and Steel Train, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Swift’s long-time boyfriend and rumored fiancé Joe Alwyn, Swift has written arguably one of the most introspective and representing albums of our time in COVID-19 isolation.

Folklore is a 16-track album, with one bonus track. Unlike most of Taylor Swifts other albums the writing expresses situations and life experiences that do not relate directly to Swift’s personal life. In the movie concert Swift created in partnership with Disney Plus, she articulated using the current political climate, COVID-19 and the experiences of her loved ones as inspiration for this album (Swift, 2020). In combination with exceptionally heartfelt and devasting lyrics Swift uses only acoustic instruments and piano to create the most magnificent album she has ever released, and I am not the only one who thinks so.

Bob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote “…full of story-telling depth she’s never come close to before. Some of us have spent years dreaming Taylor would do a whole album like this, but nobody really dreamed it would turn out this great. Her greatest album — so far.” (Sheffield, 2020). In his article reviewing the album, Sheffield praised Swift’s heartbreaking lyrical genius. Comparing it to her work in “Safe and Sound” for the soundtrack of The Hunger Games, Sheffield praises Folklore and the bravery Swift portrayed in releasing music that was not destined to for number one on the radio. He mentions Taylor Swift’s prologue where she says “In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness. Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory.” I think this says a lot about what isolation did to all of us. Did we flourish and create something magical out of the loneliness and mundane routine our lives have endured, or did we fall and let the last year pass us by in a blur of take out and work from home pajamas?

In contrast Jon Caramanica wrote from a much different viewpoint in his review for The New York Times (Caramanica, 2020). As someone who doesn’t appreciate Folklore unlike many other critics, he closes his piece with “The desolate, stubborn, overcomposed indie rock of “Folklore,” though, is a tough thicket to tame. Sometimes she triumphs, wrestling it until it’s slack. But when it stifles her, it deserves all the eye rolls it gets.” Throughout the article Caramanica argues that Swift is not vocally talented enough to release such a slow and subdued album. Obviously not all of us can be Swifties and stan every album she creates but this broad assessment discredits the transparency not a lot of artist portray. This exposing release reflects the seclusion and solitude a lot of us experienced in 2020 and I strongly believed it was the virtual therapy many people, millennials specially, needed.

As mentioned earlier, this album embraces many different perspectives and we see that throughout the album. Between the three-song series of “Cardigan”, “August” and “Betty” that explains multiple perspectives of a young love triangle, and the biographical story of Rebekah West Harkness depicted in “The Last Great American Dynasty”, Swift has showcased her writing talent in a way that is more advanced than her previous work. In this album we also have the dark and somber songs like “This is Me Trying”, “My Tears Ricochet” and “Epiphany”. These titles all have lyrics that suggest they were inspired directly from the global pandemic and the overwhelming differences it has created in everyone’s life. In this collaborative, recorded at home album, Taylor Swift demonstrates themes of pure vulnerability and openness. She partnered raw, heartbreaking lyrics with rare instrumentals to give us the heart wrenching anthems we needed to survive the most isolating and unprecedented times of the 21st century.

Works Cited

Caramanica, J. (2020, July 26). Taylor Swift, a Pop Star Done With Pop. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/arts/music/taylor-swift-folklore-review.html.

Sheffield, R. (2020, July 24). Taylor Swift Leaves Her Comfort Zones Behind on the Head-Spinning, Heartbreaking 'Folklore'. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/taylor-swift-leaves-her-comfort-zones-behind-on-the-head-spinning-heart-breaking-folklore-1033533/.

Swift, T. (2020, November 25). Watch folklore: The long Pond Studio sessions: Full Movie: Disney+. https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/folklore-the-long-pond-studio-sessions/3Xlc0EjKtKpp.