Well, it’s finally here- my inevitable analysis of Taylor Swift’s NINTH studio album, evermore!! I love doing these, and I hope someone likes reading them, too!
Just like folklore, evermore was almost impossible to rank, but here is my tentative list. With that said, I feel like it changes with every listen (looking back on my folklore ranking this is totally true).
1- marjorie
2- champagne problems
3- ivy
4- gold rush
5- tis the damn season
6- long story short
7- evermore
8- willow
9- tolerate it
10- no body, no crime
11- dorothea
12- happiness
13- closure
14- coney island
15- cowboy like me
I LOVE ‘marjorie’ with my whole heart. Selfishly I feel like this song was written for me. I lost my grandmother less than two months ago and the grief process has been very tumultuous for me. This song said everything I feel like I didn’t have the words for. My absolute favorite lyrics on the album are, “I should have asked you how to be, asked you to write it down for me”. Taylor captured the pain of losing a grandmother in the most beautiful yet simple words. I cherish them.
‘Champagne problems’ is a clear fan-favorite, and for absolute good reason! I think this song is the closest to ‘All Too Well’ we’ve gotten from Taylor since she released that holy grail sad girl anthem. So, if ‘All Too Well’ is your favorite Taylor song (and probably favorite song ever if we’re being honest), then champagne problems is perfect. First of all, the BRIDGE. I think it’s remarkable how Taylor can tell an entire story in one bridge. It’s her signature and they are always my favorite part of the song. Second, I love how both the chords and story align with ‘New Years Day’ (in my opinion), which is probably one of my favorite songs from Reputation. Lastly, I have decided that champagne problems is about Jo and Laurie from Little Women and you will NOT change my mind. Jo and Laurie are the original platonic-soulmates-mistakenly-thought-to-be-romantic- soulmates and I think that champagne problems should be their theme song.
‘Ivy’ is so lovely, I think it has to be the most beautiful song on this album. The chorus is just the right amount of light and airy- it’s enchanting. What’s up with Taylor and Joe writing so many songs about cheating though? Lots to unpack there.
‘Gold rush’!!! It’s just perfect. At first listen I thought it may have been the point of view of Rebecca Harkness’ husband from the ‘last great american dynasty’, but now I honestly can’t listen to it without thinking it’s about Harry Styles! To be fair, Harry Styles takes up quite a bit of my brain activity on the daily, but still, the lyrics can’t be ignored. Growing up beautiful? Check. Everybody wants you? Check. Hair falling into place like dominos? Check. Tea? British. Check. (Okay maybe that one is a stretch). But I mean come on, he even has a song called ‘Golden’! If not about Harry, then I definitely think ‘gold rush’ at least falls into the category of songs exposing Taylor for her obsession with the Gatsby era, which I completely support.
Even though ‘tis the damn season’ isn’t relatable for me in the slightest, I just love the chorus. It’s so soothing. And I think it’s hilarious that Taylor basically told everyone to text their ex on winter break.
‘Long story short’ gives me Speak Now vibes and Alice in Wonderland vibes at the same time and I love it. I missed her bops like this one.
I feel like I need to explain myself for my ‘no body, no crime ranking’. I really like this song, especially because it feels SO old Taylor (huge ‘Better Than Revenge’, ‘Should Have Said No’, ‘Picture to Burn’ energy that I can 100% get behind). It’s perfect for jamming out in the car and not realizing that you’re speeding, but I just love the more slow heartfelt songs on this album so much. Also, if you’ve heard the theory about Harry Styles and Taylor Swift committing vehicular manslaughter during their relationship, just know I definitely support it.
‘Tolerate it’ and ‘happiness’ both hurt but in different ways. ‘Tolerate it’ describes a feeling that I think a lot of us can resonate with.‘Happiness’ is another type of hurt, but also coincides with healing and the growth of taking a past relationship as the happiness it brought and not writing it off completely.
Speaking of hurt and healing, I feel like the overall message of evermore is one of healing, while the message of folklore was hurt. I like to believe that this is what Taylor meant to do (and we all know she does not do things by accident). It feels true my own experiences this year as well as the state of the world- this summer was filled with pain and loss and hurt in the world, and folklore captured that. This winter, we have gotten our first glimpse of hope with the covid vaccine. Healing will happen soon, and evermore aligns with that glimmer of hope.
The last song, ‘evermore’ itself, is deep and raw and shows this progression from hurt to healing (“I’ve been down since July… I had a feeling so peculiar that this pain would be forevermore” and then… “I had a feeling so peculiar that this pain wouldn’t be forevermore”). This song gives me hope. I have had a really, really hard year and through my journey with loss and grief I feel like these two albums have been the soundtrack to my healing.
As you can see, I have listened to and thought about evermore and folklore QUITE a bit. I love deriving meaning and connections from song lyrics, and lucky for me Taylor’s music is riddled with lyrical connections and room for interpretation. Much to think about, always!
I haven’t done this with Taylor’s albums in the past (though I love them each in their own ways), but these two were special. I don’t know if it was the timing of this year or the fact that I have been feeling very much grown up lately, but they mean SO much to me.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the album as well. Do you like folklore or evermore better? It’s so hard, but I think I have to stick with my girl folklore- that album got me through this year (and I will love ‘this is me trying’ forever and ever).
xx, Lauren
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