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lunapaper · 2 years

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Album Review: 'Midnights' - Taylor Swift

What keeps Taylor Swift up at night?

A lot, apparently: Past lovers. Romantic nostalgia. Old enemies. Made-up scenarios where her future daughter-in-law kills her for her fortune.

Or as Taylor herself puts it: ‘[A] momentary glimmer of distraction. The tiniest notion of reminiscent thought that wanders off into wondering, the spark that lights a tinderbox of fixation. And now, it is irreversible. The flame has caught. You’re wide awake.’

Shrugging off her cardigan, Swift teams up once again with Jack Antonoff to turn her late night ruminations into yet another surprise release entitled Midnights.

It’s easy to think of her latest body of work as Taylor’s own Melodrama: indebted to slick electro-pop with a taste for vengeance while riddled with self-loathing and insecurity. But, as the title might suggest, it’s a lot more low-key than Lorde’s critically-acclaimed 2017 album, made up of languorous loops of sound and the singer’s dense storytelling. You can also detect hints of Reputation and its bitter edge.

Taylor makes a few stark confessions throughout the record. ‘I have this thing where I get older/But just never wiser,’ she admits on ‘Anti-Hero. ‘Midnights become my afternoons.’ And yes, this is the ‘sexy baby’ song. I get the point: She’s starting to feel like she’s being surpassed by younger, more provocative artists. It’s a 30 Rock reference, relax.

Taylor also says ‘so long’ to that goody two shoes ‘Daisy May’ on ‘You’re on Your Own, Kid.’ which was probably followed by the singer setting fire to her cutesy folklore cardigan (retailing at $75 at the time) in some ritualistic bonfire.

Insecurities regarding body image also bubble to the fore as Taylor searches a glitzy industry party filled with ‘better bodies,’ while realising that her dreams of stardom aren’t all that rare. The twee ‘Sweet Nothing’ features one of Taylor’s better verses (‘Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors/And smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other/And the voices that implore, "You should be doing more"/To you, I can admit that I’m just too soft for all of it’).

But just as she begins to show a glimmer of self-awareness, Taylor ends up doubling down hard, every well-spun bit of wordplay surrounded by a sea of clunky, often childish lines. But she knows that they’re bad and she knows everyone’s gonna talk about them, so Taylor wins again.

Metaphors feel forced (‘Don't put me in the basement/When I want the penthouse of your heart’), while the cliches are out of control. ‘Question...?’ suffers from a serious case of Main Character Syndrome, the whole room cheering Taylor on as she makes out with the most popular boy in school. It’s a scene straight out of a Netflix original, able to envision the crane shot swirling above the two as they tenderly suck face.

Taylor also swears yet revenge yet again on ‘Vigilante Shit,’ this time with a cat’s eye ‘sharp enough to kill a man.’ She talks as if karma is her own personal pet she can just sic on her enemies at will, which is especially galling as someone who’s cultivated such a rabid fanbase, constantly weaponising them against those who supposedly cross her. Not that long ago, they went after a grown man and his sister over a red scarf that DIDN’T ACTUALLY EXIST.

Although it sounds like Taylor’s planning to kill Scooter at some point, presumably on a weekend. Remember when she revealed on ‘this is me trying’ that he had a couple of side chicks?

Even ‘Anti-Hero’ has some pretty flawed logic: You can’t complain that you’re treated like said anti-hero one minute, then act petty and vengeful the next. It’s been almost 15 years – which one are you at this point?

Naturally, Midnights also comes with its own labyrinth of easter eggs. No, I won’t be going through them all, ‘cos I really don’t give a fuck. I shouldn’t need a guidebook to tell me which song is about John Mayer and which one contains the Knives Out reference. If anything, the album only further proves that Taylor doesn’t need to commit every single thought to tape. Sometimes, it really, really isn’t that deep.

Final track ‘Mastermind’ offers the most telling glimpse into Taylor’s psyche - ‘No one wanted to play with me as a little kid/So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since/To make them love me and make it seem effortless.’ She even calls herself ‘Machiavellian’ at one point. Whether it’s in jest is kinda hard to tell, but it’s certainly a... choice.

Musically, Midnights is also a pretty mixed bag. ‘Vigilante Shit’ is a highlight, with bass throbbing its way around dark corners in a way that’s rather Billie-esque, which just makes the ‘sexy baby’ line from ‘Anti-Hero’ feel even more glaring. ‘Lavender Haze’ also utilises those subterranean bass groans, creating a murky, seductive groove beneath metallic gears shifts. ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid,’ meanwhile,’ is a more grown-up ‘Love Story’ from the point of view of a more jaded Juliet. ‘Anti-Hero,’ though, is just a lazy rehash of ‘Blank Space,’ right down to the complaints of feeling misunderstood.

‘Karma’ is a more stylish and euphoric take on Washed Out’s ‘Feel It All Around.’ ‘Snow on the Beach’ also twinkles; delicate and windswept. But for all of Swift’s excitement to be collaborating with Lana Del Rey, the singer is relegated to backing vocalist. ‘Cos, let’s face it, Taylor would never let herself be upstaged like that.

And yes, there’s a 3am edition of Midnights, ‘cos Taylor’s gonna milk those late night ruminations for all they’re worth, dammit.

‘The Great War’ is okay, but not that great. Honour, truth, treaties, poppies, calling off the troops, we get it. ‘Bigger Than the Whole Sky’ has a hypnotic country twang, returning to the lush, cloudy nostalgia of folklore and evermore. ‘Would’ve Could’ve, Should’ve’ is a stormy, Fleetwood Mac-esque riposte at Mayer (found it), reflecting on the power imbalance in their romance while pleading: ‘Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first.’

Midnights is a well-produced but rather unnecessary record. Even with its slick, shimmery wash, it’s everything you’ve heard before in some form or another: A song about John, a song about Tom, a song about Calvin. ‘Yes, I know I can be quite a divisive character, but I’m really just like you!’ Revenge. A couple of love songs dedicated to Joe. Probably something about Kanye and Kim. More revenge. Oh, and here’s a dossier full of clues for you to connect together like Charlie Kelly trying to track down the elusive Pepe Silvia. Boom, critical acclaim!

As cynical as I felt about folklore and evermore, at least those records possessed some growth and a few interesting ideas. But as those albums were to indie folk, Midnights feels late to the party when it comes to brooding noir pop, the kind that’s already been perfected by other artists in every way imaginable. It’s really just a CHVRCHES or Purity Ring record in a quirky jumper.

But what do I know? The record’s already gone to No.1. Buying presale tickets for her US tour turned into a bloodbath. Taylor could release a full hour of silence, and stans will hail it as an artistic statement and critics will write one in-depth analysis after another. And Stereogum will probably write the most positive negative review of it ever. Taylor’s no longer capturing the zeitgeist at this point, she is the goddamn zeitgeist.

- Bianca B.

#music #taylor swift #midnights #new #reviews #albums #Bianca B

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bananaofswifts · 4 years

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Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’: Album Review

It’s hard to remember any contemporary pop superstar that has indulged in a more serious, or successful, act of sonic palette cleansing than Swift has with her eighth album, a highly subdued but rich affair written and recorded in quarantine conditions.

While most of us spent the last four months putting on some variation of “the quarantine 15,” Taylor Swift has been secretly working on the “Folklore” 16. Sprung Thursday night with less than a day’s notice, her eighth album is a fully rounded collection of songs that sounds like it was years in the interactive making, not the product of a quarter-year’s worth of file-sharing from splendid isolation. Mind you, the words “pandemic hero” should probably be reserved for actual frontline workers and not topline artistes. But there’s a bit of Rosie the Riveter spirit in how Swift has become the first major pop artist to deliver a first-rank album that went from germination to being completely locked down in the midst of a national lockdown.

The themes and tone of “Folklore,” though, are a little less “We can do it!” and a little more “Can we do it?” Because this new collection is Swift’s most overtly contemplative — as opposed to covertly reflective — album since the fan favorite “Red.” Actually, that’s an understatement. “Red” seems like a Chainsmokers album compared to the wholly banger-free “Folklore,” which lives up to the first half of its title by divesting itself of any lingering traces of Max Martin-ized dance-pop and presenting Swift, afresh, as your favorite new indie-electro-folk/chamber-pop balladeer. For fans that relished these undertones of Swift’s in the past, it will come as a side of her they know and love all too well. For anyone who still has last year’s “You Need to Calm Down” primarily in mind, it will come as a jolting act of manual downshifting into actually calming down. At least this one won’t require an album-length Ryan Adams remake to convince anyone that there’s songwriting there. The best comparison might be to take “Clean,” the unrepresentative denouement of “1989,” and… imagine a whole album of that. Really, it’s hard to remember any pop star in our lifetimes that has indulged in a more serious act of sonic palette cleansing.

The tone of this release won’t come as a midnight shock to anyone who took spoilers from the announcement earlier in the day that a majority of the tracks were co-written with and produced by the National’s Aaron Dessner, or that the man replacing Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie as this album’s lone duet partner is Bon Iver. No matter how much credit you may have given Swift in the past for thinking and working outside of her box, a startled laugh may have been in order for just how unexpected these names felt on the bingo card of musical dignitaries you expected to find the woman who just put out “Me!” working with next. But her creative intuition hasn’t led her into an oil-and-water collaboration yet. Dessner turns out to be an ideal partner, with as much virtuosic, multi-instrumental know-how (particularly useful in a pandemic) as the most favored writer-producer on last year’s “Lover” album, Jack Antonoff.

He, too, is present and accounted for on “Folklore,” to a slightly lesser extent, and together Antonoff and Dessner make for a surprisingly well-matched support-staff tag team. Swift’s collabs with the National’s MVP clearly set the tone for the project, with a lot of fingerpicking, real strings, mellow drum programming and Mellotrons. You can sense Antonoff, in the songs he did with Swift, working to meet the mood and style of what Dessner had done or would be doing with her, and bringing out his own lesser-known acoustic and lightly orchestrated side. As good of a mesh as the album is, though, it’s usually not too hard to figure out who worked on which song — Dessner’s contributions often feel like nearly neo-classical piano or guitar riffs that Swift toplined over, while Antonoff works a little more toward buttressing slightly more familiar sounding pop melodies of Swift’s, dressed up or down to meet the more somber-sounding occasion.

For some fans, it might take a couple of spins around the block with this very different model to become re-accustomed to how there’s still the same power under the hood here. And that’s really all Swift, whose genius for conversational melodies and knack for giving every chorus a telling new twist every time around remain unmistakable trademarks. Thematically, it’s a bit more of a hodgepodge than more clearly autobiographical albums like “Lover” and “Reputation” before it have been. Swift has always described her albums as being like diaries of a certain period of time, and a few songs here obviously fit that bill, as continuations of the newfound contentment she explored in the last album and a half. But there’s also a higher degree of fictionalization than perhaps she’s gone for in the past, including what she’s described as a trilogy of songs revolving around a high school love triangle. The fact that she refers to herself, by name, as “James” in the song “Betty” is a good indicator that not everything here is ripped from today’s headlines or diary entries.

But, hell, some of it sure is. Anyone looking for lyrical Easter eggs to confirm that Swift still draws from her own life will be particularly pleased by the song “Invisible String,” a sort of “bless the broken roads that led me to you” type song that finds fulfillment in a current partner who once wore a teal shirt while working as a young man in a yogurt shop, even as Swift was dreaming of the perfect romance hanging out in Nashville’s Centennial Park. (A quick Google search reveals that, yes, Joe Alwyn was once an essential worker in London’s fro-yo industry.) There’s also a sly bit of self-referencing as Swift follows this golden thread that fatefully linked them: “Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to L.A.,” she sings. The “dive bar” that was first established as the scene of a meet-cute two albums ago makes a reappearance in this song, too.

As for actual bad blood? It barely features into “Folklore,” in any substantial, true-life-details way, counter to her reputation for writing lyrics that are better than revenge. But when it does, woe unto he who has crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s on a contract that Swift feels was a double-cross. At least, we can strongly suspect what or who the actual subject is of “Mad Woman,” this album’s one real moment of vituperation. “What did you think I’d say to that?” Swift sings in the opening lines. “Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? / They strike to kill / And you know I will.” Soon, she’s adding gas to the fire: “Now I breathe flames each time I talk / My cannons all firing at your yacht / They say ‘move on’ / But you know I won’t / … women like hunting witches, too.” A coup de gras is delivered: “It’s obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together.” It’s a message song, and the message is: Swift still really wants her masters back, in 2020. And is really still going to want them back in 2021, 2022 and 2023, too. Whether or not the neighbors of the exec or execs she is imagining really mouth the words “f— you” when these nemeses pull up in their respective driveways may be a matter of projection, but if Swift has a good time imagining it, many of her fans will too.

(A second such reference may be found in the bonus track, “The Lakes,” which will only be found on deluxe CD and vinyl editions not set to arrive for several weeks. There, she sings, “What should be over burrowed under my skin / In heart-stopping waves of hurt / I’ve come too far to watch some namedropping sleaze / Tell me what are my words worth.” The rest of “The Lakes” is a fantasy of a halcyon semi-retirement in the mountains — in which “I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet / Because I haven’t moved in years” — “and not without my muse.” She even imagines red roses growing out of a tundra, “with no one around to tweet it”; fantasies of a social media-free utopia are really pandemic-rampant.)

The other most overtly “confessional” song here is also the most third-person one, up to a telling point. In “The Last Great American Dynasty,” Swift explores the rich history of her seaside manse in Rhode Island, once famous for being home to the heir to the Standard Oil fortune and, after he died, his eccentric widow. Swift has a grand old time identifying with the women who decades before her made fellow coast-dwellers go “there goes the neighborhood”: “There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen / She had a marvelous time ruining everything,” she sings of the long-gone widow, Rebekah. “Fifty years is a long time / Holiday House sat quietly on that beach / Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / Then it was bought by me… the loudest woman this town has ever seen.” (A fine madness among proud women is another recurring theme.)

But, these examples aside, the album is ultimately less obviously self-referential than most of Swift’s. The single “Cardigan,” which has a bit of a Lana Del Rey feel (even though it’s produced by Dessner, not Del Rey’s partner Antonoff) is part of Swift’s fictional high school trilogy, along with “August” and “Betty.” That sweater shows up again in the latter song, in which Swift takes on the role of a 17-year boy publicly apologizing for doing a girl wrong — and which kicks into a triumphant key change at the end that’s right out of “Love Story,” in case anyone imagines Swift has completely moved on from the spirit of early triumphs.

“Exile,” the duet with Bon Iver, recalls another early Swift song, “The Last Time,” which had her trading verses with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. Then, as now, she gives the guy the first word, and verse, if not the last; it has her agreeing with her partner on some aspects of their dissolution (“I couldn’t turn things around”/”You never turned things around”) and not completely on others (“Cause you never gave a warning sign,” he sings; “I gave so many signs,” she protests).

Picking two standouts — one from the contented pile, one from the tormented — leads to two choices: “Illicit Affairs” is the best cheating song since, well, “Reputation’s” hard-to-top “Getaway Car.” There’s less catharsis in this one, but just as much pungent wisdom, as Swift describes the more mundane details of maintaining an affair (“Tell your friends you’re out for a run / You’ll be flushed when you return”) with the soul-destroying ones of how “what started in beautiful rooms ends with meetings in parking lots,” as “a drug that only worked the first few hundred times” wears off in clandestine bitterness.

But does Swift have a corker of a love song to tip the scales of the album back toward sweetness. It’s not “Invisible String,” though that’s a contender. The champion romance song here is “Peace,” the title of which is slightly deceptive, as Swift promises her beau, or life partner, that that quality of tranquility is the only thing she can’t promise him. If you like your love ballads realistic, it’s a bit of candor that renders all the compensatory vows of fidelity and courage all the more credible and deeply lovely. “All these people think love’s for show / But I would die for you in secret.”

That promise of privacy to her intended is a reminder that Swift is actually quite good at keeping things close to the vest, when she’s not spilling all — qualities that she seems to value and uphold in about ironically equal measure. Perhaps it’s in deference to the sanctity of whatever she’s holding dear right now that there are more outside narratives than before in this album — including a song referring to her grandfather storming the beaches in World War II — even as she goes outside for fresh collaborators and sounds, too. But what keeps you locked in, as always, is the notion of Swift as truth-teller, barred or unbarred, in a world of pop spin. She’s celebrating the masked era by taking hers off again.

Taylor Swift “Folklore” Republic Records

#taylor swift #folklore #review

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theswiftarmy · 5 years

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#6 - A Helicopter Ride To Oak Felder’s Spaceship

“Well, this is great, Taylor and that swift attorney of hers now have even more leverage to use against us to get Taylor’s masters.” Scooter sneered.

“I miss Sushi.”

“You can get more when we land.” Scooter said back.

“My cat. Scootsy B, not the food. I’m actually pretty full, which is surprising, because usually sushi doesn’t always fill you up. You know?”

The Carlyle Lawyer met eyes with Justin. I know exactly what you mean he thought. They mentally agreed.

“Why did you have your cat in the office anyway?”

“It was bring your cat to the office day, Scooter! Remember? Last time I brought Tuna, so this time, it was Sushi’s turn.” He sent a quick text to Hailey to give her the news on Sushi. At least Tuna was still safe with Hailey. For now…

The moment Justin pushed the tiny icon to send his text message to Hailey he immediately received another. It was a message from Ed Sheeran offering to take Tuna to a safe place. “That’s weird.”

“What?” Scooter asked.

“Ed just asked if he could come get Tuna.”

“Maybe he’s just asking you for a can of tuna?” Scooter shrugged. “To make a tuna sandwich?” He offered. Everyone but Scott shrugged.

“Don’t reply to him.” Scott said in a very Jeff Goldblum-ish way. Someone had to be that Jeff Goldblum voice of reason, and Jeff isn’t here at the moment, so Scott got the gig.

Justin looked up from his phone, “But why not? Ed is totally cool with me I really don’t think—Whoa. This is even weirder. He just sent me a little heart, and a cat emoji out of the blue.”

“It’s a phish.” Scott said unsympathetically. Again with the Jeff G voice.

“No, Tuna is my cat, not a fish.” Bieber responded. No one responded back.

“They’re trying to figure out where we plan to land.” The Carlyle Group legal rep eventually added.

Scott nodded in his direction. “Precisely.”

Scooter lost his patience. “This is ridiculous! I mean, all this over, what… Some music? Guys, IT is JUST music! This is crazy.”

Scott turned and locked eyes with Scooter.

“You don’t know what you’ve bought, Scooter, do you?” He said in a very serious tone, a Jeff Goldblum serious tone. The corporate helicopter engines and blades hummed away in the background as they flew through the air. The cabin of the helicopter felt like a war room now. The cutting edge modified Bell 525 Relentless was custom built, a boardroom like interior, extra long flight range with multiple tanks of gas. They sat in fancy seating facing one another with wide views through the windows of the world outside, this big machine was a traveling fortress and a businessperson’s dream. From up here, one could keep a whole company going, even if it were under siege.

“Well, I mean, is there something you’re not telling me, Scott?”

Scott closed his eyes, meditated for a moment, “It’s more than just music, it’s so much more than you even know, Big Machine is… something special…”

“Spare me the story, you told me that when you sold me the label. Remember? And I ran the numbers, liked what I saw… He was there.” The legal rep nodded.

Scott opened his eyes and his gaze became hypnotic. “Taylor’s catalog is… something special… Taylor Swift’s catalog is REALLY special. More than you could even know.”

“Yes.” Scooter stared at Scott incredulously. “It’s catchy music that sells! It sells REALLY well, that’s WHY I bought your label. That’s all it is!” He threw his hands in the air, “Catchy songs! That’s how we make a living, Scott. We make fun little musical hooks that people can’t get enough of, catchy songs that people listen to and dance to over and over again… THEY have a good time and WE make money—”

“Oh, Scooter, catchy songs? That’s cute. Yes, that’s cute, Scooter. I’ll say it again.“ He paused to stress every word. “You, don’t, know what you’ve bought, DO you?”

“Okay Scott,” Scooter sat back in his chair, “Enlighten me. Enlighten all of us here. Because, to me, it was just a business transaction, I bought some catchy music recorded on hard disk; I bought ownership of melody, notes combined with chords that people enjoy. They listen to it in the morning at the gym, on their way to work or school, maybe afterwards to unwind, have a good time, or dance the night away! I bought MASTERS. IT. IS. JUST. BUSINESS. If I didn’t buy Taylor Swift’s masters, then what exactly did you sell me, Scott?”

Scott smiled and sat back in his seat.

“You guys never figured it out, did you? All those catchy Taylor Swift songs, every time you sang along, and you never figured it out?”

“Figured what out, Scott Borchetta, figured WHAT out?” Scooter Braun grew impatient. “WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO HAVE FIGURED OUT!?!?”

Scott stared through the window of the hovering helicopter moving slowly away from the Big Machine offices, a giant Taylor Swift banner had been dropped over the front hanging from the roof and extending all the way to the street, the same concerned facial expression he had just a short time ago looking out that now covered office window returned.

“Have either of you ever heard of a Porter Pyramid?” he looked over at the Carlyle lawer and then back to Justin and Scooter.

“What on earth are you talking about Scott! A pyramid? Like, Egypt? What does that have to do with anything? You’ve lost your mind. Heck, I feel like I’VE lost MY mind. What on Earth is going on right now, you know? We’re flying through the air in what might as well be a military grade corporate helicopter after nearly having lost our lives at the hands of a bunch of obsessed Taylor Swift fans!”

“Bill Porter.” Scott repeated, again in that smooth Jeff Goldblum voice. “He worked in RCA Studio B, in Nashville, Tennessee from 1959 to 1964.”

“Are you even listening to me Scott? What does this have to do with anything?” Braun turned to Bieber. “I’m talking about a life or death situation here, and he’s talking about pyramids.”

Justin shrugged.

Scott laughed. “Do you want to know what you’ve bought, or not?”

Scooter fell silent. “Fine.” He shook his head, “Sure, whatever.”

“Bill Porter. He created something called a Porter Pyramid. ”

Scooter rolled his eyes then nodded begrudgingly. “Annnd…”

“It was nothing more than a piece of fiberglass cut in the shape of a triangle, and hung from the ceiling using a string. He made a bunch of these and put them around the studio. They changed the resonant modes the room naturally created. He was a true audio engineer pioneer.” Scott paused for a moment to make sure he had Scooter and Justin’s full attention before he continued, “Basically, they SHAPED sound. Frequencies captured by the microphone were different with the Porter Pyramids installed. Bill Porter considered the studio's acoustics problematic, with resonant room modes creating an uneven frequency response. Through careful experimentation he found spots in the room where resonant modes were minimal—”

“Wait, wait, stop, stop, okay?” Scooter interrupted. He sat a little closer to the edge of his cabin seat, intrigued. “Interesting stuff and all with the music history lesson, but can we skip ahead to the part where Taylor’s masters come in to all of this?”

Scott waited a few seconds, and continued unfazed, “What he didn’t tell anyone, was that shortly after he took the job in June of 1959, he was mixing a song called The Three Bells. While editing the master to be sent to New York for pressing, Porter accidentally hit the wrong controls on the tape recorder and stretched the tape at the beginning of the song, this distorted the pitch. Without telling anyone, he spliced in a different take with a good intro at the beginning, and sent that version instead.”

“Oh snap!” Justin exclaimed.

“What he ALSO didn’t tell anyone, was that he made recordings during his resonant room modes experiments. One of those recording contained nothing more than silence in the empty room. The sound of a blank space. He didn’t note on the recording where the microphone was placed, or the arrangement of the Porter Pyramids within the room. All we know, is it was recorded at RCA Studio B at some point between 1959 and 1964. We have strong suspicion it was actually recorded the same morning that Elvis recorded the song ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ Elvis recorded the song at the request of his manager Colonel Tom Parker, at Four AM on April Fourth, the studio was completely dark while the recording took place. This recording may have been made right after that. It may not have been his first, though, we have reason to believe he made a secret earlier recording for Elvis when RCA acquired his recording contract.” He looked over at the legal rep, “He might have been experimenting as early as maybe 1950? He graduated high school in 1949, studied electronics at the University of Tennessee and served in the US army reserves in the early part of the 1950s. Chuck Berry, Alan Freed… Rock and Roll, it was all about to happen—”

“Okay. Wait hold up, why would someone keep a recording of an empty room?” Justin asked. “If it was for experimenting with microphone placement to record at Four in the morning, then why would you keep it? If you figured out how to make the recordings sound right, why keep a recording… of nothing?”

Scott looked around the interior of the flying boardroom aboard the Bell 525 helicopter cabin, first at Scooter, and then back to Justin, his face very serious, “I wondered that too. I found the tape I’m referring to at the bottom of a box of used studio equipment that I had purchased from a close friend when I first founded Big Machine Label Group. Not having the proper equipment to play it back on, I set it aside. During Taylor’s first recording session, she saw it and inquired about it. It had Bill Porter’s name on it and was simply labeled ‘Easter Egg’. Taylor was obsessed with knowing what was on the old tape, so I made a few calls, and was able to borrow a machine to play it back on. We went personally to pick the machine up. We brought it back to the studio and set it up. She was more excited than a kid on Christmas morning. Of course, when we finally played the tape back… Nothing. Just the sound of a empty room.”

“Weird.” Scooter and Justin commented in unison from the edge of their seats.

“We sat there in the studio at Big Machine and listened to the whole tape, ready to hear a piece of Nashville history. But Taylor and I heard nothing, a whole lot of nothing. When it finished, we rewound the tape, and listened to it again. A little way into our second listen we forgot we were even listening and felt… Strange. You remember that scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, when Grandpa Joe and Charlie sampled the Fizzy Lifting Drinks? It’s just before the ‘Goose with the Golden Egg’ scene.”

Scooter and Justin shook their heads yes, completely captivated. “It was THAT feeling. Floating, almost drunk on something. Drunk on something stronger than drinks at the bar. That’s how I describe it, and it’s what Taylor would probably say now if you asked her. Her word for it then was ‘wonky’… It reminded me of something out of the Willy Wonka movie. Right after that feeling, came another, all of a sudden—and this is going to sound odd, but the best way I can describe it is that my ears had… hunger pangs. As though, you want to hear a sound or melody SO BAD, that ‘Easter Egg’ sound made you WANT sound, NEED to hear music. Almost, like, as you listened to it, you longed for a melody, for notes to hear anything in your ear—And as soon as you heard music, you would then feel relaxed, hypnotic. Satiated. Some kind of sonic fullness is the best I could guess at the time—Like the end of Thanksgiving dinner. Taylor shouted out, ‘I NEED to play something. ANYTHING. I NEED to hear music!’. I shook my head swiftly yes… The craving for music was undeniable, absolutely unbearable. We couldn’t take it any longer. Taylor dove for her guitar and began to strum a few chords and sing a few notes, she then sang a song she had recently written, Tim McGraw.”

Scott wiped his eye, the beginning of a tear. “I couldn’t take it. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. It sent shivers down my spine. Taylor actually started to cry and teardrops fell on her guitar. We wouldn’t know at the time, but it was that Bill Porter sound that did it to us. And I immediately said it sounded like the best song I’d ever heard, so I hit record on the studio system and she played and sang. What we didn’t realize until after we finished recording Taylor’s song was that the Bill Porter Easter Egg tape had been playing in the background the whole time. That old recording was now in the background of her new take. The Porter tape eventually ended—it wasn’t until the old reel-to-reel tape ran out with a startling sputtering noise, we had completely forgotten it was even there. When Taylor finished her take we played back the impromptu recording. Then we listened to it again and another time. We both almost cried as we listened to that very first recording of her song ‘Tim McGraw’. It was just, good. I mean, it sounded like heaven was opening the gates for our ears, for just a moment, to give us a glimpse. Then Taylor looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know who this Bill Porter guy is but he's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar, the only thing that keeps me wishing on a star, he's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do.’ That’s how it felt to me too. Taylor just kept saying that over and over again. How it was the song in the car, the one you can’t stop singing and don’t know why.”

Scott stopped for a moment, he was transported back to where it all began, before all of this fighting, “After playing the song for a few friends, they too became… Oddly obsessed with it as well. And then, we all did. I think we listened to it—my God, maybe a hundred times in a row? It completely took me off guard; I’d never seen, or heard, anything like this in all my years in the music industry. So, we recorded another song, but this time, it didn’t get quite the same reaction. We recorded a third, it too was good, but still missing something. Taylor went back and listened to that first take, she listened to it again and again, finally, it clicked what we did different, she was the first to figure it out. She said, ‘I think it has something to do with that mysterious room noise tape that was playing in the background… The Easter Egg noise.’ She was right, I don’t know how she figured that out, but she was spot on. Whatever it was, it added something special to the mix, it was like something out of Willy Wonka’s factory. Candy for your ears. We promptly hooked up the borrowed antique reel-to-reel tape machine to a direct input recording device that was connected to the high end pro audio studio equipment, hit record on the digital studio recording system, and pushed play on the small machine, the tape spun up, and the meters went off the charts, just as Taylor’s music soon would. I mean, the VU meter kept slamming against the peg! Something was definitely there. The meters kept peaking, I tried to turn the signal level down, I was thinking it would distort or overload, but it’s hard to engineer a sound you can’t hear.

Every time I fiddled, the signal changed itself, so I just let Bill Porter take the wheel and drive. When it finished, we had ourselves the only high-resolution isolated pristine copy of that track. Whatever this Easter Egg gift from Bill Porter was, it was ours now, it was Taylor’s, it was no longer part of that small machine, it was part of Big Machine Records. We played the song back, and waited for the wonky feeling to kick in, unsure if we would feel it again, but we sure as heck did, the feeling kicked in with the digital master, just the same as the vintage tape recording. Taylor recorded her songs again. She re-recorded the songs that didn’t get quite the response that the first song did. When we mastered the tracks, we added Porter’s sound to the master track in the background, you couldn't hear it, but it was there. Presto! They couldn’t get enough of it. Taylor and I had struck gold. We felt like the Elvis was back! Like we were sitting there that night on the Fourth of April at Four AM in the morning, we were back in the 60s, 1960 to be eact, RCA Studio B with Bill Porter himself at the controls and Elvis in the studio. The man with the golden ear, Bill Porter, was here.”

“Wow. This is unbelievable.” Justin said in disbelief.

“Yeah, I have to agree with Bieber. That can’t be real.” Scooter remarked after struggling for words. “That’s a lot to take in. Basically, you’re telling me that Taylor Swift’s music has a secret undetectable sound added to the mix, like some kind of catnip for your ears, that you found on some obscure old studio tape labeled ‘Easter Egg’ and that’s the reason why all her Swifties are obsessed with her music—and with her?”

“But is it so hard to believe? Look what happened with Elvis fans… How about Beatlemania?” Scott offered.

“But how does it even work?” Justin asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Scott replied.

“It just doesn’t seem plausible.” Justin said, still skeptical. “Like, cool story bro, you know? But… Sonically laced tunes that turn you into a Taylor Swift addict? Like she’s dealing pop songs to junkies who just can’t get enough and do whatever she wants to get more? The sugar candy high of riding a Taylor Swift music ride.”

“Let me ask you this, Justin, let’s say it was plausible, let’s say for the sake of argument, that you had the ability to command your fans at your will? They would follow your every word—do anything you asked. What would you do with that? Humor me.”

“Well, I mean, my fans already do that. But, you’re talking if I could steal fans at will, through some kind of mind altering way? Like they wouldn’t have a choice but to listen to my music? As soon as they heard one of my fresh hot beats? It would be stuck in their head, on repeat?”

“Exactly.” Scott confirmed.

“Well” Justin thought. “If I’ve got three wishes, the first wish would be to get more wishes. Right? So, I’d go on some nationally televised program and play my stuff to as many people as I possibly could that would listen to…” He trailed off. “…listen to It.” He finished saying in a quiet voice.

“Nail. On. The. Head.” Scott said.

“The American Music Awards!” Bieber shouted out.

Scott said nothing, his reply was a single nod.

Justin continued his thought, “She wants to play her whole back catalogue, so people will go back and listen to it all again. And then they’ll hear that Wonka thing and go on a Porter Pyramid trip! Pyramids… She’s like a modern day Pharaoh. So THAT is why she was playing one of her old songs on the live stream earlier and singing over it!”

“Precisely.” Scott leaned forward in his seat, “Her new stuff, Lover, doesn’t have the Easter Egg in it. She needs as many people as possible to listen to her old stuff in order to keep them under her… control, for lack of a better term. The more followers she has, the easier it will be to get the old masters from us and obtain the Easter Egg track for use in new material. It’s a war of numbers. If everyone is on her side, we won’t have anyone on ours. Those masters are as good as hers. She will be Pharaoh, if we can’t stop her.”

“Wow. This is unbelievable. And not like that song ‘Unbelievable’ from the 90s, which is actually a pretty cool song. This is just, unbelievable.”

“Ed Sullivan show!” Scooter interjected. “The Beatles made their first appearance as a nationally televised event.”

“Indeed.”

“But what’s the connection? Did The Beatles ever record with Porter?”

“That part is somewhat hazy. We know that Porter was connected to Elvis and RCA. But just before Elvis worked with Porter, he was in Germany for 2 years in the army. Right around the same time as Elvis, The Beatles were playing clubs in Germany too. It’s entirely possible we don’t have things exactly right. From the research, it seems as though perhaps somehow the sound initially came from some early recording Elvis did and Bill simply reconstructed it. A cleaner, better, much more potent version—But we just keep coming back to that night, April Fourth, at Four Am, when they recorded in the dark with the studio pitch black.”

“You keep saying WE. How many people know about this?”

“Well…” He pointed to the Carlyle guy.

“Okay. Who else?”

“We think Max Martin may have figured out a variation of it. It’s not nearly as effective as Porter’s though.”

“That would explain Britney Spears.” Scooter thought for a second. “And the Swiftian alliance with Kesha’s Animals and Katy Perry’s KatyCats.”

“That’s what I was thinking too.” Scott confirmed.

“So that’s why Katy Perry’s version of Dark Horse went to the top of the charts, while the other one remained virtually unknown.”

Scooter nodded again.

“This is real. I mean, like, REALLY real.” Scooter said. His face turned pale. “We’re being manipulated through music!”

Bieber sat up in his seat, “You know it’s only a matter of time until this gets out there. You know that right? I mean, Harry Potter was only able to keep his stuff secret for so long before everyone was all, LOOK, he’s a wizard!”

“Really Bieber?” Scooter said.

“What? I’m a Harry Potter fan!” Scott and Scooter tossed Bieber a look. “Okay, from the guy who just said ‘Really real’ just… whatever. Listen, you two keep discussing what to do about Hermione Granger gone rouge while I check in with the captain and lieutenants of my Beliebers to see where those masters are…” He pulled out his phone and between tapping buttons.

“So what happened between you two anyway? I mean, why are you here, on this helicopter with me, while Taylor’s out there assembling an army? Why are we even having this conversation, why did you even sell Big Machine? Why not just keep things the way they were, keep turning out Taylor hits, keep the Swiftie train on track. Take over the world…”

Scott sighed. He said nothing. He looked out the window, Big Machine Label Group now a speck in the distance. Lovers, haters, and art all have the ability to betray you.

“That army isn’t for me, Scooter.”

“Then who is it for?”

“You.” Scott narrowed his eyes. “It’s your blood she wants. As long as you’re master of her masters, she won’t stop coming after you, she’ll never stop.”

“Why am I the bad guy here?” He clinched his fists. “No, I know what this is, I’m the fall guy for this! That’s what this is! This is a setup.”

“No.” The Carlyle lawyer added flatly.

Scott looked down to the floor. “You were just more… Able to handle our situation with Taylor.”

“Situation?” Scooter asked, his voice becoming shaky. “What situation? You mean there’s more to this?”

Scott shifted his gaze to the Carlyle lawyer then back to Scooter. “Have you heard the lyrics to her song ‘Look What You Made Me Do?’ ‘I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, because she’s…’”

“Speaking of situations, guys—” Justin interrupted. “I’ve kind of got a situation here myself.”

“What’s going on? Are her masters safe?” Scooter said worriedly shifting nervously in his seat.

“I don’t know—Wait, my chats are jammed, I can’t send a message back!”

The cabin occupants inside the sophisticatedly elegant interior of the flashy corporate helicopter shared simultaneous shivers down their spines.

“I’m being spammed! It’s all hearts and cat emojies.”

“Swifties.” Scott surmised.

“Where are the masters?!?!” Scooter howled.

“I don’t know. It was an ambush! My Beliebers captain and his two lieutenants had them safely stowed in a military grade stainless steel carrying case. We were on a secure private group chat just discussing the situation. They indicated that they were on their way to a new location because the original location was crawling with Swiftie scouts—the next message said they had been sneak attacked! Without any other option Taylor’s masters were handed off to two undercover Arianators acting as spotters. The last message said he thinks the Arinators have them. Then the Swiftie spammers took over the group chat and he went offline.”

Scott spoke smoothly. “If the Swifties have them, it’s over. But… If the Arianators managed to take possession we might still have a chance here.”

“Okay, so where do we go from here?” Scooter sat, palms sweaty. His heart beating fast—This was not what he signed up for when he agreed to purchase Big machine Label Group.

“Wait. I think I know. “ Justin said coolly. “Ariana Grande wouldn’t risk keeping them. But there is someone else she would trust. Someone of reason, and sound mind, someone who truly wouldn’t take sides until he had all the facts, and could make a sound moral choice.”

“Who?” Scooter asked.

“Oak. Oak Felder.”

“Oak Felder. Of course!“ Scott opened a small seatbelt cover beside him pulling the seatbelt over him and clicking in. “Boys… Buckle up! We’re going to find Felder. With any luck, Taylor’s masters are safely on their way to Oak’s studio. Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads. Because we’re in a helicopter!”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Great Scott. That’s great.” Scooter said. He was not amused.

“Oh come on, that was gold!”

“Let’s just get to Oak Felder, before Taylor’s Swifties do. Okay?” Scooter’s stomach was doing back flips.

The helicopter accelerated to full flight speed onwards and upwards, to Oak Felder’s studio—The Spaceship.

@taylorswift @justinbieber

#taylor swift #oak felder #justin bieber #elvis #easteregghunt #easter egg

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makistar2018 · 5 years

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Taylor Swift Easter egg cheat sheet: All the buttons in EW's cover shoot, explained

By Seija Rankin May 10, 2019

Photo Peggy Sirota for EW

At Entertainment Weekly we fancy ourselves to be full-fledged Easter egg enthusiasts. Whether we’re slipping the pink teddy bear into our Breaking Badreunion or Dean’s amulet into the Supernatural cover shoot, we’ve honed our skills pretty well over the years, if we do say so ourselves. But the one Easter egg expert that we’ll never live up to is Taylor Swift.

So when it came time to plan for the photo shoot with our current cover girl, we knew it was imperative we step up our hint-dropping game. EW’s expert photo editors adorned Swift’s jean jacket with over a dozen buttons, each one symbolizing a major milestone in her pop culture canon — and our very own interview with the singer. Swifties have been dedicating themselves to uncovering every last button-Easter-egg since the cover dropped, so now we’re letting you in on the official motivation for each one — except for a few specific buttons that Taylor herself picked out and plans to keep the special meaning all to herself. (That’s right, we can’t even spill on those Easter eggs; but give your best guesses, Swifties, and maybe she’ll treat us all to a big reveal).

1. Selena Gomez

One of Taylor’s best friends (and one of the few people who’ve heard the new record).

2. The Dixie Chicks

Swift is a huge fan of the trio: “They make interesting music in an unapologetically feminine way.”

3. CATS

Swift is playing Bombalurina in the big-screen adaptation, and spoke about her role in the movie, for the first time ever, to EW. Spoiler alert: She went to “cat school” (really). See what else she spilled about the highly-anticipated flick here.

4. Calm

“Je suis calme!” is what Swift shouts in the music video for her new single, “ME!”

5. Friends

Friends is a major staple in Swift’s world. Her favorite quote from the show? “‘Pivot!’ I take it as career advice.”

6. Cats

Not to be confused with the musical, Swift is mom to three cats: Olivia Benson, Meredith Grey, and Benjamin Button. She also tries to work her love for felines into as many songs and music videos as humanly possible — as she explained to EW in her hint-dropping tell-all. If you see a cat it’s wise to remember it symbolizes nothing more than her love for her pets.

7. Troye Sivan

Swift is a big admirer of the Australian pop star, bringing him out to sing “My My My!” on the Reputation Tour.

8. Grey’s Anatomy

Swift’s go-to Grey’s Anatomy quote: “So do it. Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be?”

9. Track 5

A nod to the Swifties’ fan theory that the most emotional song on each of her albums is placed at track 5 (“Cold As You,” “White Horse,” “Dear John,” “All Too Well,” “All You Had to Do Was Stay,” and “Delicate”).

10. Drake

The pop star calls Drake one of her favorite lyricists. “I love his one-liners,” she told EW. “Like ‘You say I led you on/But you followed me.’ Or ‘This a Rollie, not a stopwatch/It don’t ever stop.'”

11. Faith Hill

One of Swift’s favorite singers — and, of course, noted wife of one Tim McGraw.

12. Mister Rogers

Swift watched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood every day after school and also spilled to EW that the documentary about the children’s show (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) was the last movie she watched that made a major impact on the singer.

13. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Swift is a major Law & Order buff — see Olivia Benson the cat, Mariska Hargitay’s cameo in the “Bad Blood” music video and on the 1989 tour, and countless other references. The two-tone chime is also one of her favorite sounds.

14. Pastel colors

The color palette, which she began using on Instagram in February, represents a brand-new era — foreshadowed by her manicure in the Spotify vertical video for “Delicate.”

15. Game of Thrones

Breaking news: The HBO show (and Arya’s kill list) actually provided the inspiration for Reputation. Oh, and if Swift had her own dragon she would totally name it Villanelle, after the Killing Eve mastermind.

16. Awesome

A nod to the line she sings in “ME!”: “You can’t spell awesome without me.”

Entertainment Weekly

#taylor swift #entertainment weekly #ts7 #easter eggs #2019.05.10

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merridewhoo · 5 years

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Music Tag!

The gorgeous @natigail tagged me in this awhile ago but I forgot to post it whoops! Like she said she was inspired, I’m gonna just be awesome and add comments about the songs!

Rules: Put your entire library on shuffle, write the first ten songs, and tag ten victims. No cheating.

Bent Matt Nathanson

I love me some Matt Nathanson. I don’t even remember the first time I heard him but this is one of the first songs of his I fell in love with. It takes me back to high school and thinking I knew about life

As Lovers Go Dashboard Confessional

Oh Shrek. Seriously. This song is from the Skrek 2 Soundtrack. That I owned and listened to nonstop when I was like 14. But seriously, this was a favorite song for years and still makes me feel a lot. Also, I def considered making a fake Facebook when I was young so I could post the lyrics as dialogue/conversation with “a boy” Thank fuck I didn’t do that.

Everything Has Changed Taylor Swift

Okay, dirty secret, I love me some T-Swift. I definitely pretended to hate her through her country phase but those pop songs. Love her or hate her, you have to admit that she’s an evil genius with her lyrics but also her dropping Easter Eggs everywhere that no one gets. Plus, Ed Sheeran. I adore Ed Sheeran

Last Kiss Boyce Avenue

Covers can be awesome. Plus this song makes me feel heartbreak which feels good sometimes? That’s weird, I’m gonna go.

All of the Star Ed Sheeran

If The Fault in Our Stars didn’t make you cry, you’re a damn liar. This song still makes me tear up a bit even if TFIOS has turned into a bit of a meme. Plus, again, I love Ed Sheeran.

Uma Thurman Fall Out Boy

This song is a BOP and I will fight anyone who disagrees. FOB is my jam and I love this whole album. It’s just a fun song.

Bottom of the Sea Matt Nathanson

Another light, kinda fun song. Not one of my favorites but I do enjoy the melody. Fun fact, I knew who Matt Nathanson was but I fell in love with him at his concert that I only went to to see the opening act who was Joshua Radin. Small venue, amazing stories, still one of my favorite concerts ever. Next time I saw him, it was on purpose and he was the opening act.

Dark Blue Jacks Mannequin

This song makes me feel things. Especially the “Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I’m here with you” because damn depression is real. Don’t get the boxing the stars reference though.....

Detroit Waves Matt Nathanson

The opening beat for this songs kinda makes my heart race. That is all.

Sugar we’re going down Fall Out Boy

God this song. I love FOB. So much. But as mainstream as it is, this will always be my all time favorite song. I have a lot of favorite FOB songs and albums but this song is god-tier for me. Maybe it’s because it’s the song that introduced me to FOB or maybe it’s the nostalgia but it hits me every time.

I do t know who has already done this or how to count so here’s some people I like @kaylaroohoo @deylahm-blog @ineverywordisay @kerasines @swissfuckingcheesegdi @phandumb

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cryptic-messages-13-blog · 5 years

Photo

A Guide to (SOME) of the Easter Egg Pins on Taylor’s Entertainment Weekly Cover

1. Selena Gomez – one of Taylor’s best friends (and one of the few people who’ve heard the new record)

2. The Dixie Chicks – Taylor is a huge fan of the trio: “They make interesting music in an unapologetically feminine way.”

3. CATS – Taylor is playing Bombalurina in the big-screen adaptation. Spoiler alert: She went to “cat school” (really).

4. Calm – “Je suis calme!” is what Swift shouts in the music video (and behind-the-scenes video) for her new single, “ME!”

5. Friends – a major staple in Swift’s world. Her favorite quote from the show? “‘Pivot!’ I take it as career advice.”

6. Cats – not to be confused with the musical, Swift is mom to three cats: Olivia Benson, Meredith Grey, and now Benjamin Button. She also tries to work her love for felines into as many songs and music videos as humanly possible. If you see a cat it’s wise to remember it symbolizes nothing more than her love for her pets.

7. Troye Sivan – Taylor is a big admirer of the Australian pop star, bringing him out to sing “My My My!” on the Reputation Tour.

8. Grey’s Anatomy – Taylor’s go-to Grey’s Anatomy quote: “So do it. Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be?”

9. Track 5 – a nod to the fan theory that the most emotional song on each of her albums is placed at track 5 (“Cold As You,” “White Horse,” “Dear John,” “All Too Well,” “All You Had to Do Was Stay,” and “Delicate”).

10. Drake – Taylor calls Drake one of her favorite lyricists. “I love his one-liners,” she told EW. “Like ‘You say I led you on/But you followed me.’ Or ‘This a Rollie, not a stopwatch/It don’t ever stop.’”

11. Faith Hill – One of Taylor’s favorite singers and, of course, noted wife of one Tim McGraw.

12. Mister Rogers – Taylor watched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood every day after school and also said that the documentary about the children’s show (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) was the last movie she watched that made a major impact on the singer.

13. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – Taylor is a major Law & Order buff — see Olivia Benson the cat, Mariska Hargitay’s cameo in the “Bad Blood” music video and on the 1989 tour, and countless other references. The two-tone chime is also one of her favorite sounds.

14. Pastel colors – the color palette, which she began using on Instagram in February, represents a brand-new era foreshadowed by her manicure in the Spotify vertical video for “Delicate.”

15. Game of Thrones – breaking news: The HBO show (and Arya’s kill list) actually provided the inspiration for Reputation. Oh, and if Swift had her own dragon, she would totally name it Villanelle, after the Killing Eve mastermind.

16. Awesome – a nod to the line she sings in “ME!”: “You can’t spell awesome without me.”

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aboveaverageallie · 3 years

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folklore by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s new album folklore is an enchanting, yet heartbreaking, fairytale.

Taylor Swift’s surprise eighth studio album folklore (the entire album is stylized in lower case) blurs the lyrical lines of fiction and personal narratives. This idea is apparent in Swift’s statement announcing folklore. In it she talks about the inspiration behind the album’s title. “... folklore is [a tale] that is passed down and whispered around... the lines between fantasy and reality blur...” The album was created during Swift’s 2020 COVID-19 isolation and released on July 24 of the same year. Swift worked with her normal producer, Jack Antonoff, and one of her “musical heroes,” The National’s, Aaron Dessner. Notably, folklore also features famous indie band, Bon Iver, and their lead singer, Justin Vernon. He is also credited as a songwriter; along with Swift herself, and her long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn.

Swift stated in her release that folklore started with images that lead into stories and those stories bled into characters. Swift’s eighth album is a conglomeration of two tales or motifs: the teenage love triangle and the tale of Rebekah Harkness. The teenage love triangle follows three characters, Betty, James, and Augustine, each with their own songs from their points of view at different points in time; these songs include “cardigan”, “august”, and “betty”. The characters Betty and James have “skinny love,” which refers to two people having potent feelings for each other but are too shy to show or admit it. However, during the night of the school dance, James and Augustine begin a summer fling that breaks Betty’s heart. During the summer Augustine fell in love with James, though she knows he is only with her because he can’t have Betty. One day at the end of summer, James goes to Betty’s party, effectively ending whatever he has with Augustine. However, he doesn’t know what Betty will do with him on her doorstep. The second tale is that of Rebekah Harkness, a divorcee that is reminiscent of Swift and her relationship with the press and general gossip. This is shown through the songs “the last great american dynasty” and “mad woman.” There are many more songs in the 16-track album, though none connect to a specific story like these.

The look of folklore is very melancholic; the eight variations of the album covers each feature a different black-and-white photo of Swift with the title of each photo referencing a lyric within the album. This monotone feeling is purposeful according to Swift. “folklore is wistful and full of escapism… Sad, beautiful, tragic.”

Alongside the release of the album, Swift also debuted the music video for the lead single “cardigan,” which she directed. Throughout the music video there are three settings: a wood cabin, a lush forest, and an angry sea. Within the cabin there are references - also known as Easter eggs - to symbols in folklore; for example, a picture of her grandfather whom the song “epiphany” is about. Swift transitioned into each setting by stepping into her glittering piano. The forest scene represents the evergreen beginning of a relationship in contrast to the rough sea that represents the isolation and fear when a relationship is breaking. When Swift emerges from the piano back into the cabin soaking wet and shivering, there is a comforting and warm cardigan, like the song suggests, waiting for her.

folklore continues the trend of Swift’s track five being the most emotional on the album with “my tears ricochet”. Following the weeks of folklore’s release, Swift created the chapters. “In my head, the songs on folklore fit together in different groups and ‘chapters’–based on how they fit together thematically.” Swift said in a Tweet linking to her first in a total of four chapters. The first being ‘the escapism chapter’, then ‘the sleepless nights chapter’, ‘the saltbox house chapter’, and ‘the yeah, I showed up at your party chapter’.

The sound of folklore is drastically different from anything Swift has done in the past, and you don’t have to be a fan of hers to notice this. folklore is an indie-pop album that is a change from her country and pop discography. The wistful and yearning soundscape create sympathetic and heart-breaking emotions that are hard to describe in words. This again shows the genius of Swift. In a recent Rolling Stones issue, she shared this sentiment in a conversation with Paul McCartney, “Because when I was making folklore, I went lyrically in a total direction of escapism and romanticism. And I wrote songs imagining I was, like, a pioneer woman in a forbidden love affair [laughs]”.

folklore is nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year for “cardigan”, Best Pop Solo Performance for “cardigan”, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “exile”, and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Taylor Swift’s eighth album is perfect for anyone needing something calming to listen to, to cry to, or a story to fall in love with. The truth is, that a diverse audience can enjoy folklore and it’s hard to recommend it to any specific group.

#i love you taylor #taylornation #taylor swift #folklore

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