Hey there, fellow Swifties (...and everyone else, I guess). Let's talk Taylor Swift's new album, fame's effect on the public's perception of art, and how fame can be an artistic cage from which there is no escape (you know, keepin’ it light). I meant to do this on Saturday, and then again Sunday, and then every day after that until now, but I’ve been pretty beat from starting a new job so I just...didn't. I did, however, listen to the album twice through on a long walk the day of its release and then on and off all week...more on that soon. This is going to be less of a traditional review and more of an exploration of art and fame and why I think people reacted to this record in the ways they did (and also a bit of a review because OH MY GOD TAYLOR RELEASED TS8 ALREADY?!) and what this means in terms of pop artists as “real” artists -- so let's do this.
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With the surprise release of folklore (which will obviously remain styled as lowercase in this post, along with the song titles) combined with my own personal abstinence from social media during the week, my experience with this album has been unusual. After she announced the album, I received a few messages via text and Snapchat from friends who knew I wasn't going to be on Twitter or Instagram to see it. But the first person who sent it to me (coincidentally the person who first showed me "Teardrops on My Guitar" wayyyyyy back when her first album dropped, and the only person whose message I checked while at work), simply sent me a screenshot of the announcement and a few exclamation points. Y'all, this is how I want to be alerted of these things. It was perfect. I essentially got to read only Taylor's words and went back to work, my mind racing about what could possibly be on this record.
The album dropped. The "cardigan" video dropped. I woke up the next morning (Friday) and watched the "cardigan" video before work. It's my new favorite of her videos, I'm pretty sure. What a gorgeous, simple, imaginative distillation of Taylor Swift as an artist; it felt deeply personal while remaining ridiculously simple, and that’s hard to do. Keep in mind: I have not been on social media AT ALL during this time. So I got half a day to anticipate a new Taylor Swift album before it dropped without anyone's opinions but my own, and then I heard a new song/video without knowing anyone's reaction to any of it. None of my coworkers talked about it either. I was experiencing the rollout of a Taylor Swift album in a vacuum, alone. One of the biggest popstar/singer-songwriters in the world, and I haven't been marketed to or influenced by anyone but the artist herself via a single screenshot of an Instagram post. That day after work, I went on a walk with my headphones to a trail near my house and started the album. Then, when the album finished, I realized I was like an hour walk away from home, so I texted a couple people about my first impressions and started the album a second time on the walk home. Both times I heard the album, I was surrounded by trees on a trail, alone, with an overcast sky. There could not be a better way to first experience a record like this. And then I got home. And then I went to bed knowing that when morning came and I redownloaded Twitter and Instagram, my perception of this album and the things I would say about it and the defenses or criticisms I would have, all of it, would be tainted by the "global public conversation" and would never go back. In fact, even writing this post is difficult because it’s been “so long” since the album has come out and I’ve heard so many reactions.
So, let's talk about first impressions. I think most if not all of these still stand, even after hearing a few opinions from other people. Obviously I love the production. Melancholy pianos, gentle guitar, lush subdued synths, subtle electronics...musically, this is an album I've wanted from Taylor since Red. It’s so dang dreamy. The "how have we not done this sooner?!" collaborative team of Swift, Messner, and Antonoff was a glorious combination of musicians/producers, but that's not even the best part: this is the first Taylor Swift album with the lack of traditional “marketing machine” singles. There’s no “ME!” or “Look What You Made Me Do” to be found, which makes the overall tone of the album feel more “artistically elevated” and probably is why so many jaded critics and “hipster-types” are allowing themselves to like a full Taylor Swift album; they’re “allowed” now since this is a “serious” work of art. Sigh. And then there's lyrics. I mean, dang, folklore is like an entire album of "It's Nice To Have A Friend"-type songs (which was easily in my top three tracks from Lover) -- storytelling is in the forefront, and the music is a cozy old bed for the nostalgia-drenched character writing. Personally, I predict she’ll continue on the trajectory of writing narrative-focused songs in lieu of the usual “extension/parody of herself” stuff we’ve always had, mostly due to her finally being in a stable relationship that has remained more or less out of the public eye, as well as the fact that she’s just matured a ton over the past couple years and can handle herself better than ever when it comes to being so ridiculously famous. She’s always been a good storyteller (I mean, she’s basically constructed her entire fame narrative, or at the very least has been able to roll with the punches and adapt and make sooo much money off of it) so it only makes sense that we get more of these made-up characters and story songs. In my wildest dreams, I’m secretly hoping for a full-blown narrative concept album about two characters and the entire scope of their relationship from beginning to end, splitting off into a “two part” ending where they each grow in their own ways from such a relationship and move on separately, or even a double-album where each person gets a full-blown perspective record about the same events, but hey, I won’t get my hopes up I guess. It’d be cool though, yeah?
Individual tracks that personally stuck out to me upon first/second listen were “exile” “seven” “illicit affairs” “betty” and “peace” but more importantly, the thing that caught me the most off-guard was that I really liked every song. There wasn’t a single song that I was like “meh…okay, when does the next one start?” and that is a rare thing from such a big pop star surprise dropping a 16 song, hour-long record. Granted, upon further listens, the highs are higher and the lows are lower, which happens when one familiarizes oneself with an album. The novelty wears off (a hilarious notion and sign of the times considering it’s been out for barely a week) and the favorites get solidified while the lesser-liked tracks fade into “sometimes I skip that one.” But songs that were “okay” upon first listen are now some of my favorites (like, dude, “mirrorball” SLAYS me now and I was pretty lukewarm to it at first). As of right now, my top five are probably: “illicit affairs” “betty” “mirrorball” “exile” and “invisible string” but we all know these are subject to change. Overall though, I love how sonically cohesive this album is (I even have a hard time picking out which songs were done by which collaborator/producer, which is WILD considering how different Antonoff and Messner are as musicians). Oh, and as far as the profanity in the lyrics is concerned, I feel like if you’ve been paying attention to her more recent output (specifically reputation, Lover, and the Miss Americana documentary) it seems inevitable that she’d get a little spicy on the next album, ESPECIALLY with this one being framed as a “I get to do whatever I want this time/this was raw and unexpected/this was totally a gut decision” kind of album. It didn’t seem out of place to me at all, really. But I get why it does to some people.
Just because we’ve already entered “this is too long” territory, here’s a track-by-track reaction, limiting myself to two sentences per song.
1. the 1: maybe the most “classic Taylor Swift” song on the album. It’s nostalgic and clever and hopeful and sad and bouncy all at once—a solid album opener.
2. cardigan: after hearing this a few times, I guess it makes sense that this is the lead single since it serves as sort of a “thesis statement” for the record. But it’s not a normal Taylor Swift lead single, and that’s what makes it way better than the lead singles of albums past, in my opinion.
3. the last great american dynasty: I was pleasantly surprised by this one upon my first listen, and was thrilled to find out it’s the first of many story songs on the album. “She had a marvelous time ruining everything” is tailor-made for Instagram captions.
4. exile: also known as “The Last Time, Part Two” for the real ones, this is the first time since “Holocene” that Justin Vernon’s voice has moved me to tears. Without a doubt, this is one of Taylor Swift’s best songs to date, full-stop.
5. my tears ricochet: not gonna lie, I need this one to grow on me a bit more (although hearing that it can be read as an allegory for the Big Machine events makes it instantly more interesting to me) but I love the concept of someone attending their own wake. I hate to say it, and please don’t hate me for it, but…this is one of my least favorite track fives.
6. mirrorball: I think I was still reeling from “exile” the first time I heard this one, because the second time and beyond has solidified it as one of my favorites. I kind of want to play it for someone and not tell them it’s Taylor Swift to see if they notice, just because it sounds like a glorious emotional dreampop song from the 90’s or something, but then there’s that gorgeous circus-themed bridge…sigh, what a song.
7. seven: okay, ouch. This song is devastating and beautiful, and the first time I heard it, it reminded me of a short story I wrote that I intend to turn into a novella/novel one day; I’ll probably use this song for some mood inspiration when I finally tackle it.
8. august: the second of the three “love triangle” songs on the album, this one has some lines that are destined to be classics (I love “meet me behind the mall” so much) and I’ve noticed this one gets brought up a lot when people list their favorites, which is always nice. Even without the “love triangle” context, this is still a wistful, nostalgic “young love” song.
9. this is me trying: definitely some darker subject matter for her, but that just makes her hopeful delivery that much lighter. I’m excited for this one to keep growing on me or eventually show up in a movie.
10. illicit affairs: there’s a lot I could say about this song, but I’ll leave it at this: I’ve needed this song for years, and it’s one of my new favorite Taylor Swift songs overall. I cry every single time.
11. invisible string: this is sweet as sugar in summer, and on a personal note, I’m excited that I live in the same city as the Centennial Park she’s singing about. I’ve always absolutely adored that park, and when I first this song, I felt like I was there again.
12. mad woman: this one makes me go back and forth a lot. I really like it in context of the characters on the album, and I like that she’s getting a little snarkier with her feminism (how wild that this song and album came from the same person who wrote “Better Than Revenge”), but I think it’s probably lower in my rankings just because of how much I love a lot of the other songs.
13. epiphany: I really like the open, emotional feeling of the music in this one…but I always feel alienated by songs about the military. I wouldn’t cut this song from the album though, as the story (and its inspiration) are rich and worthwhile for sure.
14. betty: this is a new classic Taylor Swift song, an adorable little love song, the completion of the “love triangle” storyline on the album, and another song where Taylor pushes herself as a lyricist while still remaining playful. I really don’t think this song could ever be absent from a “top five tracks” rank from this record.
15. peace: I have such a strange attraction to this song even though it’s nothing particularly earth-shattering for her. Personally I think this should have been the album closer…but I’m sure Tay has her reasons.
16. hoax: This is a beautiful song but I personally think it feels like a bonus track. Maybe that will change over time, but right now (like a week into the album’s release hahahah wow this thing is so new still) that’s how I feel.
(If you only cared about my thoughts on the album and not about anything bigger than that, you can probably jump ship now. We’re about to get all “what does folklore and Taylor Swift mean for sOcIeTy” from here on out.)
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Okay, that was a brief summary of my thoughts on the album itself (hahahahaha “brief” – but for real, I could totally keep going), but the main things that haven't let me go during this whole album release are these: (1) personally I will likely never get to experience such a high-profile album release like this again, with the minimal contact or social media opinions or discussion or outside anticipation from announcement to first-contact with the album, (2) artists like Taylor Swift don't get to make albums like these under usual circumstances, but because of a global pandemic, she got to do whatever she wanted in a way she likely won't be able to ever again, and (3) because of how famous Taylor Swift is, the public opinion is skewed for reasons entirely outside of the work itself, even when the herd thinks they are talking about the work itself, for better and worse.
Let's unpack these:
(1) This one’s easy. Somehow I managed to listen to an album from arguably the biggest pop star working today without any prior expectations from social media or other people. It was incredible. Not even the “ugh, she’s surprise releasing an album, guess I’ll hide in a hole so I don’t have to deal with hearing about it every day now” or “OMG TS8 ALREADY?!” from anyone. I was untainted. That, for me at least, only happens when it’s an artist that I’m the only one who I know is looking forward to it. But this time it was Taylor freaking Swift. That’s like being locked in a room for all of October 2007 without any contact with anyone, and suddenly Radiohead’s In Rainbows falls into my lap and all I know is that it’s a Radiohead album (which was also “surprise released” by the way) and that’s it. If you don’t know, Radiohead is one of those “opinion” bands and depending on your feelings about them, your reaction is more tied to the artist itself then the actual work, and it’s borderline insufferable to talk about them with other people sometimes, depending on who you’re talking to; the same is true for Taylor Swift. I’ll bring this up again later. And yes, I just compared Taylor Swift to Radiohead. I want you to deal with it.
(2) The global pandemic created a social/pop culture landscape unlike any of us have ever seen or will likely ever see again. We are all collectively thinking about “these uncertain times” with a haze of exception over everything (or at least many of us are, myself included considering I still think it’s March lol). There is a permanent asterisk for any new event (*this was during the COVID-19 pandemic) which gives us all a feeling of “we can secretly do whatever we want because we have an excuse” (which sounds more sinister than I intend). In the case of music, there are sooooo many musicians releasing new stuff right now and every announcement says something along the lines of “these songs were written as a way to get through quarantine” or “the isolation really made me think about blahblahblah and now here’s this album” or even simply “I was bored. Here’s music.” That is bananas. We’ve never seen this before in the Age of the Internet. One of my favorite albums of 2020 so far, Songs for Pierre Chuvin by The Mountain Goats, hailed a return-to-form for the band where John Darnielle recorded a whole album onto tape in like ten days during March and released it, warts and all. Considering how The Mountain Goats’ prior album is basically chamber-pop with STUNNING production (seriously, go listen to In League with Dragons and follow it up with Songs for Pierre Chuvin for a wild ride of a juxtaposition), it’s unlikely the return to lo-fi would have been the follow-up release for the band. But then the pandemic happened. In the case of Taylor Swift and folklore, she took this opportunity to do things she otherwise wouldn’t be able to do due to the limitations of being so famous. Things like put out an album without any fanfare or singles (although “cardigan” has turned into the lead single and I kinda think she needs to stop putting out different versions of the same song on CD for pre-order AFTER putting out EIGHT different album covers for the main album itself…they’re beautiful, but even I will draw the line somewhere), drastically reinvent her sound after almost pigeonholing herself again resulting in a refreshing growth, avoid the months-long build-up of promotion OR the usual “surprise album drop” thing where the surprise is the main form of marketing, and of course say the word “fuck” in a song or two.
The reason any of this is important at all has nothing to do with how well she did it (even though I think the album is excellent and I’m so impressed that I’m still excited by her songwriting after this many albums and changes) but rather the fact that she’s SO famous without being artistically bankrupt. When you’re as talented as Taylor Swift (a great songwriter who has also created a lore for herself to the point where she’s been basically Ziggy Stardust-ing it for a decade, a total acrobat in terms of performing for the media and being a celebrity, and someone who has an intimate relationship with their fans without seeming totally fake) but also THAT famous, you don’t usually last that long or have the luxury of making the art you want. For instance, Lady Gaga reached a peak of fame and then dropped pretty hard when she tried to change (although she’s got her devoted fans and she’s made a bit of a comeback for sure) which is a shame because I think her first two releases are iconic of their era. It’s like Taylor Swift has found a way to have her cake and eat it too, and share it with her fans. Popstars of a similar level of stardom just don’t have Taylor’s knack for transparent fan connection; Taylor Swift has invited fans into her homeon more than one occasion to hang out and share new music, and it’s just something she does. Or the way she drops hints and easter eggs because she knows her fans are looking for them. There’s a language to being a Swiftie (ask a non-Swiftie “what’s your favorite track five?” and you’ll either get some blank stares or pulling out their phone to look up tracklists) unlike anything else in mainstream pop (I guess K-pop is about as close as we have right now, but it’s different). Taylor’s fanbase are like a giant friend group with Taylor as the mutual. It’s like she’s always been famous, but also still isn’t famous. She seems like she’s “just a girl who’s excited to write songs and play them for people yayyyyy!!” even though she keeps genre-hopping and it’s pretty obvious (even before she started putting it into her lore and celebrity persona) that she’s very much a professional in control of her image and output. Throw in the fact that she’s not at Big Machine anymore and she’s basically unstoppable as long as she keeps up the fan connection and quality songwriting. But she knows that. And that’s what makes her such a rarity. If I were as famous as her, I would probably collapse under the weight of trying to create anything that could be meaningful to me AND marketable to my millions of fans at the same time. I would feel trapped in a cage and would either lose my soul or I would disappear and try to put out art under an anonymous name (kind of like Damon Albarn with the early Gorillaz idea). So again, it’s not that she “redefined music” with this album by any stretch (folklore is a pretty straightforward collection of songs with mass appeal, especially among the “cottagecore” “indie as a genre” and “pseudo-rustic” types…perjoratively referred to as “basic white girls”) but the fact that she was able to make this change without any dip in her fan base. If anything, she just keeps growing the crowds with every release. She’s pulled off one of the hardest feats in popular music (something Bowie did for decades and eventually died being known for) and something few celebrities can do while still coming across as genuine: people want an album because SHE made it, not because the album is what’s popular.
(3) Finally, let’s talk about the detractors and the superfans. These are the people who hear Taylor Swift is dropping an album and either react with immediate disgust and annoyance OR with extreme excitement and angel choirs (I fall firmly into the latter camp, obviously). These two groups are the reason so many people just try to brace themselves and wait for the internet discourse to pass, like a wave pool but the waves are made by mean jerks and excited lunatics. I feel sorry for everyone in the middle just trying to swim.
When it comes to music, and art as a whole, there are ways of objectively evaluating it and then there’s pop culture. Sure, the line between them is easy to blur, and I personally consider myself someone who feels like that line should keep blurring but only so far as we still can see that line. I believe pop music should be evaluated with the same critical eye as “more artistically-minded” music (or as the jerkoff in your freshman philosophy class calls it “real music”) but that also leads us to, oh let’s say, comparing Taylor Swift to Radiohead. Or saying she’s starting to pull off something David Bowie pulled off. It’s the reason I’ve gotten in arguments with people comparing The Beatles and One Direction. When you blur the line between art and pop culture, things can get messy, because high popularity does not mean high quality, but sometimes things with the highest popularity are regarded more highly in hindsight than things of “higher quality,” and things of perceived “higher quality” are often treated as untouchable even when they were once “high popularity” -- especially with music. For instance, it should go without saying that I think David Bowie is more important to the art form of music than Taylor Swift. I don’t think anyone could even make the case in saying Taylor Swift is more important to the art form of music than David Bowie. It’s a laughable concept for a number of reasons (though I do think Taylor Swift has been contributing a bit more over the past couple albums than she ever has before). But in terms of pop culture, they ARE doing a similar thing (creating a fan base that will buy anything they make regardless of genre) just in a different scale/people group, and that is something I think musical/pop culture discourse is lacking: the ability to discuss “sacred” popular artists from days past in the same breath as more recent or still working popular artists, even if it’s just a simple comparison of something small like Taylor Swift and David Bowie challenging the masses by genre-jumping. I’m not saying it’s the same in quality, just the same in concept.
But anyway, I’ll try to hurry it up. I can’t believe this post is already so long. Good grief. Basically I think the album itself should be listened to while ignoring the superfans and the haters. I think this is true for most things, but it’s almost unavoidable when it comes to Taylor Swift. Her name, her “brand” persona, all of it is bigger than her individual output. For instance, imagine if Carly Rae Jepsen did the exact same thing Taylor just did: surprise-dropped an album that was a massive stylistic departure with no singles and working with beloved “sad indie” producers. It would be a completely different social reaction. I’m not talking about whether or not you think she’s a better songwriter; I’m talking entirely about fame. Taylor Swift is far more famous than Jepsen, but I believe an album like that from CRJ would be more celebrated by the detractors of folklore because I believe those detractors are reacting to Taylor Swift’s fame instead of her artistry or the album itself. It’s not about the music. By no means am I saying folklore is a perfect album, and it’s definitely worth critiquing. I’ve seen plenty of valid criticism, especially by people who know more about music production than me. All I’m saying is: be mindful of your biases. I had to keep my Swiftie side in check because I was about to make some pretty intense statements about Justin Vernon’s artistic output just because I got excited about “exile” when I stopped myself and realized extreme positive/negative statements only go so far.
The first time I heard folklore, I wanted to scream “THIS IS THE BEST TAYLOR SWIFT ALBUM BAR NONE SORRY RED AND 1989 YOU HAVE BEEN DETHRONED” but now after a week and letting myself chill out a bit, I’m able to think more objectively. And I hope you can too. Because whether you like it or not, Taylor Swift releasing an album is a big deal in the world of music right now, and it’s gonna get brought up when we look back on 2020 down the line.
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Y’all. I’m tired. And I’m sure you’re tired too. I’ve been writing myself in circles and making wild comparisons and…yeah. If you read all of this…wow. I’m impressed.
I’m gonna stop writing this post now. I’m not really sure how to end it. I guess I’ll just say…let’s keep talking about folklore? And Taylor Swift? And music? And art? Tell me your thoughts and theories, whether it’s about folklore and its folklore, or about its effect on pop culture, or whatever. Let’s talk about your favorite songs and why.
Because, really, it’s all about being excited about something you like. I’m all about being excited. And the world needs more of it.
If you need me, you’ll find me on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels.
