On July 24, 2020, Taylor Swift dropped her 8th album Folklore, only announcing its release the day before. Folklore went on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 and garnered a lot of critical acclaim. Swift is known for her amazing storytelling through her songs, but Folklore is definitely her best. Folklore follows a narrative switching between the perspectives of three teenagers: James, Augustine, and Betty.
The lead single is called "Cardigan" and goes through the entire story in hindsight. The narrator recalls a teenage romance and how it seemed to have fallen apart when the boy had a summer fling with another girl during their relationship. There's a whole verse describing how she knew he would drift away, but then the tone shifts. Despite everything he has done, she still felt haunted by him with lyrics such as "I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss. I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs" In the end she drops all her grievances because despite everything, she knew, "you'd come back to me." Image from Taylor Swift
The eight track on the album is "August" and also recalls the events from that summer in the perspective of a girl named Augustine. She had developed feelings for the boy and hoped that it would turn out in her favor. However all her memories are tainted after knowing how it ends. "I remember thinking I had you" and then reaffirming, "You were never mine." Swift added a new perspective to the narrative and really garnered sympathy for Augustine because most people who listen to the song understand the feeling of, "living for the hope of it all." She did not have evil intentions but was just a girl infatuated with a boy. In the end she knows he is gone but she is still stuck in the memory of the summer as the song fades out with her repeating, "for the hope of it all." It really humanizes the story and shows what was at stake and in the end no one really one.
Image from Genius
The last song to complete the story is "Betty." This is the first song to tell the story as it is happening. James realizes he was wrong for having spent the summer with Augustine and tries to figure out a way to talk to Betty about his true feelings. He explains all his mistakes and ultimately says, "I don't know anything but I know I miss you." He decides to admit his feelings on the day of Betty's birthday party and it is revealed that all is forgiven and they reconcile in the end. A lot is left in the air with "Cardigan" and "August" but "Betty" gives the closure and ending to the story of James and Betty.
I really enjoyed this type of storytelling and look forward to more artists developing narratives throughout their albums. "Folklore" in particular is one of the greatest examples of lyricisms and shows that audiences will love to hear more narratives in music.
I am very impressed with your blog, Sabine. I would not consider myself a “Swiftie” but I have always enjoyed her music, like her most common singles like: “We belong together”, and “We Are Never Getting Back Together”. Those were my jams back in the day! I wish I would have discovered this side of Taylor Swift, I have not been paying much attention to her other songs like this one you shared. It really made me realize that she has a purpose to her music instead of other artists nowadays. Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDelete