Taylor Swift’s folklore Spins Tales to be Passed Down for Generations

Words by Callie Craig

“I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try,” Taylor Swift croons on “mirrorball”, the sixth track off her eighth studio album, folklore. Released with less than 24 hours notice, Swift’s latest achievement is on track to break records left and right, including the biggest debut for a female artist on Spotify. Listening to the 17 track album, born out of isolation, it’s hard to believe that Taylor Swift is anything but a natural. 

Throughout her career, the country-turned-pop superstar has whirled seamlessly from genre to genre, dominating each new category along the way, and folklore is no exception. Alongside Aaron Dessner, multi-instrumentalist for The National, and Swift’s long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff, folklore finds Swift exercising her stellar writing abilities through an indie-folk lens, and we’ve broken down each track for you below. 

the 1 

For the past seven albums, Swift has set a precedent with her opening tracks — from the vulnerable musings of a high school teen losing her sweetheart to college on “Tim McGraw”, to the sharp, poignant comeback of reputation’s “Look What You Made Me Do”, each Swift opener takes a strong stance in setting the tone for the rest of the album. Boldy claiming in the first line, ‘I’m doing good, I’m on some new shit, been saying yes instead of no / I thought I saw you at a bus stop, I didn’t though,’ “the 1” gives a glimpse into Swift’s life (assumedly doing well at Republic Records, taking her career into her own hands) while foreshadowing themes expertly woven into many folklore tracks — throughout the record, we see Swift stepping in and out of different points of view, switching characters, and crafting oral history to be passed down. “the 1”’s upbeat production alludes back to Swift’s pop glory while stripping back enough to transition into this new era. 

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘You know the greatest films of all time were never made’ — “the 1” is the first track of four on the album that reference a film motif.
• ‘Roaring Twenties, tossing pennies in the pool’ — A callback to Swift’s “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” off of 2017’s reputation. The electric pop hit’s first verse states, ‘feeling so Gatsby for that whole year.’
• ‘In my defense, I have none, for never leaving well enough alone,’ references Lover’s lead single, “ME!”, whose self-reflective first verse claims, ‘I know that I went psycho on the phone, I never leave well enough alone,’

cardigan 

The first song Swift and Dessner wrote together, “cardigan” is an enchanting autumnal tale complete with delicate piano riffs, soft drum brushes, and visual imagery so clear it feels as though you lived through it yourself (I knew you, dancing in your Levi’s, drunk under a street light … I knew you, your heartbeat on the High Line once in twenty lifetimes). “cardigan” is, what I believe, to be the first of Swift’s folklore ‘Teenage Love Triangle.’ During a Vevo premiere for the “cardigan” music video, Swift herself joined the chat to share an Easter Egg, saying, “There’s a collection of three songs I refer to as the ‘Teenage Love Triangle’. These three songs explore a love triangle from all three people’s perspectives at different times in their lives.” The triangle consists of three characters: James, Betty, and a Summer Girl. As the story goes, James cheated on Betty with a mysterious girl, only for Betty to find out and have her heartbroken. “cardigan” is a song from Betty’s point of view, looking back on her love with James and how he made her feel – both when they first met, and when she learned he was seeing someone else. Betty remembers ‘kissing in cars,’ ‘chasing two girls and losing one,’ and how James ‘tried to change the ending / Peter losing Wendy.’

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘I knew you’d haunt all of my what-ifs’ – this lyric directly draws back to “the 1”, wondering what would happen ‘if one thing were different, would everything be different?’
• A few lyrics will be called back to in the later songs of the ‘Teenage Love Triangle’: 
  • ‘Dancing in your Levi’s, drunk under a street light’
  • ‘When you are young they assume you know nothing’
  • ‘I knew you’d miss me when the thrill expired, and you’d be standing in my front porch light’

the last great american dynasty 

A true storytelling track, “the last great american dynasty” is an incredible tale about Rebekah Harkness, a socialite who married into the Standard Oil fortune. Shortly after their courting, Rebekah’s husband Bill passed, leaving her their fortune, fame, and their ‘Holiday House,’ a not-so-humble beach abode perched along the coasts of Rhode Island. The song tells the tale of the town’s disdain for the Harkness widow – a once quiet community, disrupted by her garish, shameless partying. Harkness’s life was as lavish as lavish can be, and Swift recounts some extravagant highlights, including ‘losing on card game bets with Dali’ (Harkness was indeed friends with Salvador Dali, who, when she passed, designed a $250,000 urn for her ashes). Following Harkness’s passing, ‘Holiday House’ was empty, and the town crept back into its comfortable silence. That is, until Miss Swift herself purchased the house in 2013, sending the town into a similar frenzy over fans, paparazzi, and her infamous Fourth of July parties. She proudly sings, ‘I had a marvelous time ruining everything.’

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names,’ – an additional callback to “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” first verse, ‘It was so nice throwing big parties, jump into the pool from the balcony, everyone swimming in a champagne sea.’

exile (feat. Bon Iver)

This deep, driven ballad depicts the disintegrating of a relationship. In a duet with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, both sides argue their position in the disagreements, delicately weaving in the toxic patterns of miscommunication and mistrust. Vernon and Swift carefully sing over each other, ‘Never even gave a sign / I gave so many signs,’ perfectly visualizing how neither listened to the other. 

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending’ – the second reference to the film motif seen throughout the album, this line also parallels Swift’s 2010 Speak Now track, “If This Was a Movie,” where the outro echoes ‘Baby, what about the ending?’

my tears ricochet 

If you’ve ever gone down the rabbit hole into the intricacies of the Swifts’ discography,  you may be familiar with Track 5. Swift notoriously puts some of her most vulnerable, and tear-jerking tracks into the fifth slot on each album. “my tears ricochet” is the latest to join “Cold As You”, “White Horse”, “Dear John”, “All Too Well”, “All You Had to Do Was Stay”, “Delicate”, and “The Archer” in the Track 5 phenomenon. Written solely by Swift, and the first song written for folklore, this gut-punching, heart-aching poem tells the story of Swift losing her masters to Scooter Braun through the analogy of a funeral. If you need a refresher, Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records (Swift’s label for her first seven albums) sold her masters to Braun (via the acquisition of the label), who is aligned with men who have been vocal about their dislike for Swift in the past (namely, Kanye West and Justin Bieber). Upon the acquisition, Swift stated that her “musical legacy was about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.” 

In this track, Swift sings about how she truly loved Big Machine, which she refers to as her home (‘I can go anywhere I want, anywhere I want, just not home’ likely refers to the fact that upon leaving Big Machine, she could’ve gone to any label she wanted – just not the one she had been with since the start). One of the more piercing lines of this ballad, ‘I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace,’ Swift defends her choice to fight for her masters. Upon the announcement of the Big Machine acquisition, she shared in a Tumblr post that she was offered to ‘go with grace’ by chaining herself to the label for seven more album cycles, getting the chance to buy back one mastered album with every one new album produced. 

Additional Notable Lyrics:

 

• “my tears ricochet” is filled with imagery alluding to her lost masters – ‘when you can’t hear at night, you hear my stolen lullabies,’ ‘you wore the same jewels, as I gave you when you buried me,’ and the jarring ‘if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake / cursing my name?’

 

mirrorball

Sonically reminiscent of classic ‘80s pop, “mirrorball” pleads with its listeners not to stray. Swift compares herself to a disco ball, it’s million shiny, shattered facets that sparkle with light. In Swift’s 2020 documentary Miss Americana, she shares the fears of growing older in the music industry, citing how women over the age of 30 are discarded into ‘an elephant graveyard.’ As clips of each distinct era flash across the screen, she confesses how women in the music industry have to constantly reinvent themselves to remain relevant. “mirrorball” parallels those fears, and the fight to continue doing what she loves, ‘I can change everything about me to fit in,’ ‘I know they said the end is near / but I’m still on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels, love/shining just for you.’

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• “mirrorball” likely also alludes to Swift’s relationship with long-time boyfriend Joe Alwyn, how she tried to shine for him. The title itself could refer to the night they (presumably) first met, the 2016 Met Gala, where Swift was adorned in a mirrorball-like dress. 

seven 

Retreating into the nostalgia and innocence of childhood, “seven” peeks into Swift’s life at that age. One of the standout lines of the album, the first verse of “seven” begins with, ‘Please picture me in the trees, I hit my peak at seven feet, in the swing over the creek.’ After Swift sings, ‘I hit my peak at seven,’ she takes a prolonged breath before moving onto ‘feet.’ This incredible tactic allows her to refer to several peaks – we fill in the blanks during the breath. This line could directly refer to hitting her peak at age seven (not being burdened with the industry, still maintaining her innocence, and absolutely no fairweather friends). It could refer to a peak at seventeen, the age she was when her sophomore album Fearless was released, which catapulted her to unimaginable success. Lastly, it could refer to hitting her peak at her seventh album, Lover, which is the first album she owns. The thought and care placed into this single breath perfectly encapsulate why Swift has long been in a songwriting league of her own.

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘And though I can’t recall your face, I’ve still got love for you’ – Swift explained in an Instagram post about folklore, ‘The lines between fantasy and reality blur and the boundaries between truth and fiction become almost indiscernible.’
• ‘Passed down like folk songs, our love lasts so long’ – Swift directly alludes to the album title and how this music will be passed through generations.

august 

The second piece of the ‘Teenage Love Triangle’, “august” tells the story from the point of view of the girl who James cheated with. She recounts the intrepid affair, romanticizing the month they spent together, until James retreats back to Betty, leaving the Summer Girl to reminisce, ‘I remember when I thought I had you,’ ‘so much for summer love and saying ‘us’ / ‘cause you weren’t mine to lose.’ The time they spent together, as well as James themself (their gender identity is up for debate – more on this later), never belonged to her. “august”’s outro beautifully depicts the desperate, all-consuming feelings of teenage love.

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘Whispers of “Are you sure?’ and ‘Never have I ever before’ — Referring to the nervousness of teenage relationships, this lyric hints at James’ infidelity, and hesitation to cheat on Betty.
• ‘Remember when I pulled up and said get in the car’ — This line shows us how the affair started and will be referenced in the final ‘Teenage Love Triangle’ track, “betty”. 

this is me trying

In 2016, Swift disappeared from the public eye. In Miss Americana, she confesses, “Nobody physically saw me for a year, and that’s what I thought they wanted.” Swift airly enters this is me trying by hinting at her return to the spotlight ‘I’ve been having a hard time adjusting, I had the shiniest wheels now they’re rusting / I didn’t know if you’d care if I came back, I have a lot of regrets about that.’ In addition to her return to endless scrutiny, she reveals that re-entering her normal life had its difficulties as well, ‘It’s hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound.’ “this is me trying” feels like an open letter to Swift’s family, friends, and fans about regaining her confidence, working to improve her mental health, and continuing to trek on. 

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘Pulled the car off the road to the lookout, could’ve followed my fears all the way down’ – Swift, who has been vocal about her struggles with her own mental health, inputs a heartbreaking reference to the hopelessness the narrator feels, suggesting they contemplated ending their own life.
• ‘You’re a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town’ – The third reference to the continuing film motif.

illicit affairs 

One of the original contenders for the ‘Teenage Love Triangle’ trio, “illicit affairs” parallels the story of James, Betty, and the Summer Girl. Almost a seeming epilogue of “august”, this track depicts the aftermath of an affair that has come to a brutal end. The narrator begins the song by instructing how to remain elusive, ‘Make sure nobody sees you leave / hood over your head, keep your eyes down,’ eventually diving into how these adrenaline-filled meetings are wonderful only the first few hundred times. The song reaches its climax at its ranting bridge when the heartbroken Summer Girl leaves no stone unturned in telling her true feelings when James tries to let her down easy, ‘Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby, look at this godforsaken mess that you’ve made me,’ and, eventually in the outro, ‘for you, I would ruin myself a million little times.’

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• One of the most visual songs on the album, Swift fills “illicit affairs” with references to the escapades of grandeur that eventually left the Summer Girl alone and heartbroken:
  • ‘What started in beautiful rooms, ends with meetings in parking lots’
  • ‘Leave the perfume on the shelf, the one you picked out just for him / so you can leave no trace behind like you don’t even exist’

invisible string 

One of the most uplifting songs on folklore, “invisible string” tells the hopeful story of how all of the choices Swift and Alwyn have made in their lives, good and bad, have led them to each other. This journey is embodied in the idea of an invisible string tying them together. She begins the song by describing each of them in their teenage years, Swift reading in Centennial Park in Nashville where ‘she used to think she’d meet somebody,’ while Alwyn, halfway around the world, was working in a yogurt shop – ‘teal was the color of your shirt when you were sixteen at the yogurt shop, you used to work to make a little money’. The twinkling choruses ponder if there were any indications during their younger years that the two would end up together, ‘Time, curious time, gave me no compasses gave me no signs / were there clues I didn’t see?’ Continuing to progress through their relationship, Swift notes how one of her songs was playing in a cab that Alwyn took, ‘Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to L.A.,’ juxtaposed with their relationship, three years later, taking a trip ‘down by the Lakes’ (presumably England’s Lake District). In the bridge, Swift revels in the beauty of the invisible string, ‘One single thread of gold tied me to you.’

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘A string that pulled me out of all the wrong arms, right into that dive bar’ – Swift also references a dive bar in “Delicate”, a 2017 track about beginning her relationship with Alwyn, ‘Dive bar on the Eastside, where you at?’
• ‘Cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart, now I send their babies presents’ – In 2008, Joe Jonas and Swift had a whirlwind romance that ended with a break-up phone call from Jonas. Recently, he and Sophie Turner welcomed their first daughter Willa — assumedly, Swift is referring to a present that she sent to their newborn baby.  

mad woman 

This razor-sharp track dives into two of Swift’s most public feuds, Kim Kardashian/Kanye West and Scooter Braun/Scott Borchetta. Similar to 1989’s “Blank Space”, this track portrays the media-crafted and patriarchy-backed image of a mad woman, ‘there’s nothing like a mad woman, what a shame she went mad.’ Describing how the world is seemingly telling her to turn the other cheek, Swift critiques the idea that the woman is the one who receives the blame – the public judges her reaction rather than the actions from others that caused her to react, ‘They say move on but you know I won’t,’ ‘You’ll poke that bear til the claws come out, and you’ll find something to wrap your noose around.’ 

Notable Additional Lyrics: 

• ‘Do you see my face in the neighbors’ lawn? Does she smile, or does she mouth “fuck you forever?’’ — “mad woman” is the first time Swift has ever used this expletive, making it cut especially deep, and backs the idea that she is no longer bending to please others. 
• ‘Women like hunting witches too’ — In reputation’s “I Did Something Bad”, Swift’s bellowing bridge echoes, ‘They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one,’ referring to the famous Kim Kardashian feud in which the 39-year-old reality star doctored a video of a phone call between her husband Kanye West and Swift, making the falsified video look as if Swift had agreed to being called a ‘bitch’ on his 2016 track, “Famous”. 
• ‘It’s obvious that wanting me dead has brought you two together’ refers to the partnership between Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta. 
• ‘The master of spin has a couple side flings / good wives always know / she should be mad, should be scathing like me, but no one likes a mad woman’ – This biting lyric could be referencing Braun’s wife, Yael Braun, who publicly defended her husband and lashed out against Swift online. 

epiphany 

Juxtaposed between an account of Swift’s grandfather in the military and the COVID-19 pandemic, “epiphany” tells the story of someone praying for understanding and enlightenment as they fight for their life. Speaking about the patient, Swift sings, ‘Only twenty minutes to sleep, but you dream of some epiphany.’ Of the doctors treating them, she sings, ‘Something med school did not cover, someone’s daughter, someone’s mother.’ Swift muses that even with years of studying at med school, no textbook can prepare you to witness the loss of someone’s life.

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘With you, I serve, with you I fall down’ – Swift refers to the frontline workers dedicating their lives to treating patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are with their patients, trying to do everything they can for them, until their last breath. 

betty 

The third and final installment of the ‘Teen Love Triangle’, “betty” tells the story of the Betty/James/Summer Girl affair from James’ point of view. Throughout the track, Betty learns of James’ affair through a classmate, named Inez, ‘You heard the rumors from Inez, you can’t believe a word she says most times, but this time it was true.’ Swift’s longtime pals, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are parents to three daughters, two of whom are named James and Inez. This brings about the theory that Betty is a queer anthem about the love between two high school girls, James and Betty. Some fans speculate that Lively and Reynolds’ third child, who was born late last year, is named Betty, and Swift was revealing it in her lyrics. However, there’s a second option — remember Rebekah Harkness, socialite heiress featured in “the last great american dynasty”? Turns out, her friends also called her Betty. 

After James finds out that Betty is privy to their secrets, they contemplate whether or not she will ever be forgiving, or move on forever. James dreams of showing up at her house, professing their love, and winning her back. The chorus echoes James’ internal struggle of how Betty will react, ‘But if I just showed up at your party, would you have me? Would you want me? Would you tell me to go fuck myself or lead me to the garden? In the garden would you trust me if I told you it was just a summer thing?’

Additional Notable Lyrics: 

• Many of the lyrics in “betty” relate back to other lyrics from the additional ‘Teenage Love Triangle’ songs, “cardigan” and “august”
  • betty: ‘Standing in your cardigan’ vs. cardigan: ‘And when I felt like an old cardigan under someone’s bed, you put me on and said I was your favorite’
  • betty: ‘Kissing in my car again, stopped at a streetlight’ vs. cardigan:

‘Dancing in your Levi’s, drunk under a streetlight’

• • • betty: ‘I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything’ vs. cardigan: ‘When you are young they assume you know nothing’
    • betty: ‘Betty, I’m here on your doorstep … will you kiss me on the front porch in front of all your stupid friends?’ vs. cardigan: ‘I knew you’d miss me when the thrill expired, and you’d be standing in my front porch light’

 

• betty: ‘She pulled up like a figment of my worst intentions / she said ‘James get in, let’s drive’ vs. august: ‘Remember when I pulled up and said get in the car’

 

• • Similar to the idea that we don’t know the Summer Girl’s name because she was James’ second choice, there are fewer references to her from James’ point of view in “betty”.

peace 

A seeming cousin to “The Archer” and “Afterglow” from Lover, “peace” is a beautiful contradiction about Swift’s admiration for her partner. The track discusses how deeply she loves but doesn’t fail to recognize her shortcomings. The chorus glistens, ‘I’m a fire I can keep your brittle heart warm,’ and ‘All these people think love’s for show, but I would die for you in secret,’ yet questions, ‘Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?’ After fifteen years in the spotlight, it’s clear that the paparazzi always have an itch to scratch when it comes to Swift. “peace” questions if all of her love is going to be worth it when you add in the fact that there are always going to be people following them around, attempting to tear her down. 

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘And you know that I’d swing for you with the fences, sit with you in the trenches’ calls back to military imagery in “epiphany”.
• ‘Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other’ parallels a similar lyric from a bonus track on 1989, “You Are In Love”. The 2014 track refers to where you can find love, stating, ‘You can hear it in the silence.’
• ‘Family that I chose, now that I see your brother as my brother’ – Joe Alwyn’s younger brother, Patrick, is close friends with Swift. She refers to him in Lover’s track, “Paper Rings”, ‘Which takes me back to the color we painted your brother’s wall.’ She also mentions the idea of their bond in cardigan, ‘Rose flowing with your chosen family.’
• ‘But there’s robbers to the East, clowns to the West’ – Robbers refers to Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, clowns likely refers to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

hoax 

Continuing the ideas of infidelity and miscommunication that are seen in “exile” and “illicit affairs”, “hoax” chronicles the struggles of not being able to let go of an unhealthy relationship. The haunting chorus depicts the disorientation and hopelessness the narrator is experiencing, ‘Stood on the cliffside, screaming ‘Give me a reason,’ your faithless love’s the only hoax I believe in.’ She continues to leave traces of her anger and sadness throughout the song. In the bridge, Swift shares her distress and bitterness with her partner, asking, ‘You knew you won so what’s the point in keeping score?’ In the outro, she admits that she can’t let go no matter how much she’s been hurt, saying, ‘My only one, my kingdom come, my broken drum, you have beaten my heart / Don’t want no other shade of blue but you, no other sadness in the world could do.’ “hoax” is the official closer of folklore, but not for long — Swift announced that a bonus track entitled “the lakes” will be included on the physical editions of the album (Swift’s team has not responded to BTS’ request to review “the lakes”). 

Additional Notable Lyrics:

• ‘You knew the hero died so what’s the movie for?’ is the final film motif on the album. 
• ‘My kingdom come,’ sung on the outro, is a similar lyric to 2017’s “Call It What you Want”, where Swift sings, ‘My castle crumbled overnight, I brought a knife to a gunfight.’

An incredible quarantine feat, folklore is a sonically and lyrically cohesive album that allows Swift’s songwriting capabilities to shine.