TV Obsessive
Taylor Swift’s folklore is the Album You Secretly Didn’t Know You Wanted
Jan: Let’s get something straight, a’ight? folklore is the best album Taylor Swift has made so far. There I said it. Following Swift for years, I have never really been turned into much of a fan. Until this year’s documentary Miss Americana…when I became a fan. The documentary showed Taylor in a new light, as someone who fights for her rights for privacy, for her music and for homeland. And the behind the scenes showed that the acoustic version of the songs. When she is just sitting by the piano is when she is at her strongest as a musician. I asked for something simple that time…for her to sit down by the piano and record an album that way. Simple, pure, but more important genuine.
It took a lockdown and the world to stop for that to happen.
With every album Swift is growing up—as a person, and mainly as an artist, musician. folklore is the way American folk music will evolve. The whole album can be likened to those exaggerated tales of misfits, people on the edge, and outcasts akin to Bob Dylan characters. In “the last great american dynasty” Taylor starts telling the story of Rebekah Harkness, the mad woman that was attempted to be driven out of Rhode Island, and then the song ends with a verse where basically Taylor likens herself to Rebekah, as if she is proud of her haters and proud to be a mad woman. Oh yeah Taylor Swift owns the house Rebekah Harkness used to live in.
“exile (feat. Bon Iver)” is the obvious highlight of the entire album—again this feels Bob Dylan-esque, mixed in with the modern pop vibes. My favorite track from the album has got to be “my tears ricochet.” It’s a song of great pain, love, the loss of love and the consequent madness. It’s got a kick-ass melody.
Taylor Swift has solidified herself as an an American popstar but now she has proven herself as an amazing storyteller, worthy of listening to. ‘Cause she’ll tell us through quirky characters about the variety of emotions we all got in our arsenal.
Those are our recommendations this week! What are yours? Let us know in the comments!
