Taylor Swift - Folklore
Folklore by Taylor Swift
Well, I’m certainly not the first person to review Folklore by Taylor Swift, but I’m confident in saying that I’m the only one reviewing it while wearing a Suicide Silence T-shirt.
By that I mean that this is not an album I would typically listen to, much less spend time reviewing. My musical tastes lean towards hard rock and metal, and I generally disdain anything related to pop music. It’s not that I’m not too cool for pop (maybe a little bit), it just doesn’t do anything for me. I need to have some sort of emotional connection to what I’m listening to.
An opportunity to review Folklore presented itself, and I accepted that challenge. Admittedly, my Taylor Swift knowledge is very basic. The Kayne incident. Shake It Off. The Katy Perry song. The high profile relationships. Howard Stern hasn’t interviewed her (yet), so I don’t know what to think of her. I watched her Netflix documentary Miss Americana to get a glimpse of how big and influential she is. Who is this girl that has experienced a lifetime of hurt in such a short amount of time? A pop star to be sure, but something felt different about her.
With those preconceived notions of her, and after looking at the cover of Folklore I thought this going to be your standard listen-on-a-rainy-day-after-your-boyfriend-broke-up-with-you album. There’s some of that, but it is a bit more. Deep down, what I’m drawn to the most is honest songwriting about feelings and experiences. The pain, the heartache, the frustration, I want to hear it all. I want to know everything you went through. And Folklore gave me all of that, and then some. My favorite singers are vulnerable and authentic, they pour their emotions into their songs. Not everyone has that type of bravery, but Swift does. Without a doubt. Themes like relationship struggles (“peace,” “hoax”), finding peace (“epiphany”), lost love (“the 1”) are all over the place.
This album is just as suitable for indie pop rock fans than it is for Taylor Swift fans. If you’re looking for songs to dance with your friends to, you’re in the wrong place. Go to the rooftop for that. This is a basement album that is full of broken hearts and hurt feelings, songs you listen to while you flip through old pictures of exes. I’m not a rooftop guy, I’m a basement guy.
“this is me trying” hits close to home with me, as it reminds me of all the times I’ve tried to make things better but fuck them up instead. “mad woman” emphasizes the fact that girls are crazy because boys made them that way. The contrast in the voices of Swift and Bon Iver in “exile” is beautiful, even if the story they’re telling isn’t. “illicit affairs” warns us all about the emotional cost of cheating. “cardigan” is another favorite track, and that was before I read that that song is the first part of a trilogy of songs that revolve around the story of teenage love triangle. “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty” are (reportedly) those 3 songs, each told from the perspective of each party. I don’t care what anyone says, but that’s next level writing right there. I look forward to ripping that off some day.
With that being said, I don’t have to listen to Swift’s other albums to know that Folklore is my favorite. How can I say that without hearing the other albums? I can tell. There is something about the way she turns sadness into beauty, almost like she’s reassuring you that even though she is hurt, she will be okay.
I’m not an official Swiftie but I have a newfound respect for her. She definitely brings out the 17-year-old girl in me. If she was around when I was high school, she’d be on every mixtape I made for a girl. I understand why her fans are so passionate about her. No matter how you feel about her, you cannot deny her talent as a singer, songwriter, and performer. I mean my goodness, she wrote this entire album in 3-4 months during COVID. I can barely write one review in that time.
(Speaking of passionate fans, the battle between Swift fans and Tool fans re: 2019’s Lover vs. Fear Inoculum record sales was an amusing clash of generational taste).
Country Taylor is ok. Dance Taylor is fun. Pop Taylor is good. But indie folk Taylor is my favorite. I’m caught between wanting Swift to find happiness, while at the same time wanting her to continue to make poor relationship decisions to inspire her songwriting. I want to hear all the melancholy and the infinite sadness (shoutout to the Smashing Pumpkins).
I didn’t think a metal head would be able to understand what one of the world’s biggest pop stars is going through, but to get a different perspective sometimes you have to take off your battle vest and put on a cardigan.
“They told me all of my cages are mental
So I got wasted like all my potential
And my words shoot to kill when I’m mad
I have a lot of regrets about that”
- Taylor Swift “this is me trying”
Note:
I’ll be giving away the signed copy of Folklore pictured above. Here are the rules:
I will post a picture of the signed CD on my Instagram @charlie.bodhi
Leave a comment on that post with feedback on this review of Folklore. And not just “that was good!” “I liked it!” or '‘that sucked!” I’m looking for constructive, detailed feedback. Deadline to submit comment is Sept. 30 at midnight PST.
Sometime on Oct 1, I will have a drawing with everyone who left a comment and randomly select a winner.
