Somehow we all managed to be just as surprised by Taylor Swift’s latest album, Evermore, as we were by Folklore just five months before. Despite Evermore being described as Folklore’s sister, this similarity between the two albums actually marks a turning point in Taylor Swift’s career. Rather than feeling like she needs to “reinvent” herself by creating a new era along with a new album, she has grown to be comfortable enough in her success that she was able to produce two successful albums in a row with a similar sound. I love Evermore just as much as I do Folklore. Here’s a definitive ranking of all of Evermore’s songs. (This list goes from worst to best).
- cowboy like me
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I already know this is going to be a controversial ranking, because “cowboy like me” seems to be a very polarizing song. Everyone I’ve spoken to about the album either loves or hates this one. Personally, it’s just not for me. I do enjoy it lyrically, but there’s something about the music that just doesn’t sit right with me.
Best lyrics: “Now you hang from my lips / Like the Gardens of Babylon / With your boots beneath my bed / Forever is the sweetest con”
- happiness
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This song is absolutely beautiful, but most of the time it’s way too sad for me to listen to. The way you can hear her voice break when she sings certain lyrics is so painful, so unless you actively want to cry, this song has to be a skip.
Best lyrics: “In our history, across our great divide / There is a glorious sunrise / Dappled with the flickers of light / From the dress I wore at midnight”
- evermore
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For some reason, the collaborative songs on both Evermore and Folklore tend to be lower on my list of favorites. I think I just don’t personally relate to “evermore” very much, which is why it’s ranked near the bottom.
Best lyrics: “And I was catching my breath / Barefoot in the wildest winter / Catching my death”
- marjorie
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Okay, I get it, a lot of the songs on Evermore are really sad and I can’t put them all at the bottom for that reason, but “marjorie” has the power to make you cry if you’ve ever lost anyone, and I have to be in a specific mood in order to listen to it.
Best lyrics: “The autumn chill that wakes me up / You loved the amber skies so much / Long limbs and frozen swims / You’d always go past where our feet could touch”
- it’s time to go
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I actually really like this song. However, because it’s one of the two bonus tracks on the album, I can’t help but compare it to the other one (“right where you left me”) which is one of my absolute favorites. Musically the song is just okay, but the lyrics hit hard.
Best lyrics: “He’s got my past frozen behind glass / But I’ve got me”
- closure
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This song to me fits in the same category as “the 1” from Folklore and “I Forgot That You Existed” from Lover. She sings about not needing closure from an ex, though the song also seems to imply that the narrator may actually need the closure.
Best lyrics: “I’m fine with my spite / And my tears, and my beers, and my candles”
- dorothea
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This is a fun, upbeat song with cute lyrics. Rumored to be about Selena Gomez, Taylor sings about a friend who has left the town where they grew up in search of fame. I enjoy listening to it, but so many of the other songs on this album are more powerful.
Best lyrics: “You got shiny friends since you left town / A tiny screen’s the only place I see you now / And I got nothing but well wishes for you”
- willow
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I think “willow” was a great way to introduce Evermore, and I love the music video. It’s a fun, upbeat song that allows for the transition between Folklore and Evermore, and begins to highlight the albums’ differences.
Best lyrics: “As if you were a mythical thing / Like you were a trophy or a champion ring / And there was one prize I’d cheat to win”
- coney island
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This might be another controversial choice, because I know a lot of people who don’t like this song at all. However, it puts into words the inexplicable painful feeling of slowly losing the person you’re dating in such a beautiful way.
Best lyrics: “And if this is the long haul / How’d we get here so soon?”
- tolerate it
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This song is classic Taylor Swift track five heartbreak material. Similar to some of the other sad songs on the album, you do need to be in a specific mood to listen to it, but it’s so beautifully written that I listen to this one more often than tracks like “happiness” and “marjorie.”
Best lyrics: “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky / Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life / Drawing hearts in the byline”
- long story short
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This song is happy and upbeat in all the best ways. This is one of those Taylor songs in the vein of “London Boy” and “Paper Rings” where you can’t help but smile while you listen to it. The song describes the process of recognizing past hardships and being grateful for all the good you have in your life now.
Best lyrics: “Past me / I wanna tell you not to get lost in these petty things / Your nemeses / Will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing”
- no body no crime
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Listening to this song for the first time is such a fun experience, because you get to hear the plot twist at the end of the song. “No body no crime” describes a fictional girl named Este, who is murdered by her husband after confronting him about his affair with another woman. The narrator of the song ultimately murders Este’s husband out of revenge for her friend, but the public believes that the husband’s mistress committed the murder instead. The song is a wild ride, and an absolute bop.
Best lyrics: “Good thing Este’s sister’s gonna swear she was with me / (She was with me, dude) / Good thing his mistress took out a big life insurance policy”
- ‘tis the damn season
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This song actually used to be my favorite, but that’s definitely because the album was released around the same time of year that this song takes place. It describes someone returning to their hometown for the December holiday season, and meeting up with what is arguably either a past relationship or someone they liked but have never dated before.
Best lyrics: “And wonder about the only soul / Who can tell which smiles I’m fakin’ / And the heart I know I’m breakin’ is my own / To leave the warmest bed I’ve ever known”
- right where you left me
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This is the other bonus song on Evermore, and, similar to “Death by a Thousand Cuts” on Lover, it’s a sad song disguised by upbeat music. It’s such an easy song to bop to, but devastating to hear if you actually listen to the lyrics. The narrator of the song is metaphorically frozen in time in the moment when the person she was with broke up with her.
Best lyrics: “Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion? / Breakups happen every day, you don’t have to lose it / She’s still twenty-three inside her fantasy”
- champagne problems
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This is objectively the best song on Evermore, the same way that “All Too Well” is objectively the best song on Red. But hey, this is my list, so I get to put it in third place if I want to. The highlight of this song is it’s bridge: something that’s a highlight of so many Taylor Swift songs.
Best lyrics: “”She would’ve made such a lovely bride, / What a shame she’s fucked in the head,” they said / But you’ll find the real thing instead / She’ll patch up your tapestry that I shred”
- ivy
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“Ivy” is one of the most underrated songs on Evermore. Despite being a song about infidelity, it has some of the most gorgeous lyrics on the entire album. There’s something about the way she sings “oh, goddamn,” in the chorus that just hits differently. The melody and lyrics match perfectly, and we get not one, but two Taylor Swift bridges in one song.
Best lyrics: “Crescent moon, coast is clear / Spring breaks loose, but so does fear / He’s gonna burn this house to the ground”
- gold rush
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Taylor describes “gold rush” as the split second where you see someone beautiful, fall in love with them, and then watch them walk away, knowing you’ll never be able to know them. “Gold rush” is basically the older sister of “Enchanted.” Once you know that the song takes place in a single moment, it’s so easy to immerse yourself in it and get lost in the lyrics.
Best lyrics: “Walk past, quick brush / I don’t like slow motion, double vision in rose blush”
Overall, I love all of Evermore, and it’s absolutely worth a listen, especially if you liked Folklore. (It’s also really fun to make a playlist of the two albums and listen to them together). Because the album cover for Folklore is black and white, whereas the Evermore cover is in color, fans have described the latter as “Folklore but colorized,” and when you listen to the two albums in full, it totally feels that way. Add Evermore to your rotation of music: you won’t regret it.
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