With the 2020 releases of folklore and evermore and re-recordings from Fearless on the horizon, it’s a great time to be a Swiftie. Sister albums folklore and evermore left fans with something different, as Taylor departed from her country and pop past for a new, mature folk sound. A proud Taylor Swift fan myself, I’ve been bumping evermore on my dorm speaker for months now. Don’t get me wrong; Fearless-era Taylor will always hold a special place in my heart, especially during late-night “You Belong with Me” dance parties with my roommate. But there’s something so beautiful and so complex about evermore. Its unmatched lyricism makes it one of the most innovative Taylor Swift albums to date. Let’s take a look at some of the beautiful lyricism this album has to offer:
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“I wait by the door like I’m just a kid, use my best colors for your portrait, lay the table with the fancy s**t, and watch you tolerate it.” – “tolerate it”
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One of the most heartbreaking songs of the album, “tolerate it” captures the feeling of giving everything to someone only to have it not be reciprocated. Painting a portrait of a person using your best colors and laying a table with your fanciest items represent the process by which we romanticize people that aren’t always deserving of our love. I find the phrase, “and watch you tolerate it” to be the most piercing, as it nails the heartbreak associated with unrequited love.
- “Your mom’s ring in your pocket, her picture in your wallet, you won’t remember all my champagne problems.” – “champagne problems”
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Delivered at the end of “champagne problems,” this line concludes Taylor’s story of breaking someone’s heart unexpectedly. In love songs, we don’t always see the side of the person doing the heartbreaking. Telling the story of the heartbreak that comes with not being able to reciprocate the love someone deserves, “champagne problems” is an innovative take on a breakup song. This last line captures the feeling of watching someone you left move on and hoping that they moved past the pain you caused them, as Taylor envisions a happy future for the person she hurt.
- “I can’t make it go away by making you a villain” – “happiness”
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In “happiness,” Taylor details the peaceful stage of a breakup when you can finally remember someone you loved with happiness instead of hurt. Beautifully mature, this line represents the realization that pain can’t be driven away by vilifying someone that hurt you; to move past the hurt of a breakup, we must also acknowledge happiness.
- “Oh, I can’t stop you putting roots in my dreamland, my house of stone, your ivy grow, and now I’m covered in you.” – “ivy”
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With this line, Taylor shows us a type of love where you let someone become a part of you. Describing roots growing through a stone house, Taylor perfectly captures the feeling of fully letting someone in.
- “Your Midas touch on the Chevy Door. November flush and you flannel cure.” – “champagne problems”
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Leave it to Taylor to find the most unconventional way to tell us that she’s cold. Her inventive lyricism makes an event as simple as giving someone your jacket sound so poetic.
Every time I listen to evermore, I’m taken aback by how beautifully each story is told. I hope this inspires you all to go give evermore a listen.