This day has been chaotic, to say the least. From the moment I saw the announcement to now, evermore, Taylor Swift’s new album, has been the only thing on my mind. Here are my thoughts based on the tracklist.
1. champagne problems will be soft but catchy. Aside from Cruel Summer, every track two has been a single, and while I don’t think she’ll release this track as one, I do think it’ll be a huge fan favorite. Even the title is intriguing but lighthearted: the perfect combination.
2. ‘tis the damn season will be a holiday song reminiscent of her British Vogue cover last year. The caption “bored girl at the holiday party” has puzzled me ever since, and I’m interested to see if it’s a part of this song. Even the colors of that photoshoot match the evermore album cover!
3. Track five, tolerate it, will be heartbreaking. I’m expecting some commentary on her feeling silenced in the music industry or as a woman, and maybe some references to her masters and rerecording situation since that were what folklore’s track five was focused on.
4. dorothea will introduce a new character, and possibly a new love triangle. I’m hesitant to add willow and ivy, other possible names to this story since I don’t think she’ll repeat what she did with folklore completely, but I’m definitely not counting them out either.
5. coney island (feat. The National) will be august’s older sister. There’s something about Coney Island that reminds me of a dream vacation with friends and easy summer love—the type of thing you see in movies. But with The National featuring on it, I imagine it to be more mature and maybe darker than august’s storyline.
6. cowboy like me will be a nod to her country roots, and I can see it as being another character in the story, likely related to Dorothea in some way. Not only is betty on folklore very country, but it’s also told from a boy’s perspective, so I can see these aligning perfectly.
7. I can imagine long story short being a lot of things, but my favorite idea right now is that it’ll be one of the few songs about her life: the invisible string of evermore. I can see this as her telling the story of her and her partner Joe, developing it more with each verse and topping it with a chorus that sums up their relationship with “long story short.”
8. marjorie is most definitely about Taylor’s grandmother. Given that her last track thirteen was about her grandfather, I have no doubts that Taylor will explore her grandmother’s life and sing a song from her perspective or about how she serves as an inspiration.
9. I imagine it’s time to go to be similar to the lakes: an expansion on the idea that what she always wished for when she was young (the big cities, the crowds) has started to fade. I certainly don’t think this will be her goodbye to music, but maybe an acknowledgment of the softer, more private life that she wants to live.