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sadspoookyboi · 7 months

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BATFAMILY AS FOLKLORE SONGS

i’m honestly shocked i’ve haven’t done this one. this one is a little different tbh, usually i just do characters and maybe lyrics but this time i did actually did explanations and i was watching the long pond sessions so i could get accurate notes on each song. DISCLAIMER there’s a lot of run on sentences and i hope it all makes sense, peace and love-ssb✌️🫶

the 1: steph and tim, i see this as being from both of their povs. i think a relationship between them wouldn’t work long term it would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one

cardigan: dick/babs, i know that all writers have their own opinions on who is the “other woman” but timeline wise it’s kori so i see this as being from babs pov bc she goes back to him no matter what

the last great american dynasty: The Wayne’s, i feel that after Bruce adopts his kids and starts collecting others he starts kinda shifting what the wayne’s are where as when he grew up it was about image, poise and galas he starts to change and all he cares abt is if his kids are comfortable i had a marvelous time ruining everything

exile: jason and bruce, even though this song is like two lovers fighting i think it can be interpreted as jason being upset after tim becomes robin and it took you five whole minutes to pack us up and leave me with it and i can see bruce’s pov of being fed up with giving jason the chance to do the right thing but him not doing it like you’d get your knuckles bloody for me second, third and hundredth chances balancing on breaking bridges, i couldn’t turn things around you never turned things around

my tears ricochet: damian and talia, “it’s a song about greed. it’s a song about how somebody could be your best friend and your companion and your most trusted person in your life and then they could go and become your worst enemy who knows how to hurt you because they were once your most trusted person.” Taylor Swift long pond sessions you had to kill me but it killed you just the same this whole song and specifically this part and the quote reminds me of when talia made and had a clone of damian kill him i didn’t have it in me to go with grace and you’re the hero flying around saving face you hear my stolen lullabies

mirrorball: Stephanie, i’ve never been a natural all i do is try i know everyone is like this is dicks songs it’s not he’s the natural however i feel stephanie is put on this pedestal for being independent but she’s not and i feel like she morphs herself into a different version of herself depending on who she’s with “we have mirror balls in the middle of a dance floor because they reflect light they are broken a million times and that’s what makes them so shiny. we have people like that in society. they hang there and everytime they break it entertains us” Taylor Swift long pond sessions

seven: damian and jon, it’s a song abt besties idk 🤷🏻‍♀️ past down like folk songs the love lasts so long

august: kori/dick, IM SORRY DICKORI/ KORI STANS! to me when writers write this love triangle they write babs as the one, she’s smart and sensible and someone to settle down with while kori is written as a fling and something that is just someone who’s there in the moment and that’s what august is about it’s about this girl who was seen by this guy as a fling while she is truly falling for him and from everybody’s pov she’s this bad girl and temptress while all she wants is to love and to be loved

this is me trying: tim, they told me all my cages were mental so i got wasted like all my potential, tim is often now written as this happy go lucky character and i think that in red robin he’s fighting some real demons but in the newer runs he’s fighting to make it through the day or insecurities about his position in the family or as a superhero or even as bernard’s boyfriend and i feel like it’s just so real like no other character is going to compare to me when it comes to that and when it comes to his position in everyday life he is the definition as wasted potential he is crazy smart and charismatic but he just hates school and hates studying i was so ahead the curve that the curve became a sphere

illicit affairs: bruce/ talia, bruce and talias relationship is not healthy but i do believe that they both or at least bruce loved the other person and i feel like it shouldn’t even be described as an relationship because it seems like a means to an end

invisible string: the entire batfamily, definition of right place at the right time

mad woman: cass, in the comics and fics cass is often written to be a crazy, feral woman and i think that it’s a narrative constantly written about women and i feel like men are written as traumatized while women are not written or perceived with that tone they are written as vindictive or crazy

epiphany: babs and jim gordon, epiphany is written paralleling WWII to the pandemic and i think the perfect parallel in comic book history is babs and commissioner gordon fighting the same fight but taking different paths or routes and aaron dessner describes the song as comparing taylor’s family history and hero’s of today and i feel like that’s the perfect way to describe it

betty: babs/dick/kori, i already described my thoughts twice but i feel like dick would maybe take more accountability

peace: bruce/selina, imma be honest i don’t know if it’s canon that bruce doesn’t do relationships bc of batman but it’s fitting and i feel like it’s probably that even in relationships with other heroes is a conversation to be had bruce truly can’t give selina peace, he cannot promise stability or a promise of staying alive or not being over tabloids as he’s the richest man alive all these people think loves for show but i would die for you in secret

hoax: duke, duke is the one character that i can’t really get a read on but as the newest member of the batfamily i feel like there’s still this feeling in him that’s like i have this new family and i love them but at the end of the day i want my parents my parents that raised me at the end of the day he’s a boy who wants his parents. i also feel like he’s still trusting of people and he reaps what he sowed everytime

the lakes: tim/bernard: tim always has an exit plan and it’s always escaping by himself to be by himself and i feel like it’s the same no matter who he’s with but when he met and started dating bernard he finally found someone to escape with and exit the hero world for im setting off, but not without my muse

batfam (taylor’s version) is coming so lmk what albums you guys want next🤭🤭

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sophietv · 10 months

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Hey hi 👋🏻

wow, your massive essay answering the question about LSK and the 2019 breakup is awesome, such a good breakdown of resources, it would have taken me a whole work day to put that together! I’d genuinely never seen that Fearless TV Audacity music interview, what a find, I’d have come round to LSK a lot sooner if I’d seen that. Up until about a year ago I was convinced they were done for good just from having seen the summer 2019 cover of ‘Can’t stop loving you’ and then hearing Folklore and Evermore… seemed too grief-filled not to have lost the love of her life right?! I’m aware there were still a ton of nods to Karlie’s in Taylor’s music and socials but I just thought she’s going to grieve that loss for the rest of her life. But then we got midnights and all these songs about surviving a really tough time with your partner and coming out the other end of it… I rewatched the long pond session and the implication of Taylor’s speech about Betty and James suddenly hit me right in the face. I’ve never wanted to believe in anything so badly in my life if there was even the slightest chance that they got back together. Keep in mind Karlie already had a child at this point so I had to let go of a lot of public narrative to keep an open mind about what might be happening. But boy have I never been happier to see how much she’s returning all of the nods that Taylor makes to her publicly and God have they got loud over the last 12 months! This has been such a lovely journey back to two people who gave me so much hope back in 2014 when I was newly out to all my friends and seeing the love shine out of their eyes when they look at each other, despite all the secrecy, just made me so happy. I’ll stop now because otherwise I never will, just thank you for compiling all of that so nicely, it’s something I’ll definitely go back to when I need my dose of a good real life love story to overcome a dull day ❤️

Reading your post made me emotional.

I truly hope that they know just how much we love them and are rooting for them.

Thank you fo your kind words 🫶

#anon ask #lsk #kaylor

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jennyboom21 · 2 years

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“William Bowery” is credited as a co-writer on several songs across Taylor Swift’s upstate New York-themed albums folklore and evermore. The nom de Swift was the subject of immediate speculation from the singer’s fanbase, which theorized the person behind it was Swift’s boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn. During her Disney+ special Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Swift confirmed it: William Bowery was indeed Joe Alwyn, and he allegedly wrote major chunks of a bunch of songs, most notably folklore’s “exile” and “betty.” He even nabbed a Grammy for folklore’s Best Album win last year.

Now, listen. I’m happy for Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn. I really am. It brings me peace to think of them relaxing in Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island estate, not a financial worry in their minds, their staff quietly tending to a roaring fire, their privately owned waves crashing just outside. I hope to one day house-sit there, for a stretch of several months. But I do not like being lied to.

Joe Alwyn did not write those goddamn songs.

(In my opinion.)

“It was really the most accidental thing to happen in lockdown,” Alwyn recently told GQ. He’s currently on a press tour for his role in Hulu’s upcoming Sally Rooney adaptation Conversations With Friends, and is being asked often, usually with a least a hint of incredulity, about his experience co-writing with Taylor Swift. “It wasn’t like, ‘It’s three o’clock, it’s time to write a song!,’” Alwyn said. “It was just messing around on a piano and singing badly and being overheard and then thinking, you know, what if we tried to get to the end of it together?”

Uh-huh.

As the story goes, Alwyn was sitting at the piano, playing and singing the fully-formed first verse of the song “exile,” when Taylor Swift overheard. She tells the story in the Disney+ special, and her co-writer Jack Antonoff, with a tinge of condescension, asks “Lyrics too?” “Yeah,” Swift says, “he was just singing it the way the whole first verse is.” “Wow,” replies Antonoff. Now, I am loath to agree with Jack Antonoff (he has bad energy) but here I am also saying, in a way that indicates I do not believe that story: “Wow.”

The story behind the creation of “betty” is similar. As Taylor Swift tells it, she overheard Alwyn singing the fully-formed chorus in another room while they were just hanging out. He discussed the song’s creation in a recent interview with Vulture. “I’d probably had a drink and was just stumbling around the house. We couldn’t decide on a film to watch that night, and she was like, ‘Do you want to try and finish writing that song you were singing earlier?’ And so we got a guitar and did that.”

Uh-huh.

These stories are unbelievable to me primarily because songs don’t often tend to spring fully-formed from even seasoned songwriters, let alone actors who just happen to have seasoned songwriters within earshot, but also because, particularly concerning the song “betty,” the song’s lyrics fit into an album-spanning narrative about a love triangle between three teenagers. We’re supposed to believe he was just singing from James’s perspective (“betty” is from the perspective of James) (James is one of the teenagers), over there in that other room? Come on …

Now, do I think Joe Alwyn thinks he co-wrote these songs with Taylor Swift? I am willing to believe he might. Like a child “making cookies” with mother, it is possible Joe Alwyn threw in a handful of chocolate chips, so to speak, and, when mother told the family “Joey made these!,” he beamed with genuine pride. Bully for him, but we all know if Joey were left to his own devices in the future, “making cookies” would likely end in either injury or house fire.

The bigger question is: Why does Taylor Swift want us to think Joe Alwyn co-wrote these songs? I have to imagine it’s because she loves him and wants her fans to like him, too. It’s even possible she, with her rosy gaze, believes Joe Alwyn’s piano-tinkering other-room singing actually, eventually, did lead to the creation of these songs, and she is giving him more credit than necessary out of gratitude and warmth. It’s also possible she wanted to launder his allowance through songwriting credits, or just give him a little fame boost. But it’s nicer to believe the other options. All are understandable.

Again, I am of course happy for Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn. I love the album folklore so much that I cannot listen to it without crying, and I look forward to the moment Alwyn becomes well-known enough that they can announce their engagement. I am once again also available to house-sit in Rhode Island beginning immediately. But I do not believe Joe Alwyn wrote these songs.

“exile” me if you must.

#are we fighting Swifties now?#Joe alwyn fraud #stunts and shows #Gaylor swift closet case #Gawker x Gaylor swift

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youareinlovees · 3 years

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the significant jewellery masterpost

Tiffany & Co silver J necklace

First seen: visiting WW2 veteran, December 2016

As we all know, Taylor got this for her 27th and didn’t take it off for two whole years. It’s made appearances in songs, music videos, photoshoots and even custom rep tour cookies.

Recently seen: TGLAD spotify video, 2020

Jessie V E gold pisces constellation ring

Seen: reputation release party, November 2017

I actually think she got this for herself, mainly because she’s only been seen wearing it once and it surfaced at a really random time.

Zoe Lev sapphire eye ring

2017: vacation photos from the rep magazines

2018: performing at the Bluebird Cafe in March, hiking with Joe in March, IG story from April

We know it’s a personal item and since sapphires are the September birthstone, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that Joe gave it to her for their 1 year.

Patek Philippe watch

2018: rep tour glendale, Venice Film Festival

2019: hiking with Taylor, Harriet premiere afterparty

2020: San Sebastian International Film Festival

When we’re close to wrapping up our interview, Alwyn checks the time, revealing an elegant, small-faced Patek Philippe watch that’s been concealed under his left sleeve. A present to himself or from someone special, I can’t help but ask, hoping against hope that he will share that it was from Swift. “It was a present,” he says with a wicked grin. (via W Magazine)

Tiffany & Co ‘Diamonds by the Yard’ rose gold bracelet

2018: New Year’s Eve photos

2019: BAFTA afterparty candids, Entertainment Weekly photoshoot, iHeart Radio Awards

Since we first saw this in December, I’m leaning towards it being a 29th birthday gift

Tiffany & Co ‘Diamonds By the Yard’ gold necklace with pendant

2019: IG post from June, Nashville secret sessions, IG post by clairewinter

Tiffany & Co gold infinity bracelet

2020: folklore long pond sessions

2021: Grammy performance, BRIT Awards

I’m 100% sure this is from Joe, and she could’ve gotten it for her 30th, but we also first saw it in mid-2020 so honestly who knows.

Melinda Maria stacking opal ring

2020: cardigan music video, long pond sessions, Rolling Stone photoshoot with Paul McCartney, Jimmy Kimmel interview, Zane Lowe interview

Thoughts on the two opal rings (obviously this is just speculation and might not be true)

Cathy Waterman custom opal ring

First seen: Grammys, March 2021

2021: IG story from March, Stephen Colbert skit filmed in March, Fearless TV promo video from April

I’m heavily leaning towards this being a personal piece because CW clarified in an IG post that the ring was “Taylor’s own” but didn’t say the same for the earrings she also kept after the Grammys.

Here’s a comprehensive guide to the opal rings theory if you want to clown

(all credit goes to taylorswiftstyle) // link to main timeline

#taylor swift #taylor and joe #tay and joe #swiftwyn #jaylor

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spade-riddles · 3 years

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Submission: Kaylor timeline 2019-2020

This is a atempt of maping the happenings surrounding kaylor in the last 3 years. Please keep in mind that i might forget some things, mostly from 2019 since my memory is actually horrible. I’ll try to include the most important things mainly so let me know if i missed something big. Also, feel free to add some kaylor nods, easter eggs on the girls’ social media, general stuff and correct me i fim wrong on dates or places. Oh quick disclaimer: most of this is Taylor focused because the last time i went on karlies instagram to look for the nashville selfie i actually wanted to puke or bury my face into a hole for the rest of eternety (ok, both) after seeing the jerk photos so if you have any important stuff please add it. Thank u!!!

Lover Era

- ME! MV release on lesbian visibility day (april 26th)

- City of Lover (funny enough, karlie was there in march 😉)

- taylor’s pride post “lets show our pride...” (taylors ig june 1st)

- Promo for the MV with karlie’s hand on taylors ig 16 june post

- sc**ter *audible puke sound* buys taylors masters (june 30th)

- You Need To Calm Down MV (july 17th)

- Lover Title Track released 13 days after karlie’s bday (august 16th)

- Lover mv release which Taylor captioned on her ig post with YAIL lyrics.

- Lover Album Release (august 23rd)

- Miss Americana release (jan 31 2020) “gay pride... everything that makes me me” etc

- The Man MV release (feb 27th)

Here’s some posts with lover era easter eggs:

Link 1

Link 2

some inch resting posts:

eye theory ?!

gold rush 😉

paris captions:

Link 1

Link 2

(probably not that much of a proof much more of a koincidence since au revoir is a pretty common frase but whatever)

This masterpiece here during NYFW in 2019:

note: I think its pretty safe to assume that up until this point its obvious kaylor is still together. Theres exactly no reason why Taylor and Karlie would be referencing kaylor stuff and each other at this point if they weren’t together.

folklore & evermore Era (oh the start of a daydream and a nightmare)

- Not a lot going on at the moment post April 27, 2020

- Karlies very interesting posts:

Dancing in a Cardigan July 10th, 2020

Happy Place July 23rd, 2020

- Tamagochi June 25, 2020 and buns May 14, 2020

- folklore announcement (july 23rd)

Note: up until this point its also pretty much a concensus that they’re still together. Since Karlie hinted the folklore aesthetic and cardigan on her ig post, and Taylor changed the cardigan lyrics to “knew you’d come back to me” and wrote “the lakes” and obviously there is “peace”. From this point on, especially after the WB stuff and pregnancy rumors in September (?) things start to get kinda blurry and gaylors and kaylors start building different point of views. So heres what happens:

- Taylor releases the long pond sessions where she says that joe is WB. I feel like we kinda all believe he isn’t, the thing that gives it for me is mostly Taylor’s body language and the way she stutters when she says it. Also, its kinda weird that out of nowhere joe got this songwriting skills magically. Like, they’ve been “together” for four years and only now Taylor discoveres this man has better songwriting and composing skills than his actual job, idk sounds fishy to me but, you make the call.

- Pregnancy rumors starts flowing on both sides. Taylor quickly starts drinking a shit ton of wine to get her beloved swiffers to come to the realization that she is in fact not pregnant. Karlie’s rumors also starts flowing, and then the people! (?) article comes out confirming it and Karlie later posts a video on her instagram. Here’s where it gets messy. Ill try to explain shortly to you the narrative on the Kaylor side and why i don’t believe in the gaylor narrative. Obviously its your choice wheter you believe it or not.

- Kaylor: The baby is Taylor’s and Karlie’s (not gonna get into hows and stuff bc if it is actually real then it is invading their privacy too much, also speculating about this might trigger some people).

Things that back this theory up: obviously peace “give you a child”, karlie not tagging j*sh*a on her vids, that one 2,1/2 photo from the folklore photoshoot, buns and tamagochi, Taylor and Paul talking about parenthood in the Rolling Stone issue, and all the fertility imagery in evermore and folklore.

Karlie was in Cali in may until august, Taylor was also there. Jerk was on Ny or Miami cant exactly remeber. And it seems that this is what she wrote that one line “knew youd come back to me” in cardigan about. (IMO they [t and k] had some fight after the masters sale on the end of 2019 and took a break or something, so she would in fact come back to her, but just my opinion). So, karlie was there from may to august, karlie’s is on the end of her pregnancy, and if you do the math, she got pregnant sometime between june and july. Which makes it kinda impossible for the baby to be jerk’s (consequently ending the gaylor narrative) since he was in another place and karlie was on cali for like 4 months, if the baby was his, the baby would’ve been born already.

The gaylor narrative is mostly based on Taylor’s songs specially champagne problems, coney island, hoax, closure and exile.

Coney Island isn’t even necessarily a breakup song, it’s just simply a sad song, it is like death by a thousand cuts pt2, it gives the vibe that Taylor is sorry about a lot of things like not being able to thank Karlie “but when i walked up to the podium i think that i forgot to say your name”.

Like coney island, hoax is about the lows of their relationship but it’s clear in the song that taylor still loves karlie and would trade her for anything “don’t want no other shade of blue but you”

Closure and champagne: it just reminds me of Dianna for some reason i don’t even know how to explain it. Champagne Problems remind some of Dianna bc of i know places where she says “take my hand and don’t ever drop it”, to the gp that song is about harry(<3) and most songs that “are about him” are actually about Dianna. i do think it’s is kinda inspired by Karlie though.

Exile: honestly could be used to form a toe breakup narrative.

TBH we’ll probably never understand fully the story behind it. But Taylor also said that a lot of the albums are full of fantasy even thought they’re also inspired by real life situations.

Thank u for reading!! this is obviously my opinion on the matter and my take on the whole situation. feel free to believe whatever you want, and add stuff i forgot sending u lots of love <3

#thank you for putting together this timeline #submission

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umlindsay · 3 years

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Taylor is seriously so unhinged... her ass got drunk with her pals after they finished the folklore long pond sessions.. but then she..... wrote a whole different song immediately afterwards??.. and when poor innocent Aaron Dessner walked into his lil kitchen space there her ass is like so um hehe this is called tis the damn season......??!!!! I’m so afraid of her. We all should be afraid of her!!

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oneweekoneband · 3 years

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charming, if a little gauche: the taylor swift story

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“the last great american dynasty” is a song that no other pop star could make or, more to the point, would want to make, and as the third track on folklore it marked the spot in my very first listen—sweaty and embarrassingly strung out sitting in the cab of a pickup at the third place where we’d tried to find wifi—at which I let myself vault over the ledge, out of my cautious remove, and into real excitement for what this album might hold.

This is a song that Taylor Swift wrote about Rebekah Harkness, the ballet-obsessed socialite who married into the Standard Oil family (”the wedding was charming, if a little gauche” Taylor sings, and I scream.) then lived, fifty years ago, in the Rhode Island beach house Swift now owns. It is—and on this matter there can be no argument—the horniest song on the album. Taylor is absolutely jazzed out of her WASPy little gourd over this woman, this house, this grand, cyclical American story she imagines herself as part of. Does Taylor actually want to fuck her house and/or the ghost of the woman who once owned it? Well, that’s not for me to say. But the idea of them very evidently gets her going, and her zeal is infectious. She’s so clearly been bursting to indulge this passion, to memorialize this house, and I’m grateful that fate or timing made it so that she didn’t do it until now, until Aaron Dessner provided her with these specific instrumentals, because the combination is divine.

Taylor Swift in the Disney+ documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions confirming that her psychosexual obsession with Holiday House is longstanding.

“the last great american dynasty” relates in colorful detail the life of Mrs. Harkness, who became a widow at just thirty-nine ("the doctor had told him to settle down / it must have been her fault his heart gave out") then used the remaining years to spend her late husband’s fortune in the most lavish ways possible. Rebekah, Taylor tells us, "Filled the pool with champagne / And swam with the big names / Blew through the money on the boys and the ballet” and, again, her total, perfect thrill with this story, with the fact of living in the house this woman once misbehaved in so egregiously as to be an affront to all her stuffy Rhode Island neighbors, is evident throughout. The song is wonderful, good fun, sounds great, feels insane, and then at the quintessentially excellent bridge Taylor pulls a pivot that should be completely noxious, but is, in practice, anything but. Wryly, she inserts herself into the song at the final stretch. “Fifty years is a long time / Holiday House sat quietly on that beach / Free of women with madness / Their men and bad habits / And then it was bought by me”. When, “She had a marvelous time ruining everything”, transforms into, “I had a marvelous time ruining everything” I almost clap. I have clapped. It’s all unbearably cute, and in every word there is sonic evidence of Taylor’s pleasure at her own cleverness, but unfortunately it’s so good that there isn’t even really any room left on the private beaches of one’s heart cavity wherein to be annoyed at having been got by a Taylor Swift bridge once again.

Honestly............Taylor is like two decades max from this.

Though Swift was born in Pennsylvania and came of age in Tennessee, the idea that she’d take instinctively to the blue blood fantasy of wealthy New England is no surprise. It’s unclear whether there’s ever been another person alive who radiates such Big Connecticut Energy while, in fact, not being from Connecticut at all. Watch Hill, Rhode Island made perfect sense to me, in fact, for Taylor, because it not only, at $17 mil cash, made her the owner of the most expensive private home in the entire (extremely small) state, but brings with the choice a kind of self-satisfied dignity. Not being one of the more popular East Coast seaside destinations for the rich and famous, like Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket, or even The Hamptons, stylishly insists that you must really be trying to get away. The house is classically lovely and has a big yard with a pool and flag pole that extends high into the blue to look down over the plebeians in the sand.

Being myself a natural born daughter of the New England states, albeit of a considerably less pristine stripe than the denizens of Watch Hill, I have spent countless day trips and weekends at the Misquamicut State Beach just a few miles down the coast in Westerly, the town that Taylor’s village (”village” ...Rich people are so weird) is a part of. Not long after Taylor moved in, I was there at the beach with my mother, and my sister, and my mother’s sisters, and whatever other beer-filled bodies might have been around, a whole hoard, and we were lounging on fanned out bed sheets in front of a restaurant called Paddy’s where you can get a blue rum-based cocktail in a plastic fish bowl. I was nursing a sprained ankle that summer, and still a week or two from being fully well, but I wanted to see Taylor’s house up close, so we walked along the water’s edge until we got close enough to snap a photo for posterity, and to see that Taylor was using around the property custom no trespassing signs which read, “I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In”. When someone who is very rich, popular, talented, basically has everything going for them, could buy and sell you and everyone you’ve ever known, etc., makes a stupendously bad joke it is a moral imperative that you tell as many people about that as possible, and so with love in my heart, even, I share this fact now. People had their towels right up against the edge of her sea wall, like a geographic version of the nervous game, but almost as soon I arrived, it was time to limp back to the land of the mortals.

Your hero in 2014 standing in front of the saltbox house on the coast that took Rebekah Harkness’ mind off St. Louis

The pleasures on offer in “the last great american dynasty” are almost too many to name, and all of them so specifically, distinctly, freakishly, bona fide Grade A Taylor Swift, wonderful and grating not separately, one then the other, but both the whole time, and all at once. Taylor saying “gauche”; Taylor telling a story about this dead woman she has a gigantic crush on once dyeing a neighbor’s dog green; Taylor invoking the phrase “middle class divorcee”; Taylor using the word “bitch” affectionately. Even Taylor’s actual vocals, which have been, at times, the notable weak spot in her rigorously streamlined overall package, sound really, genuinely lovely here, and as spirited as ever. The song is laden with Taylor’s remarkable self-righteous belief that by purchasing a multi million dollar home in tony Watch Hill she was somehow “ruining everything”, when she was born and bred for enclaves like that long before she had any number one hits, and actually the only major problem was people thought it was poor form for her to rebuild the huge seawall around the property, even though it was her right, and she was able to do it without issue. To know that Taylor, raised wealthy, imagines herself somehow persecuted as insufficiently chic in Watch Hill for having, by way of immense pop superstardom, multiplied many times over the riches to which she was born, brings me a great and uncomplicated joy. It is a train of thought so wholly unrelatable as to seem plucked wholesale from a work of magical realism, and that happens to be exactly the feeling I want most from a Taylor Swift song. My one and only criticism of “the last great american dynasty” is that, if you’re not right on top of the skip button, it bleeds directly into the Bon Iver duet “exile”, which does kill the vibe, but, well, nobody’s perfect.

The defense rests.

#taylor swift #folklore

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solarinstitute · 3 years

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i'm grateful that you're feeling better now <3 you're welcome! folklore is just so precious. i don't have a favourite album, but if i was to, folklore would pretty much be it i think ? i just really connect with it a lot. long pond was truly a gift, i love to watch the long pond performances more than the album itself i think because you can actually see her too, it's so intense and special. and hey- you are so creative, don't say that!! i've seen your edits, you for sure have a creative mind!! oh i'm so sorry that that happened :( the same happened to me today. im not really one to edit, but i was feeling inspired and made a little edit (just a photo lol) and it got 3 notes or something. i'll keep an eye out for your post! I'm still figuring out how being a ts editor works, like what to put in the tags lol ME TOO!! & that we won't have to watch via twitter 😭😭I've never watched Taylor get an award live so i'm super excited. i feel like i did before prom or something!! I know- I'm so excited about seeing what she'll wear. My fave thing she's ever worn is that pink cape at the 2019 AMAs. I feel like for once there isn't a concrete era. I don't know if she'll say anything, i think she'll give us a crazy easter egg though or maybe she might perform the first 1989 taylor's version track ? like wildest dreams? all i know is, when that woman goes quiet, we should all be fearful and this might give away my blog name if you've seen the post floating around but genuinely would not be surprised if she turns up with a 1989 era bob 😭😭 can you IMAGINE the state we'd be in 😭 Hope you enjoy the brits tonight <3

Folklore just came at the exact right time and because of that it will always mean so much to me. I think it’s her best album, honestly, even though Lover is my favorite for more personal reasons, I think she outdid herself with Folklore. She made magic that was all about her and not about her at all and all about the world, but still the perfect escape all at the same time and I think that is why we all connected with it so much. I’m so glad she decided to hold a kind of secret session with the whole world by making long pond! Oh no! This is me once again asking for you to reveal yourself so I can always reblog and like your edits!!!!! (Or I’ll just go look for that post that could out you khkdfjkj, no, but honestly, no pressure, I get feeling better on anon when talking to people, I get anxious, but know that you can always come talk to me <3) and about tagging... same haha, I just try to keep an eye out what other people tag and made a little note on my phone with the ones that seem to be popular True true true, I’m really excited, she seems to wear black a lot to the BRITs, so maybe that? But the world is her oyster, she could go anywhere. Watch her show up in a gown with a seagull print just to say nothing about 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and omg THE BOB I would lose my mind!!!! I’m also one to think she’s not gonna say anything tonight, but I see the possibility for an announcement on thursday and if she doesn’t do it this week then I have no idea when it could be and I will live in constant anxiety, because that woman scares me

I hope you’ll enjoy them too!! Come by and tell me what you thought after or tomorrow <3

#music video anon #long post #anon #asks

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foxes-that-run · 7 months

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2020 Haylor Timeline

Timeline Tag, or years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

21 January - Andrea treated for brain tumor and chemo

29 January - Harry shoots the watermelon sugar MV in Malibu. The director later says “The production process was fast! We shot in a location in Malibu. It was a private beach at this amazing house. Harry actually owns a watermelon farm in a secret location that we can’t disclose. So the day before the shoot we went with our whole crew, make-up artists, set decorators, focus pullers you name it! We all rolled up our sleeves, got stuck in and did the biggest harvest anyone in the USA has ever seen!”

31 January - Miss Americana documentary released.

2 February - Harry at Glenne Christiaansen's (Jeff's GF) birthday in Los Angeles. Huge whale cake that gets on his face.

14 February - Harry played Two Ghosts on Radio 2, the only time since 2018, anniversary of Style MV release. He also covered Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi. Taylor also in London for NME awards, Joe goes with her. She says hello to every one there including Matty Healy. Harry is robbed at knifepoint.

18 February - Harry at Brit awards, went to same after party as Kendall

23 February - Harry's Tiny Desk Concert recorded in LA, the Lover CD Is in the background. Taylor was there in October.

24 February - Taylor and Joe in London for his birthday, arrived under umbrellas carrying a dictionary, Ed laughing.

26 February - Harry on today show in colour block cardigan. Xander watches with Jeff rumour he then visited Xander Ritz in phlli.

28 February - Harry's Sirius XM Secret Session for Fine Line. Harry tells a story about wawa with Xander. Seen with Xander in ny

2 March - Harry's last pre-pandemic show is at the Bowery Ballroom. Replaces the Beachwood cafe with Bowery ballroom in falling.

5 March - When Howard Stern asked Harry about marriage his response was "People’s relationships are different now, everyone’s open 👀 and people have different things."

13 March - US Travel ban (except UK), California Shelter in place orders. 17 March UK Travel ban. 16 March Taylor posts asking fans to cancel plans and stay home, shares photo so Meredith

17 March UK travel ban

18 March - Harry driving in La with Xander

27 March - Harry releases “at home with Harry styles” pandemic playlist with Zane Lowe. ‘This will be our year’ is #13, 27 songs. Includes blue nile, later mentioned on TTPD

March - June Taylor and Harry stuck in LA for 3 months. Harry told Zane Lowe he was in LA, stayed home for 6 weeks then booked and went to Shangri-la studio to record. LNT, Daylight, keep driving and Sushi. (24 Mins)

4 April - Harry seen riding a motorcycle beside Kendall Jenner and Fai Khadra.

5 April Harry seen in la and again

17 April - 2020 Lover Fest tour postponed to 2021, later cancelled. Told Zane Folklore started then. Joe IG photo of Benjamin

18 April - Taylor soon you'll get better

29 April - Joe instagram photos

19 May Taylor releases City of Lover

25 May - date Too Much Sauce leak recorded. Still in LA

31 May - Taylor records video in Long Pond about home studio. Joe school thing

9 July - Harry Styles Sleep story

18 July - Harry back in uk, drove to Italy and back he talks about this in the Zane interview. Driving moustache photo in HH CD

20 July folklore announced 17 hours before its release. William Bowery is credited for Exile and Betty. Released on 1D's 10 year anniversary. In the Zane interview, Taylor says they continued working on Evermore.

31 July - Harry driving tractor in Italy

13 August - Harry followed Yan Yan on IG and liked some posts

17 August Harry in Studio in Bath. Recorded Daylight, Sushi, Keep Driving and Late night talking in this period.

3 September - Taylor posts about iHeartAwards from home

? September - Long Pond was recorded with Joe as WB and Tis the Damn Season written, Doretha already written.

11 September, Olivia Wilde met and cast Harry in Don't worry Darling, filming began October.

16 September - Taylor performed Betty in person at ACM awards in Nashville.

18 September Harry in London

22 September - Harry driving in La filming golden

27 September Harry in LA

13 November - Harry on cover of Vogue, after this the Peace ring only appeared occasionally.

12 November Deux Moi posts that a “one direction heartthrob” and “a list singer” used the same private chef

25 November long pond sessions on Disney + Joe announced as William Bowery

26 November Harry returns to la to film DWD, California maybe written here

11 December evermore, taylor’s zane lowe interview, at 49:34 she pauses a lot and struggles to talk about Joe being William Bowery.

19 December Harry jingle ball seems flat

30 December - 7 photos of Joe and Taylor thought to be taken 31 December 2016 hack/leak. Only 7 photos?? She is wearing a pink wig while he shaves.

Continue to 2021

#haylor #Youtube #haylor timeline #2020

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juliaisabellphoto · 3 years

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My 2020 Albums of the Year

Never requested, always provided. Here are my favorites of 2020. Here’s the playlist.

The Secret Sisters, Saturn Return

As soon as I saw “Water Witch, featuring Brandi Carlile” on this tracklist I knew that the Secret Sisters would be a favorite of 2020. In February, I was staying with a friend in Nashville and she mentioned them as a local favorite, and when I stopped at Grimey’s to shop for records I came upon a signed copy of “Saturn Return.” I had never heard the Secret Sisters before, but there is nobody I trust more to recommend music than this Nashville friend of mine, so I bought it. I made no mistake here: this record blew me away. The soft, soulful, lullaby of “Healer in the Sky” pulled me through the pain of the first month of quarantine and soothed me as the world was turned upside down. In reading more on the record, this seems to have been the point: they say, “this album is a reflection of us coming to terms with how to find our power in the face of an unfair world… our hope is that women can feel less alone in their journey through the modern world.” There is something in the caramel-thick sweetness of these sisters’ voices that makes a listener feel as though they’ve been bewitched into calm. When I think of this album, I think of the cross-country drive I took at the beginning of the pandemic to make my way home and the happy moments that can be found in darkness. No album touched my heart this year in the way that “Saturn Return” did.

Taylor Swift, Folklore and Evermore

Taylor Swift… can even be said? Somehow, while we all sat on our couches in quarantine, this woman created not one but two musical masterpieces. She begins “the 1” by stating “I’m doin good, I’m on some new shit,” and that says a lot about the album as a whole. She created the 2020 we all wish we experienced: soft, sweet, and gentle. Listening to Folklore feels like visiting a cabin in the woods, with a fireplace well lit. Swift tells winding stories of love, hardship, and mystery and tenderly walks us through the forest of her imagination. This magical feeling was amplified by her release of The Long Pond Studio Sessions, a film in which Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner finally play the album together for the first time after recording it entirely remotely. The setting matches the sound: they play in an album in the middle of the woods, cozy and hidden from the snow. Evermore cuts through the delicate ice of Folklore: it is the color to Folklore’s black and white. Swift combines the soft folk sound of “willow” with some of her country and Americana roots in “no body, no crime,” drawing us in once again. She includes Bon Iver singing in his lower register in Folklore and then in his falsetto in Evermore: two sides of the same magic coin. The work in these two albums is Swift’s strongest ever, and solidifies the fact that no modern artist can really reach her.

Chris Stapleton, Starting Over

Following a three-year hiatus, all lovers of southern rock deeply needed a Chris Stapleton album. In “Starting Over,” Stapleton yet again does what he does best: combines his unique whiskey-tinged growl with the best lyricism present in country music today. This record can’t be captured in any singular fashion, neither musically nor emotionally. The title track sets a high bar for the rest of the record with a reflection on re-remembering what really matters, a message certainly relevant for this turbulent year. Stapleton’s typical outlaw-country brand is present in full with “Devil Always Made Me Think Twice,” “Arkansas,” and “Hillbilly Blood,” but other songs take him in a completely new stylistic direction. “Maggie’s Song” takes on a very classic old-time country feel, as Stapleton weaves sweet and simple stories as he processes the loss of his pup. He harnesses the energy of the Chicks as he angrily lambasts the perpetrators of the 2017 mass shooting at Route 91. The song is a Stapleton-sponsored judgment day reckoning, including the cacophonic sound of a crowd in panic and the shrieks of a gospel choir. In contrast with this energetic high, Stapleton goes deep into his blues side by finally releasing “You Should Probably Leave,” a song he has been sitting on for six years. This one feels just right to sway around the kitchen to. With each listen to “Starting Over” I find new lyrics to write down and remember, new sounds to love.

Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG

Bad Bunny. Our unproblematic reggaeton prince. In the wake of his many popular features and his collaborative album with J Balvin, Bad Bunny makes it clear that it is time for Balvin to share the throne of popular reggaeton. He features the original reggaeton king Daddy Yankee in “La Santa,” paying tribute to the very classic reggaeton style before mixing it and transcending beyond the classics in the following tracks. “Yo Perreo Sola” is the album’s standout track, accompanied by my favorite music video of 2020. The song is an ode to gender equality and the destruction of the patriarchal norms contributing to gender-based violence. “Yo Perreo Sola,” meaning “I twerk alone,” sets the overarching theme of consent present throughout the song’s lyrics. In the video, Benito’s backdrop references the Argentinian-born “Ni Una Menos” movement, a now global movement against gender-based violence. As if this wasn’t enough to make you adore him, the video further extends its activism to the LGBTQ community, with Benito appearing in full drag, in his normal attire, and at some points held in chains by women. He makes a statement about sexuality and gender expression in the video, twerking solo. The other jawdropper track on YHLQMDLG is Safaera, a perfect display of Bad Bunny’s skill in expanding the scope of reggaeton as a genre. In the same thirty seconds of the song, he subtly samples both “Could You Be Loved” by Bob Marley and the Wailers and Missy Elliot’s “Get Ya Freak On” - a segment I just can’t get out of my head. Bad Bunny’s prowess on this record is rounded out with the aggressive and prideful “P FKN R.” What a masterpiece.

Mac Miller, Circles

A posthumous record that never should have been posthumous. A companion-piece to Mac’s 2018 record “Swimming,” Circles takes a similar tone, one of resilience through pain. The title track serves as a somber introduction, followed by the funk energy of “Complicated” and the GO:OD AM energy of “Blue World.” The song that really got to me, and many other fans of Mac, was “Good News.” It is the pinnacle of Mac’s musical insight and talent. The melody matches the melancholy of the track, as Mac sings of his desire for time and space. The melancholy is matched in “Everybody” with the lines about death feeling particularly haunting in the wake of Miller’s accidental overdose. Somehow, Miller wrote the perfect eulogy for himself prior to his passing, one that will live in the hearts of his fans forever.

Kali Uchis, Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞

I’m not quite sure what to call this record. If I just listened to “la luna enamorada,” a cover of a classic Cuban bolero, I would call it gorgeous. If I just listened to “fue mejor” featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR or “quiero sentirme bien,” I would call it sexy. If I just listened to “vaya con dios,” I would think she wrote the theme music for the next James Bond film. The bottom line of the record is Uchis’ absolute stunning use of her upper register. She hits notes that “Isolation” never would have foreshadowed, painting a dreamland for any listener. She slides back into the energy of her sophomore album in “telepatia,” but adds in moments of her new sound. She incorporates a slower reggaeton beat into no eres tu (soy yo), and dives into a heavier reggaeton sound in te pongo mal (prendelo.) My personal favorite of the record is “aqui yo mando!” with Rico Nasty: it is the perfect display of Uchis’ unique upper register combined with Rico’s trap style. Anyone passing this record up for another “Isolation” listen is missing out.

FLETCHER, The S(ex) Tapes

This record has a story like no other, coming from a woman like no other. This EP was recorded while Fletcher quarantined with her ex-girlfriend, who also happened to film all of the music videos for it. It is this messiness that makes The S(ex) Tapes absolute magic. Fletcher’s own description of the name of the release explains the situation best: “A sex tape is someone being captured in their most vulnerable, wildest, rawest form, and my ex has always captured me that way.” She captures all of the feelings of a breakup with someone you still love deeply, and the relationship relapse that comes with moving past those feelings. Fletcher’s special ability comes in representing these deeply painful experiences in an uplifting manner: this is a sexy pop EP meant to be danced to. Fletcher simultaneously validates all of the emotional tumult, but subtly nudges the listener toward blissful reckless abandon. It almost makes me wish I had a breakup to go through! The abrasive apathy of “Shh… Don’t Say It” and the flippant, angry vulnerability of “Bitter” are paired perfectly with Fletcher’s raw brand of distortion. In an interview with Nylon, Fletcher speaks to this: “Listen, I've done my fair share of just straight-up sad, crying in your bed music. I'm still going through shit, but I want to bop to it. We can still be emo and want to twerk at the same time.” Yes, Fletcher, we do.

Halsey, Manic

Prior to 2020, I wasn’t Halsey’s biggest fan. I wouldn’t have even called myself a fan. I just wasn’t that excited by her music. “I’m Not Mad” was the song that triggered a 180 for me. The heavy, dissonant kick of the drums and her raw, angry lyricism drew me in without hesitation. I suppose this was just the push I needed to fall in love with the rest of her music: the songs with similar bite, “Without Me” and “killing boys,” and the more raw side of the record in “You should be sad,” “929,” and “Graveyard.” Her vulnerability is so much of what makes this record perfect. The album fully made sense to me when I listened to her podcast feature on “Armchair Expert” with Dax Shepard. In it, she talks through the time period covered by the record and gives context to her powerful lyricism. “Manic” is a story of chasing someone she loved into drug-fueled oblivion, and then finally finding the power to leave. The album is brimming with this power, and I just can’t turn it off.

HAIM, Women In Music Pt. III

HAIM is THE soft rock band of the modern era.Women In Music Pt. III, their most mature album yet, solidified this opinion for me in a way that I didn’t expect. There is so much to be said for this record: it is innovative and skilled, with the perfect balance of softness and hardness. Though the record is one of pain and trauma, you wouldn’t know it purely from its melodies. “Don’t Wanna” is a very classic HAIM pop rock number, and “The Steps” follows suit making frustration fun to dance to. Though one may not notice at first, in this record HAIM dives deeper than ever before. “Now I’m In It” does a phenomenal job of sonically representing the feeling of being completely and utterly overwhelmed. “I Know Alone” is a beautifully intimate rainy-day account of Danielle’s struggle with depression. Then comes “3AM” - a lighthearted song about a booty call with Thundercat-type bass and an R&B vibe - just in case you didn’t already know how much range these three sisters have. Everything about this record is filled with talent.

Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher

Only Phoebe Bridgers could write a song about murdering a skinhead and fill it with nostalgia. “Garden Song,” the leading single preceding “Punisher,” foreshadowed a record that is just so very Phoebe: melancholy, vulnerable, and heart-wrenching. The eagerly awaited album certainly followed suit, with typical sad ballads “Halloween” and “Moon Song” played alongside more raucous, Better Oblivion Community Center-esque songs such as “Kyoto” and “ICU.” She goes bluegrass on “Graceland Too” with banjo, violin, and layered harmonies from boygenius collaborators Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. In “Punisher,” Bridgers shares with us the wistful catharsis that she is so very talented at creating.

Noah Cyrus, THE END OF EVERYTHING

I always underestimated Miley’s little sister, but here I am writing about her EP before I write about Miley’s in my end of the year roundup. Every piece in this record gave me chills: Cyrus’ lower register allows her to access a somber kind of ballad that I just can’t get enough of. The record starts off at a peak with the slow burn of “Ghost” and somehow manages to get even better with “I Got So High That I Saw Jesus.” This powerful song, even better in the live version where Miley joins her younger sister, builds into an almost gospel-like ode to the idea that everything will be okay. “July,” the single featuring Leon Bridges that pushed Cyrus into the national spotlight, stands as the most beautifully layered song of the EP. The soft guitar picking and choral sound complement Cyrus’ upper register. The whole record, extending through the closing title track, is a comforting, soft emotional analgesic for 2020.

The Chicks, Gaslighter

This record is gorgeous. It is painful. The feelings Natalie Maines expresses in this record are feelings I have felt far too deeply in personal relationships, and they also are feelings everyone is feeling globally in 2020. “Gaslighter” is just straight up fun, a perfect extension of the Chicks’ energy found in “Goodbye Earl” and other older revenge numbers (but with an extra poppy Jack Antonoff twist this time.) “Tights On My Boat” is bitter, funny, and shows off Maines’ upper register with stripped guitar. “Sleep at Night” musically and lyrically embodies the pain of being betrayed. “Julianna Calm Down” is a stunning ballad of female resilience. “Texas Man” perfectly captures the bubbly feeling of moving on. “For Her” and “March March” fit in with the frustrated, betrayed, power-centered theme of the record in a very different way. The Chicks’ dualistic ability to discuss her ex-husband’s cheating alongside the band’s political views is what makes the record special: not only are we watching a woman try to move on and develop her personal strength, but we are also seeing this personal strength harnessed for political impact. They simultaneously denounce the abuse of power in both politics and relationships, while reclaiming that power for themselves in standing up for what they believe in. How very Chicks of them.

Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia

Dua motherfucking Lipa. This woman would have been the official owner of 2020 had we been able to dance to this record at bars and clubs. This was proven ten times over by the success of the album’s first single, “Don’t Start Now,” a song that is absolutely the MOST fun. Or so I thought… until I heard “Physical,” “Levitating,” and “Break My Heart.” What poor timing for such a phenomenal dance record, but at least she gave the people some great material for Tik Tok dances! All COVID-dance-related concerns aside, this is a really well done sophomore album for Dua Lipa. The funk elements of the album most clearly seen in “Levitating” elevate Dua’s brand of pop to a new level. The all gas no brakes nature of this dance-pop record works wonders for her - she knows what the people want from her, and she delivers.

Megan Thee Stallion, Good News

THIS! RECORD! If WAP could be an album of the year, it would be, but it’s a standalone single and Megan Thee Stallion proceeded to release the next best thing. The explosion of Megan Thee Stallion has been a pleasure to watch in 2020, with both WAP and Savage leaving the charge. With an artist like her, it’s easy to get lost in the smash hits and ignore the prolific nature of her work. “Good News” is an immaculate rap album, brimming with sass and defiant bad bitch energy. “Shots Fired” kicks off the album with a Biggie sample and a diss to the man who shot her in the foot earlier in the year, personally my favorite track of the record. Other highlights of the record include “Don’t Stop” with a Young Thug feature, “Body” which is now a Tik Tok staple, and “What’s New.” Perhaps the most impressive work Megan does on “Good News” is “Girls in the Hood,” a rework of Eazy-E’s Boyz-N-The-Hood. She inverts the classic misogyny of the original song by emphasizing her control over men like Eazy-E in an indignant assertion of female power. This embodies Megan Thee Stallion’s essence: busting in on a male industry and making her presence known.

Rico Nasty, Nightmare Vacation

Nobody does it like Rico Nasty, and I’m convinced nobody ever will. I saw a New York Times headline titled “Can the Mainstream Catch Up to Rico Nasty?” the other day and I think the answer is a firm no. Rico is abrasive, rude, and outside the box in the absolute best way. Need an album to slap in the car when you’re feeling like a bad bitch? This. is. it. The record kicks off with “Candy,” a song with a wild beat and the iconic chorus line “Call me crazy, but you can never call me broke.” Following is a Don Toliver and Gucci Mane feature in “Don’t Like Me,” a song that truly should have hit the mainstream by now. She gets back to her signature scream-rap in “STFU” and “OHFR.” “OHFR” is the confident standout of the album, along with the reworked re-release of “Smack a Bitch,” making it clear that Rico Nasty is not a woman to be fucked with. In “Back and Forth” with Amine, Rico steps into Amine’s “Limbo” style and does it well. The record’s second single “Own It” is a more classic club banger that unfortunately didn’t get to see the dark of night in any clubs this year. Even if the mainstream never catches up to Rico Nasty, I’ll be following along with her self-labelled “sugar trap.”

Ariana Grande, Positions

I mean, duh. Ariana just doesn’t miss. She surprised everyone with this album’s release in Fall 2020, displaying the bliss of her relationship with later-confirmed fiance. She goes dirtier than usual in the sex-centered “34+35” and “nasty,” rounding the record out with the Craig David-reminiscent “positions.” Ariana allows herself to lust for someone and even love for them in these three, but defaults to her brimming self-confidence in “just like magic” and “west side.” The album is more R&B than pop at times, with the peak of this style visible in the groove of “my hair” and the Mariah Carey ballad-like nature of “pov.” Each album, Grande shifts just a little bit, keeping us attached: “Sweetener”’s cotton-candy pop, the savage pop-trap of “thank u, next,” and the R&B conclusion of the spectrum with Positions.

Miley Cyrus, Plastic Hearts

This year I anticipated no record more than I did “Plastic Hearts.” Its leading single, “Midnight Sky,” described by Pitchfork as a “cocaine-dusted disco track,” channels Stevie Nicks’ eighties rock-pop era in the absolute best way. Apparently this opinion was even picked up by Stevie herself, as the two collaborated on a mash-up of “Midnight Sky” and Stevie’s “Edge of Seventeen” (the excitement from which nearly led to my passing away, by the way.) Cyrus’ voice is in the perfect place on this record, with “Plastic Hearts” emphasizing her rasp and making me want to spin around a room. She dips into the pop realm in “Prisoner” with Dua Lipa, a song that Lipa clearly influences with an unforgettably sexy music video. Every song is different on this record: “Gimme What I Want” channels the grinding rock sound of Nine Inch Nails, “Bad Karma” allows Joan Jett’s punchy style to run the show, and she slips on the shoes of Billy Idol in their collaboration, Night Crawling. Somehow, Miley manages to wear the shoes well, and 80s copycat record or not, I can’t stop listening. “Never Be Me” is where she shines most deeply, baring her soul, the complicated nature of her past few years’ journey, and her knowledge of who she is and always will be for the world to hear. I’m not sure if I’m blinded to the album’s flaws by my absolute and complete love for everything about Miley’s current persona, but I am a huge fan.

Glass Animals, Dreamland

The sound of this album is such a blissful respite! Glass Animals gives us the fun and funky techno-pop that they always do, but dive into personal lyricism in a way that they never have before. Many of the songs actually have a storyline (an intentionally rare feat for Dave Bayley, first broken with the incredible “Agnes” on their last album.) This record explores trauma and pain in “Domestic Bliss” and “It’s All So Incredibly Loud,” Bayley using the soft sides of his voice to express pained desperation. The boisterous energy of the past two records is not forgotten in Dreamland’s intimacy, however: “Hot Sugar,” “Tokyo Drifting,” and “Space Ghost Coast To Coast” do the trick. “Space Ghost Coast To Coast” is the most intriguing song on the record: at first listen, I had absolutely no idea what Dave was discussing and assumed it was just his typical neuroscience-inspired ear-candy. Upon a deeper dive, the song addresses the factors that encouraged Dave’s childhood friend to bring a gun to school. He disguises a discussion of the risk factors involved in school shootings within his flowery, figurative linguistic excellence. This duality of blissful melody and solemn subject matter is the magic of Glass Animals.

Empress Of, I’m Your Empress Of

This album is an emotional electro-pop masterpiece. This record meditates on the feelings felt in the wake of a relationship’s end. She begins the album with a quote from her mother about the reality and value of struggle, then launching into a synth-filled storm of missing someone. “Love Is A Drug” is the album’s next fun dance track, addressing the addictive quality of touch after you lose someone you love and embodying the urgency of the feeling. She takes a more somber tone with the influence of Jim-E Stack in “U Give It Up,” incorporating quotes from her mother about the difficulty of womanhood and reminiscing on love lost. In “Should’ve,” the post-relationship regret is palpable in her vocal tone and production, and in “Maybe This Time” she contemplates this pain. In “Give Me Another Chance,” her emotions swing the other way, with a bouncing dance beat and pleading vocals. The album concludes with the heartfelt and pain-filled “Hold Me Like Water” and the dissonant “Awful,” leaving the listener to meditate on the mood swings of a broken relationship.

Tame Impala, The Slow Rush

This album came out so early in 2020 that it already feels like a vintage piece of music. Perhaps that was the point. Although “The Slow Rush” had a hard time living up to Kevin Parker’s last epic masterpiece “Currents,” it was the fix many fans like myself needed after five years without an LP. “Borderline,” the single that allowed anticipation of the album to build, stands out as one of the most essentially Parker tracks of the record. He introduces a little Toro y Moi style funk in “Is It True,” and highlights his voice more than usual in “Lost In Yesterday.” “Posthumous Forgiveness” builds in the wonderfully dissonant fashion that fans learned to love through “Eventually.” The bass track on “Glimmer” is so good that I never even noticed it had nearly no lyrics. This record is not groundbreaking by any standards in the way that “Currents” was, but it is intentionally jubilant and energetic in a way that still feels good. Even if he doesn’t shatter any expectations in “The Slow Rush,” Tame Impala’s tracklist still makes the perfect sunset companion.

Joji, Nectar

Joji’s “Nectar” is just that: sweet R&B nectar, from the minute the first track plays. Joji’s work here is not in the individual tracks, but in the sonic experience he creates with the album as a whole. This is not an album to pick out singles from: it is a full cinematic mood adjustment. Maybe it’s the weed I smoked when I first listened, but the record feels like a wonderful progression of gentle yet rhythmic R&B songs. The transition from the soft and contemplative “MODUS” to the more upbeat trap-infused “Tick Tock” to the full R&B ballad “Daylight” featuring Diplo raises the listener’s energy gradually to a crescendo. “Run” is a gorgeous and sad confessional of disappointment, and “Sanctuary” follows as a soft and uplifting analgesic to that pain. “Pretty Boy” and “777” mark the more upbeat section of the record, filled with Joji’s accounts of living far too fast. The tracks of this record all bleed into each other seamlessly, mixing pain and confidence in an emotional rollercoaster.

Amine, Limbo

My journey to being an Amine fan started with “Caroline,” ended with “Heebiejeebies,” and started back up again when he found depth in “ONEPOINTFIVE.” His 2020 release is exactly why I came around to his music yet again. The record is soulful and fun, with the flute and cocky lyrics in “Woodlawn” and the funky beat and Young Thug feature of “Compensating.” The two songs I absolutely can’t stop listening to however, are “Can’t Decide” and “Becky.” “Can’t Decide” highlights Amine’s singing voice and dips away from rap and trap into the more traditional R&B realm. “Becky” is an intimate account of the difficulties involved with interracial dating, both in public and in the family realm. The two sides of the album, one emphasizing rhythm and immaculate production, and the other lyricism and emotion, are found in these two songs. The punchy “Pressure In My Palms” (featuring slowthai and Vince Staples) and “Riri” round out the record’s light side. In “Limbo,” Amine finds the perfect balance.

Fleet Foxes, Shore

This album is a wave of calm. Robin Pecknold’s soothing voice is exactly what we needed more of this year. Pitchfork described his mission as “turning anxiety into euphoria,” and that is how this record feels. Each song is dynamic and filled with what makes Fleet Foxes so special. There is a choral quality to the vocals of “Shore,” as always, adding to the calm aura of the record. “A Long Way Past The Past” takes the listener on a what feels like a long walk filled with serious conversation. “Going-to-the-Sun Road,” a song that takes its name from the famous cliffside road through Glacier National Park, oozes sunshine in its Tame Impala-Bon Iver crossover sound. “Cradling Mother, Cradling Woman,” truly feels like being cradled in sound. Fleet Foxes has a knack for beginning songs by hitting the listener with a wall of sound, and that is so perfectly represented in this track. This is a seriously beautiful album.

Cam, The Otherside

Cam’s voice is irresistible. She showed her talent for sharing painful ballads in her breakthrough single “Burning House,” and in “The Otherside” she digs deeper. She writes this record in a period of change, and captures this change and dissonance in the nostalgia of “Redwood Tree.” She teamed up with Avicii for the title track before he passed away, and it shows. His signature building melodies and guitar breaks are clear, and they go perfectly with the range of Cam’s voice. She truly shows her range in this track and this record in general, from the highs in “The Otherside” and the lows of “Changes.” “Changes” is another standout of the album, co-written by Harry Styles. This record is a gorgeous account of outgrowing love and outgrowing people after the deep bliss that you felt with them in the past. “Till There’s Nothing Left” and “Classic” are the big love songs of the record, one that melts you and one that makes you want to dance in a field of flowers. The sisterly confessional “Diane” pulls Cam back to her country roots. She ends the record with what made her famous: a beautiful, sad ballad backed only by piano. Her unique vocals are on full display as the record concludes, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Omar Apollo, Apolonio

Omar Apollo had his breakthrough in this record. His work spans languages and genres in a big way in “Apolonio.” “Kamikaze” and “Staybacik” stick to his typical R&B style, better produced than it ever has been. “Dos Uno Nueve (219)” goes a completely different direction, a Mexican corrido track featuring Yellow Room Music, honoring the Latinx musical styles that he expressed admiration for. Apollo also explores his sexuality in this album, fluidly discussing his bisexuality in “Kamikaze” and “I’m Amazing” in an exploratory manner. The whole album is generally quite exploratory, a quality that makes me even more excited for the work that is to come from Apollo.

Also worth mentioning:

Diplo, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley: Snake Oil

Thundercat, It Is What It Is

Sylvan Esso, Free Love

Lauv, ~how i’m feeling~

Niall Horan, Heartbreak Weather

J Balvin, Colores

Kelsea Ballerini, kelsea

Dominic Fike, What Could Possibly Go Wrong

#music #2020

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taylortruther · 2 years

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Lol remember when people decided woodvale was a thing and even decided when it'd drop, only for it not to happen? They got mad at her for that when she never promised anything in the first place. Same thing with evermore long pond session which was something someone sent to deuxmoi.

expecting an evermore lpss would've happened regardless of the DM rumor, though. we got one for folklore, and they're sister albums, it's not that unrealistic.

also, at least that's just a rumor about wanting a video session. woodvale stans were demanding a whole new album!

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t-swizzle-forever · 3 years

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Happy Birthday Taylor! ❤️❤️❤️ ❤️

Where do I begin? This strong, gorgeous woman I admire so much is turning 31. If I had to summarize what I’m about to say, it would probably be that I am so happy for Taylor and thankful for the role she has played in my life. Now the long version:

Taylor, watching the 2019 AMA’s gave me flashbacks to the Amazon Prime Day concert earlier that year. Both events were so joyful and I felt like I was actually at one of your concerts. I remembered why I loved all the classic songs so much and danced around in my living room as you sang. I will never forget those moments.

Then you gave us Miss Americana. What a way to bring in the new year. I cried so hard, my tears mixing with yours as you whispered, “It just gets so loud sometimes.” My chest heaved as you sobbed on your mom’s shoulder because I vividly remember doing the same a few months prior. Miss Americana captured such raw, vivid emotions, and I cannot thank you enough for choosing to be so vulnerable and sharing that with us. You didn’t have to do that, but you did. You helped others heal and learn from your own battles. Thank you.

Next (if memory serves me correctly) was the City of Lover concert on Hulu and Disney+. We got to celebrate Lover despite quarantine, and I was grateful for the live versions of these songs I’ve loved since the very first day. I think Cornelia Street is my favorite one from that concert, but it’s hard to say.

And then we got folklore and it was magical. Straight up sad, beautiful, tragic. I made my predictions and came up with commentary as I listened to the album in all its splendid glory. I played it as I swang on my childhood swingset and splashed through puddles after a summer storm. The sky turned purple-pink and I reveled in its beauty. There was so magic in those moments, and I can honestly say I failed to have a cruel summer thanks to you.

Mid-October brought the day I had been waiting for: my 22nd birthday. The decor had been ready for months and I finished making my own Junior Jewels shirt a few weeks prior. I spent the day with my family and that night by myself so I could soak in all the memories and look forward to the year ahead. I have you to thank for that, Taylor. That birthday wouldn’t have been so memorable if it wasn’t for you.

Then we have the long pond sessions, released less than a month ago. I thought it was another documentary and didn’t realize it was a full concert at first. Once I did, I was so excited. Hands down, my favorite song was August. It was already one of my fav songs from folklore, but it was even better live, especially seeing how pumped you and Jack were while playing it. It was truly a thrilling rush.

Then comes evermore. You gave us all the signs. We should have known what you were up to, but we didn’t think we would be lucky enough to get another full album so soon (at least I didn’t). You surprised us all yet again, and I can’t wait to hear it. Seriously, I’m gonna go listen to it in its entirety as soon as I finish writing this post. I’ve been waiting the whole weekend and I just can’t wait any longer. I listened to willow when it dropped and man, that was fun.

The cherry on top of all of that is receiving merch I ordered a month ago. I found it in our driveway this morning after coming home from church and I squealed. How wonderfully serendipitous. I already put my cardigan ornament on our Christmas tree, and I can’t wait to put together my new puzzle. The deluxe edition of evermore I ordered might take another month to get here, but it’ll be worth it. I already know I’ll play it for years to come. All the memories past and present that I’ll associate with those songs just like I have with all your other songs... I can’t wait.

So in conclusion, I hope you had the best time turning 31 today and that this year up ahead is full of life, love, and laughter for you and your family. Stay safe and just keep being yourself. We love you, Taylor. I love you.

Happy birthday ❤️❤️

#taylor swift #swiftie #happy birthday taylor #happy birthday #taylor turns 31

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hauntedtaylors · 3 years

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evermore “sister songs” predictions

alright evermore, midnight.

taylor referred to this album as a “sister album” with folklore. i saw someone on twitter suggest that maybe that means the corresponding track numbers between folklore and evermore are connected.

so basically here are my connection predictions after seeing nothing more than the titles off evermore

ALSO I JUST REALIZED I FORGOT ILLICIT AFFAIRS SO THE ORDER IS COMPLETLY MESSED UP LMFAO WHOOPS ITS OKAY ITS OKAY I TRIED

track 1: the 1 x willow

- okay i’m literally writing this one last like i’ve already written all the other connections because i can’t really think of anything for this lmao

- i suspect that the theme of willow is gonna be like specifically like a willow tree ??

- idk i mean i’ve always interpreted the 1 as being from specifically taylor’s perspective so my only guess is that it’s like a reference to taylor’s personal life that we’re not expected to figure out lol

- i’m sorry this was a terrible start lmfao i swear they get better

- you can tell which ones i wrote first lol

track 2: cardigan x champagne problems

- okay i wrote the track 8 stuff first so most of what i’m gonna say is based off that

- so i think tracks 2/8/13 are gonna all gonna have the same theme, either that it’s like another side of the james/betty/august story or it’s a whole different story with different characters but like similar themes

- based on the name champagne problems, i think this song could be more like the august in the sense that it’s like telling the story of the cheating

- i think this time though it would be from the perspective of the cheater (the james), rather than the august, based on the use of the word “problems”, which i feel like reflects how james knew being with august was a mistake but everything just went by so quickly that they (james) couldn’t stop themselves and this song is almost like a reflection / reliving the mistakes

track 3: the last great american dynasty x gold rush

- okay i literally don’t know anything about rebekah harkness nor the gold rush but like the names give off the same vibes yk

- like idk what the gold rush was but it sounds like an american history thing and like rebekah harkness was a person in history yk and didn’t she like lose her money or something and like,,, like gold is money,,

- i def don’t know enough about the two subjects to be making points lmao but they just give me similar vibes and tlgad is one my favs off folklore so i’m excited for this

track 4: exile x ‘tis the damn season

- “i think i’ve seen this film before and i didn’t like the ending”

- that’s me with like 90% of the holiday movies i watch (& ‘tis the damn season is literally my holiday catchphrase)

- so like in conclusion track 4 is for people that love the holidays but just can’t get on board with like holiday movies and music and like annoying family members yk

track 5: my tears ricochet x tolerate it

- taylor described in the long pond studio sessions that this song is like the story of someone who knows you so well that when they suddenly turn on you, they know exactly where to punch you so it hurts

- i think tolerate it could be like the story of a toxic relationship (platonic, romantic, etc) and how you know it’s not healthy but you’re too scared to be without this person that’s been in your life for so long that you just tolerate their terrible actions because you feel like you can’t leave

track 6: mirrorball x no body, no crime

- i’ll be honest, my first thought when i saw “no body, no crime” was “oh shit we’re back to vehicular manslaughter taylor” and now i can’t really move past that idea lmao

- anyway so in the long pond studio sessions, taylor discussed her story behind mirrorball and how it’s like she feels like she has to come out and perform and be this shining light for everybody and how she never stops performing until the last person is gone

- so like my interpretation is like it’s telling the story how of one day she just couldn’t keep performing and she like snapped or something and like i’m not saying necessarily that like ms swizzle pulled a classic bachelor(ette) movie trope and murdered someone and like hid the body but it’s like she snapped but she had to force herself to keep going and pretend like it never happened and continue to be that shining mirrorball for everybody

track 7: seven x happiness

- tw abuse

- okay i forget if there was like an actual confirmation of what seven is about but i very much interpret it as like young best friends who care for each other very much and one of them is living in an abusive household but they’re still somewhat protected by the bliss of ignorance to the terrible things and people in the world and they always dream about running away together and living out the dream life together that they imagine the world, beyond their home, to be

- so like happiness would kinda be a part 2 to seven where like they’re imagining themselves living out that dream life and they’re telling that story to distract themselves from the horrors that they’re facing at home in that moment

- i kinda imagine it like if it were a movie, the entire thing would be them living in pure bliss and peace together, not having to worry the world around them but then at the very end there’s like a cut and you see them crammed in a small space, hiding from the worst

track 8: august x dorothea

- idk who dorothea is lol i haven’t seen anyone say that the name is significant yet so i’m just gonna assume it’s a random name

- because it’s paired with august i think it could potentially be like another side to the same story (betty, james, august)

- or it’s like similar to cardigan/august/betty in the sense that it’s another story told from the perspectives of 3 different people and dorothea is like this story’s august (or maybe james/betty based on what i said for track 2)

track 9: this is me trying x coney island

- this is me trying not to puke on the rollercoaster

- this is me trying to stuff my fourth corndog down

- this is me trying to get that damn ring on the bottle to win that giant pink monkey

- this is me trying not to cry that coney island is still closed cause y’all can’t stay home while ms swift over here is literally staying in a cottage in the woods

- this is me trying to pretend i’ve been to coney island and i know what it is

- this is me trying to come up with a connection between the two songs which sound like they have nothing in common based off the names

- WAIT

- NO I GOT SOMETHING

- okay nvm i wrote this whole thing about this super detailed metaphor before remembering english is my worst class and it made no sense lol

- in conclusion this is me trying (and failing)

track 10: invisible string x ivy

- okay so ivy could be like the literal plant or like a name

- it obviously makes more sense for it to be a person, like she said invisible string was written after sending a baby gift to an ex or something

- idk how these are like related lol but maybe the ivy’s like a metaphor for something else in the invisible string story

track 11: mad woman x cowboy like me

- well they both have similar titles in the sense that they refer to a person or like a specific type of person

- are we getting a mad woman/cowboy love story

- it’s a love story, cowboy, just say yes

track 12: epiphany x long story short

- okay when i think of epiphanies and like the word epiphany, i think of like this long drawn out story or issue and then it’s like woah lightbulb

- i just think the titles alone have similar themes, they may not be related at all but i think they have potential to be

- like long story short could be like the telling of the epiphany yk?

track 13: betty x marjorie

- this is my third time describing this so yea in conclusion i think this is a betty/james/august situation

- i saw someone on twitter say that marjorie is the name of taylor’s grandmother or something ?? i might have made that up idk lol but maybe that’s like where the significance of the names come from this time

track 14: peace x closure

- the name’s of these songs give off such similar vibes

- they may not necessarily be like a part 1/part 2 type like the some of the other songs but i think they’ll be telling similar stories

- since peace was about taylor not being able to give the people in her life peace, this could be like a similar story like maybe it’s how she can never give closure to her former relationships because of the paps/press/media etc always prying in her personal life and like trying to determine which exes her songs are about etc so her exes never truly get closure or the opportunity to move on because the public never lets them forget

- kinda like when mr all too well posted that photo on instagram earlier this year and the comments were flooded with swifties lmfao like idk maybe they’ve like both moved on from that breakup etc (idfk it’s not my place to speculate) and everyone’s just like continuously reminding them of their past (this was just an example of like the themes of the song, i’m not tryna speculate about anything)

track 15: hoax x evermore

- i suddenly cannot remember any of the themes from hoax lmao im sorry

- all i remember from lpss is taylor talking about how she likes the word hoax

- evermore is such a cool word as well like maybe the theme is cool words

- i also think evermore is such a cool name for the album closer, i literally love her album closers so much bye

- change rights !!

track 16/17: the lakes x right where you left me x it’s time to go

- maybe she was left at the lakes

- and it’s like time to leave the lakes

- like it’s time to stop living that cottagecore fantasy and get back to work

- no im kidding pls take a break ms swift u work so damn hard ily

- and i think ur the only person that can combine work and cottagecore and make it so damn beautiful

the way i put a million times the effort into this as i’ve ever put into an english assignment damn

anyway i’m very excited

i’m extremely sleep deprived but excited

@taylorswift @taylornation

#taylor swift #evermore #taylor nation #folklore

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