Taylor Swift has surprised fans with another special gift just in time for the holidays. Less than half a year after she released Folklore, the singer announced her ninth studio album, Evermore, via her social media accounts. The album includes 15 tracks plus two bonus tracks for those who buy physical copies through her website. The album also includes collaborations that nobody saw coming with artists like Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, WB, and Justin Vernon.
Evermore released at midnight along with a music video for the song Willow.
Swift said that Evermore was a thank you note for her fans’ love and support on her previous birthdays.
“Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backwards, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now,” Swift wrote on a Twitter post. “You’ve all been so caring, supportive, and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something!”
Swifties are more grateful than ever to have witnessed this moment. The music video for the Evermore opening track, Willow, was more magical than ever predicted. Everywhere the singer went, yellow dust appeared out of nowhere and seemingly followed her.
In regards to the whole album, here are the ranks (from worst to best) for the songs:
15. Dorothea
Dorothea describes the feelings we all experience when a best friend moves away. Swift repeats the line, “Hey Dorothea, do you ever think about me?”
We also get nods to the old Taylor through the lyrics, “But are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?” In You Belong With Me? from her 2009 album Fearless, she also referenced the bleachers.
14. No Body, No Crime (feat. Haim)
The song begins with the eerie sound of police sirens. Then, we hear Swift say the words: “He did it.” Throughout the song, Swift uses her best friend’s name, Este Haim, to describe a true crime story. The song uses a lot of imagery and audio noises to portray the message, yet it also holds a country music vibe. Overall, the lyrics, themes and beats complement one another to paint a picture of a mysterious crime scene that’s straight out of a TV show.
13. Cowboy Like Me
In this 11th song on the album, Swift immediately starts singing with an untraditional rhythm. As the song continues, we hear a lot of repetition between Swift’s words and the beat of the backing track.
This idea of repetition also appears within the lyrics themselves (with some variation). For example, in the second appearance of the chorus, Swift sings, “You had some tricks up of your sleeves.” While this contains the same second half as the original rendition, “I’ve got some tricks up my sleeves,” it gives us something more to chew over. My guess is that she wanted to create a sense of connection between herself and the boy. After all, she does say that the boy is a “cowboy like her.”
12. Marjorie
A consistent beat of different instruments propels itself from the beginning to the end of the song. The lyrics also allude a lot as Swift arranges her words with some sort of repetition. In the first stanza, she sings, “Never be so kind / You forget to be clever.” Then she adds, “Never be so clever / You forget to be kind.” The use of repetition among the lyrics complement the repetition of instruments in the background music, outlining Swift’s emotions of sorrow and confusion.
Furthermore, some claim that the song references her grandmother. We can hear that as she sings, “What died didn’t stay dead / You’re alive, you’re alive in my head.”
11. Willow
Although Willow is first music video that Taylor Swift dropped for this album, I don’t necessarily think it’s the best song on the album. However, it’s still really great.
When you listening to the track, you instantly hear the sounds of a guitar playing. Then the lyrics enter and convey the notion that we all crave a sense of imagination when we look for love. Continuing with the love motif, Swift describes the delicacy of love: “Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind.”
10. Closure
Unlike the other tracks, Closure had a different feel altogether. At the beginning, we hear what sounds like drummers pounding away on metal. This very raw sound matches the rest of the track, which sounds like it wasn’t edited or adjusted post-production. It’s fitting, as this rawness symbolizes the heartbreak behind the lyrics. As the song pounds on, you may even feel a sense of anger creeping in, especially near the end.
9. Long Story Short
Although the beginning is slow, the rhythm changes to represent a turn of the story. When you listen to the song, you will feel like Swift is running through the forest, just like Alice in Wonderland before she falls down the rabbit hole. In fact, the song conveys a sense of panic as more instruments enter and Swift sings “No more tug of more / Now I just know there’s more.”
8.Gold Rush
Gold Rush starts out with Swift’s voice tuned into a high octave, then suddenly transfers into a lower octave with a completely different beat. These shifts continue throughout the song, almost as if it symbolizes Swift’s career transitions from Country to Pop. Although the beginning may seem like it doesn’t really fit for a while, the ending morphs into a smoother, higher range that ties back to the opening of the track, essentially completing the story.
7. ‘Tis The Damn Season
The background instruments add an eerie feeling, and Taylor’s vocals match the rhythm of the song perfectly. Throughout the song, the musical rhythm tends to stay the same and there aren’t any significant changes in vocals and instruments.
However, it’s more about the words in this one. Swift references travelling away from the big city during the holidays: “‘Tis the damn season, write this down / I’m staying’ at my parent’s house.” Also, the words describe how difficult it is to leave a small town and give up on love.
6. Tolerate It
Unlike some of the more elaborate orchestrations of other songs on Evermore, this fifth track, Tolerate It, just features Taylor and a piano. Furthermore, her range throughout the chorus of the song tied with the piano almost gives us a melancholic feel. When listening, one can imagine how unappreciated they feel during a difficult relationship or think of the hardships that Cinderella or Snow White went through. “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky / Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life.”
5. Ivy
Similar to the other songs, Ivy features a lot of imagery and metaphors for a broken relationship between two partners. Lyrics such as, “Stop you putting roots in my dreamland / My house of stone, your ivy grows” allude to the toxic traits of a person. The “ivy” represents the toxic behavior of grabbing hold and controlling a person, much like ivy takes over walls.
4. Evermore ft. Bon Iver
The mellow tunes coupled with the usage of lyricism match how we feel during the current season. “Hey December / Guess I’m feeling unmoored,” Swift sings as she describes the effects of the upcoming holiday season on her mental health. The slow piano, along with other types of background instruments and Bon Iver’s voice, conveys the path to healing from depression.
3. Coney Island ft. The National
Similar to a couple of other songs, Taylor Swift tries to find a way to blend both of the country and city girl vibes. Although the mood is calm and resembles the countryside, she talks about a neighborhood named “Coney Island,” which is in New York City. She also describes her feelings; “getting colder and colder.” When she and the National sang together, the music and the vocals blended well to create a calm and nostalgic tune: “The mischief, the gift-wrapped suburban dreams.”
2. Champagne Problems
Starting with a piano chorus, the beginning of this track may seem like an untraditional start among many fans. However, the keyboard tunes were a very unique way to address the concept of “Champagne problems,” it was different from the use of instruments for other songs in the album. A lot of metaphors describe December, such as the phrase, “And soon they’ll have the nerve to deck the Halls.” In order to conclude the song harmonically, Swift adds some glissando-like motions on the keys, which I’m not sure anyone saw coming.
1. Happiness
Whenever you hear the first few notes of the song, you won’t believe that the name is “Happiness.” The song starts off with a sad and slow tune and sounds exactly like the opposite of Happiness, even with the lyrics “I started dancing when the music stops.” But later, more instruments such as drums are added into the song, and the rhythm starts to change into a more exuberant tone. Perhaps the song is about process, to “Leave it all behind and there is happiness.”
Which one is your favorite song? Feel free to comment down below and give Taylor Swift’s album a new listen!
Featured image via Taylor Swift and Beth Garrabrant
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This may be the most accuate list I have read yet. I like looking at rankings, just to see how dumb people can be but this is one of the very few that I agree with. Long story short, should be number 3 though.