This is the concept I've wanted from her since forever. Can it live up to my expectations? At least it's a good idea to just let it all out without the usual bluster of a pre-release hype campaign. That's refreshing
― abcfsk, Thursday, 23 July 2020 12:30 (three years ago) link
Missed opportunity for a Myrkur collaboration IMO but I guess she didn't want the whole 'Aryan goddess' thing to bubble up again.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 23 July 2020 12:35 (three years ago) link
It’s a concept album about sacrificing Varg.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 23 July 2020 12:48 (three years ago) link
i’m overwhelmed
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 July 2020 12:53 (three years ago) link
pic.twitter.com/w2hhXfRi0M— Aaron Dessner (@aaron_dessner) July 23, 2020
― abcfsk, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:02 (three years ago) link
an entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into.
Would be funny if they were all songs about unicorns, eating babies, not studying for the test, Trump, teeth falling out and what if giraffes could speak.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:03 (three years ago) link
Seriously, though, I'm really intrigued by the notion of Swift working fast and spontaneously and foregoing the pop polish/pressures.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:06 (three years ago) link
Can anyone recommend some good folk/folk-esque albums released this year?
― pomenitul, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:09 (three years ago) link
Bonny Light Horseman for sure
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:10 (three years ago) link
lol this is BREAKING NEWS on p4k, writ large on a red banner.
xp thanks.
― pomenitul, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:11 (three years ago) link
so this is all her rejected Cats songs, then
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:13 (three years ago) link
And extra special thanks to my amazing manager and as always to heroic Wuotan who oversees Valhalla and shall lead us to glory
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:14 (three years ago) link
i’m so happy
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:14 (three years ago) link
lol I forgot she was in Cats. I forgot there was a Cats!
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:20 (three years ago) link
if you had seen cats you would not forget there was a cats
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:21 (three years ago) link
no lies detected
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:23 (three years ago) link
Not exactly under the radar but Owen Pallet, Blake Mills & Phoebe Bridgers albums?
― chonky floof (groovypanda), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:35 (three years ago) link
the new Fabiano do Nascimento is good
― imago, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:36 (three years ago) link
I guess those are folk-esque, yeah (I’ve heard the Pallett and Bridgers, liked ‘em both).xp
― pomenitul, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:37 (three years ago) link
There's a new Gillian Welch.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:42 (three years ago) link
I know she is not like this at all but my first reaction to the title "Folklore" was "oh cool, she's going full-Varg"
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:45 (three years ago) link
hahahaha I see Ned got there first
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:46 (three years ago) link
Damn it, now I actually want a Taylor Swift folk-metal album.
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:47 (three years ago) link
Taylor Swift Presents: The Prussian Blue Songbook
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:47 (three years ago) link
"When you can tour again, what will it be like?"
"Ritualistic."
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 23 July 2020 14:05 (three years ago) link
"Here's the world premiere of the new Taylor Swift single, 'Solstice Blindfold'"
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Thursday, 23 July 2020 14:08 (three years ago) link
Leaked first single:https://youtu.be/AcAl4Fr2qQU
― pomenitul, Thursday, 23 July 2020 14:11 (three years ago) link
But I got smarter, built an altar in the nick of timeHoney, I summoned up the dead, I do it all the timeI've got a list of souls and yours is in red, sacrificedChop your neck once, then I chop it twice, oh!
Look who you made me kill.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 23 July 2020 14:12 (three years ago) link
now set it to an Antonoff beat.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 23 July 2020 14:19 (three years ago) link
the art made me think of this so hopefully that's her new direction
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 23 July 2020 14:30 (three years ago) link
Goole on Twitter is monitoring this for the "if you sing about forests you are straight up racist" rule, he recorded expressed concern over the song "The Lakes" which could be seen as forest fash adjacent
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 23 July 2020 15:09 (three years ago) link
pity forests and lakes, they didn't ask for this
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 23 July 2020 15:10 (three years ago) link
Anyway this is all reminding me what I think of the National, which is a big blank space upon which I have not projected any thoughts.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 23 July 2020 15:25 (three years ago) link
That’s exactly what they want you to think.
― pomenitul, Thursday, 23 July 2020 15:30 (three years ago) link
"I am a big blank space / upon which I have not / projected any thoughts" is one of my favorite National lyrics
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 23 July 2020 15:32 (three years ago) link
I'm glad to know I can score some extra coin this way.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 23 July 2020 15:40 (three years ago) link
very funny to me this is prob her best album art ever
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 July 2020 16:56 (three years ago) link
anyway i bought a copy
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 July 2020 16:57 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDkLfpyqbm0
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 23 July 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link
Wow, this fan-soaking is so Garth-level I'm expecting her to roll out SwifTunes in 2021. https://t.co/34b6x1hlWq— Keith Harris (@useful_noise) July 23, 2020
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 23 July 2020 19:37 (three years ago) link
fan-soaking
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EVftr8XUEAEIcnT?format=jpg&name=medium
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 23 July 2020 19:41 (three years ago) link
Wow, this fan-soaking is so Garth-level I'm expecting her to roll out SwifTunes in 2021.
What?
― peace, man, Thursday, 23 July 2020 19:59 (three years ago) link
welcome back, Aja
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Thursday, 23 July 2020 20:19 (three years ago) link
Keith was Ajakitty??
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 23 July 2020 21:41 (three years ago) link
Taylor was.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 23 July 2020 22:24 (three years ago) link
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0798/9273/products/vs_louise_front_2048x2048.png?v=1437941174
― Tim F, Thursday, 23 July 2020 22:36 (three years ago) link
that Dessner note makes me even more excited about this, and i was already pretty excited.
― alpine static, Friday, 24 July 2020 00:04 (three years ago) link
the 8 different vinyl covers and 8 different CD covers is ridiculous, though. i feel bad for obsessives who feel like they have to buy them all.
i mean they can spend their money however they want, but still
― alpine static, Friday, 24 July 2020 00:05 (three years ago) link
now THAT'S how you rig the Billboard 200 chart, LOL (paging Dyl)
― Your dream has symbolic content (morrisp), Friday, 24 July 2020 00:09 (three years ago) link
are they shipping immediately? they have to if it's to game the charts with the recent rule changes
― ufo, Friday, 24 July 2020 00:10 (three years ago) link
until i pick my daughter up and she makes me play songs sung by Elmo
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 14:37 (ten months ago) link
xp
Still obsessed with "Cowboy Like Me." The soft "ch" sounds in the lines "perched in the dark / telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear" ... ugh.
― Indexed, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 14:40 (ten months ago) link
I mean, yeah, the Evermore songs are on another level…For me, Folklore has a similar hit-to-miss ratio as, say, Lover (in fact I slightly prefer that one)… whereas her best albums are no-skip affairs.
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 14:41 (ten months ago) link
only second tier song to me is "cardigan"
― brimstead, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:20 (ten months ago) link
lol sorry I just thought that was a pretty heavy song
Here's a decent/consumable summary of the mostly fan-driven narrative on this: https://lhstomtom.org/5235/arts-entertainment/a-detailed-guide-to-folklores-love-triangle-explained-through-some-of-taylor-swifts-folklore-and-evermore-songs/
I don't really get how it deepens one's appreciation of these songs by shoehorning them into this supposed "narrative," rather than doing the opposite (making the songs seem more trivial)... but to each their own! (It reminds me of how some Fiery Furnaces fans kept trying to find/invent a narrative throughline to each of their albums, even though that was only sort of / halfway / not at all a thing for all but one of them.)
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:25 (ten months ago) link
WHAT― brimstead, Tuesday, June 6, 2023 3:20 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
I dunno! I find the speaker boring and smug! The slightest of the “cardigan” “August” “betty” triptych. Also “you drew stars around my scars” a rare lyrical misstep on the album
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:38 (ten months ago) link
I still listen to it though
furthermore
IF IM DEAD TO YOU WHY ARE YOU AT THE WAKE?
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:39 (ten months ago) link
CURSIN MY NAME
WISHIN I STAYED
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:40 (ten months ago) link
LOOK AT HOW MY TEARS RICOCHET
recently got this on vinyl
still true:
"Cold was the steel of my ax to grind for the boys who broke my heart / Now I send their babies presents"― Ned Raggett
this line is so good, and also the followup:
"Gold was the color of the leaves when I showed you around Centennial Park / Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven"
― sleeve, Friday, July 24, 2020 10:58 PM
― broken breakbeat (sleeve), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:40 (ten months ago) link
yeah that’s a great song
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:41 (ten months ago) link
I don't think the narrator of "Cardigan" is smug(?), and I think some of the lines are really good (particularly how it hinges on the climactic "'Cause I knew everything when I was young")
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:51 (ten months ago) link
I really like both couplets in the chorus, too
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:52 (ten months ago) link
This may be a #ControversialOpinion, but I think "Cardigan" is even a better/more interesting song than "All Too Well," thanks to its precision and economy.
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:57 (ten months ago) link
I guess what I mean is there’s an interesting complexity to the personae speaking “August” and “Betty” even though the dude in the latter seems kind of…feeble, but there me not much TO the persona speaking “cardigan”
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 19:58 (ten months ago) link
“Mary’s Song” or “Love Story” or even “invisible string” do a better job conveying childlike conviction you and someone else were made for each other. It sits kind of uneasy on this adult album about self awareness and compromise and the passage of time.
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 20:01 (ten months ago) link
would not occur to me to compare “cardigan” to “all too well”
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 20:03 (ten months ago) link
They're both post-breakup songs in which the narrator focuses on small, specific details (no?)
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 20:13 (ten months ago) link
Isn’t “cardigan” post-reunion?
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 20:15 (ten months ago) link
yeah, I guess the guy comes back in "Cardigan"
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 20:16 (ten months ago) link
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, June 6, 2023 3:57 PM (thirty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
It's not
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 20:32 (ten months ago) link
lol agreed, Alfred
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 20:40 (ten months ago) link
yeah that’s a bridge too far cmon now
― brimstead, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 21:21 (ten months ago) link
here we are again
― brimstead, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 21:22 (ten months ago) link
I remember it all too well!
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 21:28 (ten months ago) link
Tired: "We're dancin' 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light"Wired: "Dancin' in your Levis / Drunk under the streetlight"
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 21:43 (ten months ago) link
I think part of the point of “Cardigan” is that for all the narrator’s professed certainty she leaves entirely unclear whether she actually takes dude back. He “comes back” to her, standing in the porch light etc., but it’s entirely possible that she tells him to fuck off at that point.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 21:59 (ten months ago) link
yes I suppose that’s true, and I don’t think the song is bad, but it is my least fave on an excellent album.
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 22:03 (ten months ago) link
but since I’ve been listening to the album twice a day of late, it may grow on me
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 22:13 (ten months ago) link
I love the couplet “knew I’d curse you for the longest time / chasing shadows in the grocery line”, not sure if those two lines are supposed ti be ‘linked’ but yeah they convey that sense of ambiguity about how she feels about dude also “I knew EVERYTHING when I was young” breaks my heart for some reason
― brimstead, Wednesday, 7 June 2023 00:15 (ten months ago) link
Yeah I think it's more interestingly ambiguous/complicated than one of her more straightforward "we were made for each other" songs...
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Wednesday, 7 June 2023 00:20 (ten months ago) link
Yes, the key aspect of the "EVERYTHING" is not that she knew he would come back to her, but that she knew (or anticipated) that he would leave her (and leave her devastated) in the first place. The "they" in "When you are young they assume you know nothing" could be the world at large but it could also be anyone she dated including the "you" of the song. She was clear-eyed enough to know he would ultimately betray her sooner or later, but let it happen anyway because what are you supposed to do when you are in love?
The song I pair it with is not "All Too Well" or "Mary's Song" or "That's How You Get The Girl" or "Love Song" or "Invisible String"; it's "Fifteen". That song is about the illusions of youth: "When you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them."
But the narrator of "Cardigan" doesn't necessarily believe. Even the chorus is rife with ambiguity: "You put me on and said I was your favourite". Does she actually accept that she is his favourite? Or is it just something she allows herself to accept in the moment because it's comforting?
A key aspect of Taylor's best songwriting on Folkore and Evermore is the way she plays with this kind of ambiguity, and I wish it was talked about more (and that some interviewer would ask her about it, or really ask any intelligent question about her songwriting - but I've griped about that before). Almost all of her best songwriting in this era - "August", "Cowboy Like Me", "Ivy", "'Tis The Damn Season", "Tolerate It", etc. - occupies this space where choosing (or allowing oneself) to be emotionally dependent on another person is fraught with risk and/or sacrifices (variously: autonomy, security, a clear sense of independent self-worth) and even a song like "Cowboy Like Me", which from a distance sounds like a love song, becomes more complicated when viewed up close: "I'm waiting by the phone like I'm sitting in an airport bar", "We could be the way forward, and I know I'll pay for it", "forever is the sweetest con". There's an undercurrent at work which I suspect is a deliberate disavowal of the kind of fairy tale predestination her songwriting is typically associated with (but which she's been moving away from since at least her third album).
(even "Invisible String" is kind of the opposite of how it appears on the surface: "Isn't it just so pretty to think..." The narrator's saying it's a comforting fiction, she knows that in reality life just isn't that simple or straightforward, which is why she now sends presents to the babies of her ex-lovers, but imposing structured narratives is part of how make sense of a deal with the messiness of real life)
― Tim F, Wednesday, 7 June 2023 01:23 (ten months ago) link
Also hard to hear “Isn’t it pretty to think…” and not be reminded of the final line of that Hemingway novel.
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Wednesday, 7 June 2023 01:58 (ten months ago) link
I've never really listened to much Taylor Swift on purpose (for starters, in this house I don't have a choice), but whenever I hear stuff from "Folklore" it clicks that this is the album I've always wanted Taylor to make. Really lovely songs, strong lyrics, really confident in its commitment to a mood minus a lot of the try-hard vibes that sometimes turn me off.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 23 June 2023 15:45 (ten months ago) link