"evermore" dips further into the sound and storytelling established on "folklore". Here, the stories are more mature and cinematic, the lyrics denser and wordier, and the music more experimental. I have yet to decide which album is superior-folklore is more cohesive and digestible, while evermore feels more like a collection of very good songs that takes some time to really get into. It's also got way more words, which is making it harder to memorize than "folklore".
Now, I'm going to review the songs in my current ranking from least favorite to most favorite, using the song sorter for evermore.
15. "closure"
The chaotic music on this one is making it hard to get into, but I still enjoy it. I also just really like the way she sings "it cut deep to know ya right to the bone".
Fave line: "Don't treat me like some situation that needs to be handled/I'm fine with my spite and my tears and my beers and my candles".
14. "long story short"
I love the sound of this one, and I wouldn't hate if the next album had this upbeat pop sound. However, I feel like lyrically this just retreads a lot of songs from "folklore" and "Lover".
Fave line: "Actually, I always felt I must look better in the rearview".
13: "dorothea"
This song is super fun and has been stuck in my head all day, but it's not as strong as the rest of the album.
Fave line: "Ooh you're a queen selling makeup and magazines/From you I'd buy anything".
12: "tolerate it"
Personally, I think "happiness" would be a better track 5 (for non-Swifties, the 5th track is traditionally one of the saddest/most vulnerable on the album). However, this song is still very beautiful and heartbreaking, which goes to show how difficult ranking all this. I'm also 100% convinced this was inspired by Princess Diana.
Fave line: "now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life"
11: "no body, no crime"
A fun listen, but kind of simplistic compared to the rest of the album, though I love the country-rock vibes and I would love if this had a video. I assume some true crime show has already bought the rights to this song to use as their theme song and that this will become a karaoke staple in the vein of "Before He Cheats" and "Goodbye Earl".
Fave line: "That ain't my merlot on my mouth, that ain't my jewelry on our joint account".
10: "happiness"
This is objectively a great song, but I find it drags a little. The line about "eyes leaking like acid rain" also seems a little overwrought.
Fave line: "sorry I can't see facts through all of my fury, you haven't met the new me yet"
9: "willow"
Pretty, and I love the video and the "dancing witch" remix. A decent lead single, though I think "cardigan" was stronger. The low point is "But I come back like a 90's trend" which feels more like it would belong in a "Shake it Off" style bop and is rather jarring to hear in the folksy/pioneer video.
Fave line: "You know that my train can take you home/Anywhere else is hollow"
8: "marjorie"
This tribute to her grandmother joins the Pantheon of Sad Songs, the songs that are very good, but too difficult to actually listen to unless you really want to ugly-cry (other examples include Never Grow Up, Ronan, and Soon You'll Get Better). I always struggle with how to rank these since I have such a hard time actually listening to them, so the middle feels like as good a place as anywhere. A lovely detail is that on the last "singing with me now", you can hear her grandmother's vocals in the background (she was an opera singer). Watch the lyric video for extra tears.
Fave line: "Should've kept every grocery store receipt/'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me"
7. "cowboy like me"
Wasn't crazy about this at first, but it's quickly grown on me. A country ballad about two con artists falling in love. In my dreams, this has a video that plays as a sequel to the "Getaway Car" music video that also exists only in my "Wildest Dreams" (sorry, I had to)
Fave line: "Now you hang from my lips like the gardens of Babylon"
6. "coney island"
I absolutely love how her voice blends with Matt Benninger from the National. I like how the duet emphasizes that both parties feel the regret and accept the blame for not prioritizing the relationship. Perhaps my biggest criticism is that they say "merry go" for the rhyme when I have only ever heard of it as a merry-go-round
Fave line: "cause we were like the mall before the Internet"
5. "evermore"
The title track is kind of a roller-coaster and I love it. It starts as a soft piano ballad, then builds into an intense duet with Bon Iver. I think I might like his deeper voice on "exile" better, but the duet here is more interesting because they're not just repeating "so many signs".
Fave line: "Hey December, guess I'm feeling unmoored"
4. " 'tis the damn season"
This song makes me want to make a mistake and text my high school boyfriend...when I don't even have a high school boyfriend to text lol. If you're also tempted to do it...don't. It will not end well. Anyway, this is the sister song to "dorothea", when she goes back home for the holidays and rekindles an old flame before going back to chasing fame.
Fave line: "there's an ache in you, put there by the ache in me"
3. "ivy"
I just fall in love with this song more and more with every listen. Between this and "illicit affairs", guess I 100% condone adultery as long as you write a pretty song about it. Also, I read a theory that this is about a 19th century affair between two women and that is officially my headcanon. There's another interpretation that the speaker is actually dead and the fire was literal, which I could also buy.
Fave line: "Oh, goddamn, my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand"
2. "gold rush"
As a daydreamer prone to stupid unrequited crushes, this is my new anthem. Who among us hasn't built up a whole great love story based on someone we haven't even talked to?
I also like the upbeat poppiness making this a bright spot among all the sad stories and the heartbeat drums in the background a la "Wildest Dreams". Fave line: "I don't like the falling feels like flying 'till the bone crush".
And finally
1. "champagne problems".
Every attempt at a fandom-wide ranking of Taylor Swift's discography has basically been a race for second place, as "All Too Well" wins every freaking time. I get it, it's a great song, but maybe a tad overrated at this point. Anyway, this song has the narrator being "casually cruel in the name of being honest" in rejecting her lover's proposal. The song is rich in imagery, the bridge is epic and may be her best (though that is always debatable), and . I don't know if this song will top "All Too Well" with the fandom at large, but it is now my number one overall. The chords in the beginning also sound like reputation's "New Year's Day", which makes this seem like a sad prequel to that song.
Fave lyric: Um, all of them? "How evergreen, our group of friends, don't think we'll say that word again" hits especially hard, especially thinking about all the friends I've loved and lost over the years.
I assume people will disagree with my ranking. Heck, I'll probably disagree with it tomorrow, not to mention the fact that there are two currently-unavailable bonus tracks I will have to account for. Feel free to add observations/share your faves.
Gender:
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Reviews: 1274