This weekend, specifically on July 24, It was two years since the release of one of the albums that marked the pandemic and the career of one of the most important music artists in the last 15 years. Folklore, the eighth album by Taylor Swiftwas launched by surprise during that early morning just 24 hours after the singer herself announced its existence, with a single, cardigan, which was released along with a video clip and the rest of the album.
“Most of the things that I had planned for this summer could not happen, but there is something that I did not plan that did happen. And that thing is my eighth studio album, folklore. Surprise. Tonight at midnight I will release a brand new album lfull of songs where I have poured all my whims, dreams, fears and reflections“Wrote the one from Tennessee through her Instagram account, while revealing the cover and track list of the album.
Two years later, folklore and its songs They remain in our memory like a time capsule of those months of quarantine, harboring stories that undoubtedly marked that summer.. That is why, today, we review some of the curiosities that surrounded this very special album.
Goodbye to Lover Fest
The main activity that Taylor Swift had to give up as an artist with the pandemic and confinement was live music. In mid-April he canceled his international tour, the Lover Festwith which he intended to tour different festivals in North America, Europe and Latin America (visiting countries like Spain that he had not set foot in for more than a decade).
Locked up in her house is when she began to compose the album, which was developed over three months of work. About the need to entertain his audience and to give himself to his fans despite everything that was happening, he writes in the mirrorball theme (I’m still trying everything / To keep you looking at me).
Taylor thus abandoned the era of Lover, which had lasted 11 months compared to the average two years in which he developed the life of his projects, to deliver 16 completely new songs and welcome a new musical style in your career.
Tell stories
In contrast to the trajectory that Taylor Swift had developed as a singer and songwriter, with folklore It is the first time that he moves away from autofiction and his personal life to focus his songs on the narration of stories, fables and stories that are intertwined with each other.. There are very few songs on the album that relate directly to her life experience.
Betty, Inez y James
Betty, Inez and James are some of the main characters in the song trilogy which is set between Cardigan, Betty and August.. Some names that were not chosen randomly, but rather formed Taylor Swift’s tribute to the daughters of Blake Lively y Ryan Reynolds, two of his great friends. In fact, at that time the couple’s third daughter had just been born, who had not yet been presented on social networks, and whose name was publicly unknown.
literary references
Folklore is an album that is full of literary references. In cardigan, for example, James Matthew Barrie’s Peter Pan story is mentioned in the line “Peter losing Wendy”. In The Lakes, the bonus song that appeared on the physical version of the album, its very title refers to one of the districts of England famous for the presence of the so-called Lake Poets. A song that, in addition, is characterized by escapism, romanticism and nostalgia.
William Bowery
Taylor Swift mentions in the publication on Instagram where she announces the existence of this new album the collaboration with William Bowery for the creation of two songs on the album (exile and betty). A name that Taylor Swift fans investigated and that, after there was hardly any information on the Internet about him, they concluded that it was a pseudonym that hid behind the figure of Joh Alwynwho had used the name of his grandfather and one of the New York neighborhoods (where it is said that his relationship with the singer began) so that the couple’s collaboration would not dazzle what is truly important: music. Later the singer and the actor himself would confirm this theory.
History at the Grammys
🎥 | Taylor Swift receives the grammy for record of the year for ‘Folklore’. It is his third ‘Album of the year’. And so was her thank you speech. #Grammys pic.twitter.com/gXb4q1ocwR
— Taylor Swift España (@taylorswiftes_) March 15, 2021
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During the 2021 Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift would become living music history by becoming the first female artist to receive the Best Album of the Year award three times.. He had previously achieved it with Fearless and 1989. Three albums that, moreover, belong to different musical genres: country, pop and alternative.
Listening record on its first day
Despite the very little promotion of the album (which was announced 24 hours before), Taylor Swift made history during its premiere on Spotify with 96.8 million listeners on its first day. A record as a female artist only surpassed by herself with the premiere of Red (Taylor’s Version)which on November 12, 2021 would get 122.9 million listeners.
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