Enigmatic Evermore

Evermore was produced the winter shortly after Folklore was made in the Covid year. Swift calls it the "Sister Album" given Folklore was about fairytales and feelings, Evermore has songs that are more personal and still touch on painful and regretful feelings. One of my personal favorite Taylor Swift songs is "Champagne Problems" which is on the Evermore album. The beauty of Evermore is that it fixates on a lot of stories that are written from other people's perspectives, she touches on the loss, and really the beauty of raw emotion. Champagne Problems was written about rejecting a marriage proposal, by not being able to fully commit and how she is mourning as well as taking full responsibility for what the relationship could have been if she was ready. Such as "I never was ready, so I watch you go. Sometimes you just don't know the answer Til someone's on their knees and asks you" I take this song very personally because I, myself did have a high school sweetheart who talked about marriage and it was something I wasn't ready for. Essentially it's displayed throughout the song that it was all about her mental health and how it wasn't good. That really just resonated with me, for I was going through a similar situation and it's just comforting to see how Taylor can really write it like it happened to her. 

Another song I really enjoyed was "Marjorie" It was written about her late grandmother in honor of her. This is a very personal piece but the song captures what it means to have regret or remorse about a loved one passing, with lyrics such as " I should've asked you how to be. Asked you to write it down for me, should have kept every grocery store receipt, cause every scrap of you would be taken from me" One my first time listening to that song I immediately started crying because death is inevitable and time with our loved ones is so valuable and she does a great job explaining what it means to lose someone you love. Throughout the song, Swift writes of all things she should have done or said. Swift touches on how important everything "Marjorie" was including keeping a silly receipt because it was all gone in an instant. She tells their story and all the things Marjorie liked, like the amber skies and autumn chill she then goes on to how they liked to go swimming. Swift wrote  "You'd always go past where our feet could touch" Swift towards the end reaches a point where she's basically saying just because someone has passed it doesn't always mean they're gone. Swift is essentially keeping her "Alive" because she wrote a song dedicated to her or how she still feels that she's around. "What died didn't stay dead. You're alive, so alive. In my head" 

Works Cited 

: https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/zehptk/folklore_vs_evermore_track_by_track/

https://interestingliterature.com/2023/08/taylor-swift-marjorie-meaning/