could you talk more about how folklore is the culmination of tay's career?

oh absolutely !! basically the way i see it is that the album is taylor looking back on a lot of the subjects and themes she’s previously touched on in her work and revisiting them in a way that makes sense to her life now as a 30-year-old woman. just to rattle off some examples:

where mary’s song paints a portrait of enduring swing set love and the idea of knowing someone your whole life, invisible string reassesses that concept of love and instead it’s the idea that actually i haven’t known you forever but that’s okay because you’re here now and it feels like i have 

then the teenage love triangle is so conceptually fearless but back then we would have just heard an absolute banger about how james should’ve said no but now instead we get this three-song magnum opus that presents the different perspectives of every party involved in a really nuanced and empathetic way

and then seven is the sad realistic sequel to never grow up because she did grow up and things aren’t still simple but once upon a time there were beautiful things and she could scream ferociously but now those days are gone and we all just have to accept that and grow up

and just in little ways like how the last great american dynasty harkens back to the nostalgia-driven red era or how mad woman is a super measured and mature take on all the girl power/i’ve been wronged anthems that have always slightly missed the mark. or the way peace examines the impact of her fame within relationships and then communicates that in such a deeply raw and emotional and specific way

plus the general sense of self-reflection that we got hints of on lover is so fully formed here. like mirrorball and this is me trying are such nuanced looks at how she’s interacted with the music industry and built relationships with her fans over the course of her career.

and i can draw more connections for every other song on the album like. everything that’s happened in her career: every heartbreak, every fairytale, every bad review, every genre, every feud, every hair cut has led to folklore and to me it feels like the album is this beautiful tribute to the girl she used to be while simultaneously positioning everyone towards a new more mature chapter of her career