**spoilers throughout**
Back in April I wrote an article studying the literary references in folklore. It was only a matter of time before an article on 'evermore' came along, but I felt it would be best to wait for the weather to get colder. Taylor had just begun The Era’s Tour and at the time, I wasn’t sure I’d get tickets. I’m now elated to tell you all that I’ll be seeing Taylor at Wembley next summer! Outfit suggestions would be appreciated.
There’s a constant debate amongst the fanbase as to whether folklore is Taylor's magnum opus, or if evermore takes the crown. Personally, I experience more of a warmth with evermore. I don’t know if that’s because it came out at Christmas time and that folklore came out during the peak of the first lockdown. I loved how Taylor embraced the sound from her most recent record with evermore; with every album release, we became used to major changes in her production. With evermore, Taylor had instead expanded on the stories she had began to tell in folklore. I also found the subject matters more interesting; evermore didn’t dwell on high school relationships and whilst there’s nothing wrong with the theme, I enjoyed the mature themes regarding reflection and regret. The bonus tracks on evermore are some of my favourite songs ever written by Taylor.
Whether deliberate or not, folklore is full of literary references. evermore is no different and they’re not as difficult to decipher. I find similarities between the titular track and the poem ‘A Drunkard's Dream’ by John Andrew Howell. Howell’s poem begins with a ‘Tom Gray’, who lays ‘down on the bar room floor having drunk so much he could drink no more’. He decides to ‘fall asleep with a troubled brain’ and the poem ends with him awakening from his torment, grateful because he thought he’d never escape it. The premise of the song ‘evermore’ is similar; Taylor sings from the perspective of someone who, in my interpretation, is having second thoughts about their plan to take their own life. Edgar Allan Poe is known for his use of the term ‘evermore’ also, he writes ‘nameless here for evermore’ in ‘The Raven’. Taylor has maintained that folklore and evermore are fictional albums though I’m certain she threaded elements of her own life and feelings into the lyrics. She sings ‘I’ve been down since July, motion capture put me in a bad light” which may refer to the negative press regarding Cats. I have yet to see the film almost four years on, though I remember going back to university after it came out and my friend Gemma telling me that after watching it on a drunken night out after Christmas, she could safely say the film was just as bad as the reviews were saying. The ‘Gray November’ Taylor refers to, I interpret, is the month before evermore was released. Uncertainty hung around everyone’s head in the States due to the upcoming election.
I love The Great Gatsby as much as the next English graduate. In Fitzgerald’s novel, Daisy Buchanan’s famously acknowledges to Nick and Jordan that there is no hope for her daughter and somberly says ‘I hope she’ll be a fool, that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’. Taylor uses the line ‘beautiful fool’ in ‘happiness’, telling her former lover that whoever his next partner is will be made to look a fool. Taylor also sings about the ‘green light of forgiveness’, referring to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. The light symbolises Gatsby’s yearning for Daisy, an idea that’s always out of reach. There’s also a moment in the song where Taylor seemingly refers to Gatsby’s ‘rare smile’ that Nick observes; she questions ‘when did your winning smile begin to look like a smirk?’
Taylor did an interview with Apple Music shortly before Christmas in 2020 and she mentions reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier prior to writing evermore. In Maurier’s thriller novel, an unnamed protagonist marries a widower named Max de Winter who she believes is still in love with his ex-wife, Rebecca. I read the book at the start of 2021, as per Taylor’s recommendation. Thankfully, I knew what a ‘mackintosh’ was having been raised on Blyton books. The protagonist is shy, insecure and inexperienced, as is the character in ‘tolerate it’. Taylor mentions in the interview that she felt deeply empathetic towards the unnamed character, for she is constantly in competition with a deceased woman she has never met. She is shown little love from her husband and his staff; the daunting housekeeper Mrs. Danvers in particular worships Rebecca as if she were still alive. The protagonist is simply tolerated despite her efforts, and Taylor sings about a character ‘begging (her loved one) for footnotes in the story of your life’. Readers later find out that de Winter murdered Rebecca in the exact same way the husband in ‘no body, no crime’ is killed. So, Taylor balanced things out for her.
evermore was announced on December 10th, which is Emily Dickinson’s birthday. Dickinson lived from 1830-1886 and is one of America’s most acclaimed poets, however, this is often overshadowed by her relationship with her sister-in-law, Sue Gilbert. The album is laden with stories of forbidden love affairs and letters 'addressed to the fire', similar to Dickinson's life. 'ivy' in particular seems to reference Emily and Sue the most, especially the lyrics 'spring breaks lose, but so does fear' and 'my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand'. Taylor references the intimacy of being able to fully relate to someone and share your darkest secrets. Dickinson refers to hand-holding in her own works, writing that 'up and down these hills, I held her hand tighter, which shortened all the miles'.
tis the damn season guys, it's November!
Sending love to you all,
Karisma
xxx
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