10 things to read, watch, and look at after you listen to Taylor Swift's "folklore"
One 2020 twist that I actually like is Taylor Swift surprising us with her eighth studio album, “folklore.” When Tay released the visuals and track listing this morning, it became clear that “folklore” is a ~mood.
And if you want to keep that mood going after you listen to the album a few times, here are some pop culture recommendations for you:
The Virgin Suicides - Sofia Coppola’s dreamy 2000 adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’ gorgeous novel is a little more sun-drenched than “folklore,” but it definitely shares the isolation vibes. The scenes of the girls playing records over the phone for the neighborhood boys is reminiscent of Taylor collaborating long-distance with other songwriters and producers. And some of the tracks, notably “august,” evoke that sense of a loss of innocence and grasping at things you can’t have. PUT LUX IN THE VIDEO.
At the time of this writing, The Virgin Suicides is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle - The spooky classic is about two sisters who hole up in their mansion and try to avoid the judgment of the townspeople who suspect them of dirty doings - on the one hand, it kinda feels like Taylor’s pre-reputation. era, and on the other - more romantic - hand, it’s kinda like Taylor and her lover Joe Alwyn cozying up and quarantining together. On “folklore,” it’s best paired with “the last great american dynasty” and “mad woman.”
The Jackson novel is an atmospheric slow burn, and a film version of it was released in 2019, starring Alexandra Daddario and Taissa Farmiga. At the time of this writing, the film is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards - This little novel was one of my childhood favorites and I still adore it to this day. Written by the Queen of Genovia herself, it’s the story of an orphan who finds a little cabin in the woods that she fixes up, decorating it and tending to its garden, to create a home of her own.
In my mind it meshes with the “Betty’s garden” vibes, as well as the lyrics from the lead single “Cardigan”:
“When I felt like I was an old cardigan/ Under someone’s bed/ You put me on and said/ I was your favorite.”
Motifs of building a (literal or metaphorical) home brick-by-brick to defy loneliness echo throughout both works.
Browse CheapOldHouses.com (or their Instagram) - it’s rundown reno porn, and it fills you with wistful, emo, romantic feelings about the past and hopeful feelings about the potential of the future. Plus, most of the properties look like potential “folklore” photo shoot locations.
The 1998 film Girl - Starring Dominique Swain and Sean Patrick Flanery, the themes in Girl are reminiscent of the sad-but-angsty overtures in “august” (“And I can see us twisted in bedsheets/ August sipped away like a bottle of wine/ 'Cause you were never mine”) and “cardigan” (“I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss/I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs/The smell of smoke would hang around this long/'Cause I knew everything when I was young “) about a “good girl” who steps out of her comfort zone on the verge of adulthood and falls for the wrong guy. At the time of this writing, Girl can be streamed on Amazon Prime video.
The 1995 film Now & Then - The song “seven” broke my heart a few times (“Before I learned civility/I used to scream ferociously/Any time I wanted”) but my mind kept going back to certain scenes from the coming-of-age story of Samantha, Teeny, Roberta, and Chrissy, especially the scene between Samantha and Teeny in the treehouse when they talk about how it’s normal for things to be shitty. At the time of this writing, Now & Then can be streamed on HBO Max.
Girl.
Now & Then.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell - We all know Taylor has snagged inspiration from pop culture before (Someone Great —> “Death By a Thousand Cuts”) and “illicit affairs” has major My Dark Vanessa vibes:
“And that's the thing about illicit affairs/ And clandestine meetings and stolen stares/ They show their truth one single time/ But they lie and they lie and they lie/ A million little times/ And you wanna scream/ Don't call me ‘kid,’ don't call me ‘baby’/ Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me.”
Blue Blood by Craig Unger - Learn about the saga of Rebekah “Betty” Harkness, the subject of “the last great american dynasty” - if you can find this out-of-print tome. If not… here’s the link to Harkness’s Wikipedia page. Taylor bought the Holiday House, Rebekah’s one-time home, in 2013.
“Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny/ Her saltbox house on the coast took her mind off St. Louis/ Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money/ And the town said, ‘How did a middle-class divorcée do it?’/ The wedding was charming, if a little gauche/ There's only so far new money goes/ They picked out a home and called it "Holiday House"/ Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud/ The doctor had told him to settle down/ It must have been her fault his heart gave out.”
Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour - Check out this short story… see what you think. :) It’s one of my favorites.
Finally, Donald M. Murray’s essay “The Stranger in the Photo is Me” pairs quite well with “epiphany.”
“But you dream of some epiphany/ Just one single glimpse of relief/ To make some sense of what you've seen.”
STORY CREDITS
Written by Christina Morse
