History Music / Folklore2020

** "august" took this UpToEleven, with every verses and chorus started by expressing the singer's longing for the guy... Only to subverted at the end of verse by concluding that "You aren't [[YourCheatingHeart mine to lose]]".

* YourCheatingHeart: Infidelity is a theme throughout the album.
** The IncitingIncident of the "Teenage Love Triangle" saga ''might'' have been James cheating on Betty with another girl. However, it's not clear that James and Betty were ever actually a couple: It's possible the two simply had a romantic friendship that could have become something more if James hadn't gotten together with the singer of "august" instead.
** "illicit affairs" is a {{deconstruction}} of this sort of relationship (specifically, [[TheMistress the long-term kind]]), illustrating how the fun and excitement can wear off, and if one party is more invested than the other, it just leads to needless heartache all around.

!!''folklore'' contains examples of:

[[spoiler:And then it was bought by me.]]

-->Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in

* {{Motif}}: In "mirrorball" the singer uses the central image of a disco ball to discuss various facets of her personality--her sparkle, her reflectivity, and, ultimately, her fragility.

** "illicit affair" starts with the singer setting up all the way the she and her love interest conducts an affair... right before revealing that all the lies and secrecy has eaten away and exhausted her for the rest of the song and ended the song stating that she can't end the relationship because she loves the man so much.

* TheDissTrack: While the majority of this album is much more subtle than Swift's usual works towards people she dislikes, the "peace" lyric video gave us the most obvious dig. Especially notable since the person she insulted wasn't even the main subject of the song.
-->Clown to the [[Music/KanyeWest West]].

* LoveMartyr: The narrator of "hoax" knows her lover is "faithless" and is obviously very broken up about it, but stays anyway.
-->You have beaten my heart\\

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bec5b82900866ece18f2fe6e162ee674ed_taylor_swift_folklorersquarew1200.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: I'm doing good, I'm on some new shit]]

->''"A tale that becomes folklore is one that is passed down and whispered around. Sometimes even sung about. The lines between fantasy and reality blur and the boundaries between truth and fiction become almost indiscernible. Speculation, over time, becomes fact. Myths, ghost stories, and fables. Fairytales and parables. Gossip and legend. Someone's secrets written in the sky for all to behold.\\
"In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness. Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory. I've told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve.\\
"Now it's up to you to pass them down."''
-->-- Taylor Swift for [[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9423740/read-taylor-swift-primer-folklore billboard]]

''folklore'' (stylized lowercase) is American singer-songwriter Music/TaylorSwift's eighth studio album. It was released at midnight on July 24, 2020, after being announced with no prior marketing only the morning before. The album was written throughout the spring and while Swift was in quarantine during the [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic COVID-19]] pandemic.

Preceded by ''Music/{{Lover}}''.
----
'''Tracklist:'''

-->[[SpitefulSuicide Stood on the cliffside screaming, "Give me a reason"]]

--> Pulled the car off the road to the lookout\\

* Bittersweet17: The main characters in the “teenage love triangle” plot are 17 years old and experiencing heartbreak for the first time.

* DrivenToSuicide: Implied in "hoax."
-->Stood at the cliffside,\\
screaming, "Give me a reason"

—-> Holiday House sat quietly on that beach //
Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits //

** "illicit affair" starts with the singer setting up all the way the she and her love interest conducts an affair... right before revealing that all the lies and secrecy has eaten away and exhausted her but she can't end the relationship because she loves the man so much.

* AntiLoveSong: "august" took this UpToEleven, with every verses and chorus started by expressing the singer's longing for the guy... Only to subverted at the end of verse by concluding that "You aren't [[YourCheatingHeart mine to lose]]".

* AmbiguousEnding: Does Betty takes James back? [[spoiler:"cardigan" implies not.]]

* InMediaRes: The "Teenage Love Triangle" trilogy is arranged on the album on opposite order, with "cardigan" is clearly about an adult Betty while "august" and "betty" took place in high school.

* SelfDeprecation: "mirrorball" has a lot of lined where Swift admits to her vulnerability and her great effort to keep people to pay attention to her.

* SelfDeprecation: " mirrorball" has a lot of lined where Swift admits to her vulnerability and her great effort to keep people to pay attention to her.
-->Shimmering beautiful\\ And when I break, it's in a million piece\\...\\I'm still on that tightrope\\ I'm still trying everything to get you laughing at me\\ And I'm still a believer, but I don't know why\\ I've never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try\\ I'm still on that trapeze\\ I'm still trying everything to keep you looking at me

** Subverted with the album's physical CD version, which ends with "the lakes", a love ballad about wanting to escape to tge aforementioned lake with her significant other

* DownerEnding: While all of Taylor's previous albums end on a [[EarnYourHappyEnding happy]] or [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] note, this album closes out with "hoax," a ''very'' sad and emotional track about a toxic relationship.

* SteathPun: "the 1", "seven" and "august" are all arranged to position in the album to exploit their number-related title.