History Music / Folklore2020

* WhamLine: The ending of "betty" delivers one of these: "I know I miss you...'' standing in your cardigan"'' revealing that the subject of the song is the narrator of "cardigan" , Betty.

* SongOfManyEmotions: "peace" is a song that had Swift first lamenting her journey to her maturity, then lamenting [[CelebrityIsOverrated the downside]] of being a celebrity, then state her love for her significant other before asking would that make up for "never give you peace?" in the chorus. She then states her significant other's good qualities while lamenting her bad ones but insist that she is still heavily devoted to them. And then lamenting the above chorus again.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "the 1" has the narrator dreaming about her former lover being happy without her:

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

-->[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Slept next to her]], but\\

Less than five months later, Swift once again announced a surprise midnight album: ''folklore'''s "sister record," ''Music/{{evermore}}'', which she described as a continuation of the same project and which shares many lyrical and technical similarities with its predecessor.

Preceded by ''Music/{{Lover}}'', succeded by ''Music/{{evermore}}''.

* {{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.

Preceded by ''Music/{{Lover}}'', followed by ''evermore''.

!!Tracklist:

Preceded by ''Music/{{Lover}}''.

** Did James outright cheat on Betty, or were they not really "together" when James had his fling with August?

** Did James outright cheat on Betty, or were they not really "together" when James had their fling with August?

* TheirFirstTime: "august" implies the narrator and their partner lost their virginity to each other.

* WhamLine: The ending of "betty" delivers one of these: "I know I miss you...'' standing in your cardigan"'' revealing that the subject of the song is the narrator of "cardigan."

** "betty" and "cardigan" both mention walking on cobblestones and kissing in cars. Both also mention James standing on her porch and saying he misses her.

* LoveTriangle: "cardigan," "betty," and "august" are each written from the perspective of one of the teenagers in a tumultuous summer love triangle: Betty, James, and the unnamed girl James had an affair with.

* BreakUpSong:

* LyricalDissonance: "seven" set to light piano tune. The lyric of the song is about the narrator begging her childhood friend to not forget her while reminiscing about their relationship and innocently plotting the friend's escape from their abusive father.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Imply to be the main reason the two singers from "exile" broke up:

* InMediasRes: 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.

* NoNameGiven: The girl James has a summer fling with is never named by the narrative. Some assume it's the school gossip, Inez, while others think it's another girl they all go to school with. Those in the second camp have taken to calling her "August," since she's the narrator of the song of the same name.

-->You were my town\\

* ContinuityNod: "cardigan," "august," and "betty" contain numerous subtle internal references that clue the listener in to their connection to each other.
** "betty" and "cardigan" both mention walking on cobblestones.

* AmbiguousGender: The singer of "betty." The bridge reveals that their name is James, ''probably'' indicating that they're supposed to be a boy, but some fans have pointed out that it could be a GenderBlenderName--Taylor knows at least one girl named James (who has sisters called Inez and Betty, the other names in the love triangle trilogy) and was herself named after [[Music/JamesTaylor a man]].

** Did James outright cheat on Betty, or were they not really "together" when James had their fling with August? And if you [[AmbiguousGender think James is a girl]], the relationship's dynamic and the reasons James and Betty had behind some of their actions get completely flipped on their head.

** On the subject of their infidelity:

--->In my defense, I have none\\
For never leaving well enough alone\\
But it would've been fun\\
If you would've been the one

* ImmediateSelfContradiction: James, on the subject of their infidelity:
-->You heard the rumors from Inez\\

* ItsAllMyFault: "the 1" uses a variation:
-->In my defense, I have none\\

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "the 1" has the narrator look back on a past relationship a bit sadly, but she seems to hold no bitterness towards her ex-lover, simply saying that "it would've been fun" if they'd ended up together.

* TranquilFury: Part of what makes "mad woman" so disquieting is how Taylor delivers it in a completely calm, even tone, even as she spits venom. Likely intentional, as the song scorns those that treat women like they're crazy and irrational, when in reality they're justifiably angry over being mistreated.
-->There's nothing like a mad woman\\