late july, folklore and the mess

July 26, 2020July 26, 2020 Kinjal Parekh

late july, folklore and the mess ..

Dear Reader,

As I write this entry in my journal, I am listening to Taylor Swift’s ‘august‘ from her latest studio album ‘folklore‘. An album which literally no one was anticipating. We hardly were over the fact that ‘Lover‘ was all we wanted to listen to. Slow dancing in the daylight and listening to False God – we pretended to sway with a wine glass in our hand.

When ‘folklore‘ was out, I never knew I needed those songs. It is funny how every new album makes me argue over which one is my favourite. Folklore makes me calm from the inside. It makes me feel aesthetic and peaceful. It makes me feel sad but in a very calm way. It made me feel happy in the hush noise.

Taylor basically announced that she will be dropping 16 new songs the very next day. THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NO WARNING. NO EASTER EGG. NOTHING. (if this isn’t the proof that anything can happen in 2020, then I don’t know what is.)

Taylor said that things didn’t go as she planned for herself this year because of this whole pandemic thing. Aren’t we all in the same damned ditch? Our lives currently are anything but what we decide it would be. Few lost their jobs, exams were cancelled, degrees delayed and worst of all .. many lost their family – their loved ones. I cry as I write this. I personally know few of my friends who no longer live under the sky. My heart aches whenever I think about a fatherless child who is only 6 months old now. I feel numb with the mere thought that the person I spent my entire day working in the office a few months back lives no longer.

In one of the songs in this recent album, Taylor says, “I’ve been having a hard time adjusting, I had the shiniest wheels, now they’re rusting”

Though this song is written in a different context, the lyrics fit in perfectly for everyone as we try to readjust. When Taylor said that nothing happened the way she planned but something DID happen which she hadn’t planned, something stuck me. It was clear that life was happening to me but was I taking in charge of the doings? Was I being controlled or did I have the steering wheel in my hand? Certainly, life has never been the way it is today. Everything looks blur and exhausting. It has been 7 months now. How long are you planning to not have control? You will never be able to stand up if you don’t try to stand up. You will never be able to clap if you don’t take the effort to clap.

‘folklore’ means the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth. This album is a work of art carved with gold and sparkles. It talks about lovers and love – sorted and complicated in it’s own way. It talks about the mystical spark inside you which you would want to sing in the woods in silence playing your ukulele.

My favourite song amongst all of these is ‘exile’. Which one is yours?

My favourite tweets on the internet -

Okay one last Folklore hot take: after making a career of transparently personal songwriting, Folklore is actually stronger for the veil of fiction and fantasy. If her last seven albums have been memoirs, this one is a novel.
— Laura Sebastian (@sebastian_lk) July 25, 2020

folklore is an absolute skipless album. it has something that makes it an instant classic in her discography. it's a masterpiece that only intellectuals can understand. it's a reason to live and breathe. inhale it in the morning, exhale it in sleep.
— 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒚’𝒔 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑡 (@REDfolklores) July 25, 2020

Yes I’m taking the train back to NYC tomorrow and yes I WILL be staring longingly and dramatically out the window while I play this new Taylor Swift album thank you.
— Ashleigh Carter (@AshweeCarter) July 24, 2020

On behalf of YA authors everywhere, I'd personally like to thank Taylor Swift for making love triangles cool again
— Melinda Salisbury (@MESalisbury) July 24, 2020

honestly this album made me pull out the dictionary like 15 times but i’m living for it #Folklore
— tien • BUY CARDIGAN (@bigreputatien) July 24, 2020