One of the things I really love about folklore is the way Taylor used the ‘high school love triangle’ songs to revisit a lot of the themes and motifs she used in her earlier work, but this time with a greater perspective on the experiences of young love. I wanted to see if I could fit the Cardigan/August/Betty trilogy together with some of the songs from debut and Fearless that felt most similar, and I specifically tried to highlight a lot of the direct lyric parallels through the tracks I chose to layer. I’m especially fond of the way Taylor’s first ever single, Tim McGraw, and her most recent lead single, Cardigan, feel like they complement each other and share this theme of nostalgia for the fleeting moments of young love.
Also, I personally enjoy interpreting the Betty/James relationship as a story centering two girls and the breakdown chronicled in their songs as being more a result of miscommunication and fears over coming out rather than a case of clear-cut cheating. In light of this I decided to sort of rewrite their story and give them a (fearless) happy ending. The perspective switches between James, Betty, and the girl in August throughout the mash up until James’ and Betty’s perspectives sort of converge at the end. I’m sure there are a ton of really interesting parallels between these folklore songs and the debut and fearless albums that I didn’t include, and I may come back and add to this project later, but I wanted to share this version now just so it doesn’t stay sitting in my drafts too long lol.
(side note: I know illicit affairs isn’t technically a part of the love triangle, I just really love the ‘secret language’ motif)
