To understand the whirlwind that is 2020, one thing must be established: the best works of art were surprises that no one really expected. Taylor Swift, in a lockdown-induced burst of creative energy, wrote, along with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, her eighth studio album, “folklore”. Swift announced the album in a single, explosive tweet — along with a picture of the woodsy, black and white album art. And, in another surprise release, Swift made her feature directorial debut with Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, a documentary discussing the creative process and featuring performances of the album’s songs. With these projects, Swift appears to have found control over herself when she needs it most, and during a time when it’s been missing in her life.
Earlier this year, a documentary about Swift premiered at Sundance, Miss Americana, directed by Lana Wilson. The film is an intimate portrait of an artist who has always been open through her art, but has recently stepped out of the spotlight. Throughout her career, Swift has been the face of tabloid romances and feuds with other celebrities, and Miss Americana was an attempt to show how it really feels to be the center of attention. And while it paints a more nuanced portrait of the singer, her most personal feud was yet to come: losing the rights of her music to record executive Scooter Braun. This is where “folklore” comes in.
Miss Americana was the attempt to show Swift at her most vulnerable, her most exposed, to shine a light on her family and partner. “folklore”, by contrast, is what Swift considers to be her least personal project lyrically, setting out to tell narratives of others rather than about herself. In The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Swift and collaborators reveal the origins and ideas behind each song; this commentary, in fact, contradicts Swift, and reveals that this might be the most personal project she has ever done. Swift is credited as director of the film, and, despite the film airing on Disney+, is credited to Taylor Swift Productions. This is a film on her terms, with her rules and her lens. “folklore” itself was recorded in her own home studio, Kitty Committee, made entirely for this album. The production of the film highlights the control Swift has over this album, something she knows Braun or any other record executive can’t take away from her. Swift states that when lockdown began, she found solace in film watching, and this inspired her to step away from her “ripped from the tabloids” writing style and instead write what she doesn’t know. Stories of infidelity, high school love triangles, and death define the album, making it unique in the Swift catalogue. No more detailed descriptions of her highly publicized romances with various celebrities, now she tells the stories of others, painting pictures and writing narratives meant to reflect the lives of characters. But, Swift’s own explanations of the songs in The Long Pond Studio Sessions tells us that there’s more truth than one would expect.
Several songs on the album connect to Swift’s own life. The third song on the album, “the last great american dynasty”, is about the real woman, Rebekah Harkness, that owned Swift’s Holiday House in Rhode Island. She discusses with Antonoff and Dessner that the song, which harkens back to old country music storytelling conventions, was something she had wanted to write since 2013. For the song “august,” Swift tells Antonoff that she had had the line “Meet me behind the mall” written down for years, and had finally found the place to use it in this song. The song “epiphany”, Swift discusses with Dessner, is half about her own grandfather fighting in the military and the unspeakable horrors he faced. She states he was always quiet about his time in the army, and she relates his own experience to that of doctors currently saving lives in the COVID-19 pandemic. The film, with all of these experiences and ideas laid bare for us to witness, feels like a confessional for Swift more than anything. Yes, it’s clear that many songs are narratives inspired by her new found time to read books and watch films, but at the same time she reveals truths she’s never explored in her writing.
Discussing the song “mirrorball” with Antonoff, Swift states the song is about those people we want to see fail, those people we watch who shine and glisten to entertain. She states the song represents the idea of persona we all maintain and the personas celebrities uphold to protect their image, something that she herself is all too familiar with. Swift mentions that the lines “And they called off the circus / Burned the disco down / When they sent home the horses / And the rodeo clowns” were written right after her tour was cancelled, making it a direct reference to her own life. But the most compelling line with the most compelling story is “And I’ve never been a natural / All I do is try, try, try.” Swift states the line was “too real” — so personal to her that she was made uncomfortable — and Antonoff comments that he pushed her to keep going and keep exploring that uncomfortable space. In this song that Swift states is a story, it’s clear there’s a harsh truth to it all: Swift is an entertainer that many, especially when she was younger, waited for to fail.
The intimate feeling of the film, the conversational tone, and the glimpses into the imaginations of some of the most talented pop musicians working today all combine into an experience that is honest and powerful. The Long Pond Studio Sessions is a film that represents the ultimate act of self-control: writing about what you want, how you want to, and having enough trust in yourself to believe you know what you’re doing. The various appearances of equipment in the background or in reflections highlight the imperfection that the album celebrates, that Swift is comfortable inhabiting. In the past, Swift has controlled her image to make her look like the nice girl next door, and when that didn’t work, she tried to go “bad,” only for her friendly image to return. This album and this film, however, represent the real person behind the music, all of the fallibility and mess and heartache.
When Antonoff, discussing the song “this is me trying”, states that the narrator deciding not to drive off the cliff is “the ultimate act of trying,” it’s hard not to get teary-eyed. Mental health struggles are a huge part of this album and Swift’s second quarantine album “evermore”. This is a film that represents Swift overcoming her own fear of losing the rights to her music, exposing us to the pain of losing control over what matters the most to you. Swift, in taking control behind the camera and in the studio, allows herself to finally be free, to forget the record labels and make her most personal pieces yet. This isn’t a tabloid scoop on Swift, it’s a diary that’s been unlocked. This is Swift trying to find truth and control in her life, and that makes this film a triumph.
