The pandemic hit us all hard, and in a hundred different ways. Losing the end of my senior year of high school hurt more than I realized, but one specific moment was a bit brighter than the rest. On July 24th, 2020, Taylor Swift released her eighth studio album, folklore. At the time, no one knew it would go on to win her her third AOTY Grammy for that album. Ironically enough, July 24th was the day my high school was holding our “graduation”.
I grew up listening to Taylor Swift with my parents, right from her debut album. I remember singing Dear John and Back to December in the car from Speak Now, listening to my parents talk about seeing her perform Teardrops On My Guitar and Our Song when she opened at a Brad Paisley concert they went to. I jammed out to Love Story and You Belong With Me. I remember blasting 1989 at a Halloween party in 2014 right after it’s release. I can tell you I was in the Weis Markets parking lot near my house when she posted the iconic snake photos in preparation for reputation.
There was a point in there where I wasn’t really listening to any new music, right around the reputation era. I wasn’t hating on her by any means at all, nor did I not enjoy hearing Look What You Made Me Do, Delicate, and Gorgeous on the radio. I listened to Lover when it released, and vividly remember driving to work and back listening to Paper Rings and Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.
But after all of that, it was that night of July 24th, 2020 when I started truly loving Taylor, and following the Easter eggs she left behind. The timing couldn’t have been better, because she provided something to look forward to in times where there wasn’t much else.
I listen to folklore daily at this point. It has been a rollercoaster of a ride ever since last July, starting with watching her announcement of folklore’s sister album, evermore. Ironically enough, I was talking to my friends about how much I loved folklore on a Wednesday night, and woke up to the evermore announcement on Thursday morning. Flash forward two months, and the first rerecorded song dropped. Two months after, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) dropped. Two months after that, she announced that the 30 track Red (Taylor’s Version) would be releasing in November of this year. As many fans have joked, I don’t know when she sleeps, especially since Red (TV) ended up releasing a week earlier than expected, and a short film for the fan favorite All Too Well, as well as a music video for a vault track from Red, I Bet You Think About Me, all within three days of each other. And, in the middle of all of that, she dropped Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version), from 1989, and never released a lead single for Red (Taylor’s Version).
Every day, I can connect with other fans on Twitter or TikTok, looking into theories and Easter eggs and ideas. Taylor makes it so fun to be a fan, because it is always an adventure to find out what she is doing next. As I have mentioned, she is always providing me something to look forward to, and count down to. Speak Now is my all time favorite album, and I am so excited about the potential recent Easter eggs she has dropped about how that rerecording could be next (sorry 1989 fans, I’m rooting for Speak Now).
folklore reintroduced me to a community I temporarily, unintentionally, strayed away from. The timing of the release allowed me to get to go along for the ride during this rerecording era, and I couldn’t be happier to be here. I have annoyed my friends and family to ridiculous extents about what Taylor is doing or doing next, or theorizing about what the Good Morning America announcements are going to be. My money is going towards the vinyls and other merchandise from her story and Etsy shops (and I do not regret any of the purchases I have made).
I am incredibly grateful to have “rediscovered” Taylor, and I cannot wait to see what she does next.
HCXO,
Katie McLaughlin