Taylor Swift is back with folklore, an album full of stories that we wish we could read over and over.
While the rest of us were simply trying to survive, it looks like Taylor Swift was busy doing what she does best. Telling stories and setting them to music. Creating the soundtrack of our lives.
This is perhaps more true than ever with folklore, Swift’s eighth studio album that was dropped with only 17 hours of notice to fans. The artist has shifted her style yet again, adopting an alternative tone that she’s explored on previous ventures, but has never fully committed to.
On folklore, Swift fully becomes the bard that Swifties always knew she was. The album doesn’t rely on musical manipulation or playful vocals to get its point across. It focuses on storytelling, which is something Taylor Swift has always been particularly adept with.
This shift shines a brighter spotlight on Swift’s lyrics than ever before, and unsurprisingly, they are more than up to the scrutiny. Each track is filled with the artist’s signature analogies and observations, as she manages to articulate those pervasive experiences that previously seemed indescribable.
While every line is carefully crafted and special in its own way, here are 45 of the best lyrics from Taylor Swift’s latest album, folklore.
Taylor Swift’s best ‘folklore’ lyrics
“I knew you’d linger like a tattoo kiss. I knew you’d haunt all of my what ifs.”
“To live for the hope of it all, cancel plans just in case you’d call.”
“Don’t want no other shade of blue but you, no other sadness in the world would do.”
“We gather stones never knowing what they’ll mean. Some to throw, some to make a diamond ring.”
‘You know the greatest films of all time were never made.’-Taylor Swift
“If I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?”
“And women like hunting witches too, doing your dirtiest work for you.”
“A friend to all is a friend to none.”
“Your faithless love’s the only hoax I believe in.”
‘You never gave a warning sign/I gave so many signs.’-Bon Iver/Taylor Swift
“In my defense, I have none, for never leaving well enough alone.”
“I can go anywhere I want. Anywhere I want, just not home.”
“Take the words for what they are: a dwindling mercurial high, a drug that only worked the first few hundred times.”
“I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything, but I know I miss you.”
‘I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere.’ -Taylor Swift
“Time, wondrous time, gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies.”
“I’d give you my sunshine, give you my best, but the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me.”
“It would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one.”
“I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try.”
‘One single thread of gold tied me to you.’ -Taylor Swift
“When I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed, you put me on and said I was your favorite.”
“I had a marvelous time ruining everything.”
“You’re not my homeland anymore, so what am I defending now?”
“Second, third and hundredth chances, balancing on breaking branches.”
‘I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending.’ -Taylor Swift
“If my wishes came true, it would’ve been you.”
“They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential.”
“She pulled up like a figment of my worst intentions.”
“Our coming of age has come and gone.”
‘Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?’ -Taylor Swift
“So much for summer love and saying ‘us,’ ’cause you weren’t mine to lose.”
“Isn’t it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string tying you to me.”
“Just one single glimpse of relief to make some sense of what you’ve seen.”
“I knew you tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy.”
‘You are not like the regulars, the masquerade revelers, drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten.’ -Taylor Swift
“What a shame she went mad. You made her like that.”
“All these people think love’s for show, but I would die for you in secret.”
“Back when we were still changing for the better, wanting was enough.”
“I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace, and you’re the hero flying around saving face.”
‘And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made to ashes too.’ -Taylor Swift
“You can aim for my heart, go for blood, but you would still miss me in your bones.”
“Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven.”
“Robbers to the east, clowns to the West.”
“I’ve been meaning to tell you I think your house is haunted. Your dad is always mad and that must be why.”
‘You know the greatest loves of all time are over now.’ -Taylor Swift
Yes, that veil pun is just gonna hang there staring you all in the face until you check out this incredible cover. I can’t wait to have A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire in my hands!
