Evermore Review
Evermore was essentially a surprise album, coming a short four months after it’s predecessor, folklore. Not only that, I was surprised how much I liked it. It may not stack up to some of Taylor Swift’s previous albums, like 1989, but it has a lot of really good songs. It combines the storytelling lyrics from folklore with the more upbeat instrumental backgrounds from her pop and country albums.
My Ranking:
- “gold rush”
- “ivy
- “champagne problems”
- “long story short”
- “no body, no crime”
- “right where you left me”
- “tolerate it”
- “willow”
- “marjo
- “‘tis the damn season”
- “cowboy like me”
- “dorothea”
- “closure”
- “it’s time to go”
- “evermore”
- “happiness”
- “coney island”
Track 1 on evermore is “willow.” This was the lead single, but it ranked in the middle of the pack for me. I thought it was a pretty song, although it was a little repetitive and not the catchiest.
Favorite Lyric: ”But I come back stronger than a 90’s trend”
Track 2 is “champagne problems.” This one was one of my favorites on this album, because of the atmospheric piano, the legendary bridge, and just the story told throughout the lyrics. It’s about a woman who broke up with a man right before he was about to propose to her.
Favorite Lyric: “‘She would have made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s f**cked in the head’, they said”
Track 3 is “gold rush”, a.k.a my favorite track on this album. The vocals at the beginning sound like the word “glimmer” personified. And the key change into the chorus? Pure gold. This song is pretty perfect.
Favorite lyric: My mind turns your life into folklore/I can’t dare to dream about you anymore
Track 4 is “‘tis the damn season.” This song was one of my favorites when I first listened to the album, well, because it was December when it came out, but other tracks soon overshadowed it.
Favorite Lyric: “Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires/Now I’m missing your smile, hear me out”
Track 5 is “tolerate it.” This is the mental breakdown song, basically. The lyrics describe a person doing everything they can for another, and just getting tolerated. Track 5’s on Taylor Swift albums are known for their ability to wreck you emotionally, and this song definitely does the job.
Favorite Lyric: “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky/Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life/Drawing hearts in the byline/ Always taking up too much space or time”
Track 6 is “no body, no crime.” As you can probably tell from the title, this song is about murder. Specifically, avenging your best friend who was killed by her husband, by killing the aforementioned husband. It’s catchy though!!
Favorite Lyric: “Good thing my daddy made me get a boating license when i was fifteen/And I’ve cleaned enough houses to know how to cover up a scene”
Track 7, 8 and 9 are probably my least favorite sequence on the album. “happiness” has really powerful lyrics, but it just seems too long and doesn’t catch my interest. “dorothea” has the opposite problem, it’s easy to listen to but just doesn’t have enough substance. And “coney island” is a definite skip (in my opinion). I don’t really like the National’s voice, and it’s just long and boring to me.
Favorite Lyric (“happiness”):”Honey when I’m above the trees/ I see it for what it is”
Favorite Lyric (“dorothea”): “You got shiny friends since you’ve left town/A tiny screen’s the only place I see you now”
Track 10 is “ivy”, which is the best song, lyric-wise, on Evermore. I’m not even sure I understand what’s going on, but it seems to deal with a dead husband and a forest. Taylor puts it a lot more eloquently.
Favorite Lyric: “How’s one to know?/I’d meet you where the spirit meets the bones/In a faith forgotten land/In from the snow/Your touch brought forth an incandescent glow/Tarnished but so grand.
Track 11 is “cowboy like me”. I like this song, but it just doesn’t stack up to some of the others on the album. It starts off sounding like in the middle of a sentence, with “And the tennis court was covered up/With some tent-like thing”, which I thought was an interesting way to start a song.
Favorite Lyric: “You’re a bandit like me/Eye’s full of stars”
Track 12 is “long story short”. I always forget how deep into this album this track is, because it sounds like it would be better placed near the beginning. I really like this song; it’s one of the few upbeat songs on the album.
Favorite Lyric: “And I fell from the pedestal/Right down the rabbit hole/Long story short it was a bad time”
Track 13 ,14, and 15 are “marjorie”, “closure”, and “evermore”, respectfully. “marjorie” is my favorite of this sequence, and it reminds me of “Soon You’ll Get Better” from Lover, which is probably why I like it so much. It’s about Taylor Swift’s deceased grandmother. “closure” is interesting, to say the least. It starts off with a sort of clanging pan sound, but the lyrics aren’t as experimental as the background noise. But I think it’s in a 5/4 time signature, which is interesting. And the bridge of “evermore”, the title track, just ruins it for me.
Favorite Lyric (“marjorie”): “Never be so polite, you forget your power/ Never wield such power, you forget to be polite”
Favorite Lyric (“closure”): “Don’t treat me like some situation that needs to be handled/I’m fine with my spite”
Favorite Lyric (“evermore”): “And I was catching my breath/ Staring out an open window, catching my death”
Track 16 and 17 are the two bonus tracks on evermore: “right where you left me” and “it’s time to go”. “right where you left me” is really, really good for a bonus track, almost equal to “Wonderland”(1989) or “Ours”(Speak Now). It has a little bit of a country sound to it, but it’s lyrics describe someone who got dumped a while ago but still hasn’t gotten over it. It’s time to go is a decent song, but nothing special. It’s not a bad song, but it’s pretty average in all retrospects.
Favorite Lyric (“right where you left me”): “I stayed there/Dust collected on my pinned-up hair”
Favorite Lyric (“it’s time to go”): “The old familiar body ache/That snaps from the same little breaks, in my soul”
Overall, I really like evermore. One complaint is that it doesn’t seem to flow as well as some of Taylor’s other albums. It has really good tracks, but the album as a whole doesn’t hit me as hard as folklore does.
Overall TS Album Ranking:
- 1989
- Lover
- Speak Now
- folklore
- evermore
- reputation
- Red
- Fearless
- Taylor Swift (debut album)
Cover Photo From Taylor Swift’s Official Twitter. Album Cover Republic Records.
