As much as I love the music artist Lorde, I will always disagree with her lyric, “’Cause all the music you loved at sixteen, you’ll grow out of.” As a fresh seventeen-year-old, I witnessed Taylor Swift release, in my opinion, her magnum opus of an album, folklore. It’s been almost four years since the summer of the surprise release, and it might be cliche to say, but this album changed my life. I had always been in and out of my love of her music, and in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new blossoming relationship with her music was needed. When the 2021 Grammys came around, folklore was nominated for multiple awards, including Album of the Year. In a year plagued by the pandemic, it was refreshing to see an award show live and in person, even with all of the necessary precautions taken to do so. Swift was asked to perform, and she performed. At this point, fans had seen very few live performances of the album due to COVID-19, bringing in a sense of anticipation.
Starting on the roof of the “folklore cabin,” Swift starts singing the beginning of a song:
“vintage tee, brand new phone.”
Singing the lyrics from her single “cardigan.” As the camera slowly zooms out, we realize that Swift is lying on her back while singing. She finished the song and climbed down into the inside of the cabin. As warm lights appear inside, the viewer sees co-writers on the album, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, playing with her. Swift picks up a guitar with a knowing smile on her face as she starts strumming,
“Salt air, and the rust on your door.”
I remember freaking out; she was playing a fan-favorite song off the album, “august.” An imaginary crowd bursts into cheers. After she transitions into the single “willow,” off the sister album, evermore, Swift steps out of the cabin along with Antonoff and Dessner and jams out with a different and upbeat cadence.
“You know that my train could take you home.”
She grabs the skirt of her dress and waves it around, similar to the cover of her album Speak Now.
“Anywhere else is hollow.”
Ending her performance, Swift flashes a smile to the camera and looks over to Antonoff and Dessner in acknowledgment.
There are so many things about this performance that resonate with me. Swift’s expressions of emotion during the performance show how much this album means to her. You can tell she feels successful and content in her work. I am a fan girl, and both Harry Styles and Taylor Swift were performing. I had to watch it. At the time, I needed a win. I was going from medical appointment to medical appointment. My dad and I had just driven nine hours that day up to Philly to check out a new doctor. I had begged and begged to plan the trip so I could watch the Grammys live. It meant so much to me. We made it just in time, quite literally minutes before it started. Later that night, she won Album of the Year for folklore. I remember leaping out of my chair as if I was on stage with her. Small victories, such as watching folklore win or my on-time arrival, were needed at the time, which made the most in the time of question. I spent the next few days rewatching this performance, and even now, I will find myself rewatching it.
Lorde, as I write this at the age of twenty-one, I love your music, but you are wrong. You can still love the music you loved at sixteen (seventeen, in my case) and not grow out of it. It can grow.
I really enjoyed reading this post, as Folklore is my favorite album! You were very descriptive, and I remember this performance vividly. I love your description of how it made you feel too, this performance was so magical and a great day for Swifities.
I loved the way you wrote about Taylor Swift. I can tell you love her and her music and the amount of positivity that radiates from your writing is so refreshing! I don’t think that I have ever listened to any of her songs off of the folklore album! However, when I was younger I was a die hard Taylor Swift fan and I can promise you still to this day “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story” are always played during any road-trip I take. I also agree I don’t think that you grow out of music that you loved when you were younger. I think you will always go back to the music you listened to in that time. I have so many songs on my playlists that I discovered when I was younger!
First off, I love this post. I completely agree with you about how music grows with you. Though “Stoned at the Nail Salon” is a flawless song, Lorde was absolutely wrong with that one lyric. I, too, remember exactly where I was when folklore dropped. It was such a time of uncertainty and somehow folklore managed to ground an entire new generation of Swifties.