In her 2017 track “New Year’s Day,” Swift sings

“you and me forevermore,” which includes a word

On July 24, singer Taylor Swift surprised the
world with her 8th studio album, folklore, an
unexpected move that quickly became
number 1 in selling’s and streaming
platforms. The release of folklore broke the
pattern Swift had been following for years,
building eras for her albums and leaving a
span of at least two years between releases.
Now, five months later, she has done it again.
On December 11, Swift unexpectedly released
her 9th studio album, titled evermore, as a
sequel to folklore’s alternative style. On the
Instagram post where she announced the
record, she explained evermore is “folklore’s
sister” and was born out of a prolific song-
writing process where she “just couldn’t stop
writing songs”. The escapism she felt when
telling these stories and the warm welcome
the fans gave to them encouraged her and her
team to keep exploring this theme.
that is noticeably very similar to “evermore.” As for
the song “evermore,” one line mentions July, the
month that folklore came out. And the prose about
letters doesn't only exist in “closure”—Taylor is the
one writing letters in “evermore,” after being the
receiver of one in “closure.”
The theme of ships keeps on floating through
evermore: the title track joins “willow” and “gold
rush” in this sail, thanks to the lyric “And when I
was shipwrecked / I thought of you.”
Taylor often mentions specific months in her
songs (see “august” and “Back to December”) and
it’s especially fitting when she sings “Hey
December” in “evermore” given that, at the time of
the release of this song and album, it’s actually
December
Ultimately, no Taylor Swift album will ever be
without a plethora of allusions of all sorts, because
everything she does could very well be an Easter
egg for something we just don’t know it yet.

“evermore” is co-written by William Bowery (Joe), who also plays the piano on the track. It’s nice
that she lets him do things now. She’s like, “Oh, you want to be a musician? Ok not now, mommy’s
busy. Go play with your li’l piano and make beep beep.” The title track has a very similar vibe to
folklore’s “exile,” in that it also features Bon Iver and a William Bowery writing credit, but also in
its stench of wintry death. “evermore” is brutal. It’s a pandemic depression anthem. The lyrics
“Gray November, I’ve been down since July” and “Hey December, guess I’m feeling unmoored”
resonate. It’s exactly how I’ve felt since folklore mowed down my mental health like a snowplow
pushing a bunch of grey slush into a ditch. Taylor is sad-baiting here profiting off a community of
people who are sad which is fine, because she’s clearly sad too, and as the ole saying goes, “it’s
nice to have a friend.” Figure of speech used in this song are hyperbole, metonymy, and antithesis.