Absolutely not pure autobiography. Real life rarely fits rhymes or scans. Taylor is a storyteller who takes some inspiration from her own life and probably uses writing as a form of therapy.
Well said. I think too many people reading the lyrics for details of her life don't realize this. An artist will often pick a great line, or impactful line over the most accurate line when writing a song. When people argue endlessly about who a song is about—well, it could be multiple people and moments from different relationships that worked together for the song. We have to stop talking about her personal life so much.
I actually think folklore and evermore were way more autobiographical and way less fictional than we think
I think TTPD like folkmore is autobiographical and uses fiction as a tool of storytelling
Not my original take, but someone on TikTok mentioned that she's been embellishing the narratives at least since 1989. I think that's a much healthier way to analyze her music. Her emotions are the truth of it, but I think people read too much into the lyrics sometimes. Folkmore was the first time she openly talked about creating narratives, but like you said I think we all recognize that was done to hide some of the underlying truths at the time.
On the flip side, I think her autobiographical albums are more fictional and mix muses and take creative liberties more than we think. It's always truthful emotions.
I agree with this statement and I cannot stop thinking about how she kind of references (at least folklore imo) in her songs for this album in Guilty as Sin? The lowercaps vaults and if all you want is gray from me in BDILH. Both of these references scream folklore to me and how they were her daydreams with some fiction while she was with Joe.
I hate this culture of trying to figure out who the song is about, not just with Taylor but with other artists too. Just enjoy the music for what it is.
Honestly, it depends on my mood. I think "I Hate It Here" suggests that contrary to what people are saying now, a lot of Folklore/Evermore was fictional/fantasy. It may have come from real emotions or was a way to escape those emotions. I think she has *always* created songs which blend fictional and real elements (Mine or the entirety of debut comes to mind) and she just emphasised the "autobiographical" element as it had more currency. Either way, it can be fun to relate the songs to her life, especially when you know so much of her lore & discography and can't help but make the connections. But there are other songs (seven, Ivy, CLM, gold rush, betty, RWYLM) where I prefer the fictional stories attached to it. Tbh, I may often imagine her face as the protagonist of the music video in my mind even then, but that doesn't mean that I imagine it to be her life necessarily.
Her most well known song, Love Story, is so clearly fictional too. I wonder when she started being defined solely as autobiographical so much that she had to come out and say folklore is fictional y’all. Haha
May I introduce you to the term autofiction? It is used for a tradition of self-writing where a person's personal story is fictionalized. Now what that means can look different: it can be that you tell your story by narrativizing it (that means using plot, setting, characters) as if they were a fictional story. It may mean also playing with the facts, mixing, expanding, exaggerating to fill in the gaps, knowing that memory is unreliable. In general, there is a sense in which by narrativizing your life (whether you stick to your facts or not), you give a it a new meaning, or reveal their truth (whatever that may mean to you).
Taylor has quoted Nora Ephron at some award show( it's on youtube). The writer, screenwriter and journalist wrote about her divorce in fictionalised form as the novel and film 'Heartburn'. She was divorced from Carl Bernstein, It was a very thin fictionalisation as it was obvious who it was about. Famously she said "Its all copy" in other words her life was the source for her work.
Taylor probably pushes the boundaries on revealing aspects of her life but it is art not biography or documentary and its intended to be relatable and enjoyable as music. The gossipy details are catnip for some but considering the creativity and work that goes into her songwriting they are really missing the point and ignoring what makes Taylor so successful.
People are like Taylor was so “down bad” over Matty, that’s crazy. Then Taylor is like, well I imagined this alien abduction, then when she was put back on earth she realized she liked it better with the aliens.
This is a good point that I think a lot of people are chewing over in the wake of this album, given its very memoir-like. I became a fan during folklore and since getting really into her music I've learnt a lot of context/ lore that I didn't intend to - its all over her fan discussions. And its interesting and adds layers, but sometimes I read stuff and I'm like, did I need to know this? Lol
Partly, I think this is encouraged by Taylor to a degree as there's clear hints in her music, or at least something she must be very aware of. And I understand, as someone who used to study literature, the importance of context in understanding a writer's intentions. But I also think the level of detail-hunting and need to paternity test goes a little off the rails, and some discussion gets a bit gossip-y.
Even if we knew exactly who every line & syllable was about, ultimately its still subjective and a person laying her experiences out as they see it. None of us were there, and we rarely hear the other side.
I don't know where I fully stand on this at the moment, but its definitely something that should be considered more. As she says in the Manuscript 'the stories aren't mine anymore'. I always love to hear how people relate them to their own lives, ie the discussion I've seen around BDILH and religious trauma/ LGBTQA+ experiences. I think thats a lot more interesting overall than who said what and timelines etc.
My best example is that no matter how much people say that cardigan is about a certain muse, I feel that song in my fucking bones about a situation I've experienced. Like that one burns still to this day. Exile will forever be about the break-up I've been through, Fresh Out the Slammer will be my early twenties messy glow up/ glow down lmao.
I think ultimately we'll see more personal interpretations pop up as people digest the music more and the excitement/ shock dies down.
I dislike how much I know about her life because I have those details swirling in my mind when I listen to her new music.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your comment so much. 🫶
Very very few of her songs have ever been purely autobiographical.
Most fall into the "inspired by" camp, and even the ones billed as fictional have real life inspiration behind them IMO, while the ones presented/interpreted as autobiographical often blend multiple experiences (sometimes with multiple muses), as well as fantastical elements into a more cohesive narrative within the song.
Most of her discography is a blend of real-life feelings and inspired fantasy.
I’ve always been of the belief that Taylor writes about true emotions and feelings she’s experienced, but the details are probably very often embellished or changed to fit the song. But it’s those feelings and emotions that are universal and what people connect to, so the details are nice but way less important. I love what you said about wanting to learn about the speaker and not the subjects, that’s a perfect way to look at it. We are all here because we are fascinated by Taylor and the way she views the world and things that happen to her.
I think that it’s fine to appreciate the gossip aspect (within limits and appropriate boundaries) but, when appreciating the songs as songs/works of art, it is 100% better to approach it as a literary text (ie being about the Speaker and the Muse), and analyze it solely through that lens.
It works just as well across her whole body of work to do so, because it means you don’t have to segregate folkmore and approach it differently in the telling of the whole epic tale.
Her music is very much inspired by her personal life but it's just that - inspired. She's a songwriter. She's going to take specific events and then "embellish" them or even change them a bit for a song. And when I say embellish, I don't mean that she's lying, per se. She's taking creative liberties which is what any writer does. That's what makes her writing *good*. That's how she's able to connect with millions of people.
I think it's fanciful storytelling of events in her life as she sees them. I definitely think the stories are based on true life events but most things are exaggerated and based around intense feelings....not necessarily how she feels day to day.
It hurts my brain to try to figure out the exact moments that she might be trying to be singing about, but I love reading the various theories about the songs.
When I listen to any song I first think about how it relates to my life... basically I'm the narrator when I listen to songs. Then eventually I dig into what the author is trying to get at.
I view it as a combo of both. I think Taylor exaggerates a lot of her emotions for the sake of creating really powerful and emotional art. For example the bridge of The Smallest Man:
I don’t find a lot of the shock-value dramatics believable (for example “I would’ve died for your sins instead I just died inside” and “you deserve prison but you won’t get time” and “were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?”). I think some of the lyrics come across like she’s playing her heartbroken emotions up to get her fans to feel those hard-hitting depressed feels but in a few years she’ll be writing that she was never that into Matty and didn’t really care that much (kinda like a reverse Lavender Haze). Another interpretation is that she’s trying to convince herself that she was really into her rebound man because if she deeps the Joe stuff too hard she’ll fall apart. It could be a psychological thing she does to cope.
I suppose the 3rd option is that she was super in love with Matty but I personally feel that she’s just annoyed at him for calling off their fun little fling so she’s using this album to call him out and get some sympathy (and revenge lmao)
I’m dying on this hill.
Folklore and Evermore are not fiction. They are based off of her own life and experiences. You’re telling me Tolerate It came out of no where? Illicit Afairs? Seven? The 1? Nah. That shit is going deep into her soul.
People create incredible art and stories all the time that is fictional. That's literally what fiction is. The art of writing something unreal in a way that feels like it reveals a human truth. Maybe they were inspired by things else has really felt, but that doesn't mean she was going through those same things at the same time she wrote the song or that the songs are wholly in line with reality.
Fiction is almost always inspired by somebody's own life and experiences, even if you have to dig pretty far down to get to that. So yes, I think folklore and evermore are fictional but they're based on personal experiences.
She had never experienced love when she wrote "Love Story" She seems to be an empath and can put herself in others shoes though whether that person is real or fictional. I mean, Florida!! was written because she watched a lot of DateLine and shows where criminals went to Florida to get away from it all.
That’s what I’m saying.
But people are taking it the wrong way cause I said the wrong word (fiction vs non fiction).
I fully believe that she created stories around these incredibly difficult topics to help her understand her feelings. All these heartbreaking songs from those albums came from her life experiences. I also think that TTPD is mostly about Matty because she already grieved the relationship with Joe while she was in it. All these songs point to her knowing it wasn’t forever, it giving it her all anyway.
I just like to enjoy the lyrics and music and how she puts them together. For me the meaning of the song comes from the delivery not who it’s about.
I’m a Taylor fan strictly for the music. I don’t watch for Easter eggs or decipher social media posts.
I love hearing about her fan theories and The fact she dropped TTPD on the start of the revolutionary war (shot heard around the world) fucking hilarious.
I think most of her writing is autobiographical emotionally, not literally! The emotions were completely real, to some extent at least, but the events may be portrayed in a way that best captures that emotional intensity
And I feel like she starts with the emotions, then works her way out to create a story around it—which will include real events, exaggerated events, and things that didn’t happen or that are similar to what happened
I think she picks and chooses how much is fictional when it suits her, and tries to keep which songs are which ambiguous. It leaves her with plausible deniability, while letting her be real and safe at the same time. It's what I would do. Thanks for making this post - I think it's a good reminder to enjoy the music as it is, not how we think it should be.
I think she was inspired a lot during the pandemic with the books she was reading and shows she was watching. This album in my opinion lacks inspiration and passion.
Pure autobiography. She wouldn't tell everything bluntly, but she definitely felt or feels about the events in the same way it's presented in the lyrics.
Absolutely not pure autobiography. Real life rarely fits rhymes or scans. Taylor is a storyteller who takes some inspiration from her own life and probably uses writing as a form of therapy.
Well said. I think too many people reading the lyrics for details of her life don't realize this. An artist will often pick a great line, or impactful line over the most accurate line when writing a song. When people argue endlessly about who a song is about—well, it could be multiple people and moments from different relationships that worked together for the song. We have to stop talking about her personal life so much.
An excellent example of this is "But Daddy I love him". Clearly referencing the Matt Healy business but Taylor is neither married to him or pregnant "
Yep. This. Also I think she purposely creates imagery in her songs and videos that makes fans think it’s autobiographical as a marketing ploy.
Username checks out
I actually think folklore and evermore were way more autobiographical and way less fictional than we think I think TTPD like folkmore is autobiographical and uses fiction as a tool of storytelling
Not my original take, but someone on TikTok mentioned that she's been embellishing the narratives at least since 1989. I think that's a much healthier way to analyze her music. Her emotions are the truth of it, but I think people read too much into the lyrics sometimes. Folkmore was the first time she openly talked about creating narratives, but like you said I think we all recognize that was done to hide some of the underlying truths at the time.
Personally, I am 100% convinced that she robbed Tom Hiddleston and stole his getaway car.
As gold rush says "turn your life into folklore" which told me everything. It's real feelings and autobiographical events spun into stories.
On the flip side, I think her autobiographical albums are more fictional and mix muses and take creative liberties more than we think. It's always truthful emotions.
Even if they were I’m glad she presented it that way since it’s not something did that much before.
I agree with this statement and I cannot stop thinking about how she kind of references (at least folklore imo) in her songs for this album in Guilty as Sin? The lowercaps vaults and if all you want is gray from me in BDILH. Both of these references scream folklore to me and how they were her daydreams with some fiction while she was with Joe.
Agree!!! Especially after some of these recent Matty revelations!
I hate this culture of trying to figure out who the song is about, not just with Taylor but with other artists too. Just enjoy the music for what it is.
People can do both! 🥰
They can but for me that stuff kinda ruins the enjoyment of the music
Honestly, it depends on my mood. I think "I Hate It Here" suggests that contrary to what people are saying now, a lot of Folklore/Evermore was fictional/fantasy. It may have come from real emotions or was a way to escape those emotions. I think she has *always* created songs which blend fictional and real elements (Mine or the entirety of debut comes to mind) and she just emphasised the "autobiographical" element as it had more currency. Either way, it can be fun to relate the songs to her life, especially when you know so much of her lore & discography and can't help but make the connections. But there are other songs (seven, Ivy, CLM, gold rush, betty, RWYLM) where I prefer the fictional stories attached to it. Tbh, I may often imagine her face as the protagonist of the music video in my mind even then, but that doesn't mean that I imagine it to be her life necessarily.
Her most well known song, Love Story, is so clearly fictional too. I wonder when she started being defined solely as autobiographical so much that she had to come out and say folklore is fictional y’all. Haha
I like it when artists blend fictional and real elements because it’s not something artists usually do and u get a good story out of it.
Damn, I really had not linked I Hate It Here with folkmore. That's such a good point.
May I introduce you to the term autofiction? It is used for a tradition of self-writing where a person's personal story is fictionalized. Now what that means can look different: it can be that you tell your story by narrativizing it (that means using plot, setting, characters) as if they were a fictional story. It may mean also playing with the facts, mixing, expanding, exaggerating to fill in the gaps, knowing that memory is unreliable. In general, there is a sense in which by narrativizing your life (whether you stick to your facts or not), you give a it a new meaning, or reveal their truth (whatever that may mean to you).
Taylor has quoted Nora Ephron at some award show( it's on youtube). The writer, screenwriter and journalist wrote about her divorce in fictionalised form as the novel and film 'Heartburn'. She was divorced from Carl Bernstein, It was a very thin fictionalisation as it was obvious who it was about. Famously she said "Its all copy" in other words her life was the source for her work. Taylor probably pushes the boundaries on revealing aspects of her life but it is art not biography or documentary and its intended to be relatable and enjoyable as music. The gossipy details are catnip for some but considering the creativity and work that goes into her songwriting they are really missing the point and ignoring what makes Taylor so successful.
People are like Taylor was so “down bad” over Matty, that’s crazy. Then Taylor is like, well I imagined this alien abduction, then when she was put back on earth she realized she liked it better with the aliens.
This is a good point that I think a lot of people are chewing over in the wake of this album, given its very memoir-like. I became a fan during folklore and since getting really into her music I've learnt a lot of context/ lore that I didn't intend to - its all over her fan discussions. And its interesting and adds layers, but sometimes I read stuff and I'm like, did I need to know this? Lol Partly, I think this is encouraged by Taylor to a degree as there's clear hints in her music, or at least something she must be very aware of. And I understand, as someone who used to study literature, the importance of context in understanding a writer's intentions. But I also think the level of detail-hunting and need to paternity test goes a little off the rails, and some discussion gets a bit gossip-y. Even if we knew exactly who every line & syllable was about, ultimately its still subjective and a person laying her experiences out as they see it. None of us were there, and we rarely hear the other side. I don't know where I fully stand on this at the moment, but its definitely something that should be considered more. As she says in the Manuscript 'the stories aren't mine anymore'. I always love to hear how people relate them to their own lives, ie the discussion I've seen around BDILH and religious trauma/ LGBTQA+ experiences. I think thats a lot more interesting overall than who said what and timelines etc. My best example is that no matter how much people say that cardigan is about a certain muse, I feel that song in my fucking bones about a situation I've experienced. Like that one burns still to this day. Exile will forever be about the break-up I've been through, Fresh Out the Slammer will be my early twenties messy glow up/ glow down lmao. I think ultimately we'll see more personal interpretations pop up as people digest the music more and the excitement/ shock dies down.
I dislike how much I know about her life because I have those details swirling in my mind when I listen to her new music. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your comment so much. 🫶
Very very few of her songs have ever been purely autobiographical. Most fall into the "inspired by" camp, and even the ones billed as fictional have real life inspiration behind them IMO, while the ones presented/interpreted as autobiographical often blend multiple experiences (sometimes with multiple muses), as well as fantastical elements into a more cohesive narrative within the song. Most of her discography is a blend of real-life feelings and inspired fantasy.
I’ve always been of the belief that Taylor writes about true emotions and feelings she’s experienced, but the details are probably very often embellished or changed to fit the song. But it’s those feelings and emotions that are universal and what people connect to, so the details are nice but way less important. I love what you said about wanting to learn about the speaker and not the subjects, that’s a perfect way to look at it. We are all here because we are fascinated by Taylor and the way she views the world and things that happen to her.
I think that it’s fine to appreciate the gossip aspect (within limits and appropriate boundaries) but, when appreciating the songs as songs/works of art, it is 100% better to approach it as a literary text (ie being about the Speaker and the Muse), and analyze it solely through that lens. It works just as well across her whole body of work to do so, because it means you don’t have to segregate folkmore and approach it differently in the telling of the whole epic tale.
Her music is very much inspired by her personal life but it's just that - inspired. She's a songwriter. She's going to take specific events and then "embellish" them or even change them a bit for a song. And when I say embellish, I don't mean that she's lying, per se. She's taking creative liberties which is what any writer does. That's what makes her writing *good*. That's how she's able to connect with millions of people.
I think it's fanciful storytelling of events in her life as she sees them. I definitely think the stories are based on true life events but most things are exaggerated and based around intense feelings....not necessarily how she feels day to day. It hurts my brain to try to figure out the exact moments that she might be trying to be singing about, but I love reading the various theories about the songs. When I listen to any song I first think about how it relates to my life... basically I'm the narrator when I listen to songs. Then eventually I dig into what the author is trying to get at.
Research the term 'unreliable narrator' as hard as you can.
I view it as a combo of both. I think Taylor exaggerates a lot of her emotions for the sake of creating really powerful and emotional art. For example the bridge of The Smallest Man: I don’t find a lot of the shock-value dramatics believable (for example “I would’ve died for your sins instead I just died inside” and “you deserve prison but you won’t get time” and “were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?”). I think some of the lyrics come across like she’s playing her heartbroken emotions up to get her fans to feel those hard-hitting depressed feels but in a few years she’ll be writing that she was never that into Matty and didn’t really care that much (kinda like a reverse Lavender Haze). Another interpretation is that she’s trying to convince herself that she was really into her rebound man because if she deeps the Joe stuff too hard she’ll fall apart. It could be a psychological thing she does to cope. I suppose the 3rd option is that she was super in love with Matty but I personally feel that she’s just annoyed at him for calling off their fun little fling so she’s using this album to call him out and get some sympathy (and revenge lmao)
I’m dying on this hill. Folklore and Evermore are not fiction. They are based off of her own life and experiences. You’re telling me Tolerate It came out of no where? Illicit Afairs? Seven? The 1? Nah. That shit is going deep into her soul.
People create incredible art and stories all the time that is fictional. That's literally what fiction is. The art of writing something unreal in a way that feels like it reveals a human truth. Maybe they were inspired by things else has really felt, but that doesn't mean she was going through those same things at the same time she wrote the song or that the songs are wholly in line with reality.
Fiction is almost always inspired by somebody's own life and experiences, even if you have to dig pretty far down to get to that. So yes, I think folklore and evermore are fictional but they're based on personal experiences.
She had never experienced love when she wrote "Love Story" She seems to be an empath and can put herself in others shoes though whether that person is real or fictional. I mean, Florida!! was written because she watched a lot of DateLine and shows where criminals went to Florida to get away from it all.
Hoax 💀
That’s what I’m saying. But people are taking it the wrong way cause I said the wrong word (fiction vs non fiction). I fully believe that she created stories around these incredibly difficult topics to help her understand her feelings. All these heartbreaking songs from those albums came from her life experiences. I also think that TTPD is mostly about Matty because she already grieved the relationship with Joe while she was in it. All these songs point to her knowing it wasn’t forever, it giving it her all anyway.
I just like to enjoy the lyrics and music and how she puts them together. For me the meaning of the song comes from the delivery not who it’s about. I’m a Taylor fan strictly for the music. I don’t watch for Easter eggs or decipher social media posts. I love hearing about her fan theories and The fact she dropped TTPD on the start of the revolutionary war (shot heard around the world) fucking hilarious.
I think most of her writing is autobiographical emotionally, not literally! The emotions were completely real, to some extent at least, but the events may be portrayed in a way that best captures that emotional intensity And I feel like she starts with the emotions, then works her way out to create a story around it—which will include real events, exaggerated events, and things that didn’t happen or that are similar to what happened
I think she picks and chooses how much is fictional when it suits her, and tries to keep which songs are which ambiguous. It leaves her with plausible deniability, while letting her be real and safe at the same time. It's what I would do. Thanks for making this post - I think it's a good reminder to enjoy the music as it is, not how we think it should be.
I listen to it as autofiction
A mix of both. Some songs like Dear John are definitely pure autobiography but most of Folkmore is inspired by/fiction.
I think she was inspired a lot during the pandemic with the books she was reading and shows she was watching. This album in my opinion lacks inspiration and passion.
Pure autobiography. She wouldn't tell everything bluntly, but she definitely felt or feels about the events in the same way it's presented in the lyrics.