We should have known Taylor Swift would save us this year. The world is still on fire, but we at least have Swift’s first plunge into the indie world to comfort us. folklore, and its appropriately distant, muted grey aesthetic (hello, quarantine, how you doing?!), embodies the intense self-reflection and emotional confrontation we’ve all been doing the last five months.
“the last great american dynasty” sees Swift emerge as the narrator. Through a foamy sea of production, she chronicles the real life story of Rebekah Harkness, a wealthy socialite and arts advocate, who once graced her Rhode Island mansion. “They say she was seen on occasion / Pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea,” she depicts the woman’s sometimes erratic, larger-than-life persona. “And in a feud with her neighbor / She stole his dog and dyed it key lime green.”
Listen to “the last great american dynasty” below.