‘Evermore,’ Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Sequel, Is a Journey Deeper Inward (NY Times)
Yes, “The Last Great American Dynasty,” as upbeat and propulsive as this record gets, is a very explicit tribute to Rebekah West Harkness, the eccentric multiple divorceé and Standard Oil heiress/widow who filled her Rhode Island mansion’s pool with champagne and her fish tank with scotch; “stole her neighbor’s dog and dyed it key-lime green,” a splendid detail after Swift’s own master-songwriter heart; and upon her death in 1982, had her ashes placed in a $250,000 urn designed by Salvador Dalí. (This song is also your first opportunity to hear Swift sing the word “bitch.”) Naturally, Harkness has inspired multiple lengthy explainer blog posts in the past 72 hours, because Swift wrote a song about her, because Swift owns her house now. (The refrain “She had a marvelous time ruining everything” becomes “I had a marvelous time ruining everything.”) And wow is it impressive, genuinely impressive, how charming this song is given the fact that it’s a white pop star, in July 2020, singing a song about her $17.75 million Rhode Island mansion. (The Ringer)
[ed. A new album out less than five months after her widely acclaimed Folklore. The girl's a music machine. I like Folklore better, especially this song (it's not an easy song to sing with the phrasing but she nails it). See also: the last great american dynasty (the long pond studio sessions) for a stripped-down version; and, for reviews of Evermore Taylor Swift, pop culture workhorse (Vox), and Taylor Swift could use an editor (Atlantic).]
