Folklore: English Grad Reacts to Taylor Swift's Storytelling Masterpiece

#folklore #taylorswift #albumreaction
Taylor Swift is a storytelling genius! This album is full of depth and reflection and I love it. Join me as we go through song by song with initial thoughts, reactions and some analysis. We also delve into the love triangle between betty, august & cardigan.
Timestamps:
1:40 - the 1
3:32 - cardigan
5:14 - the last great american dynasty
9:12 - exile
11:54 - my tears ricochet
14:00 - mirrorball
15:24 - seven
17:44 - august
18:43 - this is me trying
20:22 - illicit affairs
22:13 - invisible string
24:39 - mad woman
26:32 - epiphany
28:37 - betty
30:27 - love triangle of betty, august & cardigan analysis
36:18 - peace
37:13 - hoax
I'd love to hear what your favorite parts of the album were!
**NOTE: The video actually got blocked due to some copyright issues with a few of the songs… so I let KZbin cut out the “problem parts” so the video could go live again. So now this video gets cut off in random places, including at the end... sorry about that! Because of this issue, most of the following videos I made (listed below) are commentaries instead of reactions.
FROM THE VAULT VIDS
💛 "you all over me" & "mr. perfectly fine": • Thoughts on Taylor Swi...
🕰️ "we were happy" & "that's when": • Thoughts on Taylor Swi...
✌️"don't you" & "bye bye baby": • Thoughts on Taylor Swi...
OTHER RELATED VIDEOS
🌲 "evermore" analysis: • Evermore: English Grad...
🏞️ "the lakes" reaction: • The Lakes: English Gra...
MUSIC CREDITS
Creatives behind the album: Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, Bon Iver & William Bowery
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🎶 Stream & listen to folklore!
🌸 THE SOCIAL STUFF 🌸
IG: @zareenaevelina
Writing IG: @byzareena

[@minceroft3710]

I can't believe she wrote this album FOR FUN BYE

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Hahah RIGHT?! She's incredible!

[@danielphung6146]

@@ZareenaEvelina Yes 😭🤧

[@6ftofmisery636]

Seven,Mirrorball and this is me trying are my favorites songs. It really feels like she wrote them for me.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Awww haha it's always magical when you really relate to a song so I'm glad these resonate so much with you! Thanks for sharing

[@alexchung736]

i think it's definitely not coincidental how 'cardigan' (betty) is the most mature out of the triangle [lyric wise -> i knew...] and 'betty' (james) is the least mature [im only 17, kiss me in front of ur stupid friends etc]. august is just a very sad, realistic telling of 'the other girl', who is so unimportant to james that he doesn't even mention her by name, just as a summer thing.

[@alexchung736]

it also ties into the 'peter saving wendy' line --> with james being 17 and never growing up. oh and there's also the 'high heels on cobblestones' and 'walking home on broken cobblestones' ooh and also, 'i knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs' in cardigan and quite a few 'what if..' hypotheticals in betty there's also a car motif (?) cause betty mentioned '[kissing] in cars' (cardigan), they '[got] in the car' (august), and james says 'kissing in my car again' in the end of betty. might also be a subtle callback to getaway car, another 'love triangle' story.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Yes there are SO many ties between the songs it's actually insane! And I LOVE what you said about the maturity difference between betty and cardigan... LMAO the peter pan thing with James never growing up that's a great observation I love it!

[@philthemovieguy81]

As a writer I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated you breaking down the connections between Betty, August, & Cardigan. When I first figured out the connection and that it made up one big story I was bummed these songs weren't closer together but I also think that's the genius of it that they're spread out like they are. They come different points in time. So naturally it makes sense. Taylor is such a brilliant writer. Not just for songs because truthfully her writings are very poetic and not at all written like typical "songs". They're ultimately Poems that happen to fit into song form. All i can do is hope and pray that one day Taylor writes and releases an official Book Of Poetry.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Thank you for such a thoughtful response! I love what you said about her music as poetry in song form - I didn’t even think about her releasing a Book of Poetry - that would be incredible! I know I would buy it 😄

[@philthemovieguy81]

@@ZareenaEvelina Same! I would have that book pre-ordered a month in advance 😆

[@sinkanddrownanddie]

the poems she released during the reputation era were so heartbreakingly beautiful 🥺

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Oh wow I didn't know she released poems then! Will have to check them out :) Thanks for sharing!

[@sinkanddrownanddie]

Zareena Evelina yeah sure no problem. i think she released three: "Why She Disappeared", "If You're Anything Like Me" and "The Trick To Holding On"

[@tarabartley9279]

I loved that you said she was in a position of power in my tears ricochet because I see that as her talking to Scott Borchetta about losing her masters. Also in the beginning of cardigan, she’s describing her old eras!! Vintage tee, brand new phone (1989) High heels on, cobblestone (red) Sequin smile, black lipstick (rep) Sensual politics (lover) She’s a genius!! Some of My favorite lyrics are: “Chase two girls, lose the one” “Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven” “Take the words for what they are: a dwindling mercurial high. A drug that only worked, the first few hundred times” “I got wasted like all my potential” “I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere” “If I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?” And “I’d give you my sunshine give you my best, but the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me” And I also loveeee the call and response in the bridge of exile when he is saying “you never gave a warning sign” and she’s saying “I gave so MANY signs” This album is perfect ❤️

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Love love love this thank you for sharing such an in-depth and personal response to the album! That is SUCH A COOL point about cardigan! 🤯 Those are all great lyrics, I especially love those ones from this is me trying & my tears ricochet too and YES THE BRIDGE IN EXILE IS AWESOME love how you said it "call and response" -- really smart way to use the form of a duet to show lack of communication in a relationship by communicating to the listener lol

[@deecosiangco9121]

Hoax also has a call back to her previous eras. My only one - debut My smoking gun - fearless peak era My eclipse sun - self written speak now My twisted knife - Red album about let downs and heart breaks My sleepless night - 1989 album about being in your 20s and living a single life My winless fight - reputation, taking back your narrative.

[@tarabartley9279]

Dee Cosiangco omgggggg I hadn’t seen anyone say that yet or realized myself wow wow wow 🤯🤯

[@deecosiangco9121]

@@tarabartley9279 yeah hoax is probably the most debatable song from the album but I believe it's also about his masters

[@ZareenaEvelina]

@@deecosiangco9121 wow! I'm relistening to hoax now and makes sense esp at the bridge with lyrics like "you knew it still hurts underneath my scars, from when they pulled me apart, but what you did was just as dark"

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Sorry for the video being choppy in random parts! The video actually got blocked due to some copyright issues with a few of the songs… so I let KZbin cut out the “problem parts” so the video could go live again. So now this video gets cut off in random places, including at the end 😅 sorry about that!

[@justinea.9261]

This is the first video reaction that I watched that got the meaning of the song Ephipany right away. I felt the same way on my first listen of the song. I feel like she captured what the frontliners where feeling and I can visualize those moments described in the lyrics.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

!!! when she said "crawling up the beaches now" after the other war imagery it immediately made me think of WW2. And I totally agree she definitely made it visual and infused emotion into and it's so simple but captures those moments so heartbreakingly well!

[@jeffreywitkowski526]

Wow, that was an intense dive into the album, very cool. I think there are quite a few veiled lyrics concerning here anger and lament of the wrongs and betrayals she's suffered, not so much at the hands of past lovers but people like Kim&Kanye, Scott Borchetta, Scooter Braun in songs like My Tears Ricochet and Mad Woman and the line in Peace there's robbers in the east clowns in the West.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

YES that's such a good point thank you for bringing that up! My Tears Ricochet definitely seems like it's also about the whole record label situation with Scott Borchetta & Scooter Braun... even more respect for Taylor's stellar songwriting! And yea that makes sense about Kim&Kanye especially with the lyrics "women like hunting witches too, doing your dirtiest work for you" I didn't even think about Peace but I can definitely see that now! Thanks for sharing :)

[@dagim7118]

love this insight so much!! in august the girl also says " so much for summer love and saying us" and in betty, james says "it was just a summer thing" :o

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Thank you, glad you liked it! ❤️ and yes! thanks for pointing that out, that's another great connection - there are so many ties between the songs!

[@wickywicky3811]

My tears ricochet is about Scott, her old record label person, she goes into detail about how he's two faced and that no matter how hard he tries to make it seem like he's the good guy, she will go down but he's going down with her (tears ricochet, battleships beneath the waves, you'll be made of ashes too). And... Mad woman is about Scooter, the loser who used his wife to get to Taylor but she called him out on this song, as well as his wife lol (neighbor is her new record label and how even though she's there she will never pretend to like him "or does she mouth fy forever", you poke that bear until the claws come out is about him initiating bs so she would respond, women like to hunt witches too is about his wife and how she came out to "defend" him when really all she did was attack Taylor. And "a couple of flings on the side" is about him being known to cheat on his wife and how she's probably with him for money or something like that since she already knows "good wives always know").

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Oh wow!! Thank you for this in-depth analysis - I didn't know about Scooter's wife situation at all and am definitely seeing "mad woman" in a different light!

[@lyssbeth]

This is random but when you listen to a song and stare off to a random point behind the camera, you look a lot like the Mona Lisa. You’re gorgeous! Also, you should make more reactions/commentaries like this! I’d so stick around for that. Much love ☀️

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Haha aww that's so sweet thank you! ❤️I'm thinking I will definitely make more reaction/commentary videos in the future! Love right back to ya! 🌻

[@lyndsaysenechal4858]

I feel like this is the “older sister” of the “Red” album.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Hahaha I LOVE that! I totally see it too!

[@frankjeppesen6380]

Thank you so much for a fantastic reaction video. I always knew and admired Taylor for being a fantastic songwriter, but your analysis of the folklore album, opened my eyes for so many lyrical details unknown and unfound by me , that it just catapulted ms. Swift to an even higher sphere of lyrical genius.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

I'm so glad to hear that! :D

[@auandaily]

This video is exactly what I need. I need someone who studies in like English Major or Literature Major to listen to this album. Glad to see you do a review. :)​

[@ZareenaEvelina]

I'm so glad to hear that! Happy you enjoyed it :)

[@ZareenaEvelina]

evermore vid is now out! ❤️ kzbin.info/www/bejne/pobbiad6rLl3q68

[@alisonswiftie4156]

You are so educated I enjoyed your reaction , you focused on the lyrics more , good luck girl ❤

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Haha aww thank you ☺️ I’m glad you enjoyed it!

[@SunriseOnViolet]

I loved watching your reaction because you seemed to really process and appreciate the songs and didn’t throw in too many assumptions. I enjoyed your energy!

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Thank you so much!

[@SivaChance]

Randomly came across your video and ended up enjoying every bit of it; I love how you broke it down and paid attention to her lyrics (as one should with her songs). Makes me want to see your first reactions and thoughts to her other work, but I can see you're already familiar with her old albums hahah. Regardless, thanks for this!

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Awww haha I'm so glad thanks for sharing! Yea I still remember when I first saw the "Teardrops On My Guitar" music video on Disney Channel 😂Sometimes I wonder if she ever thinks about Drew... she's come so far since then!! Anyway someone commented on here that she actually released POETRY so I might make a vid reacting to that! 😉

[@SivaChance]

@@ZareenaEvelina fun fact (not so fun actually). That Drew ended up getting arrested for child abuse. He also tried to reconnect with Taylor (going to her house driveway when she was walking out, two years after the album release) but that didn't work out of course.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

@@SivaChance WHAT !!! Was not expecting that. That's so sad for the child :( and omg showing up on her driveway... well I guess I don't have to wonder anymore lol 😅 thanks for the update!

[@raymarksobebe5058]

Ahhh. I love that u understood everything. U are so smart. It felt so satisfying. Definitely one of the best reactions ive ever seen

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Ahhh thank you so much! That is so sweet of you and I'm so glad you enjoyed it ❤️

[@rileygerow8826]

Very excited to listen to the full album now! Love your commentary!

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Thank you so much 🥰 happy to hear that!

[@jooginz]

omg... the way you explained the 3 songs and when you said that the songs were "reflective of her past" made me think that the 3 songs might be connected to her old song "should've said no" which she wrote when she was 16.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

omg I LOVE "Should've Said No" that would be such a cool twist! It's hard to say - Taylor did say that a lot of the songs off the album were based on her imagination and written from the perspective of "people she's never met, she's known or those who she wished she hadn't" - BUT I feel like artists/writers in general tend to pull inspiration from their past experiences... either way that's a really cool connection you noticed! :D

[@hayleeishere]

I love her new album and your thoughts so much! Some favorites are Betty, Cardigan, & Seven :)

[@ZareenaEvelina]

It's a FANTASTIC album and thank you I'm so glad you liked the video!

[@occidereparabellum68]

@@ZareenaEvelina hey also at "August" and "Betty" if you pause at 2:47 you'll see that they both have the same thing in lyrics

[@ZareenaEvelina]

!!! WOAH thank you for pointing that out! I didn't see that she referenced getting in the car AT THE SAME TIME IN BOTH SONGS! Like WHAT THAT IS SO FREAKING COOL!

[@lackingidentification1782]

Awesome review. So much understanding. Beautiful home and I love the art btw. Two items that would make you even better however, volume too low, I got a powered mic for like ten bucks which works amazing, and I had to go back almost every time to read the text on the screen, maybe I just read slow. Look forward to seeing more from you. :)

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Thank you for the kind words and the feedback! Yea I have one of those fluffy mics and had it all set up above my phone and realized at the end that I forgot to plug it in!! 🤦‍♀️Anywho, will look into a powered mic too! And yes I was a bit worried the text might be too fast but I didn't want to make it too slow for fear that it might be boring/make the video slightly longer/people might lose interest so that's reassuring to me that I can make those text parts longer so thank you for that feedback! :) P.S. I'm currently quarantining with the parents and the art was painted by my dad!

[@jasminekaur4749]

Guyss.. I think I just realised why Taylor does this old Vs new comparison in the beginning of cardigan ! It's to symbolise how the August girl was a shiny new toy for James and Betty was the old one😱

[@pixiepicollo3129]

Omfg 😱😱😱😱😱

[@summerangel107o]

The songs cardigan, August, and Betty are all 6 songs apart, just noticed that

[@raymarksobebe5058]

Also please react to her other albums. Maybe u should start with lover since u started from her latest to the oldest pls

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Haha I'm glad you want to see more and that's a great idea! I've already heard her other albums though 😅But I haven't heard every one of her songs so I'm thinking I might react to some individual songs I haven't heard yet 😊

[@raymarksobebe5058]

Zareena Evelina yea actually i just realized that when i finished watching the entire vid. I commented this right away when u started paying attention to her lyrics. I knew that right away that u the type of person who would give credit to her songwriting and she still has so much to offer. Altho folklore is my favorite album, lyrically.

[@Cedrix315]

That love triangle might be the reason why folklore won Album Of The Year.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

!!! Hahah yes! It was so clever!

[@Cedrix315]

I'm a seven stan.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Same!

[@troomanhooman]

If you're really down in her songwriting, then I'm recommending these songs: • The Moment I Knew • The Lucky One • All Too Well • Speak Now • Red • Begin Again • Mine * Reply to add *

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Awesome thank you for these recommendations :D I'm OBSESSED with All Too Well and Red and I love Mine and Begin Again! I haven't heard Speak Now in ages though and I don't think I'm familiar with The Moment I Knew or The Lucky One so I'll definitely have to check those out!

[@frommywindow180]

I recommend listening to The Other Side of the Door from Fearless album, I love connecting it to Cardigan and Betty

[@nicoles3698]

Yes absolutely agree with Moment I knew!!

[@kosmikpixie]

Is that a banana Nutella open faced sandwich? Wanna upgrade? Take a large slice of artisan bread, smear with crunchy peanut butter, add a thick layer of Nutella down the middle, then lay a banana down and fold the slice of bread up like a hotdog. Glass of milk on the side and you're next door to heaven. Love your comments btw!

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Hahaha sounds absolutely delicious - thanks for sharing the recipe! And thank you glad you liked the reaction!

[@samanthau.8881]

I feel like I saw that Taylor says she started calling the girl August in the song August.

[@KalpaHettiarachchi]

Wow 🤩

[@mazal5549]

I will never get over this is me trying.

[@ZareenaEvelina]

me either!

[@hannahspears8936]

Would love to see how you felt about evermore

[@ZareenaEvelina]

An evermore vid is in the works! ❤️ I’m sorry I’m so late 😅

[@danhay9200]

The name is INEZ the one JAMES says you can't belive a word she's to.

[@997Pravin]

not the cruel summer MV 😭😭😭

[@Karrek21]

Why didn’t you react to evermore?

[@ZareenaEvelina]

I did an evermore vid! You can watch it here :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/pobbiad6rLl3q68

[@mamab4720]

Play clips longer. Good job 😁

[@ZareenaEvelina]

Thank you!! Noted 😉

[@everythinsrosie9765]

Look up Rebekah Harkness and you’ll know