Our list looks at the Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Taylor Swift’s Evermore Album. This is Taylor Swift’s ninth album. The album came out in 2020. The album came out less than five months after her previous album Folklore. She surprised the fans by dropping this album so soon after the release of Folklore. Taylor Swift described this project as an escape from what was going on during the pandemic. The music blends alternative rock, folk and pop sounds. She talks about different things on this album. She discusses love, marriage, infidelity and grief. She’s talking about herself in the songs, but from someone else’s point of view. We will get into more detail about the real meanings behind Taylor Swift’s songs on our list. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 charts. The album sold one million copies in its first week worldwide.
Evermore is Taylor Swift’s eighth consecutive album to reach number one on the charts. The album spent four weeks at number one. The album was one of the best-selling albums of 2021. The album features the singles “Willow,” “Nobody, No Crime” and “Coney Island.”
# 1 – Willow
The first song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Taylor Swift’s Evermore Album is “Willow.” The song has a folk beat. This is the first single from the album. “Willow” is about Taylor Swift’s love life. She compared the song to casting a love spell. She talked about intrigue and desire. The singer wanted to give an idea of what it’s like to want someone.
She considers it like casting a spell on someone to get them to fall in love with you. This is a departure from her bitter anthems that made her famous. She wanted to focus on romance and the state of mind of romance. The singer and songwriter talked about how she went after her boyfriend and won him over. This track may be inspired by her relationship with her boyfriend Joe Alwyn. She was seeing him for a while when she recorded this album. The fans loved the song because it peaked at number one on the charts.
# 2 – Champagne Problems
The next song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Taylor Swift’s Evermore Album is “Champagne Problems.” The song has a folk beat. The ballad is about a woman who doesn’t accept her boyfriend’s marriage proposal because she’s going through mental issues. She accepts responsibility for their break up and blames herself for their relationship ending. Taylor Swift wanted to bring awareness to heartbreak and mental health.
Taylor Swift wrote this song with her boyfriend so people assumed the song was about her relationship. Taylor Swift wrote this song from someone else’s point of view. This track isn’t about the singer. She wanted to write a fictional story about a relationship that ended because of mental health issues. Taylor Swift also discusses how her boyfriend’s family is disappointed because she turned down his proposal of marriage.
# 3 – Gold Rush
The track has a pop beat. “Gold Rush” is about a woman who thinks her man looks good. She’s very attracted to the guy. She wants him to be with her. The problem is that other women feel the same way she does. She gets jealous that everybody wants him. She doesn’t like how other women want to know what it’s like to be with him. She wondered what it was like for him to grow up beautiful. She thinks other women are trying to secure their own treasure by being with him. She’s afraid that if she goes after him she will be no different from the women that want him. They are treating him like he’s a treasure and she doesn’t want to get caught up in the drama.
When this album dropped people thought this song was to singer Harry Styles. Swifties know that she had a relationship with the singer. He also has a song called “Golden” that has a similar title to her track “Gold Rush.” Taylor Swift denied that the song is to Harry Styles. People also thought the song was about her boyfriend. She insists the song is about a fictional person. She wrote this song with her boyfriend and it’s a fictional story about a woman fantasizing about a good-looking guy.
# 4 – ‘Tis the Damn Season
The ballad has an alternative rock beat to it. The ballad is about a girl who goes home for the holiday. Taylor Swift wrote this song from the perspective of a woman named Dorothea. Dorothea is a girl who left her hometown to go to Hollywood. The story is about a woman who returns home for the holidays and runs into an old flame. They reunite while she’s spending the holidays with her family. She knows that their relationship is only going to last for the weekend. She knows that she will be going back home after the holidays, and it will break her heart to leave him again.
Taylor Swift wanted to write this song as a fictional story instead of from her perspective. She wrote this song while she was filming her documentary for the Folklore album. Taylor Swift discusses how unhappy Dorothea’s life is in Hollywood. She has to deal with fake friends who pretend to be there for her. While she’s there, she has to wonder about the one she lost. She thinks about the only person who knows the real her. He sees Dorothea for who she really is and not the Hollywood version of her. Taylor Swift writes about the pain Dorothea will feel when she has to say goodbye to him again.
# 5 – Tolerate It
The next song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Taylor Swift’s Evermore Album is “Tolerate It.” The song has a pop beat. “Tolerate It” is a song about a troubled marriage. Taylor Swift talks about a woman who wants to end her marriage with a man who doesn’t appreciate her. She is a neglected wife. The husband doesn’t seem interested in anything that she does for him. He doesn’t celebrate her love for him. He just tolerates her. She does everything to please him, but the only thing he does is tolerate it. Taylor Swift was able to relate to the song because she felt that way about her relationships in the past.
She discusses an older man being with a younger woman. Taylor Swift talks about how tiresome it is to love someone who doesn’t care about you, especially someone who is older and wiser. She insisted that he tell her how he really feels about her. She doesn’t want to stay with a man who can only tolerate her. This song is based on the movie Rebecca. The singer likes to watch old movies and incorporate some of the plots in her songs. She also makes reference to some of her songs throughout the track.
# 6 – No Body, No Crime ft. Haim
The song has a country, pop and rock beat. “No Body, No Crime” is a murder mystery told in a song. This is the second single released from the album. The ballad is about a woman named Este who gets killed by her husband after she finds out he cheated on her. Este is missing and no one has seen or heard from her. Her friend realizes that Este’s husband was the one who killed her so he could be with his mistress. There was nobody so the husband couldn’t be tried for the crime. Este’s friend wants to avenge her death. She can’t prove the husband is guilty so she takes matters into her own hands. She ends up killing the husband and putting his body in the lake.
She destroys any evidence against her so she won’t get caught. Este’s sister is her alibi. She says that she was with Este’s friend. Este’s friend framed the mistress for the crime. The sister took out a large insurance policy on the cheating husband. The song was compared to Carrie Underwood’s track “Before He Cheats” because the melody is similar to it. Taylor Swift was inspired to write this track because she enjoys listening to true crime podcasts and watching documentaries.
#7 – Happiness
The song has a folk sound. “Happiness” is a song about learning to heal yourself. She thinks the best way to move on is to wish “happiness” on the person who tried to take it from you. The song is about heartbreak and pain. The title makes you think that it’s a happy song, but it’s about trying to heal yourself. The first verse talks about her facing reckoning. She discusses that she didn’t discover her new personality yet because she’s still hurting. Taylor Swift goes into detail about having to change who she is to get to the new person she wants to be.
In the second verse, she talks about how no one has met the person she’s about to become. She insists that everyone will see the new person she will become. Taylor Swift also hopes the person who takes her place in his life is beautiful as well as a fool. She wanted to strive to be a new person because people saw her one way and she wanted to be her true self. Taylor Swift was inspired to write this song by reading the book The Great Gatsby. The singer/actress takes quotes from the book and incorporates them into the song. “Happiness” was the last song written for the album.
# 8 – Dorothea
The song has a blues, folk, country and rock sound. “Dorothea” is the character from the single “‘Tis the Damn Season.” She returns for this song. This track is told from the high school boyfriend’s perspective. The former boyfriend wants to know if Dorothea ever thinks about him. He misses her because she left to pursue her career in Hollywood. The former boyfriend talks about how she made new friends in Hollywood. He thinks about how he can only see her on TV. He goes down memory lane thinking about their lives together. He wonders if she will ever come back to him. He wants her to know that he still loves her.
“Dorothea” is a nod to her other love songs from her other albums. The song is similar to “Betty” from her Folklore album. He mentions how they reunited for the holiday, but he knows they won’t be together since they don’t live in the same town. He assures her that she could be with him if things don’t work out in Hollywood.
# 9 – Coney Island ft. The National
The song has an alternative rock and indie folk beat. This is the third single from the album. The track is about a walk down memory lane for a couple who were at Coney Island. They spent their time at Coney Island. Taylor Swift named this song “Coney Island” because it was a place where people used to have fun. She discusses how their relationship changed and became something she didn’t recognize anymore. She wrote a song that was similar to this one called “Delicate” from her album Reputation. She sits down on a bench and thinks about their relationship. She has questions about the relationship, but she’s not sure if she has the answers. She wonders if she made him her whole world, would they still be together. She watches other couples walk by her and wonders if they are happy.
Matt Berninger from The National sings from the guy’s point of view. He blames himself for their relationship being over. He wonders why they couldn’t make their relationship work despite their success. She apologizes to him for letting the relationship go. She wants his forgiveness. They apologize to each other towards the end of the song. They regret not making each other a priority in their lives. Swifties wondered if this song is in reference to one of her famous ex-boyfriends. She makes references to her former relationships throughout the song.
# 10 – Ivy
The next song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Taylor Swift’s Evermore Album is “Ivy.” The song is about a married woman who has fallen for another man. She is afraid that her husband will find out about the man she loves. She starts the song off talking about how he would never know about her feelings. She gets to the chorus of the song and she’s talking about belonging to another man. She discusses how her love for another man has taken over her like an “ivy” plant. As the song progresses, the singer talks about falling deeper in love with the other man. She’s in love, but she doesn’t want her husband to find out that she has feelings for another man.
“Ivy” is similar to her song “Illicit Affairs” on her Folklore album. This is a fictional song about a married woman having an affair. She leaned towards fictional stories for the Folklore and Evermore albums. Even though this is a fictional story, Swifties thought this song could be about her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn. She was his “ivy” while she was seeing actor Tom Hiddleston. Taylor Swift hasn’t confirmed if this story is true or not.
# 11 – Cowboy Like Me
The track has an alternative, country, folk and rock sound. The ballad is about con artists who fall in love with each other. They are con artists who swindle people. They end up falling in love with each other while they are scamming people. They hang out at rich resorts trying to swindle people. They are hoping to get some money from unsuspecting people. They hustled people by telling them what they wanted to hear so they could get what they want. They didn’t expect to fall in love with each other. They wanted to have material things. Things changed when they danced with each other.
While they danced together, their feelings started to change. They fell in love with each other. She compares them to Bonnie and Clyde. Taylor Swift mentions dancing in this song as well as in her other track “Champagne Problems.” She knows that dancing is a sign that her relationship is in trouble. She feels like she’s getting warnings that her relationship with the partner is destined to fail. The song isn’t based on Taylor Swift’s life. The track has a similar theme to her song “Getaway Car” from her album Reputation.
# 12 – Long Story Short
The song has a pop and indie rock beat. The song is about redemption. She wrote this song after she dealt with public backlash following an incident involving rapper Kanye West. In case you aren’t are of it, Kanye West wrote a song about her called “Famous.” She was appalled that he wrote a song like that about her. A voicemail was leaked where she gave her consent for the song being released. She faced backlash for that incident. She was able to come back from that setback by writing this track. She makes reference to what happened in the song. She talked about falling off the pedestal.
Taylor Swift also talks about being with the wrong guy. She dated DJ Calvin Harris during her setback. She broke up with him and dated actor Tom Hiddleston afterwards. She makes reference to being with the wrong guy. Swifties wondered if this song was about Calvin Harris or Tom Hiddleston. She also talks about moving on with the right guy. She realized that she needed a better relationship and she found it. She talks about being tired of keeping score because she wants to keep him warm. She lets the listeners know that she was knocked down, but she was able to survive what happened to her.
# 13 – Marjorie
The track has a folk beat. “Marjorie” is a tribute to her grandmother. She did a tribute to her grandfather on the song “Epiphany” from her album Folklore so this time she wanted to praise her maternal grandmother. Her grandmother was an opera singer named Marjorie Finlay. She was the one who inspired Taylor Swift to pursue her singing career. She wanted to write a moving tribute to her grandmother because she still inspires her even though she is no longer with us. Taylor Swift’s grandmother died when she was 13 years old. She talks about the things she wished she could have done while her grandmother was still with her. She goes into detail about the things she wished she had done with her grandmother.
She explores grief and regret in this song. She talks about the emotions she felt losing her grandmother. Taylor Swift also talks about hearing her grandmother speaking to her. She said that her grandmother still visits her even if she does it in her head. She was convinced that her grandmother was singing to her. Here is a fun fact about the song. Taylor Swift included her grandmother’s vocals at the end of the song. Her mother had old records of her Taylor Swift’s grandmother and her producer added it to the song.
# 14 – Closure
The song has a folk beat. This song has a misleading title. When you think of “closure” you would think it would be a reflective song about moving on with your life. This is a kiss off anthem to someone who hurt her. She lets the person know that she got their letter, but it hurt her to know that it was over. She didn’t need the person’s closure. The letter doesn’t make her feel any better about what happened. She felt like the person only sent the letter to ease their conscience. She didn’t think it was genuine at all. She informs the person that she didn’t need the “closure.”
Taylor Swift could have written this song about an ex-lover or it could be about anyone who scorned her. She has dated different people so it could be a song to any of them. She was also involved with a public situation with her label. She dealt with her label selling her masters to a celebrity manager. The man who bought her masters wrote her a letter about it. Fans believed that was a hint that the song was about that situation. Taylor Swift said the songs on this album don’t reflect her life.
# 15 – Evermore ft. Bon Iver
The last song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Taylor Swift’s Evermore Album is “Evermore.” The song has a folk beat. The ballad is about her depression. She felt like her depression will last for a long time. Taylor Swift wrote this song about the bad things she was dealing with in 2016. She also wasn’t sure what was going to happen in the world before the election. Unlike the track “Closure,” she is the one writing a letter about what she’s going through in the song. She breaks down the pain she suffered through during certain months of the year.
The song isn’t just about depression. She also talks about trying to get to a better place. Bon Iver’s verse talks about moving on with your life after dealing with hardship. They want to find light in a world full of darkness. He assures everyone that things will be better. She decides to change the song at the end so that everyone can feel hopeful about life.
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