For Swifties seeking in-depth information on all of the singer’s songs, here’s a complete guide to all of Taylor Swift albums in order!

Editor’s note: Updated with information about Taylor Swift’s newest release — Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

Taylor Swift stepped onto the country music scene in 2006 with a self-titled album, and she’s been wowing the world with her musical and lyrical talents ever since. After putting out three country albums, Taylor Swift impressively and seamlessly began making the transition to pop with her fourth studio album, Red.

She now has three pure pop albums under her belt and even made her way into the alternative and folk genres with her latest releases, folklore and evermore, as she continues to add to her diverse catalog of relatable hits. She’s currently expanding her repertoire even further buy re-recording and releasing her old albums with new content, beginning with Fearless.

Taylor Swift’s greatest gift has always been the way her lyrics connect with her fans. The themes of love, loss and heartbreak that resonate in many of her songs make her widely appealing across genres. Fans of Taylor Swift (called Swifties), feel like the artist is putting their own lives into words so they can belt it out at the top of their lungs.

Every song that’s ever been on a Taylor Swift album has been written by her. She works with both trusted and new writing partners on some, while others are solo efforts. She also works closely with producers to make the songs the best they can be.

Read more below about all Taylor Swift albums, including their release dates, tracklists, singles, and the inspiration behind the music.

Taylor Swift album list table of contents, in order of release:

• Taylor Swift
• Fearless
• Speak Now
• Speak Now World Tour – Live
• Red
• 1989
• Reputation
• Lover
• folklore
• evermore

Taylor Swift albums in order

The following are Taylor Swift albums in order of release date.

‘Taylor Swift’

Release Date: October 24, 2006
Versions: Regular, 2008 Reissue, Best Buy Digital Download, Deluxe

Taylor Swift Tracklist:
1. Tim McGraw
2. Picture To Burn
3. Teardrops On My Guitar
4. A Place In This World
5. Cold As You
6. The Outside
7. Tied Together With A Smile
8. Stay Beautiful
9. Should’ve Said No
10. Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)
11. Our Song
12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You (2008, Deluxe)
13. Invisible (2008, Deluxe)
14. A Perfectly Good Heart (2008, Deluxe)
15. Teardrops on My Guitar Pop Version (2008)
16. Taylor Swift’s first phone call with Tim McGraw (Deluxe)
17. I Heart ? (Best Buy Digital Download)

Taylor Swift came out when the artist was just 16 years old, and the album immediately took the world of country music by storm. The album included thoughtful songs about love like “Tim McGraw,” “Mary’s Song,” and the extremely catchy “Our Song,” break up anthems like “Picture to Burn” and “Should’ve Said No,” and the far-beyond-her-years deep “Cold As You,” which was the first of Swift’s legendary “Track 5s.” For more on that check out this article ranking all of these tracks!

The album was fully produced by Nathan Chapman and it was distributed by Big Machine Records, the label that would go on to work with Taylor for her next five albums.

The Taylor Swift album liner was our first taste of the singer’s notorious love for easter eggs. She hid the meaning of the songs in the lyrics, using only lower-case letters for the text except for some strategic capitals. The capital letters spelled out a clue to the song’s inspiration. Check them out below.

1. Tim McGraw – Can’t tell me nothin’
2. Picture To Burn – Date nice boys
3. Teardrops On My Guitar – He will never know
4. A Place In This World – Found it
5. Cold As You – Time to let go
6. The Outside – You are not alone
7. Tied Together With A Smile – You are loved
8. Stay Beautiful – Shake N’ Bake
9. Should’ve Said No – Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam
10. Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) – Sometimes love is forever
11. Our Song – Live in love

“Tim McGraw” came out as the album’s lead single, immediately catapulting Swift to a level of success that few ever achieve. The song, along with the next four singles off the album, went certified platinum.

The song’s title would lead to many questions about Taylor Swift’s relationship with country star Tim McGraw, who she was a huge fan of. She later went on to open for McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill, while touring this album, and eventually released a song with him called “The Highway Don’t Care.”

The album’s next two singles were “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “Our Song.” “Teardrops” went double platinum and “Our Song” went quadruple platinum, and both of these songs began to get Taylor Swift some crossover audience with pop fans.

Taylor Swift’s final two singles were “Picture to Burn” and “Should’ve Said No.” They both went double platinum, but ultimately did something much more important for the artist. They solidified her position as the queen of the breakup anthem among Swifties! With the latter, she also shifted gears from her typical highly produced music video, and released a live acoustic video for the song.

‘Fearless’

Release Date: November 11, 2008, April 9 2021
Versions: Regular, Platinum, Taylor’s Version

Fearless Tracklist:
1. Fearless
2. Fifteen
3. Love Story
4. Hey Stephen
5. White Horse
6. You Belong With Me
7. Breathe (feat. Colbie Caillat)
8. Tell Me Why
9. You’re Not Sorry
10. The Way I Loved You
11. Forever & Always
12. The Best Day
13. Change
14. Jump Then Fall (Platinum)
15. Untouchable (Platinum)
16. Forever & Always – Piano Version (Platinum)
17. Come In With The Rain (Platinum)
18. Superstar (Platinum)
19. The Other Side Of The Door (Platinum)
20. Today Was a Fairytale (Taylor’s Version)
21. You All Over Me (feat. Maren Morris) (Taylor’s Version)
22. Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version)
23. We Were Happy (Taylor’s Version)
24. That’s When (feat. Keith Urban) (Taylor’s Version)
25. Don’t You (Taylor’s Version)
26. Bye Bye Baby (Taylor’s Version)

With Fearless, Taylor Swift expanded her resume to include the co-producer title! She co-produced all of the songs on her sophomore album along with Nathan Chapman.

No sophomore slump here! Taylor Swift used her second album to continue telling her stories about love and heartbreak, and she was only becoming more adept at doing so. Fearless, which was labelled as a country-pop album, continued to gain Taylor Swift more and more pop fans while she still held strong to the country fans from her debut.

On top of that, Fearless would become the most awarded album in the history of country music, earning Taylor Swift her first “Album of the Year” Grammy among many other accolades. It also performed extremely well commercially, achieving certified diamond status.

Fearless was the beginning of another obsession Swifties have with their favorite star. After she achieved fame with her first album, she began hanging out with and even dating other famous people. And when Taylor Swift dates someone, she’s inevitably going to write a song about it at some point! Fans speculate that “Forever & Always” is about Joe Jonas, who Swift briefly dated before he allegedly broke up with her in a 27-second phone call.

Related: 8 things Taylor Swift’s Fearless taught me about life and love

Fearless became the first album that Taylor Swift re-recorded and released to regain the ownership of her material. She released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) on April 9, 2021 with six brand new tracks, and the inclusion of “Today Was a Fairytale,” which was previously only released on the soundtrack for Valentine’s Day, for which she was a part of the ensemble cast.

For more song meanings, check out the liner note clues for Taylor Swift’s Fearless. The songs released with (Taylor’s Version) did not come with clues in the liner notes.

1. Fearless – I loved you before I met you
2. Fifteen – I cried while recording this
3. Love Story – Someday I’ll find this
4. Hey Stephen – Love and theft
5. White Horse – All I ever wanted was the truth
6. You Belong With Me – Love is blind so you couldn’t see me
7. Breathe (feat. Colbie Caillat) – I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry
8. Tell Me Why – Guess I was fooled by your smile
9. You’re Not Sorry – She can have you
10. The Way I Loved You – We can’t go back
11. Forever & Always – If you play these games we’re both going to lose
12. The Best Day – God bless Andrea Swift
13. Change – You made things change for me
14. Jump Then Fall (Platinum) – Last summer was magical
15. Untouchable (Platinum) – We always want what we can’t reach
16. Forever & Always – Piano Version (Platinum) – I still miss who I thought he was
17. Come In With The Rain (Platinum) – I won’t admit that I wish you’d come back
18. SuperStar (Platinum) – I’ll never tell
19. The Other Side Of The Door (Platinum) – What I was really thinking when I slammed the door

As with Taylor Swift, all of the singles on Fearless achieved at least certified platinum status. The first single from Fearless was the adorable and still-beloved “Love Story,” which plays off themes from Romeo & Juliet. The music video begins with Taylor Swift looking at the boy she likes at school, and ends with her in a princess gown locked in an epic love affair with the same boy.

“White Horse” was the next single, and serves as the second of Taylor Swift’s iconic Track 5 songs. Like “Love Story,” it also uses fairytale themes to talk about love and heartbreak.

“You Belong With Me,” the album’s next single, became a legend for all the wrong reasons. While Taylor Swift was accepting the MTV Video Music Award for “Best Female Video,” Kanye West infamously interrupted her on stage to say that “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” This incident went on to ignite a on-again/off-again feud between the two stars that has lasted over a decade.

Taylor Swift closed out her sophomore album with the singles “Fifteen” and “Fearless.” “Fifteen” dives into a young girl’s high school experience, stating personal details about Swift and her best friend, Abigal, and “Fearless” is about one of the many awesome feelings you have when falling in love. The “Fearless” video shows clips from the life-changing tour that Swift took this album on.

‘Speak Now’

Release Date: October 25, 2010
Versions: Regular, Deluxe

Speak Now Tracklist:
1. Mine
2. Sparks Fly
3. Back To December
4. Speak Now
5. Dear John
6. Mean
7. The Story Of Us
8. Never Grow Up
9. Enchanted
10. Better Than Revenge
11. Innocent
12. Haunted
13. Last Kiss
14. Long Live
15. Ours (Deluxe)
16. If This Was A Movie (Deluxe)
17. Superman (Deluxe)
18. Back To December – Acoustic Version (Deluxe)
19. Haunted – Acoustic Version (Deluxe)
20. Mine – POP Mix (Deluxe)

Speak Now is the second country-pop album that Taylor Swift produced with Nathan Chapman. The album took on some more mature themes, like Taylor Swift’s romance with the 12-years-older John Mayer and the VMA incident with Kanye West.

That being said, Speak Now also featured plenty of Taylor Swift’s signature storytelling in the form of the completely “awww”-worthy “Mine,” “Enchanted,” and “Never Grow Up,” as well as the anti-bullying anthem, “Mean,” and one of Swift’s most pointed and deliciously petty efforts to date, “Better Than Revenge.”

The album liner notes for Speak Now include some of Taylor Swift’s most explicit clues. She mentions Taylor Lautner and Owl City’s Adam Young by name in “Back to December,” and “Enchanted,” she clearly calls out Kanye in “Innocent,” and didn’t even bother hiding John Mayer’s name in the notes! She put it right in the title. This is perhaps indicative of the new level of power she was feeling and the result of being continuously scorned.

Check out all of the Speak Now album liner clues here.

1. Mine – Toby
2. Sparks Fly – Portland Oregon
3. Back To December – Tay
4. Speak Now – You always regret what you don’t say
5. Dear John – Loved you from the very first day
6. Mean – I thought you got me
7. The Story Of Us – CMT awards
8. Never Grow Up – I moved out in July
9. Enchanted – Adam
10. Better Than Revenge – You thought I would forget
11. Innocent – Life is full of little interruptions
12. Haunted – Still to this day
13. Last Kiss – Forever and always
14. Long Live – For you

Speak Now included a whopping six singles, all of which went at least certified platinum. Lead single, “Mine” tells of a daydream that ran away with Swift of a love story that could’ve been.

“Back to December” is one of Swift’s most raw and honest early efforts, detailing a time when she messed up and lost a great person. Namely, Taylor Lautner.

The next two videos for “Mean” and “Speak Now” are among some of Taylor Swift’s most fun and memorable, showing off her great affinity for costumes!

“Sparks Fly” and “Ours” closed out Taylor Swift’s Speak Now era. “Sparks Fly” is another live video showing off highlights from the tour, and “Ours” is one of the cutest love songs and videos on the album!

‘Speak Now World Tour – Live’

Release Date: November 21, 2011

Speak Now World Tour – Live Tracklist:
1. Sparks Fly
2. Mine
3. The Story Of Us
4. Mean
5. Ours
6. Back to December/Apologize/You’re Not Sorry
7. Better Than Revenge
8. Speak Now
9. Last Kiss
10. Drops of Jupiter
11. Bette Davis Eyes
12. I Want You Back
13. Dear John
14. Enchanted
15. Haunted
16. Long Live

Taylor Swift also released a live album of her Speak Now tour. It includes all of the songs from the album, an amazing mash up of “Back to December,” OneRepublic’s “Apologize,” and “You’re Not Sorry,” and covers of Kim Carnes’s “Bette Davis Eyes,” Train’s “Drops of Jupiter,” and Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

‘Red’

Release Date: October 22, 2012
Versions: Regular, Deluxe

Red Tracklist:
1. State of Grace
2. Red
3. Treacherous
4. I Knew You Were Trouble
5. All Too Well
6. 22
7. I Almost Do
8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
9. Stay Stay Stay
10. The Last Time (feat. Gary Lightbody)
11. Holy Ground
12. Sad Beautiful Tragic
13. The Lucky One
14. Everything Has Changed (feat. Ed Sheeran)
15. Starlight
16. Begin Again
17. The Moment I Knew (Deluxe)
18. Come Back…Be Here (Deluxe)
19. Girl At Home (Deluxe)
20. Treacherous – Original Demo Recording (Deluxe)
21. Red – Original Demo Recording (Deluxe)
22. State of Grace – Acoustic Version (Deluxe)

Red is pretty well summed up by the track of the same name. The album is about love that’s “red.” Fiery, passionate, and strong. The album blends genres from track to track, creating an incredibly strong collection of hits that almost any music fan could appreciate.

Red was also co-produced by Taylor Swift and Nathan Chapman, and it was her most “pop” forward album to date. That being said, songs like “Red,” “Holy Ground,” and “Begin Again,” keep the album grounded in the star’s country roots.

With this album, Taylor Swift reached a greater depth in her songwriting and storytelling than ever before. It became clear that she was growing up and beginning to experience things in a more adult and nuanced way, with her music getting bigger and better as a result.

The album’s liner notes include clear references to Taylor Swift’s ex Conor Kennedy in “Everything Has Changed” and “Starlight.” Hyannis Port is a port where Swift and Kennedy were photographed kissing and Ethel is the grandmother of Conor.

It’s also speculated that a lot of this album is about Jake Gyllenhaal, including “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “All Too Well,” which is still one of the most beautiful and cherished songs among Swifties. It’s also likely that Harry Styles gets an early nod with “I Knew You Were Trouble.”

Related: 20 Taylor Swift deep cuts to discover while you wait for the next single

Check out the Red album liner notes here.

1. State of Grace – I love you doesn’t count after goodbye
2. Red – SAG
3. Treacherous – Won’t stop till it’s over
4. I Knew You Were Trouble – When you saw me dancing
5. All Too Well – Maple Latte
6. 22 – Ashley Dianna Claire Selena
7. I Almost Do – Wrote this instead of calling
8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – When I stopped caring what you thought
9. Stay Stay Stay – Daydreaming about real love
10. The Last Time (feat. Gary Lightbody) – LA on your break
11. Holy Ground – When you came to the show in SD
12. Sad Beautiful Tragic – While you were on a train
13. The Lucky One – Wouldn’t you like to know
14. Everything Has Changed (feat. Ed Sheeran) – Hyannis Port
15. Starlight – For Ethel
16. Begin Again – I wear heels now

With Red, Taylor Swift bested herself yet again by releasing seven singles from the album. She came out of the gate with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” sending a message that she was going to be exploring pop music and also that they were never getting back together. Like, ever.

“Begin Again,” a song about finding new love amid a hopeless heartbreak, followed up as a nod back to her country fans, proving that she was still capable of doing both.

Taylor Swift shifted back to pop with “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22,” an ode to youth and her best girlfriends, who are mentioned by name in the album liner notes.

Taylor Swift’s next live music video was for the album’s title track, “Red,” which has lyrics that illustrate and echo the themes of the entire album.

Swift closed out the Red era with two collaborations. The adorable “Everything Has Changed” music video, featuring Ed Sheeran and two kids playing younger versions of the two besties, and The Last Time featuring Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody.

‘1989’

Release Date: October 27, 2014
Versions: Regular, Deluxe

1989 Tracklist:
1. Welcome to New York
2. Blank Space
3. Style
4. Out of the Woods
5. All You Had to Do Was Stay
6. Shake It Off
7. I Wish You Would
8. Bad Blood
9. Wildest Dreams
10. How You Get the Girl
11. This Love
12. I Know Places
13. Clean
14. Wonderland (Deluxe)
15. You Are In Love (Deluxe)
16. New Romantics (Deluxe)
17. I Know Places – Voice Memo (Deluxe)
18. I Wish You Would – Voice Memo (Deluxe)
19. Blank Space – Voice Memo (Deluxe)

Taylor Swift fully emerged into the world of pop music with 1989, her first full pop album. She changed up her producing team, keeping Nathan Chapman but also working with a wide variety of celebrated industry talents including Ryan Tedder, Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, and Shellback.

1989 won Taylor Swift her second “Album of the Year” Grammy award. She has said that she wanted every song on 1989 to feel like what it was about. She beautifully acheived this with songs like the frantic “Out of the Woods,” the cool “Style,” the desperate “I Wish You Would,” and the refreshing “Clean.”

The album liner notes behaved a little differently for 1989, telling a complete story rather than offering individual clues. Fans speculate that this is because the album largely encompasses one love story, presumably that of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles. There are huge hints to Harry’s involvement, including the song “Style,” and nods to his signature paper airplane necklace.

Check out the album liner notes for 1989 here.

1. Welcome to New York – We begin our story in New York
2. Blank Space – There once was a girl known by everyone and no one
3. Style – Her heart belonged to someone who couldn’t stay
4. Out of the Woods – They loved each other recklessly
5. All You Had to Do Was Stay – They paid the price
6. Shake It Off – She danced to forget him
7. I Wish You Would – He drove past her street each night
8. Bad Blood – She made friends and enemies
9. Wildest Dreams – He only saw her in his dreams
10. How You Get the Girl – Then one day he came back
11. This Love – Timing is a funny thing
12. I Know Places – And everyone was watching
13. Clean – She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything

1989 matched Red with seven singles. She led with the impossible-not-to-dance-to “Shake It Off,” giving the sense that she was shaking off all of the criticism she was beginning to experience at the hands of the media.

She followed up with Blank Space and Style. A song about the character the media makes her out to be, and one about a love that is timeless.

Next up for the 1989 era was “Bad Blood,” a scathing song that’s allegedly about Swift’s feud with Katy Perry. The cause of the feud has been linked to some of Taylor Swift’s back-up dancers leaving to dance on Katy Perry’s tour. The video includes many of Swift’s most famous friends, including Selena Gomez, Karlie Kloss, Hailee Steinfeld and Lena Dunham.

“Wildest Dreams,” “Out of the Woods,” and “New Romantics” rounded out the 1989 era. The “Out of the Woods” video concludes with the album’s final liner notes. “She lost him, but she found herself, and somehow that was everything.” This effectively closes the book on the story, but the tour-based “New Romantics” was a nice little bonus!

‘Reputation’

Release Date: November 10, 2017

Reputation Tracklist:
1. …Ready For it?
2. End Game (feat. Ed Sheeran and Future)
3. I Did Something Bad
4. Don’t Blame Me
5. Delicate
6. Look What You Made Me Do
7. So It Goes…
8. Gorgeous
9. Getaway Car
10. King Of My Heart
11. Dancing With Our Hands Tied
12. Dress
13. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
14. Call It What You Want
15. New Year’s Day

After a three year wait between albums and a solid year where nobody saw or heard much of Taylor Swift, she cleared her social media and began promoting Reputation with a cryptic video of a snake. She quickly followed up with the song and video for “Look What You Made Me Do,” which immediately let fans know that Reputation was going to be very different from 1989.

Related: Reflecting on Reputation ahead of the next era of Taylor Swift

The song features the lyric “the old Taylor is dead,” and the song and video both include biting references to Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Calvin Harris, her sexual assault trial, and the media. She entered the Reputation era with guns blazing, so people were expecting a stark departure from what we’d heard in the past.

In reality, as is common with Swift’s early singles, “LWYMMD” wasn’t actually that indicative of the tone of Reputation. Her music continued in the synth-pop direction, perhaps adding some more overt nods to alcohol and sex, but the overall storytelling and themes that she’s known for were intact. Reputation featured gorgeous tracks like “Delicate,” “King of My Heart,” “Call It What You Want,” and “New Year’s Day” that would feel at-home on any of her previous albums.

Reputation was Swift’s last album released with Big Machine Records, and she worked exclusively with Jack Antonoff, Max Martin and Shellback on the project.

One big change with Reputation was that Taylor Swift stopped adding clues to her album liners. Instead, she included a note that implied that she’d learned from her mistakes in giving too much of herself away. She was going to start keeping some things for herself.

Of course, fans can still speculate on who Reputation’s tracks are about. Many believe “Getaway Car” is about her fast and furious romance with Tom Hiddleston, “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” is about Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, and many of the album’s love songs are about the singer’s current boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.

Reputation also featured seven singles, with the first being the aforementioned “Look What You Made Me Do.” The video ends with all of the old Taylor Swift’s doing things that she’s been endlessly criticized for.

The next single was equally aggressive, with the “…Ready For It?” video featuring Taylor Swift fighting the world’s perception of her and the girl she’d started to become through all of the scrutiny.

After the initial two Reputation singles, Taylor Swift softened things up quite a bit. Next, she released “End Game” which featured Ed Sheeran and Future, and followed it up with “New Year’s Day,” “Gorgeous,” “Delicate,” and “Getaway Car,” which all have her typical themes of love (with some added lust) and loss. Of these singles, videos were only made for “End Game” and “Delicate.”

‘Lover’

Release Date: August 23, 2019

Lover Tracklist:
1. I Forgot That You Existed
2. Cruel Summer
3. Lover
4. The Man
5. The Archer
6. I Think He Knows
7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
8. Paper Rings
9. Cornelia Street
10. Death By A Thousand Cuts
11. London Boy
12. Soon You’ll Get Better (feat. The Dixie Chicks)
13. False God
14. You Need To Calm Down
15. Afterglow
16. ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)
17. It’s Nice To Have A Friend
18. Daylight

Taylor Swift’s seventh studio album, Lover, is her sweetest and happiest yet. She aimed to create an album that was about all of the things she loved, and she certainly achieved that with this acclaimed effort.

Related: Taylor Swift’s Lover proves you don’t need to be broken to be groundbreaking

She continued with the Repuation trend of not including hints in her liner notes, but we can conclude that a solid chunk of the album is about her current boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, with a few exceptions that we’ll get into with the singles!

Lover is Taylor Swift’s first album with her new record label, Republic Records. Under her new contract, she owns the rights to all of the master copies of her music. She has been very vocal about her regret in not having that option when she first signed with Big Machine, who recently sold the rights to her masters to Scooter Braun, a man whom Taylor Swift has had “bad blood” with in the past.

On Lover, Taylor Swift worked with producing partners Jack Antonoff and Joel Little.

So far, Lover has four singles. The first was “ME!” which visually took the snake from the Reputation era and exploded it into pastel butterflies. The video, which features Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie, is all colors and cats and cowboy boots, which are essentially all of the things that make up Taylor Swift!

With the next Lover single, “You Need to Calm Down,” Taylor Swift expanded on her first ever political statement, relating to the Equality Act. The video featured exclusively LGBTQ+ stars, tells haters that they “need to calm down,” and urges viewers to sign the Equality Act.

The next single was the album’s title track, “Lover.” The video features a house with many different rooms, each themed for one of her previous albums. It’s a beautiful love story in one music video.

Taylor Swift’s final single from Lover, “The Man,” explores what things would be like if Taylor Swift did all the same things, but as a man. She dresses up and acts like a man in the video, which showcases many double-standards that exist for men and women in society.

Related: The 5 most relatable moments in Taylor Swift’s ‘The Man’ music video

‘folklore’

Release Date: July 24, 2020
Versions: Regular, Deluxe, Long Pond Studio Sessions

folklore Tracklist:
1. the 1
2. cardigan
3. the last great american dynasty
4. exile (feat. Bon Iver)
5. my tears ricochet
6. mirrorball
7. seven
8. august
9. this is me trying
10. illicit affairs
11. invisible string
12. mad woman
13. epiphany
14. betty
15. peace
16. hoax
17. the lakes (Deluxe)

While the rest of the world was just trying to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor Swift wrote, recorded, and released her eighth studio album. When all hope seemed lost, Taylor Swift gave her fans a much needed treat with a surprise drop of the album. Instead of the months worth of build up that Swifties were used to having, they had less than 24 hours to prepare for the release of the small lettered, sepia-toned and sultry album.

Related: Taylor Swift’s folklore proves she shines brighter than her reputation and her lovers

Folklore is very different from any of her previous efforts (although it has been aptly referred to as “Red’s older sister“), and dramatically shifts away from the pop progression that Swift’s last few albums had taken. She continued to work with favored producer Jack Antonoff, but also leaned heavily on “The National’s” Aaron Dessner for 11 of the album’s tracks.

Swift, Dessner and Antonoff got together to play the album live together for a Disney+ special called Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions. The track recordings from this special were also released on streaming services as an album. On top of performing the songs, the three artists discussed the process of making the album, and even gave away the identity of the mysterious co-writer with the pseudonym “William Bowery” on “betty” and “exile.” As many fans had suspected, it was Swift’s boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn!

In what we hope could be a fun new tradition, Swift has categorized folklore into three separate chapters. The album can be found grouped in these chapters on streaming services.

“the escapism chapter”
1. the lakes
2. seven
3. epiphany
4. cardigan
5. mirrorball
6. exile

“the saltbox house chapter”
1. the last great american dynasty
2. august
3. the 1
4. seven
5. peace
6. betty

“the sleepless nights chapter”
1. exile
2. hoax
3. my tears ricochet
4. illicit affairs
5. this is me trying
6. mad woman

“the yeah I showed up at your party chapter”
1. betty
2. the 1
3. mirrorball
4. the last great american dynasty
5. invisible string
6. cardigan

Also, folklore contains what Swift has called the “teenage love triangle trilogy,” which is three songs each written from the perspective of a different member of the triangle. These songs are “august,” “betty” (from the perspective of “James”) and “cardigan” (from the perspective of Betty.) “Cardigan” was chosen as the album’s lead single.

Related: 45 Taylor Swift folklore lyrics that read like a good book

The music video for cardigan was dropped alongside the surprise album release, giving fans some of their first visual clues about the album. The video depicts Swift clinging to her piano as a life raft in a stunning visual representation of her situation.

‘evermore’

Release Date: December 11, 2020
Versions: Regular, Deluxe

evermore Tracklist:
1. willow
2. champagne problems
3. gold rush
4. ’tis the damn season
5. tolerate it
6. no body, no crime (feat. HAIM)
7. happiness
8. dorothea
9. coney island (feat. The National)
10. ivy
11. cowboy like me
12. long story short
13. marjorie
14. closure
15. evermore (feat. Bon Iver)
16. right where you left me (Deluxe)
17. it’s time to go (Deluxe)

As if one surprise album drop in 2020 wasn’t way more than Swifties were prepared to handle, Taylor Swift struck again when she released evermore on December 11, 2020, with less than 24 hours notice, two days before her 31st birthday.

Swift described evermore as “folklore’s sister record,” and it’s certainly deserving of the title. Apparently she just couldn’t stop creating cool songs with Aaron Dessner after folklore was complete, so she decided not to! He’s credited on all but one track on the album. The exception is “gold rush,” which Jack Antonoff produced. “William Bowery” a.k.a. Joe Alwyn also returned for evermore, cowriting “champagne problems,” “coney island,” and “evermore” with Swift.

Related: 35 Taylor Swift evermore lyrics we’ll be singing forever…more

In terms of featured artists, evermore is Taylor Swift’s most collaborative album to date. Her long-time gal pals, the HAIM sisters, joined her for “no body, no crime,” which sounds like Taylor’s take on “Goodbye Earl,” by The Chicks. Bon Iver returned to feature on “evermore,” and Dessner brought his band to lend The National’s talent to “coney island.” Also, Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons contributed some vocals to “cowboy like me!”

Like folklore, evermore was broken up into chapters. The following chapters, which also include some songs from folklore, can be found on streaming services:

“the dropped your hand while dancing chapter”
1. champagne problems
2. happiness
3. it’s time to go
4. tolerate it
5. coney island (feat. The National)
6. hoax

“the forever is the sweetest con chapter”
1. cowboy like me
2. mirrorball
3. evermore (feat. Bon Iver)
4. long story short
5. invisible string
6. willow

“the ladies lunching chapter”
1. betty
2. dorothea
3. marjorie
4. august
5. no body, no crime (feat. HAIM)
6. right where you left me

The music video for willow was released at the same time as the album. The video begins with Taylor sitting at the same piano from the “cardigan” music video (wearing the cardigan, no less), before following a golden thread into a fantasy woodland full of both dreams and nightmares.

For more information about Taylor Swift you can head over to her official website, follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or Youtube!

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