Happy New Year to all of my readers! Let’s hope 2021 finds us all happier and healthier.
And now, concluding my countdown of the songs on Taylor Swift’s Evermore…
#3. ‘Ivy’
This song is very reminiscent of ‘Invisible String,’ one of my favorite tracks on Folklore. I love the banjo and the chorus, both of which sound like classic Taylor. Swift plays the cheating wife in this song and sells the “illicit affair” with subtlety and mystery.
#2. ‘Dorothea’
My two favorite songs on Evermore are flip sides of a coin, depicting a small town man (or woman?) who stayed behind while an old flame went to Los Angeles to seek fame. Swift says she imagines Dorothea went to the same high school as Betty, James and “August” from the teenage love trilogy on Folklore.
This track is from the point of view of the person left behind.
#1. ”Tis the Damn Season’
And this one is from the point of view of Dorothea, who did the leaving. I love the romantic regret in this song, and the way the holiday becomes a chance to rekindle this relationship, even if they know it won’t last. “I won’t ask you to wait if you don’t ask me to stay,” Swift sings in yet another excellent bridge.
On the best songs from both Folklore and Evermore, the former teen star taps into adolescent love and pain as effectively as ever, but filters it through the nostalgic lens of a 31-year-old woman.
Please share your own Evermore rankings below, if you’re so moved.
Tomorrow, I will pause the first Random Weekend selection of 2021 to offer up my own Folkmore lineup, combining songs from Swift’s two 2020 albums into one powerhouse playlist.
If I wanted to know who you were hanging with
While I was gone, I would’ve asked you
It’s the kind of cold, fogs up windshield glass
But I felt it when I passed you
There’s an ache in you, put there by the ache in me
But if it’s all the same to you
It’s the same to me
[Chorus]
So we could call it even
You could call me “babe” for the weekend
’Tis the damn season, write this down
I’m stayin’ at my parents’ house
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown
[Verse 2]
I parkеd my car right between the Methodist
And thе school that used to be ours
The holidays linger like bad perfume
You can run, but only so far
I escaped it too, remember how you watched me leave
But if it’s okay with you, it’s okay with me
[Chorus]
We could call it even
You could call me “babe” for the weekend
’Tis the damn season, write this down
I’m stayin’ at my parents’ house
And the road not taken looks real good now
Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I’m missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown
[Bridge]
Sleep in half the day just for old times’ sake
I won’t ask you to wait if you don’t ask me to stay
So I’ll go back to L.A. and the so-called friends
Who’ll write books about me if I ever make it
And wonder about the only soul
Who can tell which smiles I’m fakin’
And the heart I know I’m breakin’ is my own
To leave the warmest bed I’ve ever known
We could call it even
Even though I’m leaving
And I’ll be yours for the weekend
’Tis the damn season
[Chorus]
We could call it even
You could call me “babe” for the weekend
’Tis the damn season, write this down
I’m stayin’ at my parents’ house
And the road not taken looks real good now
Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I’m missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown
[Outro]
It always leads to you and my hometown
Meet Me In Montauk 
A worthy top 3. I was particularly drawn to ‘Tis the Damn Season from the first time I heard it. I don’t think I’ve heard the album quite enough to rank the songs, but you might get buy in from others in my family.
Excited to see your combo playlist! I’ve listened to this album a stupid amount of times, but I truly don’t know if I feel ready to rank it still. Maybe I’ll give it a shot today…