#watchhill

After listening to Folklore for the 231387420358th time this is how I have interpreted the album............

Most of the songs are one Folklore Taylor has imagined about a real life person.

Illicit affairs:

start of the story. in the moment telling of the beginnings of the summer romance between James and the girl her cheated with from her perspective

August:

retelling of the summer romance between James and the girl he cheated with from her perspective. She knows the romance is ending and she is coming to terms with the fact that James was never really hers. 

Betty:

Betty’s friend gossip queen Inez tells her about the affair James had over the summer. James fantasizes about how he will tell betty what happened and that he is sorry and his explanation for what he did (seeing Betty dance with someone else). He wonders if it will go well or terrible. Told from James’ perspective. 

Mad Woman:

Betty knows about the affair and has ended the relationship after James showed up at her party. She is seeing red and is furious with James and she wants him to know it because James can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that she will not take him back; even after he has apologized. 

This is me trying:

James goes to Betty to tell her what happened and his regrets. He knows he’s wrong for what he did and he wants her to know that he is trying to become a better person. Told from James’ perspective.

Exile

Betty and James seeing each other in public for the first time and talking to each other in their own minds about the aftermath of the affair, how it ended the relationship, and their inability to reconcile after the affair; all while Betty is with someone else shortly after the breakup and she sees James notice them together.  

The 1:

The girl James cheated with reminiscing about James and fantasizing about what James is doing now and what could have been between them if his relationship with Betty wasn’t a factor. 

Peace:

James has graduated and is still in love with Betty, but he knows that he could never give her peace of mind after his indiscretion. 

Epiphany:

James goes off to war to fight at the battle of Guadalcanal. He is seeing so many terrible things during the battle and in the medical tent. When he sleeps his mind tries to help him process what he is seeing.

My Tears Ricochet:

James has died in the war and he is seeing Betty at his funeral. He can’t help but see the irony in seeing her there and how she is feeling realizing that he is really gone. 

Hoax:

Betty realizes that she still loves James after his funeral. She understands that he loved her all this time, but it’s too late now. 

Cardigan:

Betty is older now and she is reminiscing about James and their relationship. She has now come to terms with the affair James had and the fact that they will never be together again, but she still cherishes their time together

There Goes The Last Great American Dynasty:

fast forward years later, Betty is much older and now goes by her full name Rebekah. She has married her second husband Bill Harkness and moved from St. Louis and all her memories there to Holiday House in Rhode Island. The narrator tells of her antics before and after Bill’s death (which people blame Rebekah for). The narrator is revealed to be Taylor Swift after she bought Holiday House. Taylor then draws parallels between her and Rebekah’s time at Holiday House.