Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (Thoughts and Feelings)

 So I am a HUGE Taylor Swift fan!  The second a new album is announced I've either preordered it or run to the store first thing in the morning to pick up my Exclusive Target copy.

When Taylor announced Folklore in July, it was the biggest and best surprise!  She had just released Lover last year, and usually only released an album every two years; so Folklore was so unexpected for all Taylor fans!  But it truly was an amazing gift for us fans.

I had just started my third trimester a couple weeks before the album came out, and babies in the womb start hearing voices in the second trimester, so my son listened to this album along with me and my husband for the months up until he was born.  It was playing in our car, we listened to it while we had our Friday night date nights at home BBQing in our backyard.  So my baby heard this album a lot.

It is such a relaxing album too, very different from Taylor's other music.  Each album has had its own sound, and it's something I always look forward to when she announces a new one.

As I'm writing this, my son is sleeping next to me as we listen to the album for probably about the hundredth time.  When we had some rough nights at the beginning, with him not wanting to sleep, I played him the songs, to try to lull him to sleep.  It worked for a few nights, and then he knew what I was doing 😂.

Anyway yesterday, on November 24th, Taylor made another surprise announcement for 2020!  Her first-ever session playing all the songs from Folklore with her co-creators Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff in the same room, was coming to Disney Plus TODAY (November 25th!)!  

I'm watching as I write this.  Since a concert tour probably won't happen (for at least quite a while) for this album, its really great that this is available for fans.  

Before performing each song, Taylor sits down with her co-creators and talks about what the story is behind the songs, and her writing process.  

WARNING...SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!!

Taylor finally announces that Joe Alwyn (her boyfriend) really is the co-writer behind the pseudonym William Bowery!!

END SPOILER.

While I love all the songs, my absolute favorite track on the album has to be "The Great American Dynasty"

Taylor wrote this song about the history of her Rhode Island home.  Specifically about Rebekah Harkness, a free-spirited wealthy woman who bought the home with her husband, the heir to the Standard Oil fortune.  

It's a really fun song, with a great story.  And people are already asking about a movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively as Rebekah and her husband, Bill.  

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are also supposedly another part of inspiration in the album.  The song "Betty" is rumored to have the title inspiration of Blake and Ryan's daughter born last Fall, who the name was kept secret before this.  

It was just a really fun insight into Taylor's writing process and how her brain worked during quarantine.  She ended up writing this storyline that spanned through three of the songs, that tells the story of a teenage love triangle that shows the perspective from each person. Those songs were "Betty", "Cardigan", and "August".  

If you haven't listened to the album, you can listen to the entirety of the album, including the bonus track (only featured on Special Editions of the album) "The Lakes", by watching the documentary on Disney+.  If you don't have Disney+ the album is available through all major music platforms, and available in most major stores that sell CDs.  

To end this post, here is a picture of my son listening to the album from his swing. 😇

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

The Romance Bookie :)