Taylor Swift's Evermore—Review

It's time for an unqualified review of Taylor Swift's Evermore album!

This is difficult to review, since the only songs I would listen to voluntarily are happiness, ivy, and marjorie (and maybe willow). However, I will try to remain unbiased despite my personal taste in music.

Full Album Rating: 6.5/10

Individual Song Reviews:

1. willow

This is a great way to set the tone for the album, and has an interesting track that incorporates some traditional American instrumental sounds. Halfway through, some percussion gets introduced that vaguely sounds like a washboard. I like how the piano comes to the forefront in the verses (where Taylor’s vocals have less shifts in pitch), and then takes a back seat to the banjo in the refrain during Taylor’s runs. The track is well constructed, appropriate for the message of the song, and an excellent set up for the longing and slow-moving, country vibe of the album.

2. champagne problems

Overall, I don’t like the concept of the song, as I don’t feel it does enough to subvert the saying of “champagne problems.” If anything, the end of the song, where the speaker speculates that her lover will be able to move on to another woman, plays into the fact that the speaker’s rejection of the proposal is a trivial heartbreak for him (i.e. a “champagne problem”). However, we never get a sense of if the woman has moved on, and since she’s the narrator of the song it’s implied that she is still heartbroken enough to bring this pain up. The pressure on women to accept public proposals is a huge issue, as well as the judgement from others it may cause. In this song, I feel as though we hear that narrative, but don’t quite get a full commentary on this phenomenon. We are left with just another tragic woman who feels left behind.

The track is also nothing exciting, though it fits the song and is serviceable.

3. gold rush

Personally, I would jam to this song. However, as a reviewer I find it very underdeveloped.

I love the use of a gold rush to explain jealousy, and I think it’s a unique concept. However, the song doesn’t introduce much nuance as it continues. It’s kind of like Taylor came up with a great concept and then didn’t feel the need to build on it. The last time the refrain comes around, the lyrics change from “At dinner parties, I call you out on your contrarian shit” to “At dinner parties I won't call you out on your contrarian shit.” This tiny shift does not really satisfy me, and I don’t think the message of this song is fully explored.

This is not to say it’s a bad song—the track is pleasant, and calls to mind the fantastical and frenzied way we tend to imagine the gold rush these days. It is dreamy, and conveys that the speaker is truly enraptured and caught in the dream of this love interest. This shows that the speaker is just like all of these others who she condemns for being obsessed with this person. This contrast does imply conflict and more nuance, where the lyrics fell short.

4. tis’ the damn season

I hate this song. Next.

Just kidding, but I seriously hate this. I think the whole refrain of “tis’ the damn season” tis' dumb, and I honestly don’t want to hear about Taylor’s holiday escapades back in her home town. The song is monotonous, and sounds weirdly crowded with noise to me.

5. tolerate it

This song beautifully and vulnerably conveyed the insecurity of feeling out of your depth in a relationship, even when you know you deserve better. I absolutely love the lyrics in the bridge, especially the childhood metaphor of, “I wait by the door like I'm just a kid / Use my best colors for your portrait.”

For me, this song did what ‘champagne problems’ couldn’t accomplish. Towards the end, the speaker considers what would happen if she left and chose to find a better life for herself. Ultimately, she decides to still “sit and watch,” but having heard her desires to leave, this stagnancy is all the more heartbreaking. This is as opposed to ‘champagne problems’ where the speaker only imagines the man’s future, and doesn’t provide insight into her own potential (even if that potential ends up being lost, as we see in ‘tolerate it’).

6. no body, no crime

Overall, this song is iconic, I love Taylor’s ability to create an entirely fictional story in her songs. There are very few people who do this sort of narrative songwriting currently, and she conveys the plot extremely well. I only have a few complaints:

I didn’t immediately understand that the “she” in the last chorus referred to the mistress, and this caused me some confusion. Generally, I liked how there were different pronouns (and characters being referred to) in each iteration of the chorus, but this one didn’t land for me.

I honestly don’t like the track very much, and I don’t think it’s all that appropriate for a true crime story, since it sounds more like a Western. The track also makes the song sound like it’s set in the past, which then makes lines like “Este wasn't there Tuesday night at Olive Gardеn” and “she was with me, dude” jarringly modern. I realize people may fight me on this, and it’s not as though it’s badly composed or something.

7. happiness

This song is gorgeous, heartbreaking, hopeful, and absolutely one of my favorite songs on the album.

The lyrics are stunningly raw, and Taylor has breathed new life into the idea that, just because a relationship ends, doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. Right off the bat, the assertion that she can see clearly when she’s “above the trees” was ethereal. This speaker rests in a moment of both sadness and strength, knowing that it’s healthiest for her to create a new version of herself, even if she doesn’t want to.

For me, this is her most emotive song on the album. One criticism I generally have of Taylor is that sometimes her emotion doesn’t come out in her voice as much as it does in her visuals on stage. This song definitely did not fall into this pattern. I’m really enamored with the breath she took before “yet” at the end of verse two—they could have edited it out, but they chose not to, and it gave a lot of emotion to that verse. Her low notes were poignant and strong, and her vocals were perfectly soft in the repetition of “leave it all behind” at the end.

The track built throughout, and this lended to the feeling of mounting emotion. It started out with soft chords, almost sounding like humming. After that bare verse, multiple instruments are layered—such as electronic organ, piano, violin, etc. The introduction of a triumphant, yet soft, drum roll was genius in the bridge and third verse, as it corresponds with the more self-assured idea that she won’t be giving her lover “the green light of forgiveness” without first rebuilding herself. I also love how new elements were often added to the track in the middle of a verse, rather than cheesily coming in right at the beginning of a new verse. This made it feel more organic, and kept verses from sounding stationary.

To me, this is almost a perfect song, and I only have good things to say.

8. dorothea

This is a song that exists. I have barely an opinion on it. It’s just… there.

Here we have another small town narrative with barely any nuance. The track works, but doesn’t make me all that interested. The one thing that I have some interest in during this song is Taylor’s vocals. There’s something sort of relaxed and gravely about her voice, and it feels to me like she’s really channeling a male character. I appreciate that, but everything else is meh.

9. coney island

To start with what I liked about this song, I think the collaboration element really worked. It makes sense to have a featured artist on a song like this, as I associate Coney Island with meetings, beginnings, and perhaps romance. Matt Beringer’s voice fit the role of the rogue, melancholy after crashing down from a relationship.

However, the song ultimately suffers from uncharacteristically juvenile lyrics. Here are some examples:

• “Wondering where did my baby go? / The fast times, the bright lights, the merry go” (but then it never says “merry go round” so it’s like the line was just cut off to artificially create a rhyme)

• “Over and over… And it gets colder and colder / When the sun goes down” (uninspired repetition; not a particularly original metaphor)

• “Were you waiting at our old spot / In the tree line / By the gold clock” (wow, another clumsy rhyme I didn’t ask for)

• “Were you standing in the hallway / With a big cake, happy birthday” (I don’t need to explain why this one is bad)

Not to mention, this song has a completely different visual landscape than the rest of the album, what with the coney island setting and the mention of walking “up to the podium” to accept an award. It’s about the big city and fame, vs. small town struggles. Since this “podium” line came after a mention of an accident, I originally assumed she was giving a speech at her lover’s funeral rather than accepting an award. I think this was because it felt out of place to talk about an awards ceremony when the rest of the album has dwelled in the every day and the small scale. In my opinion, this song didn’t fit on the album very well, and was not up to the same standards of writing.

10. ivy

The lyrics to this song are amazing, and absolutely obliterate the shortcomings of ‘coney island.’ The word choice is dynamic, and there are no wasted filler words. The metaphors also have a coherence together, and all point to a pastoral landscape. To me, this song could exist at any point in history and still be applicable, and I love that timeless quality.

Taylor’s voice is very soft and charming in this song, and it is clear that the speaker takes joy in this affair. There is no fear, only a longing to be together, and that is refreshing after a fairly depressing album so far. It’s a pleasant, mid-album romp.

11. cowboy like me

I have to start by saying, I don’t personally like this, but I have to be fair to its style. To me, this feels less like cowboys, and more like Bonnie and Clyde, which is a similar aesthetic but not quite the same. But I digress. With this kind of dramatic setting, I would have liked to hear more of a narrative in the lyrics, like we got with ‘no body, no crime.’ However, I get that this is a full country song, going back to her roots, and the country genre is not known for telling lengthy tales—instead dwelling in emotion and aesthetic.

This song accomplished what it set out to do, and had a particularly complex track for a country song. I was a big fan of the guitar breakdown in the middle. It stuck to the country genre, while also doing some typical Taylor gender bending with perspective. Not my favorite, but solid.

12. long story short

Even more than ‘coney island,’ I feel that this song doesn’t fit with the rest of the album. Though I suppose I can appreciate that it’s an intentional move outside of her overarching theme, whereas ‘coney island’ just felt vaguely off and wrong.

Overall, I think it’s nice that she broke from her theme of loss to appreciate a current love. However, this is another song that’s just kind of… there, like ‘dorothea.’ It’s slightly more enjoyable than ‘dorothea’ because it has some pop style ear-candy for me to enjoy.

13. marjorie

A truly beautiful and sentimental song. This is an instance where it’s absolutely acceptable to have simple lyrics and rhymes, because it adds to the sense of spontaneous sadness and lamentation (as opposed to ‘coney island’). The repetition of “you’re alive” was heartbreaking, and felt like a desperate wish for this to be true.

The bridge is really a highlight, in the personal details it offers. Especially the following lines: “I should've asked you how to be / Asked you to write it down for me / Should've kept every grocery store receipt / 'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me.”

As the cherry on top, the use of her grandmother’s vocals is haunting and incredible. Along with ‘happiness,’ this was a definite highlight of the album for me.

14. closure

This is a very uninteresting song next to some of the other, more meaningful pieces on the album. I suppose it was meant to be a quick, winding-down song towards the end of the album. The vocals were a bit strange. Taylor sounds vaguely british at some points in the chorus, but not enough for it to sound fully intentionally. Someone should have directed her better on that, if she wanted it to come across as a fully realized acting choice.

I do enjoy the track of this song, and especially the percussion. It seems a bit similar to Cosmo Sheldrake, who is an artist who writes in the style of ‘Folktronica’ (check him out, he’s awesome!).

15. evermore

Taylor did a great job of emoting here, and she really carried the song despite the fairly stripped down track. I actually liked the slow-moving and bare music, considering the theme of depression and feeling hollow. It was interesting to get an accelerando with the introduction of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, as it conveyed a feeling of hope when another person pulls you out of a dark place. Perhaps you need someone else to help you get back on your feet, and that’s ok.

This was a powerful message in an album of loss and sadness, and I was glad to end on a positive note (while still recognizing the pain and struggle to get to that brighter place).

Closing Thoughts:

Song breakdown:

• 4 that I thought were straight up bad, underdeveloped, or didn’t fit well with the album

champagne problems, tis’ the damn season, coney island, and closure

• 3 that could only be described as “meh”

gold rush, dorothea, and long story short

• 6 that were solid

willow, tolerate it, no body no crime, ivy, cowboy like me, and evermore

• 2 that I absolutely loved

happiness and marjorie

Album coherence: 5/10

Sonically fairly consistent, though with enough variety to be engaging. The theme, however, was not strong throughout

Vocals: 7/10

Good vocals, but the songs were not particularly difficult to sing, and sometimes she lacked emotion and variety.

Lyrics: 7/10

There were songs with amazing lyrics, and songs that were lacking.

Track quality: 8/10

Great variety of track, often with complex layering. There were a few songs where I wasn’t wowed

Overall, there is a lot of good material here, which provides many perspectives on intimacy and lost love. However, there are too many subpar songs for me to rate this album highly as a whole. Additionally, I don’t think there was a strong theme throughout, and many of the songs seemed to meander away from the general aesthetic. The vocals and instrumentals were high quality, but sometimes Taylor lacked good direction to help her convey the song in the way she wanted to. I would say this is not an album that’s worth repeatedly listening to all the way through, but I highly regard at least half of the songs.

With all this in mind, I give this a 6.5/10 as an album.