Ah, the albums that turned me off of capital letters.
An updated visualization of key signatures in Taylor’s albums (2018 version here). I’ve moved from giving minor keys their own half of the circle, to giving them different-coloured segments within the bars, mostly because some songs are difficult to classify either way.
The last row feels a bit bare – I couldn’t find a pithy observation for these three albums. In Lover she recalled the exuberance of D Major which had been missing for two albums – most notably Paper Rings, which contained the same slide to a coda in E Major as Love Story. Also, across multiple albums it seems like she feels at home in B Minor (Better Than Revenge, The Last Time, Style, Miss Americana), but… it’s not enough of a trend to merit comment.
evermore’s bundle of A Major songs (the most cheery key, to my ears) consists of gold rush, tolerate it, and closure – so clearly she and I imagine the key differently.
On another note:
(Edited January 2022, changing to the folklore font and adding a background colour)
I’ve yet to do the analysis for evermore.
Caption: The II chord (on the second note of the scale) is a minor chord. It’s not uncommon, but pop music more often relies on the VI chord to add a touch of minor, including in Taylor’s earlier music. Here, it seems the chord has the role of evoking… wistfulness?
I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired
And you’d be standin’ in my front porch light
And I knew you’d come back to me
Your braids like a pattern
Love you to the Moon and Saturn
Passed down like folk songs
The love lasts so… long
Remember when I pulled up and said “Get in the car”
And then canceled my plans just in case you’d call?
Back when I was livin’ for the hope of it all
(For the hope of it all)
I’d give you my sunshine, give you my best
But the rain is always gonna come
If you’re standin’ with me
You knew it still hurts underneath my scars
From when they pulled me apart
But what you did was just as dark
(“my tears ricochet” also has a devastating II chord, but without words over it.)
Koji's Posts 