Taylor Swift
What it took directly
- documentedepiphany (folklore, 2020) took from Cocteau Twins' sonic palette"the Cocteau Twins‑styled ‘epiphany’" Sound On Sound (Tom Doyle's description of the track — not Dessner's own words)
- documentedthe last great american dynasty (folklore, 2020) took from Radiohead's In Rainbows"having been inspired by Radiohead’s In Rainbows" Sound On Sound (Tom Doyle's description of Dessner's guitar layering — not Dessner's own words)
- statedclosure (evermore, 2020) took from a Justin Vernon beat loop from Big Red Machine's 'Starters' sketches"It was this little loop that Justin had given me in this folder of ‘Starters’, he calls them." Aaron Dessner, to Sound On Sound
- statedexile (folklore, 2020) took from Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)"Taylor is a big fan of Justin. He's, like, her favorite vocalist." Aaron Dessner, to Apple Music/Zane Lowe (quoted by Stereogum)
- statedthe last great american dynasty (folklore, 2020) took from Rebekah Harkness's life"As soon as I found out about her, I wanted to know everything I could. So I started reading. I found her so interesting." Taylor Swift, to Entertainment Weekly (quoted by Songfacts)
- statedmad woman (folklore, 2020) took from the Scott Borchetta / Scooter Braun masters dispute (2019)"Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter." Taylor Swift, via Tumblr, 2019 (quoted by Yahoo Entertainment)
- statedepiphany (folklore, 2020) took from COVID-19 healthcare workers"I wrote it about health-care workers who are putting themselves at risk more than anyone else and don’t have a choice" Taylor Swift, to Rolling Stone (quoted by Military.com)
- documentedepiphany (folklore, 2020) took from Archie Dean Swift Jr.'s WWII Marine Corps service at the Battle of Guadalcanal"Archie Dean Swift Jr., who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, never got to see his granddaughter achieve a level of success and popularity few have, but his commitment to his country stuck with her." Military.com reporting
- documentedbetty (folklore, 2020) took from Joe Alwyn (credited as William Bowery)"the male cowriter she worked with on "Betty" was actually her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn" BuzzFeed reporting
- statedTaylor Swift took from Scott Borchetta hearing her perform in Nashville (first meeting, Nov 2004)"Today marks the 20th anniversary of my first meeting with Taylor. A day that changed both of our lives." Scott Borchetta, via Instagram (quoted by Yahoo Entertainment)
What it learned to do
- statedepiphany (folklore, 2020) learned from Aaron Dessner's glacial, Icelandic-styled ambient sound design"I imagined these glacial, Icelandic sounds with distended chords and this almost classical feeling." Aaron Dessner, to Rolling Stone (quoted by Songfacts)
- statedfolklore (Taylor Swift album, 2020) took from films and other people's art/storytelling watched during 2020 quarantine"I feel like consuming other people's art and storytelling ... opened this portal in my imagination and made me feel like, 'Well, why have I never done this before? Why have I never created characters and intersecting storylines?'" Taylor Swift, to Entertainment Weekly (quoted by BuzzFeed)
- statedbetty (folklore, 2020) learned from Patty Griffin's "Top of the World""Patty Griffin wrote this song, 'Top of the World.' It's one of my favourite songs of all time, and it's from the perspective of this older man who has lived a life full of regret" Taylor Swift, to Entertainment Weekly (quoted by BuzzFeed)
- statedTaylor Swift (albums Taylor Swift through 1989) learned from Nathan Chapman"I just thought Taylor's songs needed to be bigger." Nathan Chapman, to MusicRadar
- statedTaylor Swift (Red, 1989, reputation, The Life of a Showgirl) learned from Max Martin and Shellback"We’ve never actually made an album before where it’s just the three of us. There’s no other collaborators." Taylor Swift, on New Heights podcast (quoted by TIME)
- statedTaylor Swift (1989 onward) learned from Jack Antonoff"She’s the first person who recognized me as a producer." Jack Antonoff, on TIME's Person of the Week podcast
- statedTaylor Swift (early catalog, e.g. Tim McGraw, You Belong With Me) learned from Liz Rose"The reason it worked is that I didn't get in her way" Liz Rose, to Yahoo! Music (quoted by Taste of Country)
- inferredTaylor Swift's insistence on writing/co-writing only her own songs learned from the authorship norm Liz Rose enforced in their Music Row co-writes"Because Taylor always wanted to write her songs." inferred — Liz Rose's Taste of Country interview describes Swift's individual habit of refusing songs she wouldn't perform herself; Rose frames this as Swift's own character, not a stated lineage claim
The tradition it sits in
- statedthe lakes (folklore, 2020) comes from William Wordsworth and the Lake District Romantic poets"In the 19th century, you had a lot of poets like William Wordsworth and John Keats who would spend a lot of time there" Taylor Swift, in Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (quoted by Songfacts)
- statedTaylor Swift comes from Shania Twain"I saw that Shania Twain brought this independence and this crossover appeal" Taylor Swift, to Rolling Stone, 'Unabridged Taylor Swift', December 2008 (quoted by The Pop History Dig)
- statedTaylor Swift comes from Faith Hill"I saw that Faith Hill brought this classic old-school glamour and beauty and grace" Taylor Swift, to Rolling Stone, December 2008 (quoted by The Pop History Dig)
- statedTaylor Swift comes from The Dixie Chicks"I saw that the Dixie Chicks brought this complete “we don’t care what you think” quirkiness" Taylor Swift, to Rolling Stone, December 2008 (quoted by The Pop History Dig)
- inferredfolklore / evermore (Aaron Dessner-produced tracks) comes from Bon Iver's ambient indie-folk aesthetic"Dessner spent the first six weeks of lockdown writing music that he believed to be for Big Red Machine, his project with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon." inferred — Dessner's Sound On Sound interview describes the mechanics of the Big Red Machine collaboration with Justin Vernon that fed folklore/evermore; he does not himself frame this as the albums' stylistic lineage
- inferredmad woman / the last great american dynasty (folklore, 2020) comes from the wronged-woman-recast-as-folk-villain archetype"misfit widow getting gleeful revenge on the town that cast her out" inferred — Songfacts' 'misfit widow' framing and the album's own 'mad woman' throughline draw the parallel, but neither Swift nor Songfacts states it as an inherited literary archetype
Where the whole form comes from
- statedTaylor Swift comes from her grandmother, a professional opera singer"She was one of my first inspirations" Taylor Swift, to The Reading Eagle (quoted by The Pop History Dig)
Start here