“evermore” is the fifteenth and final track on the standard edition of Taylor Swift’s second 2020 album ‘evermore.’ The song features Bon Iver, who also collaborated on “exile” on ‘folklore’ album.
Taylor Swift announced her 9th studio album ‘evermore‘ in quick succession to her previous studio album ‘folklore‘ which was released in July 2020. Both albums follow a similar theme and Taylor called them ‘sister-records.’ “To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in,” said Taylor Swift announcing the album. The ‘evermore’ album releases on December 11, 2020.
On “evermore,” Taylor tackles topics of mental health when she felt like the whole world was against her. However, she finds hope that the pain she endured during these times wouldn’t last forever.
Songwriting credits on the song include Justin Vernon, Taylor Swift, and Joe Alwyn.
Listen to “evermore” by Taylor Swift Ft. Bon Iver
Buy ‘evermore’ Album on Apple Music and Amazon
“evermore” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Verse 1
Most of the lyrics on this track may refer to one of the bleakest years of Taylor’s life; 2016. Kanye West released his infamous “Famous” song in February 2016, and its music video in June 2016. The lyrics to the song had Kanye calling Taylor Swift the b-word, and the music video had a Taylor Swift look-a-like naked. Worst of all, Kanye went on to portray Taylor Swift as a liar claiming that he previewed the song to Taylor Swift before release and got her consent. However, only 3 years later, was it revealed that Kanye only previewed her part of the lyrics and not the actual lyric with the b-word. Between 2016 and 2020, Taylor Swift was portrayed as a liar and a snake by the West family. However, Taylor Swift fully absorbed this insult and released her darkest album to-date, ‘Reputation’ in November 2017.
The lyrics on “evermore” hint at a dark time period between July and November in a certain year for Taylor. It is easy to match these timelines with her personal life in the year 2016. Further, 2016 is the year Taylor Swift met Joe Alwyn, her current boyfriend of 4 years. She met her in May 2016 at the annual Met Gala event and attended Joe’s movie screening in November of the same year. The album ‘Reputation’ might have given her some sort of relief too.
The song lyrics also say “motion capture put me in a bad light.” The “Famous” music video, showing a naked Taylor Swift look-a-like dropped in July 2016.
Despite the lyrics having perfect links to her personal life, Taylor is trying to express some of the darkest times of her life. She tried to understand what she did wrong for it to feel like the entire world is crashing on her. But she could find none.
Chorus-1
Taylor Swift recalls feeling like losing out of her breath–running from every stick and stone thrown at her. She was beginning to feel as if this torture would last forever.
Verse 2
In the second verse, we find a much more relaxed Taylor Swift. It’s the month of December and the dust is beginning to settle down. ‘Reputation’ album was a massive hit and well received by fans and critics alike. Her friendship with Joe Alwyn is bustling. So, it’s natural that we Taylor Swift welcoming the month of December. She tries to think back to the dark times a few months back, but there is so much fresh light in her life that stops her from reeling back to darkness. Taylor doesn’t try too hard to go back.
Bridge-1/2
The first bridge of the song is performed by Justin Vernon and both Justin and Taylor join vocals on the second verse.
Both of them sing about the recovery process in a beautiful symphony. They sing about how they relied on someone near and dear to them to get through their darkest times. For Taylor, it might have been her newfound companion Joe Alwyn. The relationship or friendship between Taylor and Joe Alwyn might not have been so strong at this point, being just a few months of knowing each other. However, there was hope in Taylor Swift. And hope is a strong piece of armor.
Chorus-2
In the final chorus of the song, Taylor Swift sings that she knows all the pain she endured would not last forever!
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics and further meaning breakdown on Genius.