History YMMV / Folklore2020

* GatewaySeries: ''This'' is the album that got several non-fans of pop music or just Taylor in general to appreciate her music and eventually become fans of hers. Mainly due to it being a NewSoundAlbum different from her SynthPop albums or her early country albums and displaying a more stripped down and aesthetically honest approach.

* {{Applicability}}: What exactly "my tears ricochet" is about is open to interpretation. One the surface, it's about someone who tormented the protagonist showing up to their funeral as a last proverbial middle finger. Is it about a literal or metaphorical funeral? If you take the latter interpretation, it opens up a few possibilities. Is it a romantic break-up with an abusive partner? Is it about a false friend who used you? Another way it can be seen is as a metaphor for business deal that's gone bad because someone you trusted stabbed you in the back. This calls to mind Taylor's less than amicable departure from Big Machine in late 2018.

*** Taylor herself seems to concur with the latter. In ''Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions'', she commented that she imagines the girl's name to be "Augusta" or "Augustine."

** After Swift and Joe Alwyn's break-up in 2023, "peace" goes from being an ode to her love for her partner to a rumination on all the ways their relationship was likely doomed. With many in the press claiming the split was partially due to Swift's increase in fame and media attention in the wake of this album's release, it appears that the ultimate answer to "Would it be enough if I can never give you peace?" seems to have been ''no''.
** "invisible string" is a SillyLoveSong heavily based on Taylor and Joe Alwyn's relationship and their growth as people, as demonstrated by the action of the narrator sending her ex baby presents, widely speculated to be Music/JoeJonas. By 2023, not only Taylor and Joe have broken up, Joe Jonas are also divorced his wife at the time the song was written and going through a vicious custody battle.

** "invisible string" is a SillyLoveSong heavily based on Taylor and Joe Alwyn's relationship and their growth as people, as demonstrated by the action of the narrator sending her ex baby presents, widely speculated to be Music/JoeJonas. By 2023, not only Taylor and Joe have broken up, Joe Jonas are also broke up with his wife at the time the song was written and going through a vicious custody battle.

** "invisible string" is a SillyLoveSong explicitly about Taylor and Joe Alwyn's relationship and growth as person, as demonstrated by the action of sending her ex baby presents, widely speculated to be Music/JoeJonas. By 2023, not only Taylor and Joe have broken up, Joe Jonas are also broke up with his wife at the time the song was written and going through a vicious custody battle.

* HarsherInHindsight: After Swift and Joe Alwyn's break-up in 2023, "peace" goes from being an ode to her love for her partner to a rumination on all the ways their relationship was likely doomed. With many in the press claiming the split was partially due to Swift's increase in fame and media attention in the wake of this album's release, it appears that the ultimate answer to "Would it be enough if I can never give you peace?" seems to have been ''no''.

** Did James outright cheat on Betty? If so, is it justified (or at least more understandable) by the fact that she was with someone else at the school dance? Or were they friends that could've become something more, but not actually dating? (Many in the "James is a girl" camp suggest that both were too afraid of their feelings to do anything about it, but James came to the dance hoping to actually ask Betty out properly... only to see her with some guy.)

* TrueArtIsAngsty: ''folklore'' is undoubtedly the darkest album Swift had ever done, with minimalist production and the lack of happy endings, explicit language and mentions of incredibly heavy themes like abuse, death and sexism. It is also the most universally critically acclaimed album of her entire career.

* HarsherInHindsight: After their break up in 2023, "peace" is extremely hard to listen to, given that one of the stated reasons for their break up is Joe Alwyn - the obvious inspiration for the song, struggle to adapt to Taylor's explosive level of fame ''because'' of this album and the song is exactly about that topic, which means that the answer for the question in the song "Would it be enough if I can never give you peace." is no.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: WordOfGod stated that James and Betty got back together made the entirely of "betty" this, with the apology came off as petty with James calling her friend stupid and blame the girl in "august" for ''his'' cheating.

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack: The fans's universal reaction to WordOfGod that she thinks James and Betty would get back together in ''The Long Pond Session'' is this.

* EpilepticTrees: The identity of "William Bowery" (one of the credited writers for "exile" and "betty") has sparked ''tons'' of speculation, as it's clearly a pseudonym, as "Bowery" appears to have no online presence and there's no known songwriter or other industry professional by that name. Taylor's keeping her mouth shut, leaving everyone else to wonder--even Aaron Desser admits he has no clue who Bowery is. The guesses range from Taylor's brother Austin, boyfriend Joe Alwyn, to Creator/KarlieKloss.
** In ''Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions'', Bowery was confirmed to be Joe Alwyn. Swift, Aaron Dessner, and Jack Antonoff playfully poked fun at the speculation.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: After years of being criticized for only writing {{Break Up Song}}s, SillyLoveSongs, or drama about her personal life, ''folklore'' is decidedly ''not'' about Taylor's personal experiences for the majority of the album.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: The album was announced ''16 hours'' before its official release without any promotional beside her announcement on social media. Also notable is that the album came out less than a year after her last album ''Lover''. Not even Swift's ''label'' knew about the album until hours before its release. The album was written when her 2020 tour was postponed because of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: The singer of "betty." The bridge reveals that their name is James, ''probably'' indicating that they're supposed to be a boy, but some fans have pointed out that it could be a GenderBlenderName--Taylor knows at least one girl named James (who has sisters called Inez and Betty, the other names in the love triangle trilogy) and was herself named after [[Music/JamesTaylor a man]]. However, in an interview, Taylor confirmed James to be male.

*** Taylor has since confirmed (in a blurb for country radio and in Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions) that "betty" is written from a male perspective, but that hasn't stopped fans from thinking of James as a girl.

** In Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Bowery was confirmed to be Joe Alwyn. Swift, Aaron Dessner, and Jack Antonoff playfully poked fun at the speculation.

** The third party in the Teenage Love Triangle being named August.

* HarsherInHindsight: "mad woman" is, among other things, about misogynistic men who use the women in their lives as shields against their misogyny. The week the album came out in July 2020, a high profile incident of this situation happened in Congress. Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL) was caught by a reporter referring to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) as a "fucking bitch" after he verbally accosted her as she was going to cast a vote. The next day, Yoho gave a half-assed BackhandedApology to Ocasio-Cortez where he tried to deflect blame by saying that he had a wife and two daughters. Ocasio-Cortez was going to let it go until he did that and then gave a speech on the floor calling him out for exactly what the song is about just an hour or so after the album got announced.
-->'''Rep. Ocasio-Cortez:''' Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man.

* {{Fanon}}: Many fans consider "[[Film/TheHungerGames Safe and Sound]]" to a bit of a predecessor to this album due to its similar style.

* {{Applicability}}: What exactly "my tears ricochet" is about is open to interpretation. One the surface, it's about someone who tormented the protagonist showing up to their funeral as a last proverbial middle finger. Is it about a literal or metaphorical funeral? If you take the latter interpretation, it opens up a few possibilities. Is it a romantic break-up with an abusive partner? Is it about a false friend who used youa? Another way it can be seen is as a metaphor for business deal that's gone bad because someone you trusted stabbed you in the back. This calls to mind Taylor's less than amicable departure from Big Machine in late 2018.