Going to predict:

 

01. cardigan

02. exile (feat. Bon Iver)

03. epiphany

04. august

05. seven

06. the last great american dynasty

07. this is me trying

08. betty

09. the 1

10. my tears ricochet

Nooo, gutted invisible string missed the top 10.

Such a strong album though so can’t really complain haha.

 

I’m expecting something like:

01 exile (feat. Bon Iver)

02 cardigan

03 august

04 epiphany

05 seven

06 the 1

07 the last great american dynasty

08 this is me trying

09 betty

10 my tears ricochet

 

Hoping august makes the top 3, it’s a very close second favourite for me after invisible string.

All of my 10s and the 11 are still in play. Mirror ball was one of my 9s which has sadly departed.

 

What I hope:

10 - this is me trying

9 - seven

8 - my tears ricochet

7 - the one

6 - august

5 - betty

4 - cardigan

3 - exile

2 - the last great American dynasty

1 - epiphany

 

- the top 4 for me are pretty much aligned as I think all 4 songs are amazing

 

What I predict:

10 - this is me trying

9 - my tears ricochet

8 - seven

7 - betty

6 - the 1

5 - epiphany

4 - august

3 - last great American dynasty

2 - cardigan

1 - exile

All of my 10s and the 11 are still in play. Mirror ball was one of my 9s which has sadly departed.

 

What I hope:

10 - this is me trying

9 - seven

8 - my tears ricochet

7 - the one

6 - august

5 - betty

4 - cardigan

3 - exile

2 - the last great American dynasty

1 - epiphany

 

- the top 4 for me are pretty much aligned as I think all 4 songs are amazing

 

What I predict:

10 - this is me trying

9 - my tears ricochet

8 - seven

7 - betty

6 - the 1

5 - epiphany

4 - august

3 - last great American dynasty

2 - cardigan

1 - exile

My predictions are mostly off. :P

omg some top 10 predictions!! :o :wub: :wub: looking forward to seeing how accurate, or inaccurate, u guys have been!! x

THE VOTERS AVERAGES: #11-#15

 

11. No Sleeep // 8.66

12. Ansel // 8.63

12. Jay // 8.63

12. London81 // 8.63

15. Blacksquare // 8.56

 

The raters commentary:

So here are our rates who come in the middle of the loons and the harsher raters in this rate! However it gets v. close here as No Sleeep's 8.66 is only 0.13 higher than 16th place! Blacksquare kicks us off with a fab average of 8.56 and then we have a 3-way tie from Ansel, Jay and London81 with 8.63!! That can be our buzzjack folklore version of the love triangle xx and No Sleeep just misses out on a top 10 spot!

 

congrats for even higher averages though :cheer:

 

again we're not going up too high in the next section, as I can reveal in the #8-#10, we are only increasing from No Sleeep's scores by 0.15 :o and there is another tie! do you think you'll be in this section :o All will be revealed after 9th in the folklore rate (now that I've worked out the correct amount of tracks x)

 

Hoping tomorrow to 100% do #10, #9 and voters 10th-8th. Might do some more as well!

I feel like perhaps I was a bit too harsh in my ratings given that I’ve been listening addictively and talking about the album to anyone who will listen for long enough :heehee: :rofl: :wacko: :lol:

 

I look forward to the next songs in the top 10 tomorrow.

HOW is 'Mad Woman' that low?! :o :cry:

HOW is 'Mad Woman' that low?! :o :cry:

'cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave'

 

 

10. my tears ricochet // 8.38

 

when I'm screaming at the sky: John-James, LmLou, ...Ready For It, UltraFoklore [10], Jonjo, MrAndrewMan [9.5], lots of 9's

you hear my stolen lullabies: RabbitFurCoat [4], five 7's

 

The song commentary:

my tears ricochet is the fifth track of folklore, which ofc track 5 is elusive in Taylor's music, which are some of the most personal songs she's written and some of the hardest hitting, and the track 5's are iconic in the fanbase! this is the third Jack Antonoff track to leave us, making august/betty/this is me trying his top 3 in this rate! this is the only track on the album that is solely written by Taylor and has peaked at #16 on the Hot 100.

Taylor described my tears ricochet as being about an 'embittered tormentor showing up at the funeral of his fallen object of obsession'. Def an interesting subject to tackle in folklore. HOWEVER, once upon hearing the song, it became very clear that there was a double meaning to the song with most of the lyrics relating to Swift's masters situation and Scott's betrayal + the whole situation. This is the most obvious song on the album about Taylor's current situation, with this and mad woman being the only songs that prominently touch upon it! Taylor revealed this was the first song she wrote for folklore and Jack Antonoff said it's the best song they've ever done together! The prominent funeral imagery in the song can also sound like Swift mourning the metaphorical murder of the old Taylor in LWYMMD. The first verse sets up the imagery/setting of the funeral and presents Taylor feeling betrayed. The chorus is when the lyrics relating to the masters hit hard. 'I didn't have it in myself to go with grace' highlights Taylor's outspoken attitude after finding out Scott sold her masters to $cooter and uses battle metaphors throughout the song. 'you wear the same jewels that I gave you as you bury me', the jewels representing Taylor's six albums under big machine records. 'cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave' is one of the lyrics that hit the hardest with Scott used to support Taylor and be on her side. the bridge hits even harder as Taylor 'can go anywhere I want, just not home', home obviously being big machine records and ofc 'stolen lullabies' referring to her old tracks :cry: with the final chorus hitting home about the betrayal and how everything is sadly destroyed now and the good years have been cancelled out. damn this song hits hard lyrically.

I absolutely adore my tears ricochet and it continues to hit me more and more with every single listen :heart: It's 100% in my top 3 on the album nowadays and always one of the first songs I go to play <3 the lyrics are utterly fantastic and strike 500x harder when you realise there over her masters situation. I was kinda hoping if Taylor did a song about her masters battle, it would be something like this or Not Ready To Make Nice by Dixie Chicks instead of another LWYMMD (as much as I adore it) and that's EXACTLY what we got!! this song utterly destroys me. Damn it just hits so hard, her vocals are heavenly, esp the stolen lullabies part omg. The way the production builds as the 2nd chorus hits is absolutely stunning and complements the song perfectly. This is already in my holy trinity of her track 5's (alongside all too well & delicate ofc). an absolute beauty that I hope does better next time round in the rate <3

 

The rate commentary:

and kicking off the top 10 is my tears ricochet, which just makes the top 10 by 0.04!! it was v. v. close!! I actually thought this would come 7th/8th but considering half of you predicted 10th and the other half 9th, maybe I was overestimating this!! this is a pretty big fan favourite and it's held fabulously on streaming, it's still her 5th highest song! my tears ricochet is one of 3 songs in the top 10 that didn't receive an 11! however it's average of 8.38 is a fabulous start to kick off the top 10 <3 the song received four 10's (including all 3 Taylor mods, that taste *.*), a couple of 9.5's and lots of 9's, but a low score + quite a lot of 7's & 7.5's prevented this from climbing any higher! I'm so glad this made the top 10 :heart:

 

9th up next and we have a mini bump in averages!

This is broadly going very well indeed! That top 10 are my favourite ten tracks on the album I think, although I'd have placed Hoax closer to that top 10 now.

Ooh my top 10 predictions starting off well *.*

How is 'betty' not out yet :drama: 'mirrorball' the first big loss for me :(

Coz it's the best non-exile track on the album!!!

 

If I did my rate now, I'm fairly sure mirrorball would get a 10 (or 9.5 at least) that's really hit me lately! And my QUEEN STANNING IT :cheeseblock:

'I'm only seventeen, I don't know anything'

 

 

09. Betty // 8.52

 

standing in your cardigan: Liam, No Sleeep [11], Billy, Jonjo, London81, LmLou, MrAndrewMan, Nina West, UltraFoklore [10], HarryEzra, Josh [9.5]

would you tell me to go f*** myself: Bre [3], Jade [5]

 

The song commentary:

betty is the fourteenth track of folklore, and has proved to be way more popular than its tracklisting position suggests with it being in the top 8/9 tracks on the album on streaming!! this track is produced by BOTH Dessner and Antonoff, as well as Taylor herself! this is Taylor's first song to be sent officially to country radio in 7 years and has peaked at #42 on the Hot 100.

Betty is part 3 of the love triangle on folklore - after hearing betty's perspective on cardigan and the other woman on august, we hear from the perspective of James and learn more about the affair. James is portrayed as a person who can't own cup to their mistakes and the song delivers production & using instruments reminiscent of Taylor's earlier works. the lyrics ofc went viral v quickly with people speculating the song is gay with people unbeknown this was part of the love triangle on first listen! the first verse lyrics mimic a concept that Taylor spoke about on the voice memo for I Wish You Would (n't have appeared on 1989) whilst the pre-chorus echoes a lyric from New Romantics! the 'f*** myself' lyric is iconic *.* the chorus features many rhetorical questions and is so much fun! Taylor also explores the excuses James is making for his infidelity, from his age to his immaturity. and ofc there are direct links to both cardigan and august *.* the august link is made with 'she said, James, get in, let's drive' which directly mirrors the narrative + lyric of august whilst the cobblestones, doorstep, cars, streetlight and OFC 'standing in your cardigan' are direct references to betty's depiction of the relationship during cardigan! we also have an iconic KEY CHANGE in the last chorus from C major to D major, reminiscent of Taylor's earlier music, damn I've missed these!!

Betty is another highlight of the album for me and I feel 9th is where I have it in my personal ranking atm so yasss for it finishing here in this rate *.* It's fabulous to see Taylor delve back into country again and I adore the whole concept of the teenage love triangle so much, she encapsulates the feelings of James perfectly in this song and I love the inter-linked lyrics between this and cardigan + august. it's a fun song and that harmonica <3 def not a sound I was expecting to hear from Taylor again this soon but I'm so glad we did!

 

The rate commentary:

and onto 9th place we have Taylor's return to country with betty, the first song in the teenage love triangle to exit! betty makes the top 10 quite comfortably with an average of 8.52, fabulous for a country song on this site *.* I'm kinda surprised this made the top 10, just because it was SO DIVISIVE. by far the most divisive song in this rate and arguably the only divisive song haha. but it pulled of a top 10 place and just fell short of being in the top half of the album, iconic *.* It is also the lowest of the 3 radio singles in the rate! Betty is the first song to drop-out whilst receiving multiple 11's and by far has the most 10's to drop out so far! betty also received loads of 9's and a couple 9.5's but however it scored the lowest score iirc (of a 3) in the entire rate + a five and quite a few 6's from the non country lovers which dragged the average down! I'm v impressed how this did considering how reminiscent it is of her earlier work <3

 

8th up next and we have another mini but bigger bump in averages!

my tears ricochet is another favorite out. :(

Betty is an absolute BEAUTY.

 

It's classic Taylor Swift storytelling, with Country-pop radio hooks galore. Stunning.

Not me getting numbers 9 and 10 right in my prediction *.*

Fully expecting the rest to be completely different to my guesses now though haha

 

I can appreciate Betty and can see why some people adore it, but it’s probably my least favourite on the album – mainly for the fact that it’s most like her early work which is probably also the reason those that love it do :’)

THE VOTERS AVERAGES: #8-#10

 

08. LJ Jord 7 // 8.81

09. Cremey // 8.75

09. SKOB // 8.75

 

The raters commentary:

kicking off our top 10 we have ANOTHER tie as Cremey and SKOB both scored averages of 8.75 to finish joint 9th *.* and into 8th place we have LJ Jord 7 with a fabulous average of 8.81. We love seeing these scores <3 <3

 

congrats for even even higher averages though :cheer:

 

and after this section, we are straight into the loons zone with the top 7 all having average rates above a 9!!! Billy vs John-James vs Liam vs MrAndrewMan vs Nina West v Ready For It v UltraFolklore, who will win?!?! the next section revealed will be #7-#4, where there is another (and our last) tie!! do you think you'll be in this section :o All will be revealed after 7th in the folklore rate (now that I've worked out the correct amount of tracks x)

 

Hoping tomorrow to do #8, #7 and voters 7th-4th but I am actually going out for the first time in forever so don't guarantee that your getting results tomorrow ahaha xx hype away tho!

My predictions are terrible. Really thought Betty would be higher but your rate commentary gives me a good explanation as to why this is not the case.

 

Interestingly, there’s some songs I gave lower scores to that I’ve been finding myself listening far more to and enjoying such as this is me trying, illicit affairs & mad woman. Think scores in a later rate would be different.