Mirrorball: Analysis of Taylor Swift’s folklore (from larger post) {8/17/20 WP}

This is a more digestible portion of my album analysis:

Here, I have tried to analyze what and who each track of Folklore is about.  Which is complex because it’s not in a linear order.  Names are obscured.  Facts may be reality or story.  The narrator is unreliable.  And this whole thing is going to be from a Kaylor perspective, because that’s how the songs, and Taylor Swifts catalog as a whole makes the best sense to me.  I’ll show you what I mean.

6. Mirror Ball.

"Breaking in a million pieces"

is an indication of the fears Taylor Swift has about disappointing people.  Especially concerning coming out of the closet.  The line, “I can change everything about me to fit in” shows Taylor is a people-pleaser to the extreme, even to the detriment of her own self-interests.  It also gives insight to her life in the closet (hiding queerness).  Taylor is reflecting back what she thinks people want, because she's are afraid to let anybody down by showing her true self.

“Hush when no one is around…Shining just for you.”

It’s a secret.  The shining happens when nobody else is looking. Taylor is spinning and shining for Karlie only.

The verse about calling off the circus (the Trump administration), the disco burning down (the closet disappearing from around them and their relationship), and sending the rodeo clowns home (the Kushners out of power of the Trump White House and also being out from under Scott and Scooter’s stipulations on the masters) shows how everything is about to change for the better.

Secondarily, the line speaks to how every different person that listens to Taylor's music feels she is speaking to them.  The music resonates with all types of people, and the meanings shift depending on POV.  For instance, some people might HATE my interpretation because it's colored with a queer lens, and as a straight or homophobic person it's impossible for them to interpret the art that way.  That's the beauty of Taylor being a mirrorball she shines for so many people...

“I know they say the end is near.”

I am pretty sure Taylor is speaking to Karlie here, about how they are each almost finished with their bearding contracts.  They will soon be rid of their fake relationships (Jared and Joe) so they can be together.  Or the end of being in the closet.  Optimistically, maybe Taylor is saying the end of her hiding is near.

She can be talking about her career, and how she's over the peak.  Taylor has always been afraid of aging and becoming irrelevant.

Hopefully she is NOT talking about her life since she is still only in her early 30s at writing.  But hiding your true self to please others is a big ask, so a lot of people are anxious and depressed under these conditions.

“I’m still a believer [in real love?] I don’t know why.” 

Even with all the hiding, projecting what everyone else wants to see instead of the truth.  Even with so many relational complications from suppressing herself and displaying the desired character.  Even with the fickleness of every lover under the pressured microscope of her fame. Taylor still believes in love, and wants the big romance with a happy ending.  She still believes it's possible and isn't totally jaded. 

And with that, the song ends on a high note:  Taylor is on her tallest tiptoes because Karlie Kloss is a lot taller at 6’2″.