Taylor Swift's "Willow" world video debut

It is midnight Eastern time on December 11th I’m sitting at my desk. I'm a freelance writer so yes, there is coffee beside me (if the words “sleep hygiene” even appear in the comments section I swear...)

Clutching my iced coffee I am eagerly awaiting the world debut of Taylor Swift's new surprise album that I along with every other music blogger in the world found out about 12 hours or so ago. These are the kind of last-minute announcements that thrill fans and keep bloggers on their toes. As a blogger and a fan, I am thrilled to be on my toes for this.

The whole scene is quite familiar actually, the waiting screen promises fans that the video is coming soon meanwhile thousands wait with their mouths agape like tiny baby birds waiting for a meal of intellectual stimulation. the digestion of which will play out in head-bobbing and toe-tapping. There are some stark differences though from when I sat here in the same position awaiting the world premiere of AC/DC's “Shot in the Dark'' video debut, perhaps the most glaring is that today I am joined by nearly 10x as many other people, more than 350,000 more than made it out for ACDC. There are some pretty clear reasons for this, namely a generational gap, Swift's fans are simply more likely to understand the process of a YouTube premier when in fact even AC/DC's tech team fumbled significantly (see my experience with that premiere here). Swift is contemporary. Her team knows YouTube because they use it every day, because not only do they have to, they want to.

In Waiting

As we wait for the debut to start we are held captive by a candid shot of Swift and 2 men but the real action is in the comments section where a quarter-million people are fighting to be heard and Swift is actually answering questions live.

It is nearly impossible to keep up with who the questions are coming from, the mob of commenters gush and ask various questions, a common theme is finding out what the favorite songs are of her crew, “What’s Aaron’s favorite song?” asks Alison S. referencing multi-instrumentalist Aaron Dressner, others ask about producer Jack Antonoff, and pianist and former partner, Joe Alwyn, credited here as William Bowery (all of which garner co-writing credits on this album). This attention to the people around her is a testament to Swift’s humility and just how much she elevates those that work around her. For those wondering, she eventually replied: “Jack’s favorite is "Gold Rush" which takes place inside a single daydream where you get lost in thought for a minute and then snap out of it”.

When I entered the stream there were about 40,000 people waiting with me, by the time that number doubles somebody asks about clothing for the album’s photoshoot and how she kept it a secret, once again crediting her team members by name says, “Stella is super trustworthy and so creative, I told her I had a secret project and she designed clothes that were EXACTLY what I imagined. I drove to her office and picked them up & took them into the woods!!”. If there is one thing Swift is NOT it is an eccentric high rolling diva, rather her lifestyle is more about pumpkin spice, fuzzy sweaters, and good friends.

Many people ask about the connections between Folklore and Evermore, (this is something I’ll explore more in my full album review) as viewership numbers hit around 184,000 Swift shares that, “There is a scene in the (Willow) video that represents the song “Seven”, one that represents “Mirror Ball” and one for “Exile” and one for “Mad Woman”.” As time goes on more people shout geographic cues about where they're watching from, one person writes “Tuning in from Abu Dhabi!” others publicly fangirl-out like Adriana Pici who added, “OMG Can’t Breathe Help”!

At exactly midnight we are abruptly thrust into an ad for Frito-Lay. It features a chip loving man in a shiny suit energetically shopping for crispy snack foods. After sparkly chip man we are returned to a waiting screen, this time with a 2-minute timer, the chat intensifies.

With 14 seconds left we switch to a new countdown that floats over a montage of Swift walking in a field, in a yard, in a car, and on a dock.

Seconds from starting the audience has swelled to an astounding 207,000 viewers and the chat stream is almost incomprehensibly fast, in short everybody is SUPER FREAKIN’ STOKED over this!

"Willow"

Before getting started let me say that I am deliberately avoiding alot of commentary about the song itself in favor of delving more into the video aspect (the song will be examined in detail in my forthcoming review of the album as a whole.) That said, this moment was GIANT because it was truly the very first thing we were hearing from Evermore, and that’s a heavy moment, so let’s begin…

The first second of this video made Swifty-hearts the world over explode as it picked up from the exact instant that the “Cardigan” video ends. We find swift upon the same piano stool in the same cardigan, dripping from her unfortunate dip in the ocean. As we pull back on the shot everything is exactly the same except now the gold energy that had existed as a sort of ethereal portal to the folklorian woods (and the middle of the ocean), is now concentrated on a single rope that our protagonist, Swift, is holding in her hands. Soon she begins to trace the rope which leads back into the top of the piano, she once again crawls under the piano’s lid only this time she emerges from a rabbit hole in the trunk of a tree, what follows as she walks to a nearby pond is a more complete look at the folklorian woods than we got in “Cardigan'' (we’re going to get more of this later) and let me just say: It. Is. Stunning. In fact, the imagery in this video is so rich and complex that there is really no substitute for seeing it (link at the end of this article). She soon finds herself at the pond and, gazing into it, has a series of visions, mostly revolving around a boy, played by Taeok Lee, who served as a backup dancer when she toured the Red album in 2013.

As Swift ripples the water to dispel the visions I can’t help but notice that the viewer count has climbed to 333,519. Swift had stated that she wanted to give this album to fans as a surprise at the end of this particularly hard year when many people would be struggling with isolation at the hands of social distancing and the battle against Covid-19. With that thought my eyes well up slightly - with this video debut she allowed nearly half a million people to share a single moment of emotion, the chat continues to course by, 333,000 people sharing in a single moment with a single focus. It’s admittedly just a fraction of the population of even 1 major U.S. city, but alas, it is something, and it does matter.

With that thought, my eyes refocus on the moment as Swift dives into the pond emerging dry, and also a small child, this is likely the first of the promised references to Folklore as we see the young lovers from the pond (Swift and Lee) as young children in a blanket fort. This look back at a deep and meaningful childhood friendship is reminiscent of the story told in “Seven” and, as per Swift’s attention to detail coupled with her earlier comment in the live chat, was certainly intentional.

The two young children marvel over the string, initially, the boy is working on some type of ‘cat’s cradle’ trick before handing it over to the little girl. She stares in awe at the magical item for a moment before looking up, only to find that the boy has vanished. It has only been a few short seconds and the number of viewers has climbed another 15,000, now 348,000 people are here.

The small girl abandons the cord as she leaves the blanket fort, transforming once more into Swift, however now she is in an old-timey oddities display, from inside the box she plays a mandolin and watches the patrons and exhibitioners going about their various tasks. This is an important scene, not only does this scene evoke “Mirrorball” but much as that song described her relationship with fame, the imagery of this moment is even more direct. In “Mirrorball” she describes through metaphor how she is merely an object to so many people, people simply stand around and stare at her as opposed to recognizing her humanity. This scene sees her physically represent that disconnect as she flips into performance-mode playing mandolin through the chorus as the patrons and exhibitioners go about their various tasks. In the end, the crowd parts and she spots Lee coming toward her, the two of them share a moment in which they are unable to achieve a true connection because of the glass box containing her. Potentially wanting to go back to the innocence of childhood, where it was easier to forge those connections, before the box separated her from other people, she turns and tries to break back through the curtain; when she does there is nothing on the other side but a wall. In turn, she looks down and realizes that the gold string leads to a hatch in the bottom of the box, this moment is poignant; as she realizes that it’s impossible to go back, she could give up hope but instead she finds a way forward as we all have to each day. There truly is no going back.

After initially looking into the hatch she breaks the fourth wall on the line “I come back stronger than a ‘90s trend”, it's a cool line and she offers up a fittingly cool little glance as she delivers it unapologetically to the camera.

After dropping through the hatch we sink further into the folklorian theme with capes and big covenant energy. Witches have become a recurring element in her work over the past couple albums and there is a reasonable chance that this is the “Mad Woman” reference that she promised. Surrounded by her ceremoniously garbed and masked posse she marches toward a tower of fiery light before a ritualistic dance seems to erupt. Swift watches them curiously before joining them, pulling and pushing the energy from the light as it rises up, culminating in orbs that seem to tumble like dandelion tops. After a while, she seems to lose interest in the dance and walks back, following the string the way she came. After she leaves, one of the masked and hooded individuals begins to chase after her only to stop, ripping off his mask and revealing himself as the young man from the oddities display (Lee). It is then revealed that she has followed the rope all the way back to the piano where she started, this time she finds the end, and at it? You guessed it, oddity guy. The two of them lock fingers and exit the cabin, walking into a lush green forest flooded with daylight that deliberately contrasts the more earthy color scheme preferred by the remainder of the video.

Ultimately, I think the biggest take away is that men will drive you to the end of your rope....but maybe that’s just me.

Digging for references

Prior to the debut, Swift mentioned that the video would contain scenes referencing “Seven”, “Mirror Ball”, “Exile” and “Mad Woman”. “Seven”, “Mirror Ball”, and “Mad Women'' were fairly easy to spot but, “Exile” baffles me a bit as it seems to baffle early attempts by Swift-specific bloggers and analysts. Beginning with the end of Cardigan could possibly lend itself to the “Exile” line “I’ve seen this film before and I didn’t like the ending” the same could be said of Swift and Lee finding themselves in the same shot as she found herself with Justin Gaston in “Love Story”. In addition to these parallels that she mentioned herself many people were quick to point out the magical string draws an easy connection to “Invisible String” in which she says "one single thread of gold tied me to you". I also feel like this imagery of entering and exiting the piano plays as a potent way of metaphorizing her relationship with music and the resultant fame she’s experienced.

20 minutes later

In the end, “Willow” debuted to 381,856 viewers at the stream's peak. From the time I opened YouTube until the time I was asked if I want to watch Adele’s carpool karaoke appearance next, was less than twenty minutes, yet we all walked away from that moment feeling somehow different. When a vital artist like this expands their catalogue the fandom is forevermore changed. Much less when they do it by surprise 2 weeks before Christmas...IN 2020!? Girl, get outta here!

Brass tacks

This is the 3rd video to be directed solely by Swift (the first 2 being "The Man" and "Cardigan") and it only adds to her burgeoning legacy of directing aesthetically stunning videos. Truly this is something else, and to put it plainly: This is what a music video should be. Let me say that again:

This is what a music video should be

I’m sorry but whether Swift is specifically your cup of tea or not, a music video should be a chance for the artist to communicate with fans. Much like reading a book, music largely takes place inside your head, we each see a different picture in our head when we listen to a song, a video is a chance to have a song interpreted by the artist. Far too often though, that opportunity is squandered, and we basically get varying shots of an artist lip-synching at a party or worse on a blank background. I already know who sings the song. What I want is to know is, how the song makes them feel.

Swift has used this video as a visually stunning (have I said that 3 times already?) means of communicating with her fans. Every second of this video is thought out, and Swift shows that she deeply cares about each detail. As the video’s director, alot falls on her and this could have been a disaster, or she could have played it safe, but after the “Cardigan” video we didn’t really expect that did we? Indeed you would be foolish to be a fan and expect this to be a substandard or boring video, that just isn’t her directorial style. I’ll be honest, I’m not always a fan of music videos, many of them fall victim to the shortcomings I mentioned earlier, but as Swift continues to explore her identity as a director I will go out of my way to be there for each and every premiere.

TL:DR: STUNNING.

Check out the "Willow" music video here.