We’ve already had one this year, but Taylor Swift dropped another album and it’s already out, and you know what that means: so is a new music video.
“Willow is about intrigue, desire and the complexity that goes into wanting someone. I think it sounds like casting a spell to make someone fall in love with you (oddly specific visual),” the 10-time Grammy winner’s answer when asked what was the song all about.
And yes, she did give the music video that ‘oddly specific visual’. If you thought Cardigan had stunning visuals, Willow elevated it to a whole other level.
‘Willow’ was directed by none other than Tay Tay herself. In the whimsical visual, we see Taylor following a magical, glowing string (think Wonder Woman’s golden lasso) to her true love.
The video begins exactly where we left off Cardigan, tying Evermore to its sister-album Folklore.
The golden string! Yes, that string is a reference to the Folklore track “Invisible String”. Which was mentioned by Taylor as the “narrative plot device from a lyric on Folklore to tell the story”.
Just like in the Cardigan video, there were golden pixie dusts that takes Taylor on a journey back to the piano.
“Life was a willow, and it bent right to your wind,” she sings while diving into a glassy pond. “Head on the pillow, I could feel you sneakin’ in / As if you were a mythical thing / Like you were a trophy or a champion ring / And there was one prize I’d cheat to win.”
And the magic continues throughout the video…
Watch closely. As expected, tons of clues or ‘easter eggs’ were in the video. It’s true, nothing is coincidence with Taylor Swift.
Who was that man?
Tay Tay’s love interest in this music video first appears as a reflection in a puddle of water and later reappears again while she’s stuck inside a glass cage.
That was Taeok Lee.
Taeok was previously one of Taylor’s backup dancers “Red” tour back from 2013-2014. It seems that the duo have a longtime relationship.
The Korean-American previously posted a cute throwback of a black and white picture of them together with the caption: “A lifetime ago” with the hashtag #thirtyflirtyandthriving.
Pandemic albums
Taylor Swift recorded 2 albums in quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic with songwriters/producers Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, and both feature duets with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.
She also wrote several songs on both albums with “William Bowery,” the pseudonym for her boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
Additionally, Evermore includes a song with Dessner’s band The National as well as the long-overdue and by far the crowd’s favorite collab with Haim.
