Tag: sit here in this hurt

“champagne problems,” tells the story of a woman who shocks her would-be fiancé and their loved ones by turning down a marriage proposal right before Christmas. In a post about evermore, Taylor stated that the song depicts “longtime college sweethearts who had very different plans for the same night, one to end it and one who brought a ring.”

Champagne Problems is one of the best songs on the whole album, lyrically and poetically. I could have used so much imagery from the lyrics but the part which kept repeating in my head was “your heart was glass, I dropped it” I kept on thinking how I could create artwork for these lyrics, in the end, I found an old champagne glass wrapped it in a towel and smashed it. I took photos of the smashed glass and used the colour pallet to create an artwork in the same technique I have used for my new media artworks previously.

The blue colour pallet conveys the heartbreak and loss that the song creates🥂

New Media Art

“gold rush” is the third song on evermore, is a song depicting the jealousy she has because she is attracted to someone who everyone else is. Because of this, she has to stop picturing her life with them. 🫖

Scanography, Collage and New Media Art

“‘tis the damn season” is the fourth track on evermore.

In the post prior to the release of the album, Taylor wrote that one of the song storylines on evermore was about “what happens when (Dorothea) comes back [from Hollywood] for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame.” This likely refers to “‘tis the damn season” given the lyrical mentions of both Los Angeles and the winter holidays. Notably, evermore was released two weeks prior to Christmas.

I wanted to get the imagery of the Los Angeles skyline juxtaposed to an illustration of a warm cosy bed previously featured in my lockdown work 3:06 am, a similar work to Taylor releasing music during the lockdown. 🌃

Digital Collage, New Media Art

“Tolerate It” is the fifth and most vulnerable song from evermore. This song is about the continuous struggle of wanting love from someone who isn’t even paying attention to anything you do for them. Again, this song lyrically is stunning and one of the songs I have on repeat. I used film photography for this piece as I wanted to get across an old feeling of an image, like an image which has been stuck in the drawer and forgotten about since the first date and now the people in the story are just “tolerating” each other and one wants it to work and try recreates the old love they used to have. 🥂

Film Photography

“nobody, no crime” is an imaginative take on Swift’s part on a true crime story, featuring HAIM band member Este Haim as the centre of a missing person case after being cheated on by her husband.

For this work, I took inspiration from postal censorship used during the world wars with key parts of the texts removed and only leaving the lyrics and words which mirror the song. I scanned and removed all the lettering and images from an article found in my local newspaper.

How can they prove it with nothing to back it up? 📰

Scanography

Despite its name, “happiness” has a deceptive title. It’s a track about moving on from a decaying relationship, but acknowledging the bits of joy that existed within a more destructive, hurtful context.

Behind the image I wanted to play with the context of acid rain but I just didn’t know how to execute it properly and after lots of brainstorming I wanted to have a figure crying, the acid rain tears as acid rain decays statues which is a metaphor for the relationship described in the song. I think this has to be one of my favourite pieces from the series, simple but so effective.

What do you think? 🌧

“Dorothea” is the eighth song on evermore, as well as the first song that Taylor Swift wrote for this album. Taylor referred to the character as a “girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams.” “tis the damn season” is likely the story of her return back home for the holidays. “Dorothea” itself seems to be told from the point of view of an old hometown lover.

The song mirrors “The Lucky One” from Taylor’s Red album too, I got the imagery of a retro American shop front covered in small televisions for the tiny screens, this could also be referring to FaceTime and video chatting with the lockdown or busy schedules. 📺

2,4 and 6 HB Pencils, Scanned

“coney island” is Taylor’s first collaboration with The National after working heavily with band member Aaron Dessner on both the writing and production of evermore and folklore. Through the use of back-and-forth conversational lyrics littered with imagery that is rich with bygone experiences, it evokes a heavy feeling of loss and nostalgia for a past relationship where effort was not equal from both sides.

The lyrics contrast the imagery of Coney Island which is known for the theme park but the melancholy lyrics and dark imagery of dark greys and lonely on a busy New York beach. 🎡

Acrylic Paint, New Media Art