Invisible String: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added
m v2.05 - Fix errors for CW project (Link equal to linktext - Spelling and typography)
Line 38:
| description = A sample of "Invisible String" demonstrating the [[fingerpick|finger-picked]] [[strum]]s and vocal [[backbeat]]s
}}
Swift wrote "Invisible String" with Dessner, who produced the song.<ref name="DessnerVulture">{{cite web |last=Gerber |first=Brady |date=July 27, 2020 |title=The Story Behind Every Song on Taylor Swift's ''folklore'' |url=https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/taylor-swift-folklore-aaron-dessner-breaks-down-every-song.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728234347/https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/taylor-swift-folklore-aaron-dessner-breaks-down-every-song.html |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=June 7, 2021 |website=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]]}}</ref> Dessner composed "Invisible String" using [[Fingerpick|finger-picked]] [[Strum|strums]] created by putting a rubber bridge on a guitar.<ref name="DessnerVulture" /> He said that the rubber bridge "deadens the strings so that it sounds old" that created his vision of a [[Folk music|folk]] song at its core.<ref name="DessnerVulture" /> Dessner added a beat that resulted in what he called a "sneaky pop song";<ref name="DessnerVulture" /> [[Annie Zaleski]] from ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' characterized "Invisible String" as a folk song with "heart thump-steady vocal [[Backbeat|backbeats]]",<ref name="AVClub22">{{cite web |last=Zaleski |first=Annie |author-link=Annie Zaleski |date=July 4, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift writes her own version of history on ''folklore'' |url=https://www.avclub.com/taylor-swift-writes-her-own-version-of-history-on-folkl-1844498450 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727053604/https://music.avclub.com/taylor-swift-writes-her-own-version-of-history-on-folkl-1844498450 |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |access-date=June 7, 2021 |work=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref> while [[MusicOMH|''[[musicOMH'']]''{{'s}} Chloe Johnson dubbed it a "chaotic clash" of folk, pop, and [[blues]], with a [[song structure]] rooted in [[country music]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Chloe |date=July 24, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift ''Folklore'' |url=https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-folklore |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 15, 2023 |website=[[musicOMH]] |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724123506/https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-folklore |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
Several critics commented that the arrangement was spare but melodious and left room for Swift's conversational sing-speaking style.<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Souza |first=Shaad |date=July 24, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift frees herself from tabloid drama on ''Folklore'' |url=https://www.thefader.com/2020/07/24/taylor-swift-folklore-album-review-2020-national-essay |access-date=December 15, 2023 |website=[[The Fader]]}}</ref><ref name="Harvilla-2020">{{Cite web |last=Harvilla |first=Rob |date=July 27, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift Is Singing About More Than Taylor Swift—and Rediscovering Herself in the Process |url=https://www.theringer.com/music/2020/7/27/21339589/taylor-swift-folklore-review |access-date=December 15, 2023 |website=[[The Ringer (website)|The Ringer]] |archive-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828040229/https://www.theringer.com/music/2020/7/27/21339589/taylor-swift-folklore-review |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Thompson-2020">{{Cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Thompson (journalist) |last2=Powers |first2=Ann |author-link2=Ann Powers |last3=McKenna |first3=Lyndsey |date=July 28, 2020 |title=Let's Talk About Taylor Swift's ''Folklore'' |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/28/896193188/taylor-swift-folklore-critics-roundtable |access-date=December 15, 2013 |publisher=[[NPR]] |archive-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730020352/https://www.npr.org/2020/07/28/896193188/taylor-swift-folklore-critics-roundtable |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Jon Caramanica]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' found the production "airy and earthy".<ref name="NYTimesReview222">{{cite news |last=Caramanica |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Caramanica |date=July 26, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift, a Pop Star Done With Pop |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/arts/music/taylor-swift-folklore-review.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910132513/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/arts/music/taylor-swift-folklore-review.html |archive-date=September 10, 2020}}</ref> Recorded at Dessner's Long Pond Studio in the [[Hudson Valley]] and [[La Gaîté Lyrique]] in Paris, France, "Invisible String" was [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixed]] by Jonathan Low. According to ''Folklore''{{'s}} [[liner notes]], Dessner played acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, [[Mellotron]], percussion, piano, and [[synthesizer]], and he [[Programming (music)|programmed]] the [[Drum machine|drums]] with <bdi>James McAlister</bdi>. Dessner's brother [[Bryce Dessner|Bryce]] was the [[orchestrator]] for [[cello]] (played by Clarice Jensen), [[viola]] and [[violin]] (Yuki Numata Resnick).<ref name="booklet" />
Line 49:
The first [[Verse drama and dramatic verse|verse]] recalls their lives before they met; the female narrator was a girl who used to read at Nashville's Centennial Park and dreamt of a romance there ("Green was the color of the grass where I used to read at Centennial Park"),<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Sheffield |date=October 28, 2023 |title='Invisible String' (2020) |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/taylor-swift-songs-ranked-rob-sheffield-201800/invisible-string-2020-1093994/ |access-date=December 15, 2023 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215074311/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/taylor-swift-songs-ranked-rob-sheffield-201800/invisible-string-2020-1093994/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and the male partner once wore a teal shirt and worked at a yoghurt shop as a young man.<ref name="Willman-2020" /> The second verse details how the two's lives intertwined without them knowing; Swift also alludes to her song "[[Bad Blood (Taylor Swift song)|Bad Blood]]" and her publicized dispute with the singer [[Katy Perry]]: "Bad was the blood of the song in the cab/ On your first trip to LA/ You ate at my favorite spot for dinner."<ref name="Ahlgrim-2020">{{cite web |last=Ahlgrim |first=Callie |date=July 30, 2020 |title=Every detail and Easter egg you may have missed on Taylor Swift's new album ''Folklore'' |url=https://www.insider.com/taylor-swift-folklore-lyrics-easter-eggs-2020-7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211202000344/https://www.insider.com/taylor-swift-folklore-lyrics-easter-eggs-2020-7 |archive-date=December 2, 2021 |access-date=June 7, 2021 |website=[[Insider Inc.|Insider]]}}</ref><ref name="rs">{{cite magazine |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |date=July 24, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift Leaves Her Comfort Zones Behind on the Head-Spinning, Heartbreaking ''Folklore'' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/taylor-swift-leaves-her-comfort-zones-behind-on-the-head-spinning-heart-breaking-folklore-1033533/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724155901/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/taylor-swift-leaves-her-comfort-zones-behind-on-the-head-spinning-heart-breaking-folklore-1033533/ |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |access-date=February 21, 2021 |url-access=limited |authorlink=Rob Sheffield}}</ref> The next lines mention her trip to the [[Lake District]] in England ("Bold was the waitress on our three-year trip/ Getting lunch down by the Lakes/ She said I looked like an American singer"), a detail that is also on the ''Folklore'' bonus track "[[The Lakes (song)|The Lakes]]".<ref name="Ahlgrim-2020" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mylrea |first=Hannah |date=August 6, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift–'The Lakes': the ''Folklore'' bonus song decoded |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/taylor-swift-the-lakes-theories-lyrics-folklore-bonus-song-2722662 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908195832/https://www.nme.com/blogs/taylor-swift-the-lakes-theories-lyrics-folklore-bonus-song-2722662 |archive-date=September 8, 2020 |access-date=June 7, 2021 |website=[[NME]]}}</ref>
 
The final verse references Swift's reputation and past relationships: "Cold was the steel of my ax to grind/ For the boys who broke my heart/ Now I send their babies presents."<ref name="Harvilla-2020" /><ref name="Ahlgrim-2020" /> The [[Refrain|chorus]] uses "invisible string" as a metaphor for love guided by happenstance: "And isn't it just so pretty to think/ All along there was some invisible string/ Tying you to me."<ref name="Mapes-2020" /><ref name="Bate-2023" /> The English literary professor [[Jonathan Bate]] said these lyrics referenced two literature classics: ''[[The Sun Also Rises]]'' (1926) by [[Ernest Hemingway]] ("Isn’tIsn't it pretty to think so?") and ''[[Jane Eyre]]'' (1847) by [[Charlotte Brontë]] ("it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame").<ref name="Bate-2023">{{cite news |last=Bate |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Bate |date=April 10, 2023 |title=Why Taylor Swift is a literary giant—by a Shakespeare professor |newspaper=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-taylor-swift-is-a-literary-giant-by-a-shakespeare-professor-3fmh269bt |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=June 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230618210707/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-taylor-swift-is-a-literary-giant-by-a-shakespeare-professor-3fmh269bt |archive-date=June 18, 2023}}</ref> Swift elaborates on this "invisible string" in the [[Bridge (music)|bridge]], "A string that pulled me/ Out of all the wrong arms, right into that dive bar", referencing the "dive bar" mentioned in her 2018 single "[[Delicate (Taylor Swift song)|Delicate]]".<ref name="Leiszkiewicz-2020" /><ref name="Ahlgrim-2020" />
 
== Critical reception ==