Which X-Relationships Were Taylor Swift’s Second 2020 Album evermore Written About?

Look what [my editors] made me do. Get it? I’m told that’s a reputation reference. Well whatever, it doesn’t matter because we’re not here to talk about 2017 Taylor Swift. No, this is about 2020 Taylor Swift. Specifically evermore, her second full length album release this year which dropped last week. While we already established in my previous article that each song on folklore, Swift’s first album in 2020 (because of course she dropped two), was about a specific X-Woman, it’s clear to anyone that listens to evermore (and is also acutely aware of the romantic history of all of the X-Men) that this time, Taylor is referencing specific X-Relationships. Don’t believe me? Follow me down this track list.

willow : Scott & Logan

I think we can all agree that Taylor comes out of the gate strong here, confirming what Marvel has only hinted at: Scott and Logan are totally doing it.

Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind
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
But there was one prize I’d cheat to win

That’s right, it’s not just sex, folks. There are feelings there. Were they looking for this? No. But as Taylor so eloquently sings, there was no escaping it for either of them. And now that they’re on Krakoa, they’ve stopped fighting it. I mean, Logan followed Scott to the moon. They’re practically sharing a bedroom. And if that’s not proof enough, consider that Taylor even makes reference to the resurgence of a 90s trend and you all know that Scott will never give up on those pockets. So, there you go. Scogan is canon.

The more that you say, the less I know
Wherever you stray, I follow
I’m begging for you to take my hand
Wreck my plans, that’s my man

champagne problems: Kate & Colossus

Will we ever stop revisiting the events of X-Men Gold #30? No, mostly because I will never stop talking about it. And apparently neither will Taylor. But while I remain obsessed by the fact that Rogue and Gambit finally walked down the aisle, it seems Taylor is obsessed with everything that led up to that, i.e. the non-wedding of the century.

You had a speech, you’re speechless
Love slipped beyond your reaches
And I couldn’t give a reason
Champagne problems

Yes, Kate left Colossus at the altar and yes, it was a trainwreck–and I mean that in the best way possible. Yana’s hesitant reservations, Kate’s last-minute realization, the PHASE (you know the one I’m talking about), all it was incredibly melodramatic. And while Kate felt awful, she also never felt regret, probably because she knows that Colossus is Scott’s only competition for the “X-Man Who Loves Feeling Sorry For Himself The Most” superlative; he was in his element.

Your mom’s ring in your pocket
My picture in your wallet
Your heart was glass, I dropped it
Champagne problems

gold rush: Storm & Forge

Storm and Forge may be old news, but that doesn’t mean he has stopped pining for her. And rather than admit how his own missteps might have gotten him to this place, Forge would absolutely be the person that would attribute Storm’s lack of attention on his own efforts to avoid her spotlight:

But I don’t like a gold rush, gold rush
I don’t like anticipatin’ my face in a red flush
I don’t like that anyone would die to feel your touch
Everybody wants you

While I don’t miss this relationship at all, it’s clear that Forge does (we all saw you chatting her up at the Green Lagoon, Forge–you’re not fooling anybody). And despite his cool demeanor, Taylor manages to perfectly capture his internal pining–let’s just hope it stays that way because these two should never ever get back together.

What must it be like to grow up that beautiful?
With your hair falling into place like dominoes
My mind turns your life into folklore
I can’t dare to dream about you anymore

’tis the season: Betsy & Warren

You cannot tell me that in the polyamorous nirvana that is Krakoa that past lovers wouldn’t hook up with one another at least one more time, especially around the holiday season. Which is why Taylor clearly had Betsy and Warren in mind when she wrote this song.

So we could call it even
You could call me “babe” for the weekend
‘Tis the damn season, write this down

Yes, these two might not have ended up together but that doesn’t mean that there still aren’t feelings there. And while both have seemingly moved on, they’re also adults who share a lot of history. History that’s worth revisiting. Just for a weekend or two. You know, for old time’s sake.

Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I’m missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now

tolerate it: Maddie & Scott

Taylor already captured the emotional spectrum of Maddy’s final moments in folklore’s “my tears ricochet”, but just as many songs on this album are tied to others on folklore, this song captures those moments before she was the Goblin Queen, when she was just a woman in love trying to make it work with a man who wasn’t trying at all.

If it’s all in my head tell me now
Tell me I’ve got it wrong somehow
I know my love should be celebrated
But you tolerate it

We all remember Maddy as the woman scorned but tend to forget just how much shit she went through to get her to that point. And, more importantly, how much of that shit she tolerated in the vain hopes that her husband would someday do more than just tolerate her. Maddy sweetie, you deserved so much better.

While you were out building other worlds, where was I?
Where’s that man who’d throw blankets over my barbed wire?
I made you my temple, my mural, my sky
Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life

no body, no crime: The Cuckoos

I’m going to be honest: this one has very little to do with the song and more to do with the fact that HAIM joins Taylor on this tune and I cannot tell the difference between any of those sisters. They are the Cuckoos of the music world.  Also, I have no doubt The Cuckoos would help one another hide a body.

I think he did it, but I just can’t prove it
No, no body, no crime
But I ain’t lettin’ up until the day I die

happiness: Rictor & Shatterstar

Listen, I’m not going to get into all the issues with how this break-up was handled, mostly because it wasn’t really handled at all, mostly just referenced in the past tense. But I will say that while Ricstar existed, they were one of the best couples in 616 (and every other universe they popped into). And even though we don’t know why it ended, we know it must have hurt.

I can’t make it go away by making you a villain
I guess it’s the price I paid for seven years in Heaven
And I pulled your body into mine
Every goddamn night, now I get fake niceties
No one teaches you what to do
When a good man hurts you
And you know you hurt him, too

Despite not having any actual details of the break-up, we do have a lot for the relationship and on the list of mutant love, theirs was near the top. That’s not just because they truly cared about one another, but they were friends first, building off of decades of mutual respect that naturally blossomed into something more. So regardless of why it ended, it’s clear that while they were together, there was happiness. 

There’ll be happiness after you
But there was happiness because of you
Both of these things can be true
There is happiness

dorothea: Rachel & Kate

As I’m sure you remember from folklore, Taylor already spent quite a bit of time pondering Illyana and Kate’s feelings for one another, which coincided with much of the same in Gerry Duggan’s Marauders. But while everyone was ecstatic about the mere hint of a Illyana/Kate relationship, many of us forgot that there is another person from Kate’s past on Krakoa too, one who might be doing some pining of her own.

It’s never too late to come back to my side
The stars in your eyes shined brighter in Tupelo
And if you’re ever tired of bеing known for who you know
You know that you’ll always know me

There was a time when Rachel and Kate were each other’s everything, and despite the recent focus on Kate’s potential relationship with another old friend, we shouldn’t forget that Rachel is still there, she still cares for Kate, and she’s watching from the sidelines as Kate’s new life unfolds, just like everyone else.

Hey, Dorothea, do you ever stop and think about me?
When we were younger down in the park
Honey, making a lark of the misery
You got shiny friends since you left town
A tiny screen’s the only place I see you now
And I got nothing but well wishes for ya

coney island: Northstar & Kyle

Krakoa may be a paradise for mutants, but whether or not that meant it would be a paradise for mutants’ human partners was a big question until we saw Kyle and Jean-Paul there living in domestic bliss. And on the surface, it really looked blissful. But there’s also a sobering reality to this new world: while Jean-Paul will now live forever, Kyle will not.

And do you miss the rogue
Who coaxed you into paradise and left you there?
Will you forgive my soul
When you’re too wise to trust me and too old to care?

As a human, Kyle’s not eligible for the resurrection protocols. And even though time apparently moves at a snail’s pace in the 616, that doesn’t change the fact that he will eventually grow old and die, all while Jean-Paul just…won’t. So despite paradise and domestic bliss right now, there’s a cloud over their future, one that Jean-Paul is probably grappling with on his own.

Break my soul in two looking for you
But you’re right here
If I can’t relate to you anymore
Then who am I related to?
And if this is the long haul
How’d we get here so soon?
Did I close my fist around something delicate?
Did I shatter you?

ivy: Krakoa &Arakko

How do you capture the emotional turmoil of a sentient island struggling to find its other half that was sent to another dimension from which it could never return without pushing the world to the brink of collapse? You write “ivy”.

Oh, I can’t
Stop you putting roots in my dreamland
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I’m covered in you

cowboy: Rogue & Gambit

As probably the only monogamous couple living domestic bliss on Krakoa, it’s easy to forget the origins of this relationship, or the fact that neither of these two X-Men started out as heroes at all.

Eyes full of stars
Hustling for the good life
Never thought I’d meet you here
It could be love
We could be the way forward
And I know I’ll pay for it

Rogue spent years trying to gain the trust of the team, and once she did she ended up falling in love with the one other X-Man who instilled even less trust than she did. And to be fair, that wasn’t completely unwarranted; Gambit was always supposed to be a villain that betrayed the team. But rather than scare her off, it had the opposite effect on her. Because only a few years before, that had been her. And after all, like knows like.

You had some tricks up your sleeve
Takes one to know one
You’re a cowboy like me

long story short: Kate & Yana

This is not only the most “pop” of all the songs on this album, it’s also the one that Kate would absolutely write for Illyana.

I tried to pick my battles ’til the battle picked me
Misery
Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep
And you passed right by
I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides
The knife cuts both ways
If the shoe fits, walk in it ’til your high heels break

The song not only sounds like Kate, it also sounds just like how she would try to explain the last few years to Yana; what she’s been through, what she felt, and how she found her way back to her. It’s perfect, just like them.

I always felt I must look better in the rear view
Missing me
At the golden gates they once held the keys to
When I dropped my sword
I threw it in the bushes and knocked on your door
And we live in peace
But if someone comes at us, this time, I’m ready

marjorie: Moira & Her Children in Life 1

This song is a tribute to Taylor’s late grandmother and is filled with advice that she clings to in her absence. It’s impossible to listen to and not get a little teary. It is also impossible for me to listen and not think of Moira and how, after ten lives, she still clings to the memory of her children from Life 1.

And if I didn’t know better
I’d think you were talking to me now
If I didn’t know better
I’d think you were still around

For over a thousand years, Moira has remained dedicated to her mission: to save mutantkind. But that doesn’t mean she has forgotten those that lived before, nor the ones that don’t know purely because of her choices. That includes those children who she remembers and how they are still alive in her despite not existing in this life at all.

What died didn’t stay dead
What died didn’t stay dead
You’re alive, you’re alive in my head
What died didn’t stay dead
What died didn’t stay dead
You’re alive, so alive

closure: Lee Forester & Scott Summers

In the new mutant utopia that is Krakoa, it’s easy for our favorite mutants to gloss over their past sins and indiscretions, but none it quite so boldly as Scott Summers. From his sudden dedication to being a model father to playing house on the Moon, it isn’t that far a stretch to think that he would think this is the perfect time to look for closure from a woman that probably hasn’t thought about him in over a decade.

I know I’m just a wrinkle in your new life
Staying friends would iron it out so nice
Guilty, guilty, reaching out across the sea
That you put between you and me
But it’s fake and it’s oh so unnecessary

Scott has a new chapter of his life all set, with himself cast as the model husband and boyfriend. Except for all those pesky loose ends like Lee, the badass woman who comforted him as he mourned the death of his girlfriend and then helped save him in the Savage Land and who he then committed to trying to work on a relationship before meeting another woman who looked exactly like the previously mentioned dead girlfriend in the same issue and totally distracted him so he just never calling the badass woman again. And if anyone would call him out on his bullshit excuses, it would be Lee. Which is maybe why he wrote this letter to begin with.

Yes, I got your lеtter
Yes, I’m doing better
I know that it’s over, I don’t need your
Closure, your closure

evermore: Erik & Charles

You know that moment in Powers of X when Moira and Charles go to Island M and convince Magneto to join them in their mission to (again) try to save mutantkind? Do you ever think about what Erik was doing in the moments before they arrived, as he stared out his barnacle-lined window and pondered life without Charles? He was journaling and listening to this song on repeat.

And I was catching my breath
Staring out an open window
Catching my death
And I couldn’t be sure
I had a feeling so peculiar
That this pain would be for
Evermore