Taylor Swift sent a shock around the world when she dropped her latest album Folklore without any warning. While enduring quarantine, she used the time to herself to fuel writing about everything fairytale, a completely different style than anything she’s ever released. From the looks of it, fans are ecstatic. 

In the past, Swift has shocked the masses with her constant switch of themes for albums. The switch from Speak Now to Red could be one of the most notable–country to pop. That stirred the question: would she blend in with every other pop artist? Taylor hit back with album after album that certainly proved otherwise. Red, 1989, and Reputation are all great examples of Swift giving the media everything they said she couldn’t do. 

Eleven months after her debut of Lover, the studio album fans raved about, Swift produced something that took the world by surprise. A purely lyrical album, filled with emotion so overwhelming that it takes every ounce of willpower not to cry. Fans, undoubtedly, were over the moon.

It’s no lie that Swift is a lyrical genius, creating pictures so vivid and channeling her detrimental experiences through words sung with elegance.  Proven in My Tears Ricochet, the lyrics “I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace; and so the battleship will sink with waves” have been discussed by her fanbase, possibly alluding to the turmoil she dealt with when leaving her past record label, Big Machine Records. Fans also believe that “And if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?” was also another hit at Big Machine Records for the mistreatment she received for the seven years she was with them.

Fans were so enthralled by Swift’s surprise, that the album sold a whopping 846,000 copies in the first week. In the fourth week of sales, Swift managed to rack her numbers even higher; Folklore has sold nearly 1.2 million copies at that time. As of now, Folklore is the top-selling album of 2020. Finally, some good news to counter the dumpster fire of 2020.

As of September 27, Taylor had beaten Whitney Houston’s 33-year record for most weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. This album is taking the world by storm and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. 

No matter the album, Taylor Swift has proven herself over and over again. Four months after the release of Folklore, fans are still captivated by the indie-folk album that is pure magic. Undoubtedly, the streaming of the album will continue to be up for quite some time.