Lover: Memory, Music, and Shared Meaning in Archival Art
Throughout the album Lover, Taylor Swift uses places as symbolic touchstones for her emotions. In songs like “Cornelia Street”, “Lover”, and “London Boy”, she ties specific locations to important memories and feelings.
In “Cornelia Street”, for example, a street in New York becomes a place filled with the emotions of love and nostalgia. The songs opening verse immediately bring the listener into a specific moment, “We were in the backseat drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar / "I rent a place on Cornelia Street" I say casually in the car / We were a fresh page on the desk, filling in the blanks as we go / As if the street lights pointed in an arrowhead, leading us home” ("Cornelia Street", 0:00 - 0:41). Throughout the song, Swift reflects on the small moments of her relationship, and the location that became such a staple part of love to her.
Swift’s music makes the past feel real, immersing the listener in the moment, turning it into an "archival art," as described in Taylor Swift & Philosophy. Her songs act like an archive, preserving memories that can be revisited and reinterpreted over and over. “Cornelia Street” invited listeners to experience the past with her, making it feel like a shared space. It helps us connect with Swift’s story and project our own experience into her music.
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Evolving Identity: Reclaiming Her Music
“Artists should own their own work for so many reasons,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post in March 2021, “But the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work.” The project is about more than just business, though, it’s also about taking back her narrative. Just as Swift turns places into emotional memories in her songs, her-recordings allow her to regain control over her artistic journey and personal identity.
One major theme in Taylor Swift’s career is her ability to grow and change. In “Lover”, she uses butterfly imagery to symbolize a new beginning and transformation, particularly with the butterfly motif. "...like reputation's snake, the butterfly imagery of Lover conveys another rebirth. A new Taylor breaks free from her old self like a butterfly emerging out of its cocoon... Lover is in this way a new debut, indeed a new Taylor Swift: it is another rebirth, a rebirth repeated with a difference" (Robbs, pg, 96). The idea reflects a bigger philosophical concept that identity isn’t fixed but always evolving. Each album Swift releases shows how she builds on her past while creating something new, mirroring the idea that who we are is a continuous process of growth rather than a static state.
Conclusion
Taylor Swift’s music is a way for her to explore memory and personal growth. Whether she’s singing about walking back to her apartment on “Cornelia Street” or leaving the Christmas lights up ‘til January in “Lover”, Swift invites the listener to think about our own memories and how they shape who we are. Through her “Taylor’s Version” project, she not only reclaims her story, but encourages fans to do the same with their own experiences.
By turning memory into music, Swift creates a space where personal history and transformation come together, allowing fans to connect with both her and their own journeys of growth.