Fountain Pen Songs
Lyric Category
In 2022, Taylor revealed one of the secrets behind her songwriting process, saying how she sorts her lyrics into one of three “dorky” pen-themed categories. They are affectionately titled Quill Lyrics, Fountain Pen Lyrics and Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics. Fountain Pen Lyrics, according to Taylor, are her most common.
Unlike the period-piece-like details of Quill Lyrics, Fountain Pen songs feel more rooted in the modern day, their lyrics teeming with more familiar narratives and references. She explained the category at the Nashville Songwriter Awards in September 2022, saying:
«I’d say most of my lyrics fall into this category. Fountain pen style means a modern storyline or references, with a poetic twist. Taking a common phrase and flipping its meaning. Trying to paint a vivid picture of a situation, down to the chipped paint on the door frame and the incense dust on the vinyl shelf. Placing yourself and whoever is listening right there in the room where it all happened. The love, the loss, everything. The songs I categorize in this style sound like confessions scribbled and sealed in an envelope, but too brutally honest to ever send.»
There’s no better example than the searing memories and turns of phrase of 2012’s “All Too Well,” from the forgotten scarf to the charge of a childhood photo album. On an exclusive Apple Music playlist, made by Taylor herself, she listed more songs that she thinks fit the Fountain Pen description.
Fountain Pen Songs
Fountain Pen Songs
- All Too Well
- All Too Well (10 Minute Version)
- betty
- champagne problems
- Cornelia Street
- Cruel Summer
- exile (feat. Bon Iver)
- False God
- Holy Ground
- I Almost Do
- Is It Over Now? (From The Vault)
- Labyrinth
- Lavender Haze
- long story short
- Lover
- Maroon
- marjorie
- Midnight Rain
- Question…?
- right where you left me
- State of Grace
- Suburban Legends (From The Vault)
- Sweet Nothing
- the 1
- The Archer
- Treacherous
- White Horse
- You’re On Your Own, Kid
