Invisible Strings: Notes on Folkloric Pop in Postmodernity

Folklore is, by definition, homogeneous. It speaks to experiences, values, ideas that are shared. The best pop music over the last ten years has always been folkloric in this regard — more specifically, stories told by the young about youth — and I find it hard not to admire those young singers and songwriters who manage to excavate something oddly universal out of the inherent narcissism of adolescence.

(This is also why I think the Taylor Swift record cover meme embedded above is excel...