Music Videos
Taylor Swift "Cardigan"
An official music video for “Cardigan”—written, directed, and styled by Swift—was released alongside the album on July 24, 2020.[64] The “homespun” and “dreamlike” video starts out with Swift sitting in a candlelit cottage in the woods, wearing a nightgown and playing a vintage upright piano. This scene also features a photograph of Swift’s grandfather, Dean, who fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, and a painting that she created during the first week of COVID-19 isolation.[65] When the soundboard emanates golden sparkles, she climbs into it and finds herself magically transported to a moss-covered forest, where she plays the song on a grand piano producing a waterfall.[66][67]
The piano bench begins to glow, Swift climbs into it again and is then carried to a dark, stormy, turbulent sea, where she holds on to a floating piano. [68][67] The piano soundboard glows and she climbs in, and she returns to the cottage, where she dons a cardigan. According to a video posted to her Vevo account, the forest scene “represents the evergreen beginning of a relationship where everything seems magical and full of beauty”, while the ocean scene “represents the isolation and fear involved while a relationship is breaking down.” The video also states the ending scene “signifies returning to a sense of self after experiencing love loss”, a journey of self-discovery; Swift’s soaking-wet nightgown signifies how the relationship changes the individual.[65] The music video is characterized by a prairie, cottagecore aesthetic.[66
Date:
August 28, 2020
Director:
Taylor SwiftProducer:
Jil Hardin
