Music
Track eight on Taylor Swift's evermore tells the story of Dorothea, a girl who leaves her small town & heads for Hollywood.
Taylor Swift caught fans off guard last night by dropping evermore, a 17-track LP full packed full of cottagecore and cryptic messages. And as with folklore before it, fans were quick to start picking up on Easter eggs in Swift's new album, dissecting lyrics and playing detective to come up with fan theories on the inspirations behind the songs. In particular, fans seem to be wondering who Swift's song “Dorothea” is about, and whether or not the singer was inspired by real people in her life like some of her previous songs.
In a message posted alongside the tracklisting, Taylor wrote, “I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales,” careful not to give too much away. She did reveal, however, that “Dorothea” was about a “girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams — and what happens when she comes back for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame” letting slip that perhaps “‘Tis The Damn Season” is the story of Dorothea from the other point of view: reconnecting with her former lover while visiting their hometown for the holidays (“You can call me babe for the weekend” and “It always leads to you in my hometown”).
Taylor’s ambiguous descriptions of these sometimes imaginary, sometimes not, stories leaves fans wondering, who is Dorothea? And where does she fit with the other characters from folklore?
Below are just some of the theories floating around the internet right now.
“Dorothea” is about Selena Gomez
One of the more popular theories is that the song is about Selena Gomez, and honestly? There is quite a lot of evidence. One fan posted an entire thread dedicated to convincing us, and... it kinda adds up.
Firstly Selena’s favourite movie is The Wizard of Oz in which the heroine is of course called Dorothy. One of the lines Taylor sings: “You got shiny friends since you left town.” Dorothy literally got shiny friends when she left town (here’s looking at you Tin Man) and Selena, who used to live in New York where Taylor has an apartment, now lives in LA with her “shiny friends.”
“Dorothea” is Dorothy from the Wizard Of Oz
This theory is quite self explanatory. Much like the Selena reference, many fans think that “Dorothea”is a Wizard of Oz reference: Dorothy leaves rural Kansas for the colourful world of Oz, (like the small town girl making it big described in the song), with “shiny friends” (you’re up again Tin Man) and her old friend wants her to know there's no place like home.
“Dorothea” is Gigi Hadid’s daughter
Gigi Hadid is a close friend of Taylor’s, so it wouldn’t be surprising if she wanted to honour Gigi’s new baby girl in some way. During the lead up to the release of the “willow” music video, Swift answered questions over in a chat on YouTube. She told viewers: “There’s not a direct continuation of the Betty/James/August storyline, but in my mind Dorothea went to the same school as Betty, James, and Inez. You’ll meet her soon,” leading fans to believe that Dorothea is another friend’s child.
“Dorothea” is Taylor Swift’s daughter
One of the more “out there” fan theories, it has to be said. Some fans believe that Taylor had a baby girl herself in secret over the summer. The theory goes that the baby was born in August (track 8 on folklore), Taylor has named her Dorothea (track 8 on evermore), and that is what the “You’ll meet her soon” comment on her YouTube chat is referring to.
“Dorothea” is about Karlie Kloss
Despite both Swift and Kloss insisting that they are still “close” there has been a notable lack of appearances of the besties on each other's social media, and the singer didn’t attend either of Kloss’ weddings to Josh Kushner. Katy Perry – who had a very public feud with Taylor – and her beau Orlando Bloom attended the model’s Wyoming reception, along with Scooter Braun, Kloss’ manager and the music executive who famously purchased Taylor’s former record company, Big Machine, in 2019, and from whom the singer has only just got back the rights to her first five albums.
Braun posted a photo of himself on a boat whilst on holiday with Kloss and Kushner in August 2019, could “It's never too late to come back to my side” be about “Kaylor”? It's not the first time Kloss has been linked to one of Swift's tracks. Her middle name is Elizabeth – “Betty” – and has been linked to the final track of the same name from Swift's eighth studio album, folklore.
“Dorothea” is Taylor
With lyrics like “You got shiny friends since you left town/A tiny screen's the only place I see you now/And I got nothing but well-wishes for ya” and “But are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?” it's not hard to see why some fans are linking “Dorothea” to Taylor’s best friend of over 15 years, Abigail Anderson Lucier. Fans are saying that the song's lyrics are actually written from Abigail's perspective and she is speaking about Taylor. Abigail reportedly still lives in Nashville, where Taylor moved to when she was 14.
“Dorothea” is Dorothea Kent
Dorothea Kent was a famous actress from Missouri, who left her hometown for Hollywood to appear in 42 films between 1935 and 1948. Kent died of breast cancer 30 years ago on December 10th. Some fans believe the song is about Dorothea’s hometown friends and lovers asking if they remember her, likening it to Taylor’s small town life and childhood friends.
“Dorothea” is Dorothea West
One of the more eerie fan theories takes Nancy Drew-level detective skills to the next level. Whilst Taylor has already confirmed that the song Marjorie is about her maternal grandmother, some fans have made the connection to a pair of sisters called Marjorie and Dorothea. Marjorie West was a small town girl from Pennsylvania (ring any bells?) who went missing in 1938 at the age of four and was never found, who had an 11-year-old sister, Dorothea. The case garnered enormous attention, and as Taylor is from Pennsylvania she could have feasibly heard about it.
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