Taylor Swift has released a new song titled ‘Carolina’ for the soundtrack of the highly anticipated film Where the Crawdads Sing.
Directed by Olivia Newman and executive produced by Reece Witherspoon, Where the Crawdads Sing is a movie based on Delia Owens’ novel by the same name. It stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya, a young reclusive girl who lives in the marshlands of North Carolina and becomes a suspect in the murder of her previous lover.
In an interview with Variety, Witherspoon expressed that Taylor “read this book and loved it so much, and then she heard we were making a movie [during the period] she was making her ‘Folklore’ album and then she wrote a song with that whole ‘Folklore’ team, which was so haunting and magical and beautiful.”
A clip of the song was shared back in March in the trailer for the thriller. Inspired by the main character Kya, the song is eerie, captivating and haunting. It was produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner who worked closely with Swift on her previous albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’. According to NME: “They recorded the track using instruments that were only available before 1953 and they did it in one take – the way they recorded songs in the 1950s which is when the movie is set.”
Newman stated that the song will play over the credits of the movie: “We wanted to leave audiences with that same sort of emotional feeling and her song just leans right into that.”
However, there has been some controversy attached to the making of this movie. Swift and other big names attached to the project have been under fire for supporting it due to revelations about the author’s past. Delia Owens and her ex-husband Mark are wanted in Zambia for questioning over a murder which happened in 1995 while they were working as wildlife conservationists. They also formerly called for population control in Africa.
Taylor Swift and Reece Witherspoon have been accused of practising ‘White Feminism’ by continuing to support this movie after the controversy surrounding Owen’s past. They are yet to comment on this issue.
Two versions of the song have been released: a shorter ‘video version’ and a full-length 4-minute version.
Where The Crawdads Sing will be released in cinemas on 22 July.
Listen to both versions of Carolina here
Read the lyrics to ‘Carolina’ here:
Oh Carolina creeks
Running through my veins
Lost I was born
Lonesome I came
Lonesome I’ll always stay
Carolina knows
Why for years I roam
Free as these birds
Light as whispers
Carolina knows
And you didn’t see me here
No, they never did see me here
And she’s in my dreams
Into the mist, into the clouds
Don’t leave
I make a fist, I make it count
And there are places I will never ever go
And things that only Carolina will ever know
Carolina stains
On the dress she left
Indelible scars
Pivotal marks
Blue as the life she fled
Carolina pines
Won’t you cover me?
Hide me like robes
Down the back road
Muddy these webs we weave
And you didn’t see me here
No, they never did see me
And she’s in my dreams
Into the mist, into the clouds
Don’t leave
I make a fist, I make it count
And there are places I will never ever go
And things that only Carolina will ever know
And you didn’t see me here
They never did see me here
No you didn’t see me here
They never saw me
Oh Carolina knows
Why for years they’ve said
That I was guilty as sin
And sleep in a liar’s bed
But the sleep comes fast
And I’ll meet no ghosts
It’s between me
The sand and the sea
Carolina knows
Featured Image Credit: taylorswift.com
BA (Hons) Film, Media and Journalism graduate. Freelance Journalist for Brig Newspaper and Entertainment Daily. Head of Social Media for Brig Newspaper.
Passionate about diversity, inclusion and representation.
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