The last great American dynasty is a return to Taylor Swift’s county roots as she uses a common lyrical technique in country songs where they talk about an event or a person in the third person and then weaves themselves into the songs, with references to how the song relates to their own life. This track is both a lyrical story rooted in country and folk music, a history lesson on the life of Rebekah Harkness, and a statement on the sexist criticism that similarly given to both Rebekah Harkness and Taylor Swift.
In the third song from her eight-studio album, Folklore, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year, Taylor weaves a country-folk lyrical story of the history of her Rhode Island Mansion ‘Holiday House’ that was once owned by the notorious Rebekah Harkness.
Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train
It was sunny
Her saltbox house on the coast
Took her mind off St. Louis
Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money
And the town said, “How did a middle-class divorcée do it?”
The song will go on to tell us the story of Rebekah Harkness, the founder of the Rebekah Harkness Foundation and a well-known patron of the arts. In the above verse, we are also introduced to her husband Bill, who was the heir to a wealthy oil company. The town asking, ‘how did a middle-class divorcee do it?’ represents the negative assumptions and attitudes towards divorced women like Rebekah, and unmarried or independent woman in general of the time.
The wedding was charming, if a little gauche
There’s only so far new money goes
They picked out a home and called it “Holiday House”
Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud
The doctor had told him to settle down
It must have been her fault his heart gave out
This verse (above) reveals that Rebekah’s marriage started off with a charming wedding, and that they came from new money, and they originally brought Holiday House as a place to begin their married life together and were known for through loud but tasteful parties. The last line reveals that perhaps the people of the town they lived in, blamed Rebekah (perhaps they blamed her because people assume it is the woman’s fault, and not the man’s fault but in this case, it was simply a medical issue that was out of theirs and anyone’s control.
And they said
“There goes the last great American dynasty”
“Who knows if she never showed up, what could’ve been”
“There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen”
“She had a marvellous time ruinin’ everything”
Here, Taylor refers to Rebekah and her life as ‘the last great American dynasty’ and ponders us to wonder what could have been if Rebekah never came to Holiday House. The town saw her as a mad woman, but Taylor suggests that Rebekah didn’t care, she was simply having a ‘marvellous time ruinin’ everything’ in the eyes of the towns people, when she was simply living her life to the fullest.
Rebekah gave up on the Rhode Island set
Forever
Flew in all her Bitch Pack friends from the city
Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names
And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet
And losin’ on card game bets with Dalí
Taylor makes a lyrical comparison between the composers and dancers that frequented, Holiday House when Rebekah owned it, and the own star-studded parties she holds at the house today. The above verse gives us more details about Rebekah’s personality and lifestyle, and particularly what that was like after Bill’s heart gave out. This verse’s lyrics also refers to Salvador Dali, who was known as a good friend to Rebekah Harkness, and once made a gold vessel ‘the Chalice of Life’ at Rebekah’s request. This vessel would be used as the urn for Rebekah’s ashes after she passed away.
And they said
“There goes the last great American dynasty”
“Who knows if she never showed up, what could’ve been”
“There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen”
“She had a marvellous time ruinin’ everything”
After Rebekah, a woman who lived her life to the fullest, as an independent woman after her husband’s death, the town still refers to her as a ‘shameless woman’, but it is acknowledged by Taylor, that Rebekah had likely learned not to give in to people’s opinions of her and live the life she wanted too as ‘the last great American dynasty’.
They say she was seen on occasion
Pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea
And in a feud with her neighbour
She stole his dog and dyed it key lime green
50 years is a long time
Holiday house sat quietly on that beach
Free of women with madness, their men, and bad habits
And then it was bought by me
The above verse is packed with a lot of lyrical details and history, as it reveals Rebekah was not a woman to get on your bad side, as she dyed a neighbour’s door ‘key lime green’ after an argument’. Then the story gradually moves to the present, as it is revealed that after Rebekah passed, Holiday House was left unlived in for fifty years, free of woman who were called mad for being different, for their love lives or for their habits, until Taylor reveals she eventually brought Rebekah’s house for herself.
Here, it is also revealed that the house Taylor is talking about is the Rhode Island Mansion she brought in 2013, that was once owned by Rebekah Harkness herself. In the above verse, she makes a lot of comparisons about how she is, and Rebekah was a target for harsh criticism from tabloids and people alike.
Who knows if I never showed up what could’ve been?
There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen
I had a marvellous time ruinin’ everything
Throughout the song, Taylor draws regular but subtle comparisons between herself and the former owner of her house (holiday house) – Rebekah Harkness. In the above and next verse, Taylor talks about herself as the current owner of Holiday House, and the similarities in the lifestyle she shares with Rebekah. In the above and below verse, Taylor suggests that she doesn’t care about people’s opinions that she’s ruining everything because they’re just people’s opinions and false perceptions of her, she just enjoys her life how she wants to enjoy it and is having such a ‘marvellous time’ doing so.
I had a marvellous time ruinin’ everything
A marvellous time ruinin’ everything
A marvellous time
I had a marvellous time
In a final moment of clarity, Taylor tells us that she had a marvellous time at Holiday House, living her life, even some people unfairly saw it as ‘running everything’ and Taylor had a marvellous time. The last great American dynasty is the ideal song for a playlist, that’s designed to be listened to on a chilled summer evening, or when you want to listen to a good story, sitting around the campfire. The third track off Taylor Swift’s Folklore album is not one to be skipped over if you decide to listen to the album.
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