*REACTION* Taylor Swift - The Last Great American Dynasty (folklore: Long Pond Studio Session) 

perfect day to release this one haha, holiday house is where taylor would host her infamous 4th of july parties!

the last great american dynasty” follows the story of Rebekah Harkness, a patron of the arts, and founder of the Rebekah Harkness Foundation. In 2013, Swift bought a Rhode Island mansion once owned by Rebekah Harkness. The mansion is known as “Holiday House.” Taylor draws subtle comparisons between herself and Rebekah Harkness in the song. She likens her star-studded parties to the bevy of famous composers and and dancers that once frequented Holiday house in Harkness' days. Also similar to Taylor Swift, Rebekah Harkness was often a target of harsh criticism from the tabloids, and people alike. (plz react to the live performance from the eras tour)

Don’t be afraid to say something critical if that’s your natural reaction 😄 I know some people are crazy lol but your opinion is your opinion! Ignore those folks

'There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen '- this was actually said by the neighbours of Holiday House when she celebrated 4th Of July in her own house. What a coincidence!!

This is one of my absolute favorite songs by Taylor. My daughter made me a friendship bracelet, which I wear all the time, that has the first letter of each word of the lyric, "She had a marvelous time ruining everything". My favorite coffee mug has that lyric on it as well. That lyric is a powerful reminder that if you're shaking up the status quo in the best possible way, you're going to receive pushback from those who don't want to change and evolve. If you're going to ruin everything, then be your authentic self and have a marvelous time doing it. My favorite lyric because the world likes to keep us small and quiet if we're making waves. Great reaction as always!

“It tells the story of the former owners of Swift's Rhode Island home, known as Holiday House. The song, titled “The Last Great American Dynasty,” is based on the lives of Rebekah West Harkness (known as "Betty"), a composer and philanthropist who founded Harkness Ballet, and her husband, William Hale “Bill” Harkness, whose family founded Standard Oil. Swift purchased the Watch Hill, Rhode Island, house for $17.75 million (in cash, no less) back in 2013, and has since held numerous-very Instagrammed-Fourth of July parties there.” ..Google ❤

Fun fact, I’m a Harkness. Edward, Bill’s cousin(Rebecca’s husband) was his cousin. Both part of the Standard Oil company. Edward and his wife, Mary, showed up in my little hometown of Gillett, Pa in the early 1900’s looking for a “true Harkness”because they couldn’t have children of their own. They wanted to adopt my great Uncle Jay, who was 3. My great grandparents would not have anything to do with this and said, “no!” Although they were promised great riches. I often wonder what would have happened if they did! Our story of poverty could have turned out far different, although I understand why they said no! Great reaction! Thanks!❤

When this album came out and I first heard this song I screamed, “Taylor bought the house!” at that part and then, like she described, got full body chills. One of her best story songs. The old money set in Newport hates that this young pop star bought a house in their neighborhood and would host big parties with her famous friends. They tried to block her from building a sea wall that had something to do with being environmentally sound, but they claimed she was ruining everything. I love that Taylor feels such kinship with Rebecca Harkness and hope that she never ever sells it.

Happy 4th guys. The home she talks about in this song is where she usually has her 4th of July parties. This is also one her favorite homes to spend time. ❤Stay safe

I feel like this is maybe the only one where the album version is much superior, you definitely need to listen to that one eventually to really get the amazingness of this song

YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO SO LONG LONDON

i wish you would go through all of the Long Pond Session songs 😭

by any measure this is a great story telling song and so well performed. folklore is a truly great album and the long pond sessions just hit that thought home further.

I've never clicked so fast

This song live is great. The dance choreography with this is fantastic..

Oh I miss this from the Eras tour 😢

I love her story telling and how she can give so much respect to others in a song….coming to mind “Marjorie”, “Ronin”, “Robin”…omg…probably so much more. All great songs ❤❤

I find that the Long Pond Sessions is a lot like the old MTV Unplugged era where the songs are on the quieter side. As you are aware, the entire project was done during the pandemic, so there's also that element coursing through the overall performances. With that said, The Last Great American Dynasty, is a personal song for Taylor and was never meant to be a single-level track. It's really solid song writing that we know Taylor is the queen of. The home is in Westerly, just over the line from CT and Taylor renamed it High Watch. As with most of Taylor's writing, it's a visual song and you really get transported, even if the sonics of it aren't for everyone. For me it takes me to the Newport Mansions, which were owned by families such as the Vanderbilt's, Morgan's, Astor's, etc. back during the Gilded Age (1870's - 1890's) and were summer homes for the most part, not their primary residences. These were families with money from the railroads, banking, oil, etc. Those "homes" are fascinating to tour if you ever find yourself in Newport, RI. Newport is just under 40 Miles from Westerly.

Totally fair with the piano, kinda feel the same now that you said it 😂 Don’t be scared or feel bad to criticize :)

the piano is the best part.

Thank you for this reaction! I think this song, more than telling a specific story, talks about the judgement and blame women get - "Must have been her fault his heart gave out." Apparently Taylor's neighbors didn't love her moving in, too. I really love to quote "I had a marvelous time ruining everything."

Saw this live last year, it was so epic!!! One of her best storytelling songs for sure!

You know I appear in the comments every time there is a Taylor Swift reaction. Thank you, guys, for the reaction.

I’m with Alex! I love the piano. It adds so much to the story for me

The studio version of this song is one of my favorites. I can completely hear what they were saying with the piano, and I was somewhat distracted after that as well. I really wish reactors would watch studio versions first. I know everybody loves Long Pond, but the studio versions are perfectly finessed to deliver the song as the writer intended. I see the Long Pond Sessions as that…a session to meet with friends and riff on the songs we made together in a relaxed way. It’s absolutely great…but, I’m not sure it’s the best way to hear a song for the first time. Although, I do get that hearing the discussion helps in understanding the songs. Oh, whatever…just keep making videos. 😂

I think a reaction to the live performance from the eras tour would be good! I think it really does this song justice as well!

Please I'm begging, this is my 13th comment, please react to more of these long pond studio: - Seven -August -Cardigan Or just react to the whole remaining songs

Have you already reacted to: 1. Cardigan 2. My tears ricochet 3. August 4.Champagne problems. 5. Cowboy lime me. These are gold standard

At the end of the day, you really enjoy her music and give her your time and attention. You may not know all the lore, but you are Swifties to me. Great reaction.

You guys should listen to I bet you think about me! It’s from her red album and it’s one of my favorite songs from her. I also love the music video to it.

Last Great American Dynasty gives such warm nostalgic feeling when listening. I’m so happy you guys reacted I love y’all’s quirky remarks and side track rants ❤️❤️

I need to hear thoughts on Invisible String!

so for the full story in case you guys are interested: Rebekah Harkness was a composer, in 1947, she married William (Bill) Harkness who was extremely wealthy, and as this was her second marriage, it was frowned upon. They bought a house on the beach in Rhode Island, where they would throw very lavish, upscale parties. Bill died of a heart attack in 1954. All the things said about Rebekah in the song are true, she was friends with Dalí, had a friend group known as "the bitch pack", actually filled her swimming pool with champagne and while fighting with her neighbor, she stole his cat and dyed it green. (Taylor changed the cat to a dog because she's a cat mom lol). Rebekah was essentially the opposite of a traditional woman during that time, she was constantly the center of gossip and nicknamed "The Scorned Socialite". Rebekah eventually passed away in 1982, where it sat empty until 2013, when Taylor bought the home (for 17 million USD in cash). This is where she now throws her famous annual Fourth of July parties attended by numerous celebrities. Essentially, the song is a full circle moment, because Taylor is constantly gossiped about, and has a negative stigma surrounding the amount of relationships she's had (similar to Rebekah getting judged for remarrying, which she did two more times after Bill's death.) She and Rebekah, both had a marvelous time "ruining everything" according to their peers. I hope that explains it well enough!

I've never clicked so fast! This is my favorite song off folklore and it was awesome to see it live last year!!

Nice reaction ❤

Highly recommend you guys having someone with the lyrics pulled up for these videos! Or read a synopsis of the song after each listen to include in the video. Would give a lot of real-time context rather than finding out later in the comments. “Then it was bought by me” was the twist- Taylor bought Rebekah’s “holiday house” mansion in Rhode Island years ago and is using her lyrics to draw comparisons between them both.

“and then it was bought by me” normal voice ❤

I agree, it's one of the few tracks that I prefer the album production over the Long Pond Studio Sessions recording. It's still really good, for sure. But on the studio production, that note and the piano sit FAR further back into the mix and it works far more subtly to give the song a really good drive. What they meant about this song being all about Taylor too is that snobs in small, rich towns tend to treat new incoming women badly. It's the women and their enjoyment of life that ruins everything for everyone 😂 I think Taylor relates to that very strongly. Rich people are more than happy to invite exploitative rich men into their country clubs and into their high, exclusive worlds, but fk forbid a woman with her own money tries to move into town and do the exact same things a man would be doing.

I think we NEED a Blank Space music video reaction soon. Thanks for the content 🫶🏽

that you are the best reactors 💜 I have no doubt about that 😊 hahaha but there is a lack of more reactions to the group Little Mix, please react to 'No More Sad Songs' feat Machine Gun Kelly, the song is great and the clip is incredible!!🙌🏼👏🏼

What a way to start the day with a Swift video with the best trio on RU-vid!! Thanks guys. Always fun sharing her music with you. Happy 4th of July to everyone! 🇺🇸💥

Every time you post a taylor reaction you put a smile on my face! And something always makes me laugh, this time it was the looooongest pond 🤣🤣🤣 love this song, but I hate the way I can only listen to the piano now, i used to get carried away by the strings and noooooow no, the piano is really awkward 🤣

It’s okay to be critical. What’s not okay is when it is done in a disrespectful way and you guys haven’t done that. I suggest listening to the album version. You may get a better appreciation of the song ❤

Guys you HAVE to listen to Clean Live it’s one of my favourite songs, great song!!

Plz reaction to Debut era (Country) i recommend "Our Song"mv & Mary's song live ver. & Teardrop on my guitar mv or live❤❤❤❤

I agree with the piano 'critique', and also understand it. It feels chaotic and almost irritating... and that's exactly what Rebekah brought to the story. She was a lot to handle. Cheeky. I think of how the world (well, half the world) would view a woman now... marrying into an oil heirs fortune... and then he passes and she proceeds to live a wild life. People would lose their minds trying to take her down. And I think the entire thing (Taylor buying the property) is just... synchronistic perfection.

One of my favorites. Taylor’s neighbors complained about her parties too

Hey guys... I've been a follower of your page for a while now, and I really love your reaction videos. You guys are so funny it just cracks me up and I love the fact that you guys recognize and appreciate the artistry of each and every singer and bands you listen to.❤ I'd like to send you guys some song recommendations and donation video requests, so I just wanna ask where can send 'em?

she just up and paid seventeen million dollars cash for holiday house. good song writing pays well.

The piano on this one sounds better on some videos than others. Something about sound balance, I guess.

YOU GUYS SHOULD REACT "I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE " FROM 1989 WORLD TOUR THE PERFORMANCE IS INSANE 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

Love this tune. Love that people are seeing her as the same as the lady who ruined every thing.

I always felt like the piano helps maintain the feeling of being on a train… which is how Rebekah and her husband arrived to town. I’m probably wrong 😂

🫶

Haha… I am the mysteriously named requester 🙈 Y’all got it right a couple times (and I’m never bothered by mispronunciations; it’s a weird name)-pronounced “Pesh,” it’s French for “peach,” so if I punctuated it correctly, it would read Pêche. Anyway, thank you so much for the review! I agree with another commenter that the piano is mixed much more smoothly in the album version, but I had asked for the Long Pond version after seeing a previous video where you guys said you liked the format but the songs were all so sad, and this one is, IMO, light and breezy. “She had a marvelous time ruining everything” is one of my all-time fav T Swift lyrics, and I remember the first time I heard the album version just being obsessed with the sparkly and floaty outro (very technical music terminology). In the Long Pond version she doesn’t stay in falsetto in the outro, so I do think the studio version is better, but this live session is pretty joyful, and she really seemed to enjoy performing it on tour last year) before it got pulled to make room for the Tortured Poets set). Also, to echo other commenters, no need to hold back on criticism! We all like different things and that’s the fun of music reactions! I genuinely burst out laughing when Jake said “lotta piano”-I appreciate the candid reaction! I’m sure there are folks who get some attitude when anyone disagrees with their take, but please know that I am not one of those people, and I appreciate your reaction and time 🫶🏼

Guys, you missed the point!! And there are a lot of people who know who Rebecka was. This song is an ode to Rebecka yes. But first of all it’s a comment to how both Rebecka and Taylor has been treated by media there’s a lot of similarities between Rebecka and Taylor

i agree with you guys, the piano is too loud hahaha

HOT TO GO mv by Chappell Roan pls ❤❤❤

Please react to Omar Rudberg ❤️🙏 he's a swedish-venezuelan singer and performer and he just released two new bangers "talk" and "bye bye

Did you miss when she told who Rebecca Harkness was??? Heir to Standard Oil

Nah ur fine, I also think the piano is slightly overpowering in this one but still love it

Please react to cowboy like me by Taylor Swift 🤎

REACT TO "TREASURE KING KONG" 🙏

Live version of this is way better in my opinion (less piano)

pLEASE COMMENT ON gUILTY aS sIN tAYLOR sWIFT

Guys, I love your channel and I would like to recommend a new artist for you guys to check out. How can I do that??

Dang imagine being that OCD lol.

in my opinion you can barley hear the piano in the official recording

Jake, you're probably feeling anxious and sweaty because you're anticipating the backlash you might get from saying something slightly negative that the swifties will jump on 😅

One of my least favorites by her tbh, always a skip for me ❤