Taylor Swift, 30, is on board with this movie idea! The Folklore singer responded to a fan tweet suggesting that her song “The Last Great American Dynasty” — inspired by the back story of her Watch Hill, Rhode Island home — is great fodder for a potential film. “‘The Last Great American Dynasty’ would make an incredible movie. The story is timeless yet unique, the music would be exquisite, and it already has the perfect title,” the fan wrote on Sept. 12.
“As for the cast: Blake Lively (Rebekah), Ryan Reynolds (Bill), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (neighbor),” the fan also added, to Taylor’s delight. “Not trying to be The Loudest Woman This Town Has Ever Seen™️ but… I LOVE THIS,” she replied, quoting a lyric from the tune. Friend Ryan Reynolds also got in on the action, writing, “But Bill’s heart… ?” while Jesse added “Ok I’m avail for this.”
The Folklore track is based on the history of Taylor’s picturesque 11,000 sq. foot mansion, which was once owned by St. Louis socialite Rebekah West Harkness who married oil heir William Hale Harkness. “Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny — her saltbox house on the coast took her mind off St. Louis,” Taylor sings in the opening line of the track, later mentioning William, who died of a heart attack in 1954. Taylor purchased the home for $17.75 million back in 2013, and has since hosted several iconic 4th of July parties there.
“Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money, and the town said, ‘How did a middle-class divorcée do it?…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,” Taylor also sings, referencing the home by its “Holiday House” nickname. Harkness later passed in 1982.
In a letter released alongside her eighth studio album, Taylor explained that many of Folklore‘s songs were inspired by stories of people other than herself. “I found myself not only writing my own stories, but also writing about or from the perspective of people I’ve never met, people I’ve known, or those I wish I hadn’t,” she explained to fans, adding that one tune is about “a misfit widow getting gleeful revenge on the town that cast her out” (clearly “The Last Great American Dynasty”).
