Lover- Taylor Swift

It has already been eight months since the release of Taylor Swift’s seventh album Lover. Since then she has been fairly busy. Television performances, a Netflix documentary and most recently, cancelling all Lover Fest shows until 2021. Unfortunately fans will not be hearing these songs live this summer but it’s about time to revisit them anyway.

“I Forgot That You Existed” opens the album. Swift sings about how someone who tormented her; someone who was on her mind all the time no longer is- and that’s okay. This is the first time the listener sees this “letting go” mantra that will make reappearances throughout the album. Letting go and moving on is a major theme throughout Lover and that is made very clear through this track.

Track two is “Cruel Summer.” A synth-based song that’s become a fan favorite. The basis of the song talks about a fling. It’s a matter of time before it will dissipate. Fans everywhere have been singing the line “I love you ain’t that the worst thing you’ve ever heard/ He looks up grinning like the devil” at the top of their lungs since the album came out.

“Lover” is the title track and encapsulates everything this album is about. This track has Swift serenading her boyfriend describing how much she loves and cares for him, and how she wants a future with him as well. She wants to be with him whenever she can (“Can I go where you go?”). The bridge is tongue-in-cheek with Swift saying her boyfriend will “save all your dirtiest jokes for me” but then turns sweet once again as she says “at every table, I’ll save you a seat.” It’s easily the most romantic song off the album, something Swift has definitely mastered.

“The Man” is an empowerment anthem. This song shows the discrepancies between men and women in society. The song shows how men get praised for dating around and “flashing their dollars,” while women (especially Swift) are publicly shamed for doing the exact same thing. However, this is not some male-bashing feminist song. It’s calling out the actions that need to be called out, all while a loud and powerful beat plays in the background.

Track five is a jarring change in pace after the first four songs of the album. In “The Archer” Swift is looking back at her past; failed relationships and friendships alike and comparing them all to where she is now, expecting it to play out as everything else has before. The chorus has her sing “who could ever leave me darling?/ But who could stay?” a painful line to relate to. The entire song builds up to the most powerful part, the pre-chorus after the bridge. That’s where she sings “All the king’s horses, all the king’s men/ Couldn’t put me together again/ Cause all of my enemies started out friends/ Help me hold on to you.” It’s easily the most powerful verse on all of Lover, and it resonates with you whether you’re going through this in real time or if you’ve been in a headspace like this before.

"Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" is next. This is arguably one of the most clever and intricate songs she has ever written. “Miss Americana...” describes politics under the veil of high school semantics. Homecoming, superlatives and rumors are some of the imagery Swift uses to pain the picture this song portrays. The track clocks in at almost 4:00 minutes but you’ll be so invested in the storyline you won’t notice.

“Paper Rings” is exactly the type of song you expect Swift to write. It’s a cute love song. It’s a song about wanting to be who you’re dating no matter what happens. This is clear in the bridge as Swift sings “I want to drive away with you/ I want your complications too/ I want your dreary Monday’s.” It puts a relationship in perspective. At the end of the day, what truly matters to you?

“Death by A Thousand Cuts” is next. This song chronicles a slow breakup and compares that to the pain of death. This song was based off the movie Someone Great. The main character tries to avoid dealing with this pain by getting drunk. The song starts slow and melodic but the tempo changes by verse two. In verse two lines are staggered as she sings “My heart, my hips, my body, my love/ Tryna find a part of me that you didn’t touch/ Gave up on me like I was a bad drug/ Now I’m searching for signs in a haunted club/ Our songs, our films, united we stand/ Our country, guess it was a lawless land...” After this verse the song returns back to its melodic pace before ending.

“London Boy” pays homage to Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn, a native of London. The song mentions different destinations like Camden Market, the West End, Brixton and Soho. As Swift sings about these stops a cheery electronic beat plays behind her. It’s a fun love song that’s not meant to be taken too seriously.

“Soon You’ll Get Better” is one of the most emotional songs Swift has written. Chronicling her mother’s cancer diagnosis and her own feelings as well. You can hear Swift trying to find balance in this situation as she sings (with additional vocals from The Dixie Chicks) “you like the nicer nurses/ you make the best of a bad deal” in verse two and how she starts the bridge off with “and I hate to make this all about me.” For those who understand Swift’s situation they can empathize with her. For the rest of us, we can sympathize with her.

“You Need to Calm Down” was the second single released in promotion of this album. A song discussing pride and equality got the attention of many. But besides it’s connections, it’s an upbeat pop song that just screams summer. It’s a song that can put you in a good mood as soon as you hear it’s opening beat.

Track 15 is an underrated track that deserves more recognition. “Afterglow” sees Swift apologizing to someone she hurt. A topic she’s visited before (a la “Back To December”) but it is more impactful now. Considering the drama she’s been involved with the last few years it’s vital and important that with an album like this, an album where she’s leaving all of her past issues behind she also acknowledges she may need to do some apologizing as well. The song sonically is amazing as well. The vocals are echoey and they blend well with the electronic beat. This isn’t the most popular song off of Lover, but it definitely deserves more recognition.

“ME!” is the song that started it all. After some cryptic social media posts this song and it’s accompanying video came to us on April 26, 2019. It got mixed reviews by fans and critics alike, which is understandable. This song is the complete opposite of everything Swift’s previous album Reputation was. It is a colorful, upbeat pop track, with some lyrics that could be considered questionable. No one expected her to come out with a song containing the lyrics “hey kids/spelling is fun” (though by the time Lover came out this line had been cut from the song). However, this song still dominated the radio and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts.

The album closes with “Daylight.” No other song could tie this album together better than this track here. It brings about resolution and a premise of hope in relationships and the future- things that Swift has finally found after years of drama. The album ends with a voice memo from Swift saying “I wanna be defined by the things that I love/ Not the things I hate/ Not the things I’m afraid of, afraid of/ Or the things that haunt me in the middle of the night/ I,I just think that/ You are what you love.” This concludes the album as well as her past drama-filled narrative. It feels like a definitive end, and that whatever her next release is, will be completely separate from all that has happened in her past.