Lover is the seventh studio album by Taylor Swift, released on August 23rd of 2019. I like to compare Lover with its predecessor (Reputation) because they remind me of sisters that like to think that they are very different from one another, when in reality, they share a lot of similar fundamental values between them. Taylor replaces Reputation’s dark, brooding, and vengeful sounds with light, dreamy, and romantic songs. However, she still has songs where she is incredibly vulnerable and other songs where calls out haters – she just does it in a more mellowed manner in Lover. Taylor shed her dark snake-like image and announced the Lover album in a video filled with pastel colors and lot of butterflies – symbolizing her transformation and the birth of another era. Ironically, it was the experience she had while on the Reputation Stadium Tour that incentivized her to make the Lover album. Taylor said that she had an epiphany during the tour that despite the caricature that the media created of her and much of the general public believed in, her fans saw her the way they had always seen her. She realized at the end of the day, that was all that matters. This gave her a much more positive outlook on life which she channeled into the creation of Lover. In a 2019 Vogue Interview, Taylor described the album as a “love letter to love itself,” which I thought was really the most accurate way to describe the album. This album is a romanticization of love in all of its forms. Taylor shows her listeners how love can be found in all aspects of life, and how the loss of love can be just as passionate of an emotion as being in love. 

     Some of my favorite songs from this album include: I forgot that you existed, Cruel Summer, Lover, The Man, The Archer, Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince, Paper Rings, Death by a Thousand Cuts, London Boy, You Need to Calm Down, and Daylight. 

     I Forgot That You Existed is the first track on the album, serving as the transitional record from Reputation. Taylor is showing that she has moved on and that she is at peace with where she is at in her life right now. In the songs she says, “I forgot that you existed/ And I thought that it would kill me,/ but it didn’t/ And it was so nice/ So peaceful and quiet/ I forgot that you existed/ It isn’t love, it isn’t hate, it’s just indifference.” Unlike in her other albums where Taylor would have unapologetically used her words as weapons towards people who have wronged her, Taylor shows how she’s grown and now lets bygones be bygones. However, Taylor doesn’t say that she’s forgiven the person who has wronged her, instead she says that she now neither hates nor loves them, and just feels an indifference towards them. This song also marks the transition from Reputation as we finally hear the reappearance of the signature Taylor Swift laugh for the first time since the 1989 album in this song. 

     Most Swifties know every single lyric to Cruel Summer, however, I think it is safe to say that no one really knows the specificities of what the song is talking about. The song uses one big metaphor to talk about new love and its uncertainties combined with the challenges of being a pop star facing the public spotlight. I think that this song has the second best bridge in the entire album because of the classic “rant bridge” that Taylor uses, where the bridge consists of two or three notes in a consistent pattern that differentiates it from the rest of the song, and makes it very screamable at a concert too. The best bridge in all of the songs in the album is definitely in the song Death By a Thousand Cuts. 

     Taylor uses a similar bridge, but also employs a repetition technique as well in the bridge of Death by a Thousand Cuts. When asked about the inspiration for this song, Taylor replied how one of the questions that she has gotten many times over the years from interviewers is the question of if she could continue writing breakup songs if she were to ever find true love and be happy. Taylor admitted in her NPR Tiny Desk Concert that writing break up songs is one of her favorite things to do, and so she genuinely was a little scared that she would not be able to do so now that she is in a healthy and stable relationship. Taylor wrote Death By a Thousand Cuts based on the movie Someone Great, drawing inspiration from the character dynamics, and also drawing inspiration from events going on in the lives of her friends during the time. She wanted to prove although she may be happier than ever, she’s still got it in her to write heart wrenching break up songs. The production of this song also matches the break up theme of the song with the sudden discordant piano notes following the carefree and light melody – similar to how one might feel during reminiscing on fond memories of a past relationship, and then suddenly being reminded of the pain and loss of not having the relationship anymore. The bridge of this song is kind of long, so instead of including the lyrics in this post, I urge you to give this song a listen! 

     The album’s titular Lover is a slower song compared to the rest of the album which is more upbeat and synth driven. She starts off the song by saying that “We could leave the Christmas lights up ’til January/ This is our place, we make the rules” and “We could let our friends crash in the living room”. Taylor confesses that she wants to do the most mundane and ordinary things like leaving their christmas light way after Christmas has passed, and letting their friends stay over, like most couples do, with her lover. The bridge of this song takes a turn as she invokes a wedding vow style lyrics, “Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand?/ With every guitar string scar on my hand/ I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover/ My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue/ All’s well that ends well to end up with you/ Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover”. Taylor confidently confesses that her person is the one that she wants to be with for the rest of her life with this bridge. My favorite part of the bridge is the “With every guitar string scar on my hand” part, because it shows how Taylor feels fully accepted, with her flaws and all, by her lover. 

     The Man is one of my absolute favorite songs on the album because Taylor plays with the idea of perception in a really interesting way in this song. She talks about sexism and double-standards in the workplace based on her personal experiences in the song. Taylor has often wondered how she would be perceived and written about in the media if she were a man, so she wrote an entire song based on that idea. This song has some of the best most quotable lyrics in all of the album, with lyrics such as: “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can/ Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man/ And I’m so sick of them coming at me again/ ‘Cause if I was a man, then I’d be the man” and “They’d say I hustled, put in the work/ They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve/ What I was wearing, if I was rude/ Could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves”. These lyrics call out the ridiculous double standards in place for women in the music industry that Taylor has personally experienced. In an interview explaining this song Taylor talks about how a business move that a man makes could be perceived as strategic, but if a woman makes the same move it is seen as calculated. Similarly she also says that men are allowed to react to situations, however women can only overreact in the eyes of the media for acting the same way a man might have in a similar situation. 

     The track five songs in this album is The Archer. Similar to most of her track fives, this song has some of her most vulnerable lyrics. She says, “I’ve been the archer./ I’ve been the prey/ Who could ever leave me darling?/ But who could stay?”. These lyrics allude to the different perceptions of her that have been painted through her career. She feels conflicted as she puzzles through whether or not she even deserves to be loved and be in love from the broken promises she’s experienced from her past relationship. She also says “The room is on fire/ Invisible smoke/ And all of my heroes die all alone/ Help me hold onto you”. At this point in the song, Taylor is begging her lover to help her see that it will be alright, and to not repeat history. The ending of the song is the most effective part of the song, where she says, “Who could stay?/ Who could stay?/ Who could stay?/ You could stay/ You could stay”. After reflecting on her flaws and wondering who would ever want to stay with her, she reveals that she does want her lover to stay with her. This is a big step for her because as seen throughout the entirety of the song, her past relationships have left her questioning her worth, however she is willing to risk getting hurt again by asking her lover to stay. 

     In Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince (MAHP), and You Need to Calm Down, Taylor finally breaks her silence on politics and speaks up for LGBTQ rights. In MAHP, Taylor expresses her disillusionment at the state of US politics at the time, by using a high school setting as a metaphor. She talks about how “American glory faded before me / Now I’m feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress / Running through rose thorns, I saw the scoreboard / And ran for my life.”. These lyrics invoke the high school imagery in her previous songs such as “You Belong With Me” and shows her transitioning from the wide-eyed naive little girl, to the informed and experienced adult she has grown to become, expressing her disappointment at the state of politics. In You Need to Calm Down, Taylor talks about the energy and effort people put into consciously spreading negativity. The music video included over 21 featured guests of whom a majority were a part of the LGBTQ community. Taylor says, “Sunshine on the street/ At the parade/ But you would rather be/ In the dark age/ Making that sign/ Must’ve taken all night…try to restore the peace/ And control your urges to scream/ About the people you hate/ ‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay”. For this music video, Taylor raised money for GLAAD and started a petition which has garnered over 500,000 signatures for the United States Senate to pass the Equality Act which would make it illegal for people to be treated differently for their sexuality, race, or gender. 

     Paper Rings is the most upbeat track on the record. The majority of the song is Taylor reminiscing on fun memories she’s shared with her lover, and then the chorus takes a serious turn where she says “I like shiny things, but I’d marry you in paper rings” – which is think is one the most most vulnerable thing to say to anyone, because you are confessing that you love someone so much that the design of a wedding ring seems trivial compared to how much you love them. London Boy is also an upbeat song, and although she doesn’t name drop who she is talking about in the song, it is pretty clear that it is most likely about her current boyfriend who also happens to be a Brit. In this song Taylor name checks a lot of locations in London and how she loves spending time with her boyfriend just “walking around Camden Market” and watching rugby with his friends from “Uni”. 

     The last record on the album is Daylight. Taylor symbolically steps into the daylight, and by doing so lets go of the past to make positive changes in her life. She shows how you do not have to let the damage and pain from the past define who you are and what you want to become. Taylor talks about how to her, Reputation felt like she was stuck in the nighttime, but Lover feels completely sunlit and positive. The song also talks about how Taylor once thought love would be “burning red” – referring to lyrics from the title track of her RED album, but how she now realizes that true love is actually “golden” instead. The song closes with a spoken statement from Taylor where she says, “I want to be defined by the things that I love. Not the things I hate, not the things I’m afraid of, the things that haunt me in the middle of the night. I just think that… you are what you love.” 

     Ranging from contentment, lust, infatuation to heartache and political themes, Lover presents Taylor’s most mature understanding of love. Taylor reflects on her past and is finally at a place where she feels like she can forgive herself for the mistakes she has made. By letting go of her past, Taylor is finally able to “step into the daylight” and move on to the next chapter in her life, knowing that the pain and heartache from her past has shaped her into the woman she is today, but does not define her.