Released in 23rd of August, Lover came to calm down the fans’ anxiety all around the world and we only only had one doubt: “How Taylor Swift’s new phase is going to be?”. After releasing songs like ME!, You Need to Calm Down, The Archer and Lover, everything that swifities knew were that the Reputation Era had come to an end – just like ME!’s clip made it clear when showed a snake to transforming into butterflies.
The album talks about love and all it’s meanings, so the name makes justice to its content. Taylor goes from overcomings hard relationships and being certain about passion to difficulties about dealing with her own thoughts. She also goes from the delicious anxiety of being in love to the complicated mission of seeing someone important going through a hard time. Even so, the singer finds a way to – there’s those who would say finally – show that, yes, she cares about feminism, politics and LGBTQI+ rights.
I Forgot That You Existed opens Lover in a very dancing way and with a clear message: the past is in its place. The song talks about that magical moment when sadness gives place to indifference, when freedom invades the soul and screams: “You are ready for anything now!”. With a 1980’s vibe and an angelic voice, but a strong bridge, Cruel Summer comes next to prove that lyrics about troubled loves are still one of Taylor’s biggest hits. This song made me think a lot about how would it be the video of this summer love.
The third track of the album is Lover. Love is in its most simple shape here, the verses about always wanting to be side-by-side and planning to live together make who are living this kind of relationship phase travel to the clouds. Next, I confess I was surprised to hear The Man. I was waiting for a song about the perfect guy, but instead I came across a not-so-romantic-focused version (but not least important) of the classics If I Were a Boy and Like a Boy from Beyoncé and Ciara, respectively. The phrases “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man” are impactful and translate lots of thoughts that we, woman, always ask ourselves everyday.
Released between You Need to Calm Down and Lover, The Archer didn’t make so much noise, but for me is one of the best songs from the new album. With a very meaningful lyrics, I believe that this music is a mature version of old tracks like Blank Space. Here, the jealous and dramatic girl leaves the scene giving her place to a woman that has already been the hunter and the hunt. Now, she’s looking at her past relationships, insecurities and questioning: “Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?”.
I Think He Knows and Paper Rings bring to the album the weightlessness of love’s best phases. The first one talks about beginnings, the desire to hold on all the time and the feeling of knowing the other person is realizing what is between you two. Then, Paper Rings remembers a couple’s story until the moment the of the song, in a very happy, retro and cliche way – what makes it more fun and cool to me. “I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this” makes me laugh in a silly and genuine way while I expect that this song gets a video with 1950 or 1960 themes.
Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince presents a very north american high school tone, with prom dresses, school hallways and sports teams. At a first sight, the song seems to be about a teenager, but the hopelessness in seeing something collapse take over the music quickly. Some theories indicates that the lyric has scholar elements as an undercovered criticism to the current United States’ political situation – which we can easily adapt to Brazil. The verses “American glory faded before me / Now I’m feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress” and “American stories burning before me / I’m feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed / Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men? / Darling, I’m scared” look like a coincidence to you or do you believe in this possibility too?
Cornelia Street is one of the most sinceres songs from the whole album. The story’s tone made me imagine it could have a clip similar to Mine, where there would be flashbacks about love’s beginnings, conflicts and resolutions. The strophe that talks about the main character’s escape made my eyes got full of tears. Some fans theories believe that the music is about Taylor’s actual boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. According to fans that met Taylor, the singer rented an apartment at Cornelia Street in New York so she could met Joe in secret, away from the media. It’s also cool to remember that Alwyn is from London, where there is a street with the same name.
Again, completely changing the pitch of one song to another, Soon You’ll Get Better, featuring Dixie Chicks, probably made a lot fans to cry. Taylor’s mother, Andrea Swift, is fighting against a cancer again. Both of them are known to have a great relationship and in this song Taylor lets off: “And I hate to make this all about me / But who am I supposed to talk to? / What am I supposed to do / If there’s no you?”. It’s difficult not to get emotional and think about our own family after listening to this music. Some people say that mourning death is selfishness and, here, Taylor let’s all her good, bad and neutral feelings speak louder than any of her other songs.
With a very tense lyric, False God is the moment when Taylor compares love to a false god that blind the lovers no matter how things are difficult between them. “But we might just get away with it / Religion’s in your lips / Even if it’s a false god / We’d still worship / We might just get away with it / The altar is my hips / Even if it’s a false god / We’d still worship this love” it’s about how people deny circumstances, postponing consequences.
The album returns to a happy tone again when You Need To Calm Down arrives. With a majestic clip that literally distributes crowns to pop divas – some who Taylor has had disagreements, YNtCD is about a lot of things: LGBTQI+ rights, feminism, politics and internet, but above all of these, the song is about respect. In times where freedom of expression is used as an excuse for insulting, Taylor makes it clear that only with respect it is possible to guarantee that the most diverse parts of a whole understand each other. (I would like to say that my heart melted when I saw Taylor and Katy Perry hugging each other, peace reigns in the pop world again).
Just like The Archer, I feel that Afterglow is a very mature song. Times where guilty ones were wanted are in the past and all we have now is pure self knowledge. This song talks about to take the blame for almost had ended a meaningful relationship between two people. The verses “Hey, it’s all me, in my head / I’m the one who burned us down / But it’s not what I meant / Sorry that I hurt you” show how insecurities have to be addressed to avoid that their hosts destroy themselves.
In the same style as Lover, in ME! Taylor brings Brendon Urie from Panic! At the Disco in a extreme colorful clip, stuffed with pastel tones, flowers, hearts and everything that the romantic love stereotype allows. With a delicious chorus to be sung, Taylor and Brendon exalt themselves and each other in the greatest joy. This was the first single from the new album and gave a little hint about the new phase we know now.
It’s Nice to Have a Friend brings back the calm tone of the album and tells a love story. I confess that after hearing it for the first time, I thought the lyrics were too simple, but honestly, some of the best love stories are like that. From childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood. The lyrics sound almost like a tale: succinct, calm and with a small, but powerful message.
Finally, Daylight finishes Lover. While it’s quite dangerous to see romantic love in a pedestal for happiness, it’s hard not to feel at least a bit crammed by the song. Overcoming trauma and dealing with her own storms, Taylor talks about the rediscovery of passion and makes a beautiful and mature reference to the idea of love that came up in the album Red (2012): “I once believed love would be (Burning red) / But it’s golden”.
Lover is precious in many ways – although I believe the distribution of it’s songs could have been done better-. With deep and mature lyrics, but lots of fun, you can see that the old Taylor is not dead. Taylors from Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989 rest literally in peace, without a shred of morbidity spilling into this sentence. Taylor of the Reputation Era took the time she needed to allow herself to feel something that had long bothered her and finally made room for the current Taylor, who accepts her own essence.
With so many tips and spoilers, it was already possible to know that we could expect something quite different from Look What You Made Me Do and company. Now, a lot of people already wonder who Taylor Swift will be after Lover. All I have to say to them is: take this time to enjoy love.