Whether you’re a fan or not, Taylor Swift is one of the best songwriters of our time. With a total of 337 awards won throughout her career, her talent is inarguable and since she came onto the scene with her first album in 2006 it has only evolved. Swift’s albums are notorious for having “eras” with different looks, sounds, and aesthetics that accompany them. 2017’s reputation was dark, daring, and unapologetic- a response to the media chaos that surrounded her in the years before its release and all those who had tried to tear her down. Swift had fully stepped into the “snake” persona that others pushed on her. However, her most recent album, Lover, is quite different- dreamy, bright, and fun, supplemented by visuals of glittery hearts, butterflies, and sunsets. Lover has emotional highs and lows throughout its 18 tracks, encompassing love in all its glory and proving Swift can do no wrong.
“I Forgot That You Existed” is a perfect transition from reputation with its shade and general disregard of “haters.” This track is poppy and sassy- about breaking off a toxic relationship and moving on. “The Man,” a feminist anthem in which Swift calls out double standards and explores how the media and industry would view her if she were a male, has the same attitude. However, Lover also describes romantic love. “Cruel Summer,” tells the story of falling in love and the uncertainty that comes with it- in particular, the summer that her relationship with Joe Alwyn began. Swift details the same feeling of needing to protect her relationships as she did in 1989’s “I Know Places,” writing “I don’t wanna keep secrets just to keep you” and “I love you, ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?” This album has no shortage of songs about Alwyn, and the made-for-slow-dancing “Lover” is the most romantic of them all. This song is an instant classic, encapsulating true love and including what sounds much like wedding vows, indicating that the relationship has progressed. It’s reminiscent of Swift’s earlier albums’ dreamlike sound. “Cornelia Street,” on the excitement and memories about an early relationship, comes in a close second on the romantic scale; “barefoot in the kitchen, sacred new beginnings that became my religion, listen.” The catchy “I Think He Knows” (guaranteed to be stuck in your head all day) represents initial attraction much like that of “Gorgeous” on reputation. Swift delves into politics with the somehow simultaneously upbeat and melancholy “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince” in a way that only she can; using high school as a metaphor. In her September 2019 Vogue cover story, Swift explained she didn’t voice her support for Hilary Clinton because of her reputation- “Would I be an endorsement or a liability? Look, snakes of a feather flock together. Look, the two lying women-” reflected when she sings “they whisper in the hallway ‘she’s a bad, bad girl.’” “Soon You’ll Get Better” is one of the most heartbreaking songs Swift has created, expressing Swift’s feelings when her mother’s cancer returned earlier this year, with tinges of country and a feature from the Dixie Chicks. The seductive “False God” includes saxophones- uncharted territory for Swift- and compares a relationship to religion. The album ends with the 80s-pop-sounding “Daylight” in which Swift moves on from past unlucky relationships into happiness and a new life with someone she loves.
Overall, Lover is possibly the most personal and romantic Taylor Swift album yet, with songs made for no one but Swift herself. It is a beautiful testament to love in all forms and shows Swift at her most free self. As the last song of the album says, “you gotta step into the daylight and let it go.”