Continuing my countdown of the songs on Taylor Swift’s Lover.
12. ‘Lover’ – The title track and fourth single. I like the sound of this song a lot better than the lyrics. The verses have a really cool ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ quality. But I have a hard time taking the word “lover” seriously — it conjures up images of Will Ferrell and Rachel Dratch in a hot tub. And “we could leave the Christmas lights up til January” — who doesn’t do that? Still, very solid song.
After the two week Quentin Tarantino countdown, I’m still in the mood to rank things. So I thought I’d try something new and comment on a new album by ranking all of its songs in order over the course of a week.
Taylor Swift’s Lover gets the honor. Released a few weeks back, this album has gotten better with each listen. It feels like a natural synthesis of Swift’s country and pop periods, as well as her most mature and best-sounding album yet. I’ve always had a soft spot for Speak Now, but Lover might surpass it as my favorite Swift album.
A new Taylor Swift album is always cause for rejoicing, meme-ifying and hot takes from every corner of the internet. Her latest, Lover, released last Friday, will certainly be no exception.
I haven’t spent enough time with the album yet to offer my own in-depth assessment, but after a listen and a half I can make a few early observations.
Taylor Swift blew up YouTube last week with the release of her latest song and video, a candy-colored pop duet (with Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco) called ‘ME!’
I don’t know if this is the first single from an as-yet-unannounced album, or just a one-off, but what it most resembles is the end credits song from a second-tier animated film (think ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ or ‘Happy’). Light, fun, forgettable.
In the 13th and 14th spots on Billboard’s Hot 100 we have two songs I featured the last time I looked at the charts — ‘The Middle‘ by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey; and ‘Meant to Be‘ by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line. These two country-flavored hits were back to back in the top five in late May and they’ve stuck together lower on the chart.
At #15 is another (one-time) country artist, though it’s been awhile since Taylor Swift got her twang on. In fact, I think the best unexpected career move for Swift right now would be to put out another bona fide country pop album.
