On the 23rd of August, Taylor released her long-awaited seventh album, Lover. Exactly a month and a week later, I’ve finally been able to curate a list of the top five songs from Lover – which was an incredibly hard task because I kept going back and forth on this list. This album is very special to me and speaks to me deeply. It is the perfect mélange of pain and absolute joy and I’m so here for it. Here is my – an OG Swiftie’s – personal ranking of the top five songs from one of my favorite albums from Taylor and frankly, the only album I’ll be shamelessly listening to for a very long time.
- Cornelia Street
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“I packed my bags, left Cornelia Street
Before you even knew I was gone.”
In this emotional five-minute love song, Taylor takes us to a street she knows all too well, Cornelia Street, and walks us through her love story. No one is a better storyteller than Taylor Swift herself. She repeatedly wishes, “I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends” not only for the heartbreak that’ll ensue but the fact that she’d have to say goodbye to Cornelia Street forever.
We all have our own Cornelia Street – the street that knows too much; the street that has seen it all unfold, the good and the bad; the street where their name echoes in every corner, the café where you met to the bar where you drank away the memories of what you once shared. I take the long way home in my hometown to avoid my Cornelia Street.
I’ve never walked Cornelia Street again.
- Cruel Summer
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“I love you, ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?
HE LOOKS UP GRINNING LIKE A DEVIL”
Cruel Summer is the supposed sequel to Getaway Car, my #1 from Reputation, and has, of course, made it to my top five. Taylor reminisces a particularly “cruel summer” with a former beau in this upbeat song. The summer is a “knife” and said beau is a “devil” but that doesn’t stop Taylor from fearlessly falling into something she knows doesn’t end well but takes the risk anyway.
- Death by a Thousand Cuts
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“I ask the traffic lights if it’ll be alright
They say, “I don’t know”
Death by a Thousand Cuts is a song I didn’t know I needed until it came out. Taylor pens down an emotional ballad inspired by the movie, Something Great. The lyrics align with the movie scenes so perfectly that I can see Gina Rodriguez writing a letter on the train while I listen to this song. This song puts into words the inexplicable pain one feels after a breakup so intense that it feels like a thousand cuts – and even upon healing, the scars that linger are a cruel reminder of the relationship that once was. This song makes you feel for Taylor, for Gina’s character, and for everyone that has ever felt this way.
- Daylight
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“Maybe I’ve stormed out of every single room in this town
Threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it’s morning now
It’s brighter now, now”
Daylight is the perfect closing song to a perfect album. The heartbreak, the pain, the darkness – all fade into daylight toward the end of the album.
Daylight is 1989’s Clean’s sister song and gives off very strong 1989 vibes (yes, the old Taylor isn’t dead). Taylor is finally clean and sees the daylight she has been missing for a long time. Daylight is a reminder from Taylor, that the darkness never lasts, and you will someday be able to step into the daylight and let it go. The daylight is near.
- Lover
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“My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue
All’s well that ends well to end up with you”
Lover isn’t just a song. Lover is magic. Lover is a slow dance. Lover is a feeling.
The feeling you get when you wake up next to your significant other on a Sunday. The feeling you get when you realize they’re the one. The feeling you get when you’re intoxicated from love.
Lover is any hopeless romantic’s dream. It’s every romcom and every love poem combined. It fits into the album like a perfect puzzle piece.