Taylor Swift's heard us loud and clear: 23rd August is too far away. No, she didn't drop Lover early, but she did drop the titular single overnight, and it's probably the most important song on the album. Swift began teasing her seventh album with singles "ME!" and "You Need To Calm Down," which focused more on broader themes of confidence than personal relationships, which have long been Swift's bread and butter. So by the time "The Archer" was released last month, people were ready to get serious, and "Lover" just hit fans with another emotional wallop.
The thick, moody song has the sound of someone singing in an empty room, and it's immediately clear that Swift only needs an audience of one: boyfriend Joe Alwyn. The two have been dating since at least 2016 and, in the midst of engagement rumours, "Lover" only fans the flames.
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"We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January," the song begins, both bringing back Swift's frequent Christmas light motif and explaining the Christmas tree in the living room in the music video for "ME!" "This is our place, we make the rules And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?"
The chorus is short and sweet, with Swift slowing down to ask, "Can I go where you go?/ Can we always be this close forever and ever?" before speeding back up to declare, "And ah, take me out, and take me home / You're my, my, my, my lover."
But the themes of the song get the most obvious at the bridge, which is where Swift usually does her most devastating songwriting:
"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
And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me
And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover"
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
And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me
And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover"
These previously teased lyrics were the inciting incident for rumours of Swift's engagement to Alwyn, and while she hasn't commented on that possibility, she does endorse "Lover" being a song played at weddings. Over on Tumblr, she's liking posts by fans declaring just that.
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"I’m only disappointed that I got married 3 years ago and that I didn’t wait for Lover to come out to play as our first dance song," one of the posts Swift liked reads.
"THIS WILL BE MY FIRST DANCE SONG AT MY WEDDING MARK MY WORDS," another fan wrote, getting Swift's "like" of approval.
The music video for "Lover" will drop on 22nd August. Listen to "Lover" below.