I'll be honest: I was kinda concerned for our girl after Reputation. Taylor Swift is the preeminent songwriter of her generation, precisely because she frames her personal experiences in ways the rest of us can relate to, even as she became one of the most recognizable people on Earth.
However, most of us...don't have a long-running feud with a notorious rapper and his uber-famous wife? Taylor's urge to present herself as some sort of battle-tested bad bitch imbued everything about Reputation. That album's lasting imagery was the giant snake she featured onstage during her world tour. It just all felt so artificial. Where was the Taylor who giggled with her "squad," who shook it off, who alternately celebrated/lamented her romantic relationships?
That Taylor returns on Lover, her best album since she went all pop, all the time. I guess she's been dating this handsome British actor for the past three years. He seems incredibly milquetoast, but if he makes her happy and keeps her producing golden pop goodness, good on ya, mate.
(Listens to earpiece)...I'm being told "good on ya, mate" is an Australian expression, not an English one. The important thing is that I am far too stupid and culturally insensitive to worry about such distinctions.
Lover finds Taylor in a mostly upbeat mood; the album's first track "I Forgot That You Existed" is a lilting, vintage kiss-off to an ex. From that finger-snapping intro, the soon-to-be hits come rapid fire and don't stop until a bit of a lull on the back third of the album. If I had to wager, I'd bet on the record's second track, "Cruel Summer," becoming the most successful radio hit of the bunch. It's got the biggest chorus, and it's made for driving around with the windows down and warbling along.
Unlike Reputation, which felt stuffed with filler from the outset, there's not one skippable song on Lover until the album's 13th track (out of 18!), "False God." Before that misfire, you get a smorgasbord of instantly catchy tunes, from the crazy-in-love delight of "Paper Rings" to the wistful lament of "Cornelia Street." She dredges up old high school metaphors for "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" with its cleverly rousing chorus punctuated by the traditional pep rally chant: "GO! FIGHT! WIN!"
Feminism has never been Taylor's strong suit, and some of the lyrics on "The Man," where she (rightfully) points out gender double standards are a bit clumsy and on-the-nose ("They'd say I played the field before I found someone to commit to/and that would be o.k. for me to do"). However, calling out one of America's most famous and respected actors for being a legendary Lothario makes me chuckle every time: "And they would toast to me/oh, let the players play/I'd be just like Leo in Saint-Tropez."
The title track is a top-ten Taylor tune, with her playfully delicate crooning of a term ("looooooverrrrrr") that usually makes my skin crawl. It's one of several songs seemingly inspired by Tay-Tay's currently contented relationship status, along with the cheeky "London Boy," in which she boasts about hanging "in the pub, watching rugby with his friends." I find this claim dubious, but at least it's slightly more authentic than suggesting she frequents "a dive bar on the East side" on Reputation's biggest hit, "Delicate."
Of course, Taylor does pathos as well as sunny romanticism, as she reminds us on "Soon You'll Get Better." The Dixie Chicks join her for this heart-wrenching ballad about her mother's bout with cancer. I'm not sure it's her saddest tune (that title still goes to "Ronan," about a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma), but if you can listen to a daughter's voice catch when she whispers "You'll get better soon...'cuz you have to" as she reckons with the possibility of losing her mother without getting a lump in your throat, then you're probably a sociopath.
If the album ended after that 12th track, there would be little to nitpick. The last third of the album contains the two upbeat pop songs already released as singles, "Me!" and "You Need to Calm Down." Both are perfectly fine, but I'll never accept that "Hey, kids! Spelling is fun!" was a good idea in any way, shape, or form. "Afterglow," "It's Nice to Have a Friend," and "Daylight" have all grown on me, but they do make for a bit of a snoozy end to the album.
Lover marks the end of Taylor's third decade on this increasingly crazy planet. It doesn't represent a growth in maturity, per se, because she's been a preternaturally gifted songwriter since she was in middle school. But it does seem that she's reached a point where she's truly content with who she is. Lover is a confident work by an artist who's decided to be the best version of herself, "reputation" be damned.
She's made up her mind to just be "Me!", and we should all be thankful for that.
Lover: A-
Reputation: C-
1989: B
Red: A
Speak Now: A-
Fearless: B+
Taylor Swift: Idk. I don't like country, never listened to it
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