Okay, I know that my last three blogs, including this one have been about Taylor Swift, and I swear that my blog is not actually a Taylor Swift blog. I just can't help that she is where I'm drawing inspiration from right now.
A couple of months ago when The Archer was released I ripped into it as per my last blog post. I said it was a terrible song and that Taylor was codependent and needed to get a grip. Okay see here's the thing. I'd just been rejected by a guy a short time before and I was kind of bruised from that so I didn't want to admit that I was actually kind of gutted about it and Taylor just reminded me of that. It was also a bit slow for my liking.
However, now it's one of my favourite tracks on the album. I love the slow pacing of it and I love it lyrically, but also, why does it even have to be about a guy? What's to say it's not about career goals and aspirations? The lyrics, "easy they come/easy they go/help me hold onto you/who could ever leave me/but who could ever stay?"
That could easily be about your dreams. It's all about interpretation. Of course, I'm certain it is about a new love, probably Joe Alwyn, but it could honestly be about anything such as self belief. The song is what you make it. Taylor's vocal range and sincerity in the song really shines through. It is absolutely a stand out on the album.
Another stand out is Paper Rings. She reminds me of Avril Lavigne in the song but I also love the concept of, "I like shiny things/but I'd marry you with paper rings". It's so sweet that you can't help but fall in love with it and it has a great beat.
Now Cornelia Street is about a place that you love and will always remember. In Taylor's case it's Cornelia Street. In my case it's Onslow Road, Mount Eden. That place is one of my favourite places. The beat, lyrics and mixing of this song could have easily been on her album 1989. It's a soft song that's rather reflective and clear she wants to hold onto what she has in her life right now.
Soon you'll get better with the Dixie Chicks is a raw song about Taylor Swift's mother Andrea's battle with cancer. It's stripped back with light guitar strings. I understand that lots of people have written positive reviews about the song but I just don't like it. I like that it's accoustic. I don't like it lyrically. It doesn't really fit on the album and it's just a depressing song. I'm not a fan of it. I personally would've left it off the album.
Then there are the two songs, Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince; and You Need to Calm Down, which reviewers are trying to make political tunes. I don't know about you but I don't like when singers get political in their music. I immediately tune out. That said, I do like You Need to Calm Down but I could do without the political commentary. Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince also could've easily been on 1989 as well.
I'm an actress, writer and singer and of course I have political opinions and leanings but I keep my performing, writing and my politics separate even though I studied politics at uni. I don't like that the media is pressuring Taylor to talk about politics. We pay her to sing and write music, not to offer political commentary. Green Day did that with their album American Idiot though but again, music can be universal so songs are open to interpretation and I loved that album when it was released.
Afterglow and It's Nice to Have a Friend remind me of pre Red era Taylor. She shows her more sensitive side. In Afterglow she returns to Back to December where she's apologising to a former love. The song is like many on her album with sound effects of an echo. It's Nice to Have a Friend feels a little bit playful and cheerful, like she could easily be in high school singing it and the first lyrics are: "school bell rings/walk me home". This song could easily be about her mother, or her best friend Abigail who she met early in high school. I like that she is thankful in this song and lighthearted in her approach.
Now to talk about Me! This song was first released when I was into the guy who rejected me so I was optimistic about it, but then for a while I couldn't listen to it. Now that time has passed I completely relate to Taylor "I know that I went psycho on the phone/I never leave well enough alone". That is totally me. I do that, but then she sings, "Meeeeeeeee/I'm the only one of me/baby that's the fun of me" and now I would sing that song as a "your loss." When Taylor first released it she said the song was exactly that. It was supposed to be an uplifting song and it really is.
The title track Lover refers to previous songs and has a country vibe about it. It's clearly about her love of three years, British actor Joe Alwyn and how she'd do anything for him. I like the song, but being single with no love interests on the horizon (outside of pure fantasies) I can't listen to the song right now. When there is a new love interest, it will be high on the playlist.
The fourth track, The Man is a follow up to Blank Space where she's sick of everyone criticising her for having lots of relationships and she sings about how if she was a man then she'd be the man and everyone would lover her like they do Leo Di Caprio. The pace picks up and it has a strong drum beat.
The album's final track is more of a ballad where Taylor is again, taking responsibility for how she's been in previous relationships and singing that she doesn't, "want to look at anything else" now that she's seen "daylight". It might be another song to Joe Alwyn but it's also about how she's made peace with what people have said about her in the past. I'm sure we can all relate to being judged by others, or feeling judged. She seems to have made peace with it, but that appears to be because she's with Joe. It's an optimistic song and she seems very thankful for what the future holds.
High on the playlist like, I Forgot That You Existed. This is 100% my favourite song on the song. Anyone who has been wronged by a friend, former lover or anyone else will love this song. It's a follow up to Bad Blood except she simply doesn't care anymore, "I forgot that you existed/and I thought that it would kill me/but it didn't/and it was so nice/and it was so peaceful and quiet/it isn't love/it isn't hate/it's just indifferent."
The song is basically a "I would've done anything for you but you showed your true colours and now I don't care about you". It's the ultimate indifferent song. The beat of the song is pretty peaceful and nice to listen to. It really is one of those songs you can just listen to on repeat when you've been wronged by someone.
It's a song where Taylor takes back the power after the Reputation era and is leaving the past behind. It's a great opener for the album and really does set the tone that she's a lover not a fighter and doesn't have time to negativity.
Even the cover art shows that she is a lover. It may not be intentional but the Lover cover art is very similar to Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. She reportedly had a falling out with Katy Perry for a few years but Katy appeared in her You Need to Calm Down music video so Taylor and Katy are friends again, or at least on speaking terms.
Overall this is a great return to the spotlight for Taylor and it's great that she's back to positivity after the dark Reputation era. I loved Reputation but it was very dark, at least by Taylor standards anyway.
The best tracks on the album: I Forgot That You Existed, The Archer, Paper Rings, Cornelia Street, Afterglow, Me!, It's Nice to Have a Friend and Daylight.
I give the album a 4.5 out of 5 and I know I won't be the only one at her Lover Tour but I plan to be in the front row at her show.
