Singer and songwriter Taylor Swift threw innocence and a dash of color into her new album, Lover. I have found that in recent albums, artists show two different sides of them through their songs, almost as if they are separating them. Lover is no exception.

The initial song, “I forgot that you existed,” produces an innocent and hysterical sound. The irony in this song makes it grow up. She has created this song to diss a certain celebrity for wronging her. The introduction lyrics show a playful side of Taylor. The irony displayed in this song is that Taylor is a middle-aged woman who is more than mature yet this song is displayed like a child. The first time I listened to this song, I thought it was funny and entertaining. 

“How many days did I spend, thinkin’ ’bout how did me wrong, wrong, wrong, lived in the shade you were throwin’, ‘til all of my sunshine was gone, gone, gone.” 

“Cruel Summer” is about meeting someone for the first time, and they make a great impression on you. This is one of my top songs on this album. Every time I listen to it, I feel as if I am in summer, for it has the essence of a summer-like song. It has a relaxing, upbeat tone that shows Taylor’s breathy runs. 

“Fever dream high, in the quiet of the night, you know that I caught it, bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price, you know that I bought it.” The song starts off with a heavy strong backbeat to it, making you aware of its presence. Following a stereotype, Taylor addresses herself as someone who would go for a “bad boy” because she describes him like a toy and says that she would buy him. 

“Killing me slow, out the window, I’m always waiting for you to be waiting below, Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes, what doesn’t kill me makes me want you more.” She is vividly showing her lust for this guy, who people suspect it to be her beau and British actor, Joe Alwyn. Ironically, it is called “Cruel Summer” even though she is clearly talking about her love for him. It can date back to 2016, her unending feud with Kanye West, which is probably why it is a “Cruel Summer.” 

Slowing it down with “Cornelia Street,” Swift radiates nostalgic feeling with the song, playing soft beats in the background. “We were in the backseat, drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar, ‘I rent a place on Cornelia Street,’ I say casually in the car, we were a fresh page on the desk, filling in the blanks as we go, as if the street lights pointed in an arrowhead, leading us home.” She describes a high-like feeling, without actually being high, with these lyrics. She says she rented a place on “Cornelia Street,” almost as if starting anew in a different place. 

This song is describing a new beginning with someone or something with the way she talks about “filling in the blanks as we go.” She could be looking back at a time and wanting to start over, or this song could be a symbol of her starting “a fresh page.” 

With a retro upbeat beat, Taylor launches into another song, “The Man.” When I first listened to this song, I knew there was more meaning to uncover, but by the second listen, I figured it out. “I would be complex, I would be cool, they’d say I played the field before I found someone to commit to, and that would be okay, for me to do, every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you.“

From the first few lines of the song, you can follow the trail of what Taylor wants you to hear and what she is bringing awareness to. Before you can get to a minute of the song, you can tell she using her upbeat catchy lyrics to bring awareness to a negative stereotype of women in the public’s eye or everyday women. 

“I’d be a fearless leader, I’d be an alpha type, when everyone believes ya, what’s that like?” She is describing that she could be looked at more positively as a man. In the last couple of lines, it is like she is writing a note to a man, asking how great it feels to be looked at as strong and a good leader. 

“I’m so sick of running, as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker, If I was a man, and I’m so sick of them, coming at me again, cause if I was a man, then I’d be the man.” The stereotype comes under brighter lights in this paragraph of lyrics. Taylor is sick of women having to be perfect so society can accept them and that men are not judged nearly as much for things they do as much as girls. The unfairness of society accepting men more is a negative connotation Taylor is shedding more light on. 

She is tired of acting perfect, smart, and pretty just so society can accept her as a leader, as a musician, and as a woman. She is asking, could she be respected more if she was a man?

Taylor’s maturity and talent shines through in this playful and serious album. Ranging from funny to more serious matters, Taylor covers it all.