All The Songs On Lover! Ranked
So, Taylor Swift’s 7th album ‘Lover!’ came out last Friday. Naturally, due to listener request as well as my own obsession, I did an entire episode dedicated to it, which you can listen to here and here. It features fellow Taylor superfans John Feitelberg and Eric Nathan. We talked through all the songs on the album. Here is your companion to that episode, ranking all the songs on Lover! from worst to best.
DISCLAIMER: I like all of the songs
18. ME! ft. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco
I mean, really just the weakest song on the album. She thankfully got rid of the weird spelling section that everyone hated so much, but it’s still not her best. Not a bad song! But certainly not her best.
Best Lyric: And I promise that you’ll never find another like me (idk guys it’s slim pickins)
17. You Need To Calm Down
The second single that came out doesn’t fare much better than the first. Actually, it’s a pretty catchy song. I don’t dislike it. But compared to the rest of the album it just doesn’t fuck.
Best Lyric:
You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace
And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate
‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay!
16. It’s Nice To Have A Friend
This song is going to be in every single Bar/Bat Mitzvah montage for the next 20 years, guaranteed. It’s about a childhood friend turning into something more, which is cute. It’s sweet and simple, kind of creepy with that choral “ooh” but a nice song nonetheless. On a different album by a different artist it might even be a standout song, but not for Taylor Swift and not for Lover.
Best Lyric:
Light pink sky, up on the roof
Sun sinks down, no curfew
20 questions, we tell the truth
You’ve been stressed out lately, yeah, me too
Something gave you the nerve
To touch my hand
15. Daylight
This song made me cry the first time I listened because she clearly has grown so much and sees love so much more maturely now (she used to think love was burning red), and it makes me happy that she’s finally found what she’s been looking for. Still, it’s not her best love song.
Best Lyric:
I once believed love would be (Burning red)
But it’s golden
14. London Boy
Omg, people HATE this song. I think it’s a lot of fun! And hopefully tongue-in-cheek. Hopefully. Lyrically it’s just kind of silly, nothing particularly interesting happens here. Like, we get it! You love your London boys.
Best Lyric:
But something happened, I heard him laughing
I saw the dimples first and then I heard the accent
13. The Archer
This song is very vulnerable. Who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay? I mean, that’s a classic T-Swift line. It feels really raw and very real, but also feels like it’s missing something, which is why I’m not crazy about it.
Best Lyric:
Cause’ all of my enemies started out friends
12. Afterglow
The crazy chick in me loves this song because honestly it’s about ruining relationships with your own craziness. As someone who “creates a lot of my own chaos” (in the words of a man in my life), I strongly relate to this one. It’s definitely going to make me cry the next time I ruin a relationship. (Edit: listening to this song right now… kind of a jam.. maybe should be higher up idk)
Best Lyric:
Tell me that you’re still mine
Tell me that we’ll be just fine
Even when I lose my mind
11. Cornelia Street
Okay, I know everyone loves this song, but it just doesn’t do it for me. Sorry! Everyone’s like oh that’s her ‘All Too Well’! But it’s not. She says Cornelia Street like a hundred times. I just don’t feel it. It’s only this high on the list because everyone else loves it so much.
Best Lyric:
Jacket ’round my shoulders is yours
We bless the rains on Cornelia Street
Memorize the creaks in the floor
10. False God
Inject Taylor Swift talking about oral sex into my VEINS. This song is hot. I would definitely kiss to this song. The saxophone is sexy. The production on her voice is haunting. I’m fully into this song, and you should be too.
Best Lyric:
Religion’s in your lips
Even if it’s a false god
We’d still worship
We might just get away with it
The altar is my hips
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9. Soon You’ll Get Better
Yeah so full disclosure I can’t listen to this song because it’s too sad. It’s like “Ronan”. Too fuckin sad. A song about Andrea Swift, Mama Swift, having cancer? Bye. Still, Taylor back at her country roots (with the Dixie Chicks no less!) is Taylor at her best, most specific, and most intimate. It makes you love her all over again.
Best Lyric:
And I hate to make this all about me
But who am I supposed to talk to?
What am I supposed to do
If there’s no you?
8. I Forgot That You Existed
This song is a blast. That little bit of petty Taylor that we love so much. It was the perfect track to start out the album. Thirty seconds in, I was already hooked. I know, she’s clearly not forgotten this guy exists, but that’s fine. Nothing is better than the moment you realize some guy that was ruining your life just doesn’t matter that much to you any more.
Best Lyric:
I forgot that you existed
And I thought that it would kill me, but it didn’t
7. The Man
To the criticism that this is like intro to feminism 101: yeah, but whatever. Still a very fun song with a great message. I’m a big fan, and it gets better every listen.
Best Lyric:
And they would toast to me, oh, let the players play
I’d be just like Leo in Saint-Tropez
6. I Think He Knows
This song has the best chorus of any song on here. The edit on her voice is impeccable. This song didn’t hit me the first time but after my third listen I was all in on it. It gives you ‘start of a relationship, butterflies, big crush’ vibes and I love it.
Best Lyric:
I think he knows
His hands around a cold glass
Make me wanna know that
Body like it’s mine
5. Lover
I hate the word ‘lover’. Genuinely find it repulsive, with or without the SNL sketch about it. But this song… might be changing my mind. It’s somehow simultaneously fairy-tale romantic and grounded. It’s a grown-up happy ending (not that kind, you perverts) and I love it.
Best Lyric:
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
4. Death By A Thousand Cuts
Okay, full disclosure: this song is based on “Someone Great”, the Netflix RomCom starring Gina Rodriguez. If that doesn’t float your boat, that’s fair, but I personally kind of love it. This song is really devastating lyrically but tricks you with a light melody. If she released an acoustic version of this song I’d be in floooods.
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Best Lyric:
You said it was a great love, one for the ages
But if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?
3. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
God, the IMAGERY. Every once in a while Taylor writes a song just to remind us the kind of tremendously talented writer and lyricist she is. It feels like a grandiose, sweeping Lana Del Rey song. Really good shit, man.
Best Lyric:
The whole school is rolling fake dice
You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes
2. Cruel Summer
This is my sneaky number one. It’s number one in my heart. But due to feedback from everyone else, I’ve dropped it to number two. The lyrics of this song are unbelievably good. When Taylor screams “HE LOOKS UP GRINNING LIKE A DEVIL”? I mean, so good. I can’t believe she didn’t release this song back in April so it could’ve been the song of the Summer.
Best Lyric:
I don’t wanna keep secrets just to keep you
And I snuck in through the garden gate
Every night that summer just to seal my fate (Oh)
And I scream, “For whatever it’s worth
I love you, ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?”
He looks up, grinning like a devil
1. Paper Rings
Name a better pop song this decade, you can’t. This is the song that anyone can listen to and say yeah, that’s a darn good song. A Bop, if you will. It feels fresh, slightly pop-punk, and like an updated “Stay Stay Stay”. If this isn’t her next single, we revolt at dawn.
Best Lyric:
The wine is cold
Like the shoulder that I gave you in the street
Cat and mouse for a month or two or three
Now I wake up in the night and watch you breathe
Man, oh, man.. do I love this album. Is it her best album? It might be. All the callbacks to old albums really solidify it as being a culmination of all she is and all she has been through to find love. 5/5 stars.