Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department (April 19, 2024) Album • Page 18

I get that.

 

Oh yeah, that is true. Man, the charts are so weird these days. You can have one chart-topping single just stick around forever ("I Remember Everything," "Flowers") but good luck getting another one.

 

"London Boy" is also a turd, but the Springsteen namedrop alone makes it better than "ME!" I'm no huge fan of "Look What You Made Me Do," but at least it felt audacious as the lead single. "ME" didn't bring anything new or interesting to the table at all, on top of sucking.

Lover in general is such a weird album. Some absolute all-timers, a few complete pieces of junk, and 5-6 songs that are just aggressively fine. It's fallen in my estimation a lot over time, simply because I almost never play it all the way through. Whereas Reputation, which I liked a lot less in the moment, has something beguiling about it that has brought me back and caused me to warm on that album considerably.

 

i really liked reputation and some of the ways she leaned into more processed and darker sonic elements (even if it's not a centerpiece of the album). the shift back to a more optimistic and vibrant pop sound on Lover was not only jarring, but combined with the lyrics, it felt somewhat scatterbrained and juvenile. it's 3rd from the bottom in my ranking, and would be lower if it weren't for the few really great songs on that album pushing it above her first two albums.

 

The best third of Lover is my favorite music from her

 

All of the Girls and Need not making the final cut while like London Boy, Me, and YNTCD did was definitely a choice.

 

It's got some amazing stuff. "Death by a Thousand Cuts" and "Cornelia Street" are some of her best writing, and "Cruel Summer" remains my favorite pure Taylor pop song. But a lot of it feels like a dumbed-down version of Taylor Swift, especially in the wake of folklore and evermore. Like, I enjoy "I Forgot That You Existed," but juvenile is the right word for it.

This is the thing. It's got a solid 8 songs I just love. But then there are 10 more songs! It's her most "You needed an editor" album. Cut that thing down to 12 and it's in contention with her best. As is, I probably only listen to self-titled less front to back.

 

including the other songs released during this album cycle, but i'd keep Cruel Summer, Lover, I Think He Knows, Cornelia Street, DBATC, False God, Afterglow, and AOTGYLB. absolutely tossing Paper Rings, London Boy, and ME!. everything else i'm indifferent about (including YNTCD).

 

I love "Paper Rings," but I'd toss "Afterglow," personally. IMO, her most "literally any pop star could have written this" song ever.

 

Paper Rings isn't a terrible song, but for me it feels painfully generic and just treads the same ground that Stay Stay Stay does.

 

Oh I also don't like that one song that plays at the end of her documentary. And I don't like miss Americana and the heartbreak prince at all

 

We forgetting False God exists or…

 

One of her best songs imo

 

False God is absolutely one of her best songs of all time.

 

Twins.

 

To me the lover edit is easy, keep everything up to death by a thousand cuts, keep false god, and cut everything else. There’s probably one or two second half songs I like more than miss americana, but for me the good and bad on that album is almost exactly just first half vs second half (with false god being an elite exception).

 

1. I Forgot That You Existed
2. Cruel Summer
3. Lover
4. The Archer
5. I Think He Knows
6. Paper Rings
7. Death By a Thousand Cuts
8. Soon You'll Get Better
9. False God
10. It's Nice to Have a Friend
11. Daylight

Would be my version.

 

Almost the exact same except I would add Cornelia Street and close with Afterglow and get rid of Daylight, this would probably be my favorite album of hers, or at least the most listenable.

 

I'd go along with this, but keep "Soon You'll Get Better" and "Daylight" too. The former maybe doesn't quite fit the album, but is so beautiful and wrenching and honest. I wouldn't want to go without it. And then "Daylight" as the closer is really the only thing that gives this grab bag of an album any sense of cohesion or thematic heft. Plus, if you keep those two, it's a 13-song album, and we know she loves those.

 

It's a lot more fun than "Stay Stay Stay," though, and I think it has a sound she never really tried anywhere else.

 

I'm sure I've shared it before, but this is my perfect version of Lover:

1. The Archer
2. Cruel Summer
3. The Man
4. Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince
5. Death By A Thousand Cuts
6. Lover
7. Cornelia Street
8. Afterglow
9. All of the Girls You Loved Before
10. I Think He Knows
11. Paper Rings
12. Soon You'll Get Better
13. Daylight

I could cut The Man easily, but like Craig said, she loves 13. I don't know where a polished version of Need would fit here, but I prefer it greatly to all of the songs I didn't include and The Man.

 

I Think He Knows isn't very good

 

A song where I like the verses a lot and think the chorus kind of sucks.

 

But the bridge is the best part. Would weirdly fit on midnights (just the bridge). I don’t love the rest of the song