Remember April 26, 2019? Remember all the way back in April? Gas was 50 cents a gallon and milk was also 50 cents a gallon? Everything was sold by the gallon? It was wild.
OK April wasn't that long ago, but it was the month the music video for "ME!" debuted. The tune, of course, was our first taste of the music that would end up on Taylor Swift's new album, "Lover."
The record has been out for a couple of weeks now, and we've had a chance to work through it a few dozen times, wandering back and forth in our minds (and back again, and forth again) about whether it's objectively better than her previous record "Reputation." By this point, many would concede that it is a very good record, though falls short of the Tier 1 of Taylor, a shelf occupied by "Red" and "1989."
As scatterbrained as "Lover" may feel, at times, it still has some candidates for the future Greatest Hits record that will, we can only hope, come out in a future where things are only sold by the gallon.
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Here are our favorites
Honorable Mention: "It's Nice To Have A Friend"
Not the best on the record, but it's a sweet song with a sweet story and it'd make any road trip playlist that much sweeter.
Third Place "False God"
In the U.S., you need to pass a test to be able to drive a motor vehicle in public. Here at the show, we feel, quite strongly, that one should be similarly tested before just using a saxophone like this in a song like this. Some sort of permit should be required, at least. It's a sexy song. It's a good song. But it's not the best song on the record.
Second Place: "Lover"
OK this might be the song on the record that most likely to end up on the futuristic (apocalyptic? gallons of milk surrounded?) greatest hits record, but is it the best? Perhaps time will tell. Taylor does love songs and break-up songs very well, and this tune certainly falls under that umbrella.
First Place: "Cruel Summer"
OK, OK. OK. Listen. We get it. "Lover" is lovely. It's a really, really good song. We're looking at the checklist. "Great love/break-up song" is checked. But, BUT -- but. "Cruel Summer" also checks that box and a very important second box: it's a gosh darn banger. It... bangs. It's a banger. You know how some games say best for children ages 4-99? As like a weird joke in board game culture that suggests that maybe centenarians wouldn't enjoy that particular game? Well those numbers can also serve as the prescription dosage for this song. Listen to it 100 times and, at the very least, from listen four to listen 99, it will bring the mother fucking thunder. And that's just the recommended dosage. Results may vary. Double the dosage if symptoms are severe. We won't tell you how to live your life.
What's your favorite tune on the album? Tweet us @_ReminiscentFM