Taylor Swift‘s been quite outspoken about the sexism she’s faced in the music industry. When she was promoting her 1989 album in 2014, she called out the double standard of being criticized for writing about her exes even though male artists like Ed Sheeran do the same thing. Earlier this month, she opened up about the treatment she received after her 2012 album Red topped the charts.
“It’s fine to infantilize a girl’s success and say, ‘How cute that she’s having some hit songs,’” she told Vogue. “‘How cute that she’s writing songs.’ But the second it becomes formidable? As soon as I started playing stadiums—when I started to look like a woman—that wasn’t as cool anymore.”
Now she’s doubling down on this message with a new song, “The Man” off her album Lover (which dropped today). In it, Swift muses about how her life and career might have panned out if she were a man.
“I would be complex. I would be cool,” Swift sings. “They’d say I played the field before I found someone to commit to. And that would be OK for me to do. Every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you.”
Swift isn’t the first pop singer to call out this troubling dichotomy. Everyone from Madonna to Nicki Minaj has drawn attention to the fact that women in music aren’t allowed to be strong without being branded “divas.” “When [Lil’] Wayne walks on the set, and says, ‘Don’t talk to me. Have my music ready,’ it’s cool. But every time I put my foot down and stand up for myself, it’s like, ‘We’ve heard about Nicki Minaj,'” Minaj said in 2012.
Miley Cyrus wasn’t the only pop star to drop a new single this week that seems to be about her current relationship status. Taylor Swift released her fourth single—which also happens to be the title track—from her upcoming album Lover.
In some ways, “Lover” goes back to Swift’s roots. The song is relationship and lyrics-driven, a Swift signature, and there’s a hint of her country background in the sound. As for those lyrics, it seems clear that the “lover” being discussed in the song is her current boyfriend Joe Alwyn. It’s a rare glimpse into their romance, given that Swift has kept her relationship with the British actor incredibly private. (They’re rarely even seen together at public events.) Even so, that didn’t stop fan theories and rumors from swirling earlier this year that the couple’s about to get engaged. That hasn’t happened yet, that we know of, but the lyrics of “Lover” imply Swift is in this relationship for the long run.
Below is the lyric video to watch and discuss. (Swift says the full music video will be released next week, ahead of the album.)
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The theorizing from fans starts with the first verse, of course.
We could leave the Christmas lights up ’til January /
This is our place, we make the rules /
And there’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear /
Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?
It’s also now clear that the fake Christmas tree Easter egg in the “ME!” video was a reference to this song.
The second verse appears to verify what many have suspected, but the couple has never confirmed publicly: Alwyn and Swift have been together for three years. (They reportedly met at the 2016 Met Gala, but didn’t start dating until the fall of that year.) As for the rest of the verse, we know Swift loves to have her friends over to hang. She also made a similar reference to a boyfriend’s appeal (who many thought to be Alwyn) in her song, “Gorgeous”: “You’re so gorgeous, I can’t say anything to your face.”
Ariana Grande has done it again, people. The Thank U, Next singer has unleashed yet another bop into the world. This one’s called “Boyfriend,” and it was cowritten by the duo Social House, with whom she frequently collaborates. Sonically it’s right on par with the songs she released on both the Sweetener and Thank U, Next albums: soulful and R&B-tinged with an incredibly catchy pop chorus. I’ve already listened to it 15 times, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet.
Fans shouldn’t read too much into the lyrics on this one. There don’t appear to be any hidden references to Grande’s ex-boyfriends the way there were on the Thank U, Next album. Rather, this breezy track is all about the push and pull of being casual with someone but wanting more. “You ain’t my boyfriend (Boyfriend) / And I ain’t your girlfriend (Girlfriend) / But you don’t want me to see nobody else,” Grande sings in the chorus.
Grande took to Twitter on Thursday night, August 1, and revealed the inspiration behind the song. “Well, I feel like this song captures a common theme in the lives of so many people I know,” Grande wrote. “People want to feel love but don’t want to define their relationship and have trouble fully committing or trusting or allowing themselves to fully love someone even though they want to.”
She continued, “We wanted to make something uplifting that captures that feeling of being afraid to take the leap and trust, being afraid of being hurt or feeling like you won’t be enough for that person…but also how it feels to have a crippling crush on someone.”
And as if the song weren’t enough, Grande also dropped the video for “Boyfriend.” In it Grande and Michael “Mikey” Foster from Social House play jealous friends with benefits who get inexplicably angry when they see the other flirting with someone else. At one point Grande pulls out a literal bow and arrow and…well, just watch it for yourself, below. The 2020 VMAs is already shaking.
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Naturally, fans are living for both this song and video:
Thank you, Ariana Grande, for blessing my weekend with yet another banger.
Taylor Swift released a new song off her upcoming album, Lover, on Tuesday, July 23. Titled “The Archer,” the track is a departure from the first two singles she’s put out from Lover, “ME!” and “You Need to Calm Down.” The song is subdued and synthy, and packed with some pretty gut-wrenching lyrics.
Interestingly, “The Archer” is track number five off Lover, which is significant if you know anything about Taylor Swift‘s music. The pop icon has historically made the fifth song off her albums emotional, vulnerable, and deeply personal. (Please see: “Delicate,” “Dear John,” and, of course, “All Too Well.”) This was unintentional at first, but Swift has since caught on and now makes deliberate choices for her fifth tracks.
“So track five is kind of a tradition that really started with you guys because I didn’t realize I was doing this,” Swift said Tuesday on an Instagram live-stream. “But instinctually I was putting a very vulnerable, honest, emotional song as track five. So because you noticed this, I started to put the songs that were honest, emotional, vulnerable, and personal as track five.”
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“The Archer” is all of those things. “I’ve been the archer, I’ve been the prey/Who could ever leave me, darling/But who could stay,” she sings in the chorus, which some fans are reading as a nod to her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. They say he is the one who has stayed with her.
“Imagine Taylor sitting on her couch with Joe and she says, like, ‘I want to show you something,’ and she catches her guitar and sings ‘The Archer’ to him,” one fan wrote.
Some people think “The Archer” is a continuation of the “Delicate” music video, in which Swift becomes invisible but then is seen by a mysterious guy at a bar (presumably Joe).
Taylor Swift has some things to say about the Internet, social media, and trolls—and she’s letting it all out in the latest single from her upcoming seventh album.
The song, “You Need to Calm Down,” dropped at midnight, and its message is clear just from the title: We must chill, guys. Musically, the new song feels very in line with the first single from the album, “ME!” And though it’s laying out a clear message to trolls and those who drag Swift and her friends online, the overall tone is positive. The actual video for “You Need to Calm Down” will be released next week. “I wanted you to hear the song first, then see the video,” she said during an Instagram livestream on Thursday, June 13. “Because the video is very worth the wait. There’s a lot going on in the video, so I wanted that to be a separate discovery.”
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So let’s break down what Tay’s got to say on this new song.
She sets the tone with the first verse, calling out the difference between saying something to someone’s face versus putting it on social media: “You are somebody that I don’t know/But you’re takin’ shots at me like it’s Patrón/And I’m just like, damn, it’s 7 AM/Say it in the street, that’s a knock-out/But you say it in a Tweet, that’s a cop-out/And I’m just like, “Hey, are you OK?”
Swift goes on to say she’s not against self-expression, but she’s learned to let it go because “snakes and stones never broke my bones,” seemingly a reference to the pre-Reputation Kim Kardashian drama.
There’s also more than one reference to the LGBTQ+ community in the song. At one point, Swift sings, “Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD? (You could be GLAAD)”. GLAAD is the organization formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation that describes itself as being at the “forefront of cultural change, accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community.” Later she says, “And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate/’Cause shade never made anybody less gay.” This is in line with a newly more politically active Swift, who recently released a letter she wrote to her Tennessee senator about protecting LGBTQ+ rights.
The race for 2019’s Song of the Summer is steep, with several of your favorite artists in the running. Today alone we received new, very good songs from both Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry. Match those with the bops Lizzo has been delivering all year, plus new music from Taylor Swift, Halsey, and Charli XCX, and you have one of the toughest Song of the Summer competitions is years. (Which is a great problem to have, really—what’s summer without good music, am I right?)
Here are this season’s frontrunners.
This song might sound familiar to diehard XCX stans. It’s essentially a re-working of “Track 10,” the closing number from her 2017 mixtape Pop2. But it might as well be an entirely different song: Whereas “Track 10″ is psychedelic, experimental, and dripping with Auto-Tune—a modern Charli staple—”Blame It On Your Love” is a breezy slice of tropical-pop. Lizzo’s feature is a standout moment, though it’s entirely too short. “I’m trying to catch millions, I’m not trying to catch feelings,” the rapper muses in her signature tongue-in-cheek cadence before Charli delivers the earworm chorus. Good luck getting this one out of your head.
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The lyrics on Halsey’s latest track are dark—”I keep a record of the wreckage in my life,” she sings on the refrain—but they’re packaged inside some punchy, pop-rock production. Halsey is absolutely serving some Avril Lavigne realness with “Nightmare” in the best way possible.
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It’s hard to pick the best song off Jepsen’s latest album, Dedication, but “Too Much” is a front-runner. The track is classic Carly Rae: sleek and synthy in its production with fun, wildly romantic lyrics. “I’ll do anything to get to the rush,” she sings over a shimmery bass line before eventually declaring, “If I love you, then I love you too much.” I love this song too much.
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The Jonas Brothers etched out a very specific space in pop when they exploded onto the scene 10 years ago. Their music had an edge, sure, but was frivolous and care-free at its core—candy-colored pop-rock with a little bit of crunch. “Sucker,” the band’s first single in over six years, only builds on that legacy. And its accompanying music video is a masterpiece.
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The Queen of Pop has teased four songs from her upcoming LP, Madame X, and “Future” is the highlight by a mile. The track’s trippy, hip-hop vibe is reminiscent of her 2015 song “Unapologetic Bitch”—but this time around Madonna has a poignant message. “Not everyone is learning from the past,” she sings. “Not everyone can come into the future.” It’s a bit heavier than, “I’m popping bottles that you can’t even afford,” but I like it.
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For the first taste of TS7, Taylor Swift went big. “ME!” is a deliriously happy, neon fever dream—the kind of pop song that’s best heard in a soccer stadium or on the car radio at full blast. It’s a welcome reprieve from the moody, more subdued vibe most mainstream music is taking. Hopefully, it’s a sign that Swift’s upcoming album, rumored to be titled Lover, will be just as fun.
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Bizarre video aside, the guys’ first collaboration is as catchy as you’d expect. The track is an almost-perfect blend of Sheeran’s acoustic sensibility and Bieber’s ear for electronic-infused pop.
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This song was practically manufactured for sweaty nightclubs at 3 A.M.: Eilish delivers mumbly, breathy vocals over a throbbing dance beat to create an experience that’s downright disorienting. In the best way possible.
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There’s a palpable snap, crackle, and pop to “Tempo,” originally released in February as ramp-up to Lizzo’s third album Cuz I Love You. The pulsating beat here practically compels you to dance, which is exactly what you need from a summer song.
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Perry re-captures some of her Teenage Dream magic with “Never Really Over,” a bouncy, bombastic banger about mending a broken heart. Vocally, she’s never sounded stronger, and there’s a lightness to this track that’s a nice reprieve from her polarizing 2017 album Witness. It’s sunshine personified.
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Featuring the one and only RuPaul, this ode to sexuality is one part Dead Petz, two parts Bangerz, and all parts a smash.
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Ronson’s trend of sad disco tracks continues with “Find U Again,” a glittery slice of the eighties featuring some of Cabello’s most souful vocals to date.
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Cardi B has dominated the summer charts for three years now and has no signs of slowing down. She goes harder than ever on “Press,” which is a shot of pure adrenaline featuring lyrics like, “Cardi don’t need more press/Kill ’em all, put them hoes to rest.” And just like that, we’re forced to stan.
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Christopher Rosa is the staff entertainment writer at Glamour. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisrosa92.
