As a seasoned Swiftie, I don’t think that Taylor Swift has ever released a bad album. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. However, one of my least favorite opinions to have crossed my ears, is that Lover is Swift’s worst album and I’m here to prove why that is simply incorrect.
Lover has an important place in the Taylor Swift timeline. It was the first album Swift owned after signing to Republic Records, arguably laying the groundwork for “Taylor’s Versions.” On the subject of her re-recorded albums, the situation with Scooter Braun arose in June 2019, just two months before the August 23, 2019 release of Lover. Aside from the actual content of the album, it’s very respectable that Swift was putting out the fire Braun created while promoting the only album he couldn’t purchase.
In my eyes, reputation and Lover walked so that folklore and evermore could run. reputation and Lover are like sisters, and folklore and evermore are like fraternal twins. reputation was Swift’s way of not listening to what anyone had to say about her anger and frustration that she put into the electro-pop tracks. However, she also filled it with a new era of love songs about the happiness of her relationship with Joe Alwyn. The album was crucial to her healing from every negative thing the media and other celebrities had to say about her and the light at the end of the tunnel was encapsulated in Lover. One does not exist without the other as they are connected in the catharsis behind each of the songs.
Swift is known for how well she writes love songs. After all, a big part of her claim to fame was the obsession people had with “Love Story.” Lover is centered around love but details every facet of it, bringing a new perspective of Swift’s own breath of fresh air in her love life as well as giving listeners a new set of feelings surrounding love to focus on. Whether it’s self love (“ME!”), LGBTQ+ relationships (“You Need to Calm Down”), working through one’s insecurities in relationships (“Cornelia Street”) and finally finding a healthy relationship that makes you genuinely happy (“Paper Rings”).
Due to the pandemic, Swift’s “Lover Era” was cut short, officially coming to a close with the release of folklore. Because of this, I think people often forget how many awards and nominations the album received. It was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards, won Favorite Album of the Year at the 2019 People’s Choice Awards, won Favorite Pop/Rock Album at the 2019 American Music Awards, won Pop Album of the Year at the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards and set the 2019 Guinness World Record for biggest-selling album worldwide for a solo artist.
In its first week, it was reported by Republic Records that it earned three million units in global consumption. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry named Swift the biggest selling artist of 2019 after previously becoming the first female artist to do so in 2014 with 1989. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and ended up outselling all of the other 199 albums on the chart combined during its opening week.
I understand why Lover gets overlooked because of the albums it is sandwiched between on Swift’s album release timeline, but that doesn’t mean it deserves hate. It is criminally underrated and I will forever stand by my opinion that Swift has never (and will never) release a bad album.
Tate Raub is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Tate know by tweeting her @tatertot1310.
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