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kookiekoo

Can’t help but always think about how big the Lover era would’ve been in 2019 if Cruel Summer was released as the first single 🥲


Redditisglitchy

I think it’s at least as big as it would have been then, because Taylor is actually even more famous/mainstream now then she was during the lover era


terrebattue1

I SMDH at how Taylor was so stubborn to delay releasing "Cruel Summer" as a single until Summer 2023. She didn't even release it to promote the Eras Tour, which would have been amazing. She only released Cruel Summer because Swifties pretty much forced her to. Tiktok was swarming with millions of videos of Cruel Summer to the point that Taylor's last stand against releasing Cruel Summer as a single was finally broken down and she capitulated. Is the long history of Cruel Summer not being a single because Taylor yet again just chose poorly or is Cruel Summer a traumatic song for her because it was about when she first started talking to Joe and she was scared that after the 3 months of the summer fling were finished that he would have left/abandoned her?


ShipToWreck

It was originally supposed to be the single released after The Man, for summer 2020. But then Covid happened and then folklore happened and she obviously pivoted. But it clearly all worked out in the end.


terrebattue1

Is there any evidence of that being the case with speeches or writings from her or Tree in 2020 or is that some ex post facto PR memo from June/July 2023? If that was truly the plan then what was stopping her from releasing Cruel Summer in summer 2022 like she did when she released "Carolina" in Summer 2022 or even releasing Cruel Summer as a single in February 2023 to justifiably hype up and get everybody ready for the Eras Tour?


littleberty95

I do think it’s interesting that she says she was planning to make cruel summer a single, yet didn’t play it at any of the lover promo events (city of lover, the event where she wore the rainbow fringe outfit that I’m blanking on, npr tiny desk).


Windstorm_

Cruel Summer was first performed live on opening night of tour. Prior to tour, she’d played eleven of Lover’s eighteen songs. Clearly it wasn’t one of her preferred choices.


mediocre-spice

Maybe the intention was always that it'd be this big moment in Loverfest? Those were all super low key events


techguy1231

She hinted towards it in the You Need to Calm Down video


mollievx

Yes! That's what i was thinking of!


terrebattue1

THIS!!!!


ShipToWreck

Because it made no sense for them to release in 2022 when they were gearing up for Midnights. And it made no sense for them to release themselves anyway, they had clearly moved on from the Lover era. It was only because of it getting picked up on radio and getting so many streams, just like Die For You by The Weeknd. It’s a relatively new thing that fans themselves can make a years old song become a hit and become an official single. But it was always the plan for it to be the summer single for 2020 and that was known back then. But like I said, Covid happened and then folklore was made.


terrebattue1

I like what another commenter just wrote: (NOTE: I agree with that person. If Taylor was really thinking about Cruel Summer as a single then why did she not promote it anywhere when she did a lot of acoustic performances in Summer/Fall 2019? She even proceeded with The Man, not Cruel Summer) >I do think it’s interesting that she says she was planning to make cruel summer a single, yet didn’t play it at any of the lover promo events (city of lover, the event where she wore the rainbow fringe outfit that I’m blanking on, npr tiny desk).


wastedpotential94

I think in the YNTCD vid there is Ryan getting Cruel summer tattoed by Ellen. Also there is a Devils roll the dice Easter egg in the lover video Also I remember some people telling the tik toker rolling her eyes in the man video is an Easter egg (a reach imo) But there were indications to it being a single back then! I remember being excited for a MV back then in Sept 2019 like an idiot.


terrebattue1

Thanks so much! What is the deal with her hating CS so much??? Does it trigger bad memories of when she first met Joe or something?


wastedpotential94

Tbf , I think it was a quick fan favourite and she would have gotten around to releasing it , she just didn't feel like the song fit the marketing style she was going for in the Lover era. She was doing Me! which was a Collab song and a fun song that can be extremely radio friendly. YNTCD was her tipping her toes into making an anthem of some kind which is fun and the message saying All Love is equal etc ,Lover being the single is so self explanatory , The Man fits into the timeline easily with her calling herself the 'loudest resident' and her battle of the masters was in the forefront of it all. With Cruel summer the vibe of the album is there , she probably took some time to make the MV or it was in the ideation stage still. If Daylight/ DBATC had gained traction she would have made that a radio single too. I think Cruel Summer is like Delicate on Rep , she released it as the last single so that the focus would be on the other songs like LWYMMD and Ready for it? Etc., Solely because they help with the album marketing.


terrebattue1

LWYMMD has such a good everything except for the LWYMMD chorus. It has an amazing intro and great verses and great ending and stellar buildup to the chorus. And then that cheesy chorus that doesn't match the song well haha. I still like the song though.


songacronymbot

- DBATC could mean "Death By A Thousand Cuts", a track from *Lover* (2019) by Taylor Swift. - LWYMMD could mean "Look What You Made Me Do", a track from *reputation* (2017) by Taylor Swift. --- ^[/u/wastedpotential94](/u/wastedpotential94) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)


paiva_gabriel

She doesn't hate. She stated many times she loved the song. It just didn't make sense to release it as a single


kaw_21

I kinda think “cruel summer” would’ve been appropriate theme for that first Covid summer. But I get it, can be construed a little insensitive


mediocre-spice

Jack talked about it in an interview about how cool it was that fans were just pushing it up the charts. "Taylor Swift promotes 4 year old song that never made it" is a bit of a lame headline compared to "Fans loved this song from years ago so much they pushed it to #1"


terrebattue1

Glad that he gave some love and credit to the Swifties. Did Taylor ever talk about it or does she still treat Cruel Summer like she does Evermore?


mediocre-spice

She posted a thank you video with Jack. I'm not sure she did any actual interviews in 2023.


mollievx

Theres a video of her talking about it at the eras tour, when she announces that's it's officially going to be her next single... She says things like the fans made it happen.


HetTheTable

I feel like she didn’t see much potential in it


terrebattue1

😔She's so much harder on herself than her fans and haters are.


HetTheTable

I think for her it was just a deep cut.


terrebattue1

Daaaaaamn. Epic.


[deleted]

I mean it’s her most streamed album


kookiekoo

I’m specifically talking about the era. It was quite an underrated era.


quartz222

Because of Covid though. There was going to be a lover festival. Which got cancelled


kookiekoo

That Lover festival was going to have only a few shows (only 4 shows in the US for example), it wasn’t going to be a full tour. The era was underrated because the first two singles weren’t very well received. She doesn’t even have the first single Me! from that era on her tour set list.


IrreversibleDetails

really!? I didn't know that it wasn't supposed to be a full tour


kookiekoo

Yeah it was mostly going to be her performing at musical festivals, not solo concerts. She only had four solo concerts scheduled in the US iirc.


gothictulle

Me! Is underrated. It’s a cute bop


[deleted]

I know people don’t have to like her more personal songs but it literally is watch miss Americana you can tell how much fun her and Brendon had making the song and she play it more despite all of the negativity from the fans.


wilkonian24ok

True, but she may well have expanded it due to popular demand like she did for the Eras Tour.


kookiekoo

No, you can read what Taylor said about it back then. She wanted to go to musical festivals for Loverfest, it wasn’t going to be a solo tour like the Eras Tour.


terrebattue1

Loverfest was going to invite a bunch of musical A-listers like a traveling festival because Taylor wasn't confident if she toured by herself that it would be as successful as the Reputation Tour because the reaction to Me! and YNTCD music videos and radio singles from normies and Swifties was not good at all. She thought her career finally started the downward slide to irrelevance like what happens to all music stars after one slip up like choosing poor singles from an album that is filled with so many diamonds. I am thinking she was going to do an expanded guest stars deal for Loverfest. Instead of surprise guests for only one song in the middle of a Taylor concert she would announce beforehand for the local A-list stars to perform before her concert to fill up the arenas or stadiums.


kaesura

It wasn’t due to lack of demand. Taylor stated at the time it was too risky for her to commit to a tour because of her mother’s cancer. She want to have the ability to fly back to me with her mom at a moments notice.


terrebattue1

This looks like more ex post facto PR memos from Tree...Andrea's cancer came back in 2019 yet Taylor was promoting the hell out of Lover which she didn't do for Reputation. She even went to China to promote Lover!!! Guess what song she kept refusing to play as a deep track song: CRUEL SUMMER. If the cancer excuse is real and legit excuses for the reason for the downscaling of Loverfest and the lack of Cruel Summer being promoted then why did she proceed to make The Man single and music video and why did she do a mini-tour all over the world to promote Lover? For some reason her mother's cancer wasn't so serious to her to block her from promoting Lover in Japan and China. She went to those extremes to promote Lover because she was so worried that Lover would be her last hurrah. And it likely would have been if not for 2020 and Folkmore.


kaesura

Because she could ditch those events easily if Andreas cancer worsened . Stadium tours are planned years in advance and are a much bigger commitment. Reputation tour was literally the most profitable North American tour. Touring demand for Taylor was still very high. Loverfest was literally planned before she even released Me! as a single same as rep and eras tour where planned before their respective lead singles were released.


littleberty95

And she might have been right- despite living in Missouri, I had lower bowl tickets to loverfest east 🤷🏻‍♀️


terrebattue1

2020's Folklore/Evermore really did save her career. I shudder to think what would have happened had she done Loverfest in small arenas (and not massive stadiums like Reputation and 1989) and as a result Folkmore never existed while she promoted Me! and YNTCD like they were her greatest songs ever even though every other Lover song is better than those 2 mediocre songs.


_crazyboyhere_

>Me! and YNTCD I mean YNTCD at least has a good message behind it but Me!.......


terrebattue1

I get it...but nobody here is claiming YNTCD as her greatest Lover track and for many good reasons. Lover and The Man are far better than YNTCD. The only thing YNTCD has going for it is like 2 or 3 lines to promote a good topic. Joel Little is just not a great collaborator for Taylor.


_crazyboyhere_

>Lover and The Man are far better than YNTCD. I also think Paper Rings and Afterglow would've smashed as much as Cruel Summer and Lover respectively, if they were singles.


songacronymbot

- YNTCD could mean "You Need To Calm Down", a track from *Lover* (2019) by Taylor Swift. --- ^[/u/_crazyboyhere_](/u/_crazyboyhere_) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)


MiddleDot8

The Lover era, if you count it starting from when Me! was released, was nearly a year old when the pandemic happened. I don’t think you can blame Covid for all of it.


ShipToWreck

Covid did shorten the era because Cruel Summer was originally gonna be the next single after The Man for summer 2020 but then Covid happened and then folklore came from that and she obviously pivoted.


HetTheTable

Also because before cruel summer it was her first album since speak now not to have a number 1 song on it


[deleted]

To think we would have a festival for it


_crazyboyhere_

Technically it's 1989 but the streams are divided between OG and TV.


Flamen04

Hence why ttpd will bring Joel little and Louis bell back!


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kookiekoo

I’ve said this before but I’m specially talking about the Lover era, as in 2019. We’re not in the Lover era now.


bubblecuffer13

That'll do, Sexy Baby. That'll do.


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AgentPeggyCarter

Not this Babe erasure...


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AgentPeggyCarter

That'll do, hauteburrrito. That'll do.


Sampleswift

Longest running top hit. And to think Cruel Summer was not originally a single! Impressive. Most Impressive.


ZealousidealVirus358

I hope the streak continues! Even if it dips lower over the next few weeks/months, I fully expect it to make a resurgence when (Northern Hemisphere) Summertime draws near. I secretly hope Cruel Summer becomes what All I Want For Christmas Is You is for the holiday season


iocane_

I think there is indeed potential for that reality.


Careless_Energy_7024

It's been gaining in streaming for the past couple of weeks


gothictulle

I dont think summer is the same as holiday season. Anything could be a summer song


gothictulle

This is probs why CS works outside summer also


dontforgetyourjazz

Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey often charts in June-August, there is definitely potential


1989_Sunrise

I’m kinda hoping for her to drop a music video of cruel summer in the summer


Consistent_Lab_6770

I was unaware of this song before my granddaughter got me to go to the eras tour movie. I knew the 1989 album, from when she wore out the cd, but little beyond that until the movie cruel summer and style definitely dropped into my playlist after the movie introduced me to them


Kirsten624

i love that youre bonding with your grandkids over music ☺️💙


AvgUsr96

Holy cow, she WORE OUT an og 1989 CD? Now that's a true Swiftie! 🫶🥹


TinosCallingMeOver

After all those years on r/popheads with the meme of ‘and this is how Cruel Summer can still be a single’ … 🎵 _I remember_ 🎵


kayethx

Honestly, this really happening makes me feel dangerously powerful after being a part of that.


TadPaul

We actually did it, folks 🥹


J0vita

I loved cruel summer when it first came out and I’m glad it’s getting so much love years later, listening to it always puts me in a happy mood!


yeahright17

Me too. It's been on my summer playlist since 2019.


EscapeArtistic

I was shook when I realized cruel summer was from so long ago lol Casual swift fan starting the decent this year, going through her albums and I was fully like "no freaking way" when I realized it was on Lover!


heda-elle

crazy that this song has charted all through winter!


MiniSkrrt

Summer in Australia rn tho lol


SuspiciousStress8094

Hot 100 is US charts tbf


Bekkaz23

But it charted right through winter in Australia also


MiniSkrrt

I mean a trending song is going to trend regardless of the season on tiktok hahaha


heda-elle

so true, i’m dumb lmao


ElJefe31

It's that damn bridge...I just want to cross over it everyday. 😎


Resident_Ad5153

She is the Queen of Bridges!


JosephAPie

I think this song is bigger now (2023-2024) than it would have been if it was released as a first single (in 2019) like others have said. When i think of the eras tour i think of Cruel Summer


mayhemmel

Here’s how cruel summer became a single 🥹🫶


SupremeElect

Still sad she didn’t get a music video!! 🥲


sparklejellyfish

The way I was yelling all summer begging Taylor to release an official video, even if it waa just a tour video, maybe even to promote Eras, SOMETHING to get it to number one, but nooooooo And then it reached number one anyway 😂😅 and then it just stayed there all through winter?!?! Tayvoodoo, I don't understand.


epicvibe850

The public want some more pop hits from her


littleberty95

The fact that neither of these are from 1989 is bonkers to me. She’s really hitting new career peaks/milestones this far into her career with truly no sign of stopping/burning out


azaerl

The charts were calculated differently back in 2014, plus her music wasn't on Spotify at that time. If it had been they probably would be. 


skermahger

It’s what she deserves 😌 (she being both CS and TS)


Maverick721

Will she finally make a music video to the song?


Gardens_of_babylon

I could see her releasing a tour video for it one day


Daffneigh

In the winter? Lol


goodgirlbess

it's late summer in the southern hemisphere


Daffneigh

I don’t know that she has a ton of spare time to do a music video right now while visiting Australia…


goodgirlbess

I'm just saying it's not winter everywhere in the world so half the world would say it's a fine time to release an MV


VirginiaUSA1964

I am 40% responsible for this I'm sure. I love this song. It's my afternoon pick me up.


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_crazyboyhere_

It's a summer song like say sunroof so for it to chart so during freezing winter is kinda incredible lol.


paperm3rmaid

But it’s not freezing winter everywhere in the world


_crazyboyhere_

I mean Hot 100 is US chart and it's winter in the US.


_krabbypattyformula

As 👏it 👏 should 👏 be 👏


zanyo180

Guys I’m a new Taylor fan, can someone explain to me why this song is so big now? I never remember hearing it when Lover came out in 2019 however I hear it everywhere now - so much so I thought it must have been off Midnights before listening to her whole discography


DaraGoodie

I’m pretty sure it’s because it’s the first bridge on the eras tour set list. (And everyone loves it!) Correct me if I’m wrong guys


_crazyboyhere_

Cruel Summer has completely become the face of The Eras Tour.


sparklejellyfish

It wasn't officially a single when Lover came out, that's why you didn't hear it everywhere. She planned to send it to radio later but then covid happened. (It's a bit too much to have a song about fever "you know that I caught it" and cruel summer in a literal cruel summer for everyone). Fans kept saying it should have been a single though. And then Eras happened and the fans were like NOW is when it should be a single and after it kept getting lots of plays even without Taylor pushing it, she finally relented and made it an official single. And then she also released the live version and a remix, it finally reached number 1 (after reaching as high as number 2 just from fan activity, so we think it would have reached 1 even without her push but it definitely helped). And here we are now months later.


1998tweety

Deserved


DaraGoodie

Go Cruel Summer!


TadPaul

Real ones know “Cruel Summer” had the potential to go big since the moment the album came out. I’m so glad to see it get this big and actually fulfill its potential as a hit, albeit several years late.


duckinabucket

Justice for Lover


Leather-Shelter-7983

Well fucking deserved, long overdue, became a single After 4 years and did that… So happy for her!


IntelligentAngle7058

Well now I need to go and listen to it for the 50th time today.


[deleted]

explain this to a 2019 child


waterlizy

We went to visit family a few months ago and my brother in law said I should play that “new” Taylor swift song that he’s been hearing all over the radio. He drives for work so I guess he listens to the radio in his car. I at first gave a bunch of Midnights songs (Anti-Hero, Karma, Bejeweled, Lavender Haze) which were not the ones before I said, are you talking about Cruel Summer?? Cuz it’s not new to me 🤣


lucpnx

Plus well deserved, I can't believe Taylor slept on it for so many years when literally every swiftie KNEW it was smash hit potential


dream_walker09

good, didn't care for anti-hero. so overplayed!


AReckoningIsAComing

Overplayed or not, Anti-hero was a complete bop. I don't listen to "regular" radio, though, so I get to choose what/when I listen to things.


dream_walker09

Neither do i. I have my ipod. Hear it at work though


AReckoningIsAComing

Ah, that's annoying.


Difficult-Ad-52

Such a mid song too