Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” Lyrics Meaning

It has been feasibly postulated that Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” is about a specific era in the life of Swift – specifically the summer of 2016, which would have been memorable to her for a couple of reasons.

First off that would have been around the time she met the man she is dating, Joe Alwyn, at the time of the release of this track. In fact fans of Swift believe that she may even marry Alwyn soon. So their first acquaintance would definitely be a cause for her to remember and celebrate. And for the most part this track is a love song along those lines, of appreciating a lover and celebrating a romance.

The way Tay Tay speaks of the relationship is that her partner is a “bad boy”, with the songstress also being wild in her own right. And overall, she seems to understand that she is taking a major-emotional risk with her heart by allowing herself to fall in love. This is on top of her already suffering from depression, which we will get into shortly. But all things considered, he is exactly the type of person, both physically and emotionally, that she needs.

Why “Cruel Summer”?

So if this is supposed to be a celebratory love song, then you may be wondering why the word “cruel” is used in the title. Well going back once again to specifically the summer of 2016, Taylor Swift’s beef with fellow music superstar Kanye West was back in the headlines, after simmering down since it infamously originated in 2009. And without going into excruciating detail, it resulted in Taylor accusing Kanye’s wife, reality-TV star Kim Kardashian, of trying to ‘assassinate’ her “character”. Or put differently, Swift was receiving a considerable degree of negative press, from the likes of social-media trolls, based on actions taken by Kim Kardashian. And the whole experience took a huge-emotional toll on her.  So for Taylor Swift, 2016 may have indeed been a “cruel summer”.

But the track itself does not go into specifics concerning the source of her depression, even though it makes it clear that she is a victim of this ailment. Thus the narrative being put forth could be interpreted as being centered on the idea that one of the primary reasons she is enamored with her new boo is because he helped lift her out of a notable emotional funk.

Release Date of “Cruel Summer”

Taylor Swift released this track through Taylor Swift Productions and Republic Records on 23rd August, 2019. It is the second track on her 2019 album Lover. FYI, Lover is Swift’s seventh studio album.

Did Swift release this as a single from Lover?

No. The only singles that supported Swift’s Lover album are as follows:

• “Lover”
• “You Need to Calm Down”
• “Me!“

Writing and Production Credits

Swift co-wrote “Cruel Summer” with Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent. She subsequently produced the track with her co-writer Antonoff.