Who Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ About? Everything To Know About The 2019 Song

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Image Credit: Casey Flanigan/imageSPACE/Shutterstock Taylor Swift released “Cruel Summer” successful August 2019, but it didn’t go an authoritative azygous until 2023. The opus is disconnected of Taylor’s album Lover. “Cruel Summer” is astir Taylor falling for Joe Alwyn portion dating Tom Hiddleston successful 2016.

“Cruel Summer” is officially having its moment. Fans fell successful emotion with the Taylor Swift erstwhile she released it with her album Lover successful August 2019. It instantly became a fan-favorite track, and erstwhile the months started ticking person to summertime 2020, Swifties were convinced that it would go a vigor smash and summertime anthem. However, COVID-19 deed successful March 2020, which led Taylor to merchandise her album, Folklore, successful July 2020 instead.

Then, successful 2023, Taylor embarked connected her Eras Tour, and “Cruel Summer” was an evident prime for the setlist. The circuit brought a resurgence of emotion for the track. People began streaming it truthful overmuch that Taylor’s label, Republic Records, went up and decided to make it an authoritative single. “The weirdest, astir magical happening is happening,” Taylor told the assemblage astatine her June 17 performance successful Pittsburgh. “It’s ne'er happened to maine successful the full clip I’ve ever been doing this.”

Taylor talking astir however Cruel Summer was her favourite and it’s yet becoming a single!!! 🥹#TSTheErasTour #PittsburghTSTheErasTour #CruelSummer@taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/ceK4Zxc6D1

— Holly Caitlin (@holly_caitlin) June 18, 2023

She continued, “[“Cruel Summer”] was my pridefulness and joyousness connected [Lover]. It’s my favourite song. And you person conversations earlier the medium comes retired and everyone astir weighs successful astir what should beryllium singles. And I was finally, yet astir to person my favourite opus go the azygous disconnected of Lover, and I’m not trying to blasted the planetary pandemic that we had, but that is thing that happened that stopped “Cruel Summer” from ever being a single.” Taylor added that having the opus go a azygous aft 4 years is “truly, genuinely perplexing” to her. “Thank you to anyone who’s been listening to that song, like, 500 times a day,” she concluded. “Because that was my favourite one.”

Learn much astir “Cruel Summer” below!

Who Is ‘Cruel Summer’ About?

Taylor started dating her now-ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn successful September 2016, but she seemingly revealed successful “Cruel Summer” that she was falling for him the full summertime earlier that. That besides happened to beryllium erstwhile she was successful a highly-publicized romance with Tom Hiddleston. On Taylor’s 2017 album, Reputation, she revealed that she archetypal met Joe astatine the 2016 Met Gala, portion she was inactive with Calvin Harris. “Cruel Summer” seemingly dives much into what happened aft that nighttime (although, arsenic ever Taylor has not confirmed her opus subject).

The astir evident notation to Taylor’s feelings for Joe travel successful the bridge, erstwhile Taylor sings, “I’m drunk successful the backmost of a car, and I cried similar a babe coming location from the bar, said I’m good but it wasn’t true, I don’t privation to support secrets conscionable to support you, snuck successful done the plot gross each nighttime that summertime conscionable to seal my fate.” Taylor hints that she was lone capable to beryllium with Joe due to the fact that she was keeping immoderate narration they had a “secret” during that summertime together. She besides insinuates that she whitethorn person been ‘sneaking out’ from her clip with Tom to beryllium with Joe, which is what ‘sealed her fate’ with the Loki actor.

Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston dated for 3 months successful 2016. (Broadimage/Shutterstock)

After that line, she sings, “I shriek for immoderate it’s worth, ‘I emotion you’ ain’t that the worst happening you ever heard?” If Taylor was saying ‘I Love You’ to Tom aft she snuck backmost in, this could beryllium the ‘worst thing’ Joe ‘ever heard….’ due to the fact that helium wanted to beryllium with her. Ah!

Taylor besides references her feelings for Joe during summertime 2016 connected the Lover song “Paper Rings.” She sings, “I hatred accidents, but erstwhile we went from friends to this,” successful the chorus. It seems the 2 stayed friends aft the Met Gala, but it yet turned into thing more. In the archetypal verse of “Paper Rings,” Taylor besides says, “The vino is acold similar the enarthrosis I gave you successful the street, feline and rodent for a month, oregon two, oregon three.” This appears to notation a clip she ran into Joe portion she was with Tom, but had to disregard him. The ‘cat and mouse’ lyric makes it look similar she and Joe were chasing each different for the summer, until she yet gave Tom up for him.

Then, connected the opus “Lover,” Taylor sings the lyric, “I’ve loved you for 3 summers present honey, but I privation them all.” If Taylor and Joe started dating successful the autumn of 2016, and this opus was written before the summertime of 2019 (Taylor finished Lover in Feb.), past that means the “three summers” indispensable beryllium 2016, 2017 and 2018! So, she seems to beryllium hinting that she was already successful emotion with Joe during that 2016 summer, adjacent though she was with Tom astatine the time.

What Inspired ‘Cruel Summer’ By Taylor Swift?

“This opus is 1 that I wrote astir the feeling of a summertime romance, and however often times a summertime romance tin beryllium layered with each these feelings of pining distant and sometimes adjacent secrecy,” Taylor told fans during a concealed league for Lover successful 2019. “It deals with the thought of being successful a narration wherever there’s immoderate constituent of desperation and symptom successful it, wherever you’re yearning for thing that you don’t rather person yet, it’s conscionable close there, and you conscionable can’t scope it.”

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn dated for much than six years from 2016-2023. (Blitz Pictures/Shutterstock)

Taylor wrote “Cruel Summer” with Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent, and she said that it has immoderate of her “favorite lyrics” connected it. While Jack and St. Vincent worked connected astir of the way and instrumentation, Taylor penned the topline lyrics.

Can ‘Cruel Summer’ Win A Grammy?

Now that “Cruel Summer” has go a single, fans are wondering whether oregon not it could beryllium eligible for a Grammy Award successful 2024, contempt initially being released successful 2019. There are assorted ways that the opus could gain a Grammy nomination, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

One mode would beryllium for Taylor to sing it live, with the unrecorded mentation getting nominated. Since she’s been singing it connected the Eras Tour each summertime long, this could beryllium a viable possibility. Other options would beryllium to marque the opus a duet, merchandise a remix oregon sprout a euphony video. Eligibility for the Grammys lasts until Sept. 15, 2023, truthful there’s not overmuch clip to plow up with 1 of those options, though.

However, successful 2020, Lizzo‘s opus “Truth Hurts” was nominated for a Grammy, contempt primitively being released arsenic a standalone azygous successful 2017. The opus gained popularity successful 2019, and the Grammys deemed it eligible astatine the 2020 show. The Academy’s reasoning was that “Truth Hurts” was ne'er submitted for Grammy contention during its archetypal release. Its unclear if the aforesaid volition beryllium done for “Cruel Summer,” which was besides not submitted for contention the archetypal clip around.

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