Decoding the LyricsUncover All the Hidden Messages Found in Taylor Swift’s New Album ‘Lover’

“I Forgot That You Existed”

The opening track is all about letting go of someone that you used to have drama with, and learning to not let them get to you any more.

“How many days did I spend thinking ’bout how you did me wrong, wrong, wrong? / Lived in the shade you were throwing ’til all of my sunshine was gone, gone, gone,” the lyrics read. “But then something happened one magical night / I forgot that you existed / And I thought that it would kill me, but it didn’t / And it was so nice, so peaceful and quiet / I forgot that you existed / It isn’t love, it isn’t hate, it’s just indifference.”

We’re not sure who this one is about, but it’s clear whoever inspired the tune was pretty cruel to Taylor! But it was also someone who she cared for pretty deeply.

“Got out some popcorn as soon as my rep started going down, down, down / Laughed on the school yard as soon as I tripped up and hit the ground, ground, ground / And I would’ve stuck around for ya / Would’ve fought the whole town, so yeah / Would’ve been right there, front row / Even if nobody came to your show,” the song continues.

There are some theories circulating the web that the song isn’t about someone in particular, but rather, about anyone who has ever hurt her. Some other fans have suggested it’s about Calvin Harris since the two went through a pretty nasty breakup back in 2016. Well, whoever it is — they’re out of the blonde beauty’s life now!

“Cruel Summer”

“Cruel Summer” is all about a whirlwind summer romance and being attracted to someone who you know is wrong for you.

“It’s new, the shape of your body / It’s blue, the feeling I’ve got / And it’s ooh, it’s a cruel summer,” Taylor sings in the catchy song. “It’s cool, that’s what I tell ’em / No rules, unbreakable heaven
But ooh, it’s a cruel summer with you.”

Some fans think this one might be about Joe Jonas since the singer mentions “trying times” in the song. For those of you who forgot, the Jonas Brothers singer sang about “trying times” in his song, “Don’t Speak.”

“Lover”

“Lover” is the most romantic song on the album. The acoustic, guitar-based tune is all about falling for a guy, and it’s safe to say it’s about her boyfriend, Joe! How do we know? Well, one line of the song reads, “I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, but I want ’em all.” In case you forgot, rumors first hit the web that Joe and Taylor were dating back in May 2017, which would mean that they’ve been together for three summers now — 2017, 2018 and 2019!

Not to mention that the “Fearless” singer included a British flag in the lyric video for the tune. As fans know, her boyfriend is actually from England — coincidence? We think not.

Taylor also dropped a major bombshell about their relationship in the new song. She revealed that she and Joe have moved in together!

“This is our place, we make the rules,” she sings. “This is our place, we make the call.”

Some fans were also convinced that the Cats: The Musical star had revealed that she was married or engaged in the song, since she sings about a wedding.

“Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? / With every guitar string scar on my hand / I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover,” the blonde beauty sings in the new song. “My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue / All’s well that ends well to end up with you.”

In case you didn’t already know, it’s supposed to be good luck for a bride to have something “old, new, borrowed and blue” at her wedding. OMG. So are these two husband and wife? Well, according to E! News, no, they aren’t. But either way, it’s pretty clear they’re madly in love based off of the lyrics!

Some Swifties even think she threw a dig at her ex John Mayer with the line, “This is our place, we make the rules.” In her 2010 song “Dear John,” Tay sang, “And I lived in your chess game / But you changed the rules every day.”

The music video for the song also contained a bunch of Easter eggs. The biggest one was when Taylor and her beau (who was portrayed by one of her Reputation Stadium Tour dancers!) threw a New Years Eve party together. As fans know, this is a nod to Taylor’s old song, “New Years Day.”

“The Man”

“The Man” is all about girl power! Taylor sings about how much easier things are for guys, and how the things that she gets hated on for would be praised if she was a male.

“I’m so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man / And I’m so sick of them coming at me again / ‘Cause if I was a man, then I’d be the man,” the lyrics read. “They’d say I hustled, put in the work / They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve / What I was wearing, if I was rude / Could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves”

She opened up about the new tune to Vogue Magazine, explaining, “If I had made all the same choices, all the same mistakes, all the same accomplishments [and I was a man], how would it read?”

“The Archer”

Taylor revealed in an Instagram Live that her “very vulnerable, personal, honest, emotional songs” end up as the fifth track on most of her albums. So since “The Archer” is song number five, it’s safe to say it means a lot to her.

“I’ve been the archer, I’ve been the prey / Who could ever leave me, darling / But who could stay?” the Grammy Award winning artist sings in the powerful song.

“I Think He Knows”

Another love song, “I Think He Knows” is about the beginning of a new relationship.

“I think he knows / His footprints on the sidewalk / Lead to where I can’t stop / Go there every night / I think he knows / His hands around a cold glass / Make me wanna know that / Body like it’s mine,” the lyrics read.

Taylor even dropped a few hints about who the song is about! In the lyrics, she revealed that the mystery man has “indigo eyes” and a “boyish look that I like in a man.” Well, sounds like Joe to us!

“Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince”

In “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” Taylor sings of homecoming queens, marching bands, prom dresses, scoreboards and football games — extreme “You Belong With Me” vibes. It seems like the singer is looking back at an old relationship she had in high school. Whoever the guy is, based on the lyrics it appears that they were outcasts, and because everyone in the school was out to get them, it was them against the world.

“It’s you and me, that’s my whole world / They whisper in the hallway, ‘She’s a bad, bad girl’ / The whole school is rolling fake dice / You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes / It’s you and me, there’s nothing like this /Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince,” she sings. “We’re so sad, we paint the town blue / Voted most likely to run away with you.”

“Paper Rings”

“Paper Rings” is a total bop, if you ask us. It’s about a new romance, and once again all signs are pointing to Joe! Taylor even talks about marriage in the song once again!

“I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings,” she sings. “I want to drive away with you / I want your complications too / I want your dreary Mondays / Wrap your arms around me, baby boy.”

Ugh, find us a love like theirs please.

“Cornelia Street”

“Cornelia Street” is all about being scared to lose someone you love. But who is it about? Well, Cornelia Street is actually a street in New York City, and apparently, it’s the street which held the $24 million home that Taylor used to live in. And get this, you guys — the time that she lived there was around the same time that she reportedly starting dating Joe!

“‘I rent a place on Cornelia Street’ / I say casually in the car,” she sings in the new tune. “And I hope I never lose you, hope it never end / I’d never walk Cornelia Street again / That’s the kinda heartbreak time could never mend / I’d never walk Cornelia Street again / And baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name / And baby, I’m so terrified of if you ever walk away / I’d never walk Cornelia Street again.”

“Death by a Thousand Cuts”

According to a fan who attended one of Taylor’s “Secret Sessions,” the singer said that the movie Someone Great inspired this song. The Netflix rom-com is about a devastating breakup, which totally follows the theme of the song. In “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” Taylor sings, “My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust / Tryna find a part of me you didn’t take up / Gave you so much, but it wasn’t enough / But I’ll be alright, it’s just a thousand cuts.”

Some fans have theorized that this one is about John Mayer. Why? Well, Taylor throws in a few odes to her past songs. She uses the word “Haunted” which is the name of a song on her album Speak Now which is believed to be about John. The line, “But if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?” is also pretty similar to some of the lines in “Story of Us.”

“London Boy”

It’s pretty obvious that this song is about her British boyfriend, Joe. The “Look What You Made Me Do” songstress sings about all the spots in London that she visited with him, and we are obsessed.

“But something happened, I heard him laughing / I saw the dimples first and then I heard the accent / They say home is where the heart is / But that’s not where mine lives,” the lyrics read. “You know I love a London boy / I enjoy walking Camden Market in the afternoon / He likes my American smile, like a child when our eyes meet / Darling, I fancy you / Took me back to Highgate, met all of his best mates / So I guess all the rumors are true / You know I love a London boy / Boy, I fancy you.”

And although the song opens with a mysterious British guy talking, we can unfortunately confirm that no, it isn’t Joe’s voice. It’s Idris Elba‘s!

“Soon You’ll Get Better (Feat. Dixie Chicks)”

You might want to grab some tissues before listening to this track. “Soon You’ll Get Better” is about her mom’s tragic battle with cancer. Taylor revealed during a YouTube live stream that it was the most difficult song she ever wrote, and that she still can’t sing it live.

“I just pretend it isn’t real / I’ll paint the kitchen neon, I’ll brighten up the sky / I know I’ll never get it, there’s not a day that I won’t try / And I say to you, ‘Soon you’ll get better,'” she sings in the emotional song. “And I hate to make this all about me / But who am I supposed to talk to? / What am I supposed to do / If there’s no you?”

“False God”

“False God” is all about the rough times in a relationship. We mean, every couple fight sometimes, right?

“We were crazy to think / Crazy to think that this could work / Remember how I said I’d die for you? / We were stupid to jump / In the ocean separating us / Remember how I’d lie to you?” the lyrics read.

Some fans are convinced the song is about Joe. Why? Well, Taylor sings about an ocean separating her and the mystery guy, and since he’s from England and she’s from America, it would make total sense!

“You Need to Calm Down”

“You Need to Calm Down” is a song dedicated to all the haters out there.

“And we see you over there on the internet / Comparing all the girls who are killing it / But we figured you out / We all know now we all got crowns / You need to calm down,” she sings in the pop anthem.

Taylor even stuck up for the LGTBQ community in the tune! And she opened up about her decision to advocate for LGBTQ rights in an interview with Vogue.

“The first verse is about trolls and cancel culture,” the 29-year-old musician explained about the lyrics. “The second verse is about homophobes and the people picketing outside our concerts. The third verse is about successful women being pitted against each other. Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male.”

“Maybe a year or two ago, [her friend] Todrick [Hall] and I are in the car, and he asked me, ‘What would you do if your son was gay?’ The fact that he had to ask me… shocked me and made me realize that I had not made my position clear enough or loud enough,” she continued. “If he was thinking that, I can’t imagine what my fans in the LGBTQ community might be thinking. It was kind of devastating to realize that I hadn’t been publicly clear about that.”

“Afterglow”

Almost 10 years ago, Taylor released her song “Back to December,” and it was the first time she apologized in a song for the way she treated someone. And “Afterglow” has a similar message.

“Hey, it’s all me, in my head / I’m the one who burned us down / But it’s not what I meant / Sorry that I hurt you / I don’t wanna do, I don’t wanna do this to you / I don’t wanna lose, I don’t wanna lose this with you,” Taylor sings. “Why’d I have to break what I love so much?”

We’re not sure who this one is about, but some fans have speculated it’s about the same guy “Back to December” was about — Taylor Lautner.

“ME! (Feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! Of the Disco)”

“ME!” was the album’s first single, and we still can’t stop listening to it! The feel-good pop song is all about being yourself and owning your differences.

“But one of these things is not like the others / Like a rainbow with all of the colors / Baby doll, when it comes to a lover / I promise that you’ll never find another like me,” the lyrics read. “I’m the only one of me / Baby, that’s the fun of me.”

“It’s Nice to Have a Friend”

“It’s Nice to Have a Friend” is about exactly what you’d think based off the title — having a friend! Each verse tells a different story of a time someone was there for her, and it’s super sweet.

“School bell rings, walk me home / Sidewalk chalk covered in snow / Lost my gloves, you give me one / ‘Wanna hang out?’ Yes, sounds like fun / Video games, you pass me a note / Sleeping in tents / It’s nice to have a friend,” Taylor sings.

“Daylight”

It turns out, Taylor almost named the album after this song! Yep, she revealed in her YouTube live stream that it was supposed to be called “Daylight.” The song definitely has a super important message behind it. It’s all about being in a much better place after years of heartbreak, negativity and drama.

“I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you / I don’t wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you / I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night / And now I see daylight, I only see daylight,” she sings. “I wounded the good and I trusted the wicked / Clearing the air, I breathed in the smoke / Maybe you ran with the wolves and refused to settle down / Maybe I’ve stormed out of every single room in this town / Threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it’s morning now / It’s brighter now.”

Some fans were quick to notice the parralel to Taylor’s old song, “Out of the Woods.” In the “Out of the Woods” music video, there were a bunch of wolves running after her. She also threw in a nod to her song “Red” with the line, “I once believed love would be burning red / But it’s golden / Like daylight, like daylight.”

Well, we’re going to listen to the album on repeat, TTYL.