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Cruel Summer (Taylor Swift song)

"Cruel Summer" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her seventh studio album, Lover (2019). The song was written by Swift, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent, and was produced by Swift and Antonoff. "Cruel Summer" is a synth-pop, industrial pop, and electropop song composed of synths, wobbling beats, and vocoder-manipulated vocals. The lyrics are about an intense romance during a painful summer.

"Cruel Summer"

June 13, 2023 (2023-06-13)

2:58

  • Taylor Swift
  • Jack Antonoff

Upon release, music critics praised "Cruel Summer" for its melodic composition and catchy production style, specifically highlighting the hook and bridge. Many deemed it a highlight on Lover and one of Swift's best songs; Billboard and Rolling Stone ranked it amongst the best songs of 2019. The song debuted in the top 30 of various national charts. "Cruel Summer" became a fan favorite and continued to receive critical acclaim retrospectively; several fans and publications questioned Swift's choice over not having released the song as a single, to which she responded that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans to make it a 2020 single.


In 2023, Swift embarked on her sixth concert tour, the Eras Tour, performing "Cruel Summer" as part of the set-list. The song received viral exposure on social media and resurged on several charts. Republic Records released the song as a single to US contemporary hit radio on June 13, 2023, following which it was met with wider commercial success. In the United States, "Cruel Summer" peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 as Swift's tenth number-one song. It became her sixth song to top the Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay, and Adult Contemporary radio charts, an all-time record. Elsewhere, "Cruel Summer" topped the charts in Australia, Canada, the Philippines, and Singapore, and eventually the Billboard Global 200, and peaked within the top-ten in 20 other countries. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), it was the seventh best-selling single of 2023 with 1.39 billion global streams. The song was placed on the 2024 revision of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

Composition[edit]

"Cruel Summer" is predominantly a synth-pop song.[8][9][10] Critics described its production as melancholic[11] or dreamy.[12] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times categorized the song as industrial pop,[13] and Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the Financial Times dubbed it electropop.[14][15] It has a "ranting" bridge underscored by skittering synths,[3][7][16][17] distorted vocals[8] manipulated by a vocoder,[18] and a hook that consists of a long, high, fluctuating "ooooh".[19] The song has a fast tempo of 170 beats per minute with a time signature of 4
4
. It is played in the key of A major and follows a chord progression of A–Cm–Fm–D.[20][21] Swift vocals range from A2 to E5. "Cruel Summer" was written by Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent,[22] with a "burbling" production from Swift and Antonoff;[5] St. Vincent also took part in the production of the song, playing the guitar.[23] Lyrically, the song is about "the agony and ecstasy of an anxious summer romance".[24] David Penn of Hit Songs Deconstructed opined, the song's vocals, instrumentation and lyrics work "in tandem to create a unified expression, a combination known as prosody."[25]

Release and commercial performance[edit]

Initial release[edit]

"Cruel Summer" was released as the second track on Lover, on August 23, 2019, via Republic Records.[26] The track originally charted as an album cut within the top 30 in Singapore (8),[27] Malaysia (13),[28] Ireland (20),[29] New Zealand (20),[30] Australia (23),[31] the United Kingdom (27),[32] and Canada (28).[33] In the United States, the song debuted at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated September 7, 2019; it is one of the seven tracks from Lover to reach the top 40[34] and remained on the chart for two weeks.[35] The song became a widespread fan favorite over time[36][37] and critics and fans questioned Swift's decision over not having released "Cruel Summer" as a single.[38][39]

American singer-songwriter performed the song for MTV's Alone Together Jam Session in 2020, which Swift subsequently praised.[91]

Olivia Rodrigo

Rodrigo later stated her 2021 single "" was partially inspired by Cruel Summer, eventually crediting Swift, Antonoff, and St. Vincent as co-writers on the song; the song peaked at number 3 on the U.S. Hot 100.[92]

Deja Vu

It was featured in the first season of series The Summer I Turned Pretty in June 2022.[93]

Amazon Prime Video

It was one of Swift's songs used in a November 2023 episode of the American television show Dancing With the Stars, which was a tribute episode in honor of Swift; American television personality Ariana Madix and dance choreographer Pasha Pashkov performed a rumba to a rendition of the song.[94]

dance competition

Australian singer covered the song for Triple J's Like a Version in January 2024.[95]

G Flip

American singer-songwriter covered the song for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge segment in January 2024.[96]

Teddy Swims

Digital download and streaming

 – vocals, songwriter, producer

Taylor Swift

 – producer, songwriter, programmer, recording engineer, drums, keyboards, vocoder

Jack Antonoff

 – songwriter, guitar

St. Vincent

Michael Riddleberger – drums

 – mixer

Serban Ghenea

John Hanes – mix engineer

John Rooney – assistant recording engineer

Laura Sisk – recording engineer

Jon Sher – assistant recording engineer

Credits are adapted from Tidal.[97]

List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 2023

List of Radio Songs number ones of the 2020s

List of Billboard Mainstream Top 40 number-one songs of 2023

List of Billboard Adult Top 40 number-one songs of the 2020s

List of Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles of 2023

List of number-one songs of 2023 (Singapore)

List of number-one songs of 2024 (Singapore)

List of number-one singles of 2024 (Australia)