"Lover" is the third promotional single and third track from Taylor’s seventh studio album, Lover. It was released on August 16, 2019.
The release date was confirmed on the Teen Choice Awards 2019, while she was accepting the Icon Award.
It was her first country song in six years, since the 2013 single "Red".
Contents
Remix
A remix of this song, featuring Shawn Mendes was released on November 13, 2019.
Taylor teased the release on social media by saying:
| “ | There is a new version of "Lover" coming: a remix featuring someone who I'm such a huge fan of, who I've known for a really long time, and someone that I've really been dying to collaborate with. So... drum roll please. It is featuring Shawn Mendes. And he has taken "Lover," re-written parts of it, which I think is so important because I love him as a writer. And I also think that everybody would write a different love letter to their lover. And I think, his take on it is so beautiful. I can't wait for you to hear it. | ” |
The part of the remix that featured Shawn was written by Shawn and Scott Harris.
Background
Taylor discussed this song during her September 2019 Vogue interview:
| “ | “This has one of my favorite bridges,” she says. “I love a bridge, and I was really able to go to Bridge City.” It’s a romantic, haunting, waltzy, singer-songwritery nugget: classic Swift. “My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue,” she sings. “All’s well that ends well to end up with you.” | ” |
Spotify storyline
Taylor discussed several topics within the storyline that accompanied this song on Spotify, including why it was chosen for the title track, and her choice behind the instrumentation and sound of the song.
| “ | I chose this song as the title track because it's such a perfect example of what I was trying to do with the album. / I wanted to make music that in a lot of ways feels timeless and is really confessional. / I wrote this one alone. / Jack Antonoff helped produce this song and we wanted to make music that could've been played on a wedding reception stage in 1970. | ” |
—Taylor's Spotify story, each slide separated by a slash | ||
Voice memo
This song’s beginning stages were recorded on the piano and released on the deluxe editions of Lover as a voice memo, placed as the 20th track on the CD. Taylor stated, on this and during the Lover's Lounge, that as soon as she wrote this song, late at night by herself, she knew that it would be the title of the album as well.
Lyrical differences
A notable difference between this demo and the final cut is that the first line in the second verse used to be "We could let our friends crash on the couches. This is our place, we would make the call." This was later replaced by "We could let our friends crash in the living room. This is our place, we make the call." She also says "hands" in the bridge instead of the final lyric, “hand.” She proceeds to swear after this.
Lover (voice memo)
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
We could leave the Christmas lights up ‘til January
This is our place, we make the rules
And there’s a dazzling haze
A mysterious way about you, dear
Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?
[Chorus]
Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close?
Forever and ever and
Take me out
And take me home
You’re my, my, my, my...
Lover
[Verse 2]
We could let our friends crash in the living room
This is our place, we make the call
And I’m highly suspicious
That everyone who sees you wants you
I’ve loved you three summers now, honey
But I want them all
[Chorus]
Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close?
Forever and ever and
Take me out
And take me home
You’re my, my, my, my...
Lover
[Bridge]
Ladies and gentleman
Will you please stand
With every guitar string scar on my hand
I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover
My heart’s been borrowed
And yours has been blue
All’s well that ends well to end up with you
Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover
And you’ll save all your dirtiest jokes for me
And at every table, I’ll save you a seat
Lover...
[Chorus]
Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close?
Forever and ever and
Take me out
And take me home
You’re my, my, my, my...
[Outro]
Oh, you’re my, my, my, my...
Darling you’re my, my, my, my...
Lover
Lyrics (remix)
[Verse 1: Taylor Swift]
We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January
This is our place, we make the rules
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear
Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?
[Chorus: Taylor Swift]
Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close?
Forever and ever
And ah, take me out, and take me home
You're my, my, my, my lover
[Verse 2: Shawn Mendes with Taylor Swift]
We could light a bunch of candles
And dance around the kitchen, baby
Pictures of when we were young would hang on the wall
We would sit on the stoop
I'll sing love songs to you when we're eighty
See, I finally got you now, honey, I won't let you fall
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes]
Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out, and take me home (Forever and ever)
You're my, my, my, my lover
[Bridge: Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes & Both]
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
Look in my eyes, they will tell you the truth
The girl in my story has always been you
I'd go down with the Titanic, it's true, for you, lover
And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me
And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover (Save you a seat)
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes & Taylor Swift]
Can I go where you go? (Can I go where you go, baby?)
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out, and take me home (Forever and ever)
You're my, my, my, my
Oh, you're my, my, my, my
Darling, you're my, my, my, my lover
Live performances
Music video gallery
Videos
| Lover |
|---|
| "I Forgot That You Existed" • "Cruel Summer" • "Lover" • "The Man" • "The Archer" • "I Think He Knows" • "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" • "Paper Rings" • "Cornelia Street" • "Death by a Thousand Cuts" • "London Boy" • "Soon You'll Get Better" • "False God" • "You Need to Calm Down" • "Afterglow" • "ME!" • "It's Nice to Have a Friend" • "Daylight" |
