Taylor Swift made a grand return with her new album Lover. The album is much like her old style, with deep metaphors and symbols throughout. Her last album Reputation was much more disguised as she wrote from a fake perspective to keep her private life out of the public; so this new album is almost a redemption of past self. However, Lover alludes to many personal issues and situations that many people face. It even gets a bit political with “You Need To Calm Down” which targets homophobia and “The Man” which targets sexism. 

As the album title suggests, Lover just radiates warmth and love. There actually is only one song about heartbreak, “Death By a Thousand Cuts,” which conveys the struggle of forgetting about someone and all of the love you gave them; it’s pretty catchy. The song “Lover” sets the tone of the album, it’s cozy and romantic. In all honesty, I really don’t like “ME!” at all, because it just sounds so childish but the rest of the album makes up for it. Some highlights of the album are “Afterglow,” “Paper Rings,” and “Cruel Summer.” Afterglow is about overthinking and overreacting in a relationship. “Paper Rings” is a very upbeat, playful song of the pure happiness you feel when you’re in love with someone; “I like shiny things but I’d marry you with paper rings,” she sings. “Cruel Summer” is a dark, seductive piece about a forbidden summer romance, that’s horrible and beautiful at the same time. She writes “I love you, ain’t that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?” 

A majority of the songs feature lyrics with household objects. She refers to windows, picture frames, chandeliers, garden gates, desks, clothes, and christmas lights. For example, she says “I’ll paint the kitchen neon” in “Soon You’ll Get Better;” “I look through the windows of this love / even though we boarded them up” in “Death By A Thousand Cuts;” “And at every table, I’ll save you a seat” in “Lover.” The music video for her song “Lover” takes place in a house. This could allude to Swift’s longing for a normal life, or the house could be a symbol of family, and love in general. This album was very put together and all the songs correlated and flowed together.