Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift & The Chicks
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift & Brendon Urie
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
“Cruel Summer” narrates the fragility and uncertainty at the beginning of Taylor’s relationship with Joe Alwyn. The two met officially at the Met Gala in May 2016, although she was dating DJ Calvin Harris at the time and started seeing Tom Hiddleston shortly after. The fling between the two likely b...
[Intro]
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
[Verse 1]
Fever dream high in the quiet of the night
You know that I caught it (Oh yeah, you're right, I want it)
Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price
You know that I bought it (Oh yeah, you're right, I want it)
[Pre-Chorus]
Killing me slow, out the window
I'm always waiting for you to be waiting below
Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes
What doesn't kill me makes me want you more
[Chorus]
And it's new, the shape of your body
It's blue, the feeling I've got
And it's ooh, woah-oh
It's a cruel summer
It's cool, that's what I tell 'em
No rules in breakable heaven
But ooh, woah-oh
It's a cruel summer with you
[Verse 2]
Hang your head low in the glow of the vending machine
I'm not dying (Oh yeah, you're right, I want it)
We say that we'll just screw it up in these trying times
We're not trying (Oh yeah, you're right, I want it)
[Pre-Chorus]
So cut the headlights, summer's a knife
I'm always waiting for you just to cut to the bone
Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes
And if I bleed, you'll be the last to know, oh
[Chorus]
It's new, the shape of your body
It's blue, the feeling I've got
And it's ooh, woah-oh
It's a cruel summer
It's cool, that's what I tell 'em
No rules in breakable heaven
But ooh, woah-oh
It's a cruel summer with you
[Bridge]
I'm drunk in the back of the car
And I cried like a baby comin' home from the bar (Oh)
Said, "I'm fine," but it wasn't true
I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you
And I snuck in through the garden gate
Every night that summer just to seal my fate (Oh)
And I scream, "For whatever it's worth
I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"
He looks up, grinnin' like a devil
[Chorus]
It's new, the shape of your body
It's blue, the feeling I've got
And it's ooh, woah-oh
It's a cruel summer
It's cool, that's what I tell 'em
No rules in breakable heaven
But ooh, woah-oh
It's a cruel summer with you
[Outro]
I'm drunk in the back of the car
And I cried like a baby comin' home from the bar (Oh)
Said, "I'm fine," but it wasn't true
I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you
And I snuck in through the garden gate
Every night that summer just to seal my fate (Oh)
And I scream, "For whatever it's worth
I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Cruel Summer was written by St. Vincent & Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift.
Cruel Summer was produced by Taylor Swift & Jack Antonoff.
Taylor Swift released Cruel Summer on Fri Aug 23 2019.
Yes! The title appeared in the music video for “You Need to Calm Down.” In one scene, Adam Lambert gives Ellen DeGeneres a “Cruel Summer” tattoo:
No, “Cruel Summer” is about Swift’s relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.
I wrote this song with two people I’m a huge fan of, Jack Antonoff and Annie Clark of St. Vincent. I wanted this song to feel like a desperate summer love that might be doomed from the start. My favourite line from this song is, “I love you. Ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?”
During the week ending September 7, 2019, “Cruel Summer” peaked at #29 on the Hot 100. Four years after the song’s release, during the tracking week ending October 28, 2023, the song reached the top spot, making it Swift’s 10th song to reach #1. The song also became Swift’s 41st song to appear in th...
This song is one that I wrote about the feeling of a summer romance, and how often times a summer romance can be layered with all these feelings of, like, pining away and sometimes even secrecy. It deals with the idea of being in a relationship where there’s some element of desperation and pain in i...
Rolling Stone ranked “Cruel Summer” as the #4 song of 2019, saying:
Like so many songs in the Taylor Swift pantheon, ‘Cruel Summer’ sprints on the knife-edge of a crush, reckless, anticipating the wreck, but compelled and consumed by capital-F ‘feeling.’ There’s an acknowledgement that we’ve been h...
“Cruel Summer” has been certified Silver in the UK (200,000 sales).