Taylor Swift’s song “Cruel Summer” experienced an amazing resurgence in recent months, and the Billboard Hot 100 finally reflects its viral success. The fan-favorite hit from Swift’s album Lover soared to No. 1 four years after its release, becoming her tenth song in the United States to do so.
“Cruel Summer” topped the Billboard Hot 200 chart after drawing in 77.8 million radio airplay audience impressions, 18.6 million streams, and selling 41,000 downloads during its most recent week on the chart. This is quite a big deal considering it’s been four years since this song was originally released as a part of Swift’s seventh studio album Lover.
There are several factors that contributed to the renaissance of “Cruel Summer”, starting with Swift’s ongoing The Eras Tour. The song gained new prominence as Swift performed it live night after night, and it was used in countless viral videos on social media all summer long. The singer eventually decided to send it to contemporary hit radio as the fifth single from Lover.
Swift previously told iHeartRadio that this song was meant to capture the energy of a summer romance that can be layered with many different feelings.
“It deals with the idea of being in a relationship where there’s some element of desperation and pain in it, where you’re yearning for something that you don’t quite have yet, it’s just right there, and you just can’t reach it,” she explained.
