Taylor Swift Broke Down Why ‘Cruel Summer,’ A Four-Year-Old Song, Will Be Her Next Single Here In 2023

A few days ago, it was reported that “Cruel Summer” would be Taylor Swift’s next single. That’s of course a bit odd because the song was released on Swift’s 2019 album Lover, and counting her Taylor’s Version rerecordings, Swift has released five albums since then. Now, Swift herself has confirmed the reports and explained what’s going on here.

At a Pittsburgh The Eras Tour concert this past weekend, Swift said:

“‘Cruel Summer’ was on the Lover album. That album came out four years ago, and I just need to let you know something: ‘Cruel Summer,’ that song was my pride and joy on that album. […] You have conversations before the album comes out, and everybody around weighs in on what they think should be singles. And I was finally, finally about to have my favorite song become the single off of Lover, and… I’m not trying to blame the global pandemic that we had, but that is something that happened that stopped ‘Cruel Summer’ from ever being a single. So what’s happening right now, thanks to you… and honestly, no one understands how this is happening, but you guys have streamed ‘Cruel Summer’ so much right now in 2023, it’s like at the top of… it’s rising on the streaming charts so crazy, and my label have just decided to make it the next single.”

Check out a video of Swift’s explanation below.