#this is like my mom's favorite movie but it makes me cryyyyy every time

[birchghost]

lady gaga's a star is born gets me every time. not to be corny but there's so many layers to it i discover on rewatch...... his mom was 17 his dad was 63. the wind farm. his dad not so obviously dying of alcoholism. him leaning in to hear bc he can't, and his brother understanding that intuitively. his brother's look when he reverses the car after dropping him off. cooking the dog a steak. lady gaga being a good actress. the cut right at the end where it goes back to him playing at the piano...........

[imaginemae]

LOVER (lowest-highest)

There is not a song on this album that I do not like, but I do have favorites!

18. “False god”

The instrumentals are so good, but the more I listen to it, the more I want to skip it because I have songs I love more to listen to. Man, do I adore the pre-choruses though. This sounds like it should be on the “lll” album by BANKS.

Best lyric: “You can’t talk to me when I’m like this/Daring you to leave me just so I can try and scare you”

3.5/5 stars

17. “Daylight”

What a perfect antithesis to “I Forgot That You Existed”. Perfect for closing the album.

Best lyric: “I once believed love would be burning red/But it’s golden”

4/5 stars

16. “London Boy”

Such a bop. I love the instrumentals on this one too.

Best lyric: “Babe, don’t threaten me with a good time/They say home is where the heart is/But God, I love the English”

4/5 stars

15. “The Archer”

I feel like this song should precede “The Man”, but it wasn’t because “Lover” is also slow.

Best lyric: “All of my heroes die all alone/Help me hold on to you/...You could stay”

4/5 stars

14. “Cornelia Street”

Perfect. Songwriting.

Best lyric: “I thought you were leading me on/I packed my bags, left Cornelia Street/Before you even knew I was gone/But then you called, showed your hand/I turned around before I hit the tunnel”

4.5/5 stars

13. “You Need to Calm Down”

I just love everything about this song, especially the pre-choruses. LGBT+ anthem!

Best lyric: “You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace/And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate/’Cause shade never made anybody less gay”

4.5/5 stars

12. “The Man”

F.A.C.T.S. The chorus and the verses really shine in this song.

Best lyric: “When everyone believes ya/What’s that like?/...If I was a man/I’d be The Man”

4.5/5 stars

11. “ME!”

Sooooo many people complained about the “Hey kids! Spelling is fun!” line, but I personally had no problem with it. I love the sensitive confidence that this song embodies. Swift is just so self-aware and I love love love this song because of it.

Best lyric: “Hey kids, spelling is fun!/Girl, there ain’t no ‘i’ in team/But you know there is a ‘me’/Strike the band up 1, 2, 3/I promise that you’ll never find another like me”

5/5 🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭 STARS

10. “I Forgot That You Existed”

Fan-fucking-tastic song. I recently had an “Oh wow, that person exists” moment too, and this song perfectly executed what it is like to have that “oh yeah” moment. I’m especially in love with how much you can tell she doesn’t care anymore because she doesn’t even bother to sing some of the lines or take out the laughing.

Best lyric: “I forgot that you/Sent me a clear message/Taught me some hard lessons/I just forget what they were...” XD

5/5 📌📌📌📌📌 STARS

9. “Paper Rings”

Such a bop! It reminded me so much of “Stay Stay Stay” (one of my favorite off of the Red album).

Best lyric: “Kiss you once ‘cause I know you had a long night/Kiss you twice ‘cause it’s gonna be alright/THREE TIMES ‘cause you waited your whole life!/One, two, one, two, three, four!”

5/5 📝📝📝📝📝 STARS

8. “I Think He Knows”

This song is such a BOP. It is sooooo much fun to shake my ass to. I hope she has choreography for this one when she goes on tour.

Best lyric: “I think he knows/He better lock it down/Or I won’t stick around/’Cause good ones never wait (ha)/He got that boyish look that I like in a man/I am an architect, I’m drawing up the plans/He’s so obsessed with me, and, boy, I understand”

5/5 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶 STARS

7. “Afterglow”

I hear a ton of songs about someone messing up in a relationship, but this one seems unique. I can���t remember the last time I heard a song that states how the singer is 100% wrong and apologizes with no excuses. I absolutely adore how healthy it is to hear an artist sing “I’m sorry” and I truly feel like they are. The bridge is simply breathtaking. 

This very much seems like the sequel to “For you I would fall from grace/Just to touch your face/If you walk away/I’d beg you on my knees to stay”.

Best lyric: “Tell me that you’re still mine/Tell me that we’ll be just fine/Even when I lose my mind/I need to say/Tell me it’s not my fault/Tell me that I’m all you want/Even when I break your heart/I need to say/Hey, it’s all me, in my head/I’m the one who burned us down/But it’s not what I meant/Sorry that I hurt you”

5/5 ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️ STARS

6. “Death By a Thousand Cuts”

THE INTRO. So. Beautiful. I especially love it because of how it comes back in verse two. I am also aware that this song is based on a movie, but I like that this comes right after “Cornelia Street” because she states that the traffic lights point them home in that track. In this song, she brings back the motif of traffic lights by stating that they have no idea what to tell her now.

Best lyric: “Tryna find a part of me that you didn’t touch/...Tryna find a part of me you didn’t take up/...I can’t pretend it’s okay when it’s not”

5/5 💔💔💔💔💔 STARS

5. “It’s Nice to Have a Friend”

I realize a ton of people do not like this track due to its simplicity. However, I love this track because of its simplicity. It’s quite reminiscent of a Melanie Martinez song. The music makes it so you have to listen to the lyrics, and the story about two friends falling in love is truly heartwarming.

Best lyric: “Lost my gloves, you give me one/...Call my bluff, Call you ‘babe’/Have my back? Yeah, every day/Feels like home”

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4. “Cruel Summer”

This song gets better every. single. time. I listen to it. It’s so stressful and intense, and you feel like you are going in devastatingly beautiful circles, especially because of how the intro and outro are set up. I love the allusions to “I Did Something Bad”. The bridge had me shedding a few tears in frustration and adoration- I just love this one.

Best lyric: “Bad boy, shiny toy with a price/You know that I bought it/(You’re right and I want it)/...Said, ‘I’m fine’, but it wasn’t true/I don’t want to keep secrets just to keep you/...I scream, ‘For whatever it’s worth/I love you, ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?’/He looks up grinning like a devil!” 

(The fucking devil who rolled the dice on you Swift?!?!?)

5/5 😈😈😈😈😈 STARS

3. “Soon You’ll Get Better”

I cried my eyes out listening to this. I have never had cancer, but I have been terribly sick (in and out of the hospital), and this what my Mother was like with me. That feeling of “You HAVE to get better” runs so deeply, and I could not imagine what I would do if my Mom was in this situation. This song also reminds me of “The Best Day”

Best lyric: “You make the best of a bad deal/I just pretend it isn’t real/...I hate to make this all about me/But who am I supposed to talk to?/What am I supposed to do/If there’s no you?/...You’ll get better soon/’Cause you have to”

5/5 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 STARS

2. “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince”

The outro got me to cryyyyy. Not only does this sound like a Lana Del Rey song (with all the ‘blue’ symbolism), it also feels like an ode to the 2016 election. This song makes me feel like she regrets not openly supporting a side and the schoolyard metaphor is perfect for that. Meanwhile, it also screams “in the middle of my reputation blowing up”. Literally a perfect song.

Best lyric: “It’s you and me, that my whole world/They whisper in the hallyway, ‘She’s a bad, bad girl’/The whole school is rolling fake dice/You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes”

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

1. “Lover”

What can I say about this one that has not already been said? It’s perfect. It’s “You Are In Love” part two. It’s everything I hope to find in a lover one day. The bridge had me CRYING. I know exactly how it feels to sit alone, and for her to save a seat for ANYONE means that she knows who she is saving it for will ALWAYS sit in it.

Best lyric: “And you’ll save all your dirtiest jokes for me/And at every table, I’ll save you a seat, lover”

5/5           10/10              just perfect.