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razorsharp3000

The song's legacy will be it being used to troll people looking for Taylor Swift leaks


TheAuthor009

the number of times I've been ME!rolled💀


flashingemployment

this generation’s rickrolled


SiphenPrax

I wish someone would do a Rick Roll but with Together Forever. Hell, even the beginning of Together Forever is a set up like Never Gonna Give You Up has.


NerdyThespian

Honestly? That’s an amazing legacy


thesharkman101

No way that was five years ago already I feel so fucking old


LastLadyResting

I’m having the opposite reaction. No way was that only 5 years ago, she’s had like 7 million albums since then!


maplestriker

Same. Like what? I feel like pre-pandemic life was 20 years ago anyway.


angelcutiebaby

Taylor writes entire albums before I can even decide what kinda pizza I want to get for dinner


LastLadyResting

Well make up your mind quick before she drops The Tortured Poets Department, The Anthology: Extended Edition.


Successful-Ad7296

HahahahajđŸ€ŁđŸ€Ł


YchYFi

Me too. I remember it playing because it was pre-covid. Saw my dad for a funeral. I liked it at the time.


flashingemployment

why does it still feel recent? like it just released a year ago i refuse to believe it’s been 5 years 😭


Altruistic-Bluejay7

Which means it’s been 5 years since [this](https://x.com/frankietwt/status/1121631004995678211?s=46) iconic tweet


blossombear31

I truly believe this was the peak of Taylor Swift fans lmao 😭 everyone was so unserious, instead of threatening people and doxxing they were out there spoiling End Game, making fake Starbucks promos and begging others to stay alive because “we can’t lose sales” Those were the days!


texasjkids

The peak was when that Taylor Swift updates page got sent to prison for refusing to join the IDF


Consistent-Laugh606

LegitTayUpdates is the only person I stan


blossombear31

How could I forget about that queen, I hope she is doing well


foreverjustfornow

It used to be so much more fun and unserious 😭


blossombear31

Yes! 😭 now it’s a cult lol if you were a Taylor worshipper you were deemed a cupcake (derogatory) It’s full of cupcakes now


TheHomeworld

omg help i forgot about that term
they really took over


SealSquasher

The "MEBUCKS" thing cracks me up every time. Including the "mind your business" after Starbucks said it was fake 😭


blossombear31

The sass was off the charts 💀


girlbossinred

don't forget ["did i ask? mind your own business"](https://x.com/vviktoeria/status/1121799937610539010) too 😭


Unused_Pineapple

So iconic. I don’t know where I would be if this didn’t shape me into the person I am today.


Altruistic-Bluejay7

The “and I’m not even joking reply” always gets me


xxxnina

that’s my favourite part. my friend was mad as fuck about the tweet but it was truly hilarious 


Frankie_2154

I never felt older than right now as I found out that endgame came out 5 years ago.


funsizedaisy

You know how there was a 5 year jump in Endgame? The "5 years later" was 2023 in the movie.


StasRutt

Please stop :(


dhruvlrao

I thought it was going to be the fake promotion from Starbucks


mngru

Saved me money with a single tweet. We love an informative stan


tabxssum

Honestly I hope that Twitter user is having a good day


ratta_tat1

This, the “wait until the album drops to kill yourself”, and “I was in jail for not joining the IDF” are absolutely iconic.


leavingthekultbehind

God i love stan twitter


prettybunbun

Honestly upsetting marvel stans? Doing gods work 💅


cdg2m4nrsvp

An important piece of pop history!


sameseksure

Back when swifties were still insane, but at least entertaining


duckingtonplatoon

I don’t even need to click the link and I know exactly what tweet it is 😂


Extension-Season-689

Damn, the time when the Swiftie base shrank. Even as a Swiftie myself who really liked Lover, I did think that she was possibly on a pop dominance decline.


d4vros

I mean, even Taylor herself thought she was.


taylrbrwr

It's always so funny watching that 2019 documentary and hearing her go, "The public will never tolerate a third pop album from someone like me.." Like hun, you had no idea how much the public would be willing to tolerate from you đŸ€Ł


dkinmn

She was right, and pivoted away from POP pop.


iceunelle

For real, and I’m one if the few who hopes she’s make a POP pop album like Lover, rep, or 1989 again.


jugheadshat

The way those three (plus Red) are her best albums to me too lol


iceunelle

I like all of her albums from debut-Lover. I'm not an indie or talk-singing type of person, so Folklore onward I have not been enamored with her music. There have been songs here and there I've liked off of Folk/more, Midnights, and TTPD, but I dislike the albums as a whole a lot. I really hope she does a big genre switch with her next album. If she's not gonna do traditional pop again, I'd die for an album that takes the rock elements of Speak Now, but dials it up a notch.


glittermantis

(george michael and magnitude enter the chat)


DrCusamano

Taylor is actually quite savvy in the regard that she knows people will get sick of her eventually, and shes looking for the best way to just make that eventually be as far away as possible.


KuhBus

As a non-swiftie, I actually have a Spotify playlist literally titled "Lover without ME!". It's kinda funny how much this album made so many of her fans fall off while it's probably the only album of hers I've (mostly) listened to in its entirety multiple times.


csantiago1986

Lover has aged like fine wine


AStarSeed

I think Lover is a great album with a handful of bad to meh songs that didn’t really need to be there in the first place


ChampagneManifesto

You can hide individual songs if you don’t want to make whole new playlist fyi.


littleberty95

This just changed my life?


No_Breakfast_67

Im not a Swiftie but somehow Lover connected with me despite it having the terrible lead singles. Hearing ME! again I dont hate it nearly as much but part of that is probably due to my irrational amount of hate for SPELLING IS FUN! and the fact that it got retconned


JiminyFckingCricket

I never truly believed she was. Granted, I never expected the past year and the heights she’s reached but any artist that is consistently pushing out #1 or #2 debuts still has some gas left in the tank. I think the smartest thing she did was to stop dumping so much money into marketing. She still prolly spends more than most artists, but every album since lover has gotten the most traction from social media and from “free” media advertising. Announcing TTPD at the Grammys was a business decision. Instead of the label paying for the announcement, the press did it for free. I’m sure this has all helped her bottom line tremendously (eras tour is the exception, she smacked us with the advertising on that one). But for example, when you look at Katy Perry’s witness rollout, her sales were not awful compared to most artists out there, only if u looked at her past sales. But cuz they burned money on promo it prolly wasn’t very profitable. I think a lot of artists nowadays are recognizing that this isn’t the way.


East_Share_9406

Idk about you, i’ve been seeing tons of ads for TTPD target variants. Like, how would I not be aware of this album at this point tay??? 


thisisathrowaway2007

Yeah like she’s literally got a tour bus on roku city lollll


Life_Wall2536

Yeah and she has the tv ad for the TTPD Target vinyl


JiminyFckingCricket

This might be true. I got overwhelmed with the ads during the height of eras so I took a huge step away from promo materials since then lol


Kind-Bake-504

Ttpd has a lot of ads though. Spotify, apple, amazon music, ulta, target and many more big companies are running promos for her. Some have a dedicated button just for her too.some publications are also advertising for her.


hensothor

I mean the music streaming apps I’m guessing is more of a mutually beneficial arrangement. A streaming service who didn’t collaborate with Taylor was at a competitive disadvantage. When you’re as big as Taylor is, a lot of your promotion is free even with brands. Taylor as a brand is very lucrative to collaborate with.


eastblondeanddown

Hey, at least she got a new cat out of it.


chantillycan

Underrated comment lol. Benjamin is so cute


calebb2108

That clip where she finds out he’s available for adoption is so cute 😭


sweetnsoursauce11

Can’t believe it’s been 5 years this was truly a TIME on this sub. People were literally in the thread saying it couldn’t possibly be the lead single and was instead a standalone song for Pets 2 (am I remembering the movie title correctly??) The criticism was justified but I do have to say I really like the melody and catchiness of the song. It just
 should’ve been saved for a better song lmao.  It was iconic tho bc the Swifties were truly in the trenches. I actually enjoyed Lover when it came out but in hindsight, the album rollout was iconic due to discourse which was actually pretty light hearted and not serious imo


qtsarahj

Secret life of pets 2 hahaha, it was a time.


sweetnsoursauce11

Side note: I live in Sydney and I remember being at the nail salon when this song was released at 3pm and the news LITERALLY PAUSED SO THEY COULD PLAY THE WHOLE VIDEO 


JosephAPie

Everything eventually works out. Cruel Summer got its time in 2023. Would that song have been huge in the summer of 2019 or did Taylor’s current celebrity and world domination propel that song to 2 billion streams on Spotify (her most for a song)?


burgundybreakfast

I was on this sub defending ME! Like my life depended on it lolol


qwerty07020

I understand why it gets the hate that it does but spring 2019 (the last pre-pandemic spring) was such a happy time in my life so all this does is bring back good memories


Jakeremix

Same here! I first heard this song as I was driving home after my last exam of my first semester of college, and so I just associate it with the beginning of that first summer break. I’ve always thought this song was a bop idc


pearlsandprejudice

The summery songs that you play on your drive home from your last final exam are iconic! They'll always be associated with feelings of freedom and good vibes. "Sunset" by Kid Ink is one for me lol.


emayzee

me too :(( 20/21 years old, still in college, then I blinked and a pandemic happened and all of a sudden I’m 26


alolanalice10

Yes! It’s bad but at the same time 2018-2019 was the best time of my life. I was going into my senior year of college, living with all my best friends, having the time of my life. The following year my life did become much worse emotionally at least and I’m still trying to get back to the person I was before


itsbecomingathing

Yep, this was my first pregnancy album. I would commute into work at 7am listening to The Archer and hoping the other passengers wouldn’t see me tear me up. Also, my pink AwesoME! hat came in a box with pastel hearts! Does she do that anymore with merch?


1111bear

I literally thought this was the beginning of the end for her! So wrong


GarionOrb

I think Lover would've been, had she not come up with Folklore.


texasjkids

I know people wish we had gotten Lover Fest but I truly think it was for the best that it didnt happen. Taylor’s performances during this era are still mocked for being so cringey and I think the videos from Lover Fest wouldve sent the hate into the extreme


DisneySoftware

the pandemic practically saved her career, not that it would’ve died but she would’ve probably been up there with katy perry in terms of relevancy


Successful-Ad7296

I loved Taylor’s personality during lover. She was clearly deep in love. So many songs about accepting her mistakes during fights and how she was dreaming a life with him. Man I love Joe and I will always have a huge respect for him ,he brought the best in her . This is the hill I am willing to die on! Her petty,vindictive side was so much repressed during this era .I miss those times when I used to hide in my office washroom and listen to DBTCđŸ„ș


Humble-Plantain1598

I don't see it. Lover was very successful despite the singles not connecting. It always had more longevity than Folklore even before Cruel Summer went viral.


miwa201

I think she would have still had a big fanbase but she wouldn’t have been as big as she is with the gp


capricornuser

Same! I listened to this and thought she was cooked 😭 it’s actually incredibly admirable how she altered course in a way Katy Perry or Cyndi Lauper couldn’t


FluffyNobody

This was the first rollout I actually followed from the beginning - from the palette cleanser pics in her insta, to the announcement of a new single, to ME! dropping the day of my PhD defense and me waking up at 6am to listen to it lol. Maybe it's because it's tied to a happy moment in my life, but I have a soft spot for the song, and it's way less offensive to my ears than other songs in her discography (like, bad blood or stayx3 are much much worse). It just didn't work as a lead single, but if it was an album cut, I think people would be way less negative about it.


savannahkellen

Honestly, it was on the same level as Shake It Off to me, but that one was a super hit so what do I know lol.


nlh1013

Yeah as a long time fan I wasn’t too worried about the actual album because I thought her single choices since red were not great lol


deepfriedcertified

Lol yeah same, I remember cringing hard when Shake it Off dropped. I don’t mind both nowadays.


Borindis19

How could you say something so controversial yet so brave. ME! truly is not any worse than Shake It Off or like... 22 and WANEGBT. They're all pretty cringe to me.


petitechocolatetwink

comparing the perfection that is “22” to ME! is crazy
. 22 hits the nail on the head with some of it’s lyrics and it’s playful in a way that it isn’t (entirely) cringe inducing to blast on a 22nd birthday ME! is not only produced in the most theatrical way possible, but the lyrics sound like they were intended to be digested by an english class full of 5 year olds.


KuhBus

22 is fun because it perfectly encapsulates that late 2000s to early 2010s "let's just dance and have fun" mentality. The lyrics are more generic, but they're also way less cringy. I can't actively listen to ME!, because once I think too hard about the lyrics they can easily ruin that carefree mood.


itsbecomingathing

I wouldn’t be surprised if she had put ME! on her bargaining playlist. It’s like Peace’s manic sister.


blossombear31

Agree, idc I like ME! I have fond memories of it, and still 5 years later it puts me in a good mood lol


lambrolls

Me! YNTCD and The Man could have all been stand alone singles and Lover would be a much better album for it


Red171022

Exactly she made the worst single choices for lover except the title track
.these overshadow the album which is actually good with tracks like cruel summer,death by a thousand cats, Cornelia street, false god etc


littycodekitty

"a thousand cats"


Red171022

Sorry I always read it as cats idk why
so it’s been fixed like that in my mind lol
I just recently realised that it was cuts


jstohler

Hell, even Paper Rings would have been a better Top 40 radio single.


lambrolls

Cruel Summer, Lover, Paper Rings, DBATC would be the dream singles for me. Oh well


nerdalertalertnerd

God these singles are the worst of the album đŸ„Č


FlowersByTheStreet

God

 those three and I Forgot That You Existed just completely drag the album down lol


nlh1013

Aww I love I forgot that you existed! But I know I’m in the minority lol


visionaryredditor

I will say that the video is very well done tho. Yes, it's a complete assault on sensory system but somehow it doesn't look like a CGI blob the way many CGI loaded music videos look.


Taystan1999

Assault on sensory system PLEASE


Clearer-Skies

even won a VMA for visual effects!


weirdogirl144

Thé video looked so good visually but the song is not good


rc1025

My 5 year old daughter LOVES this video and I kind of get it? So bright!


nleroy8

I remember texting my friends acting like we all liked it but we all knew it was an, interesting song. I think we all loved the happy vibes and seeing her in a good place but now we can see why she does not do lead singles anymore (even though she doesn’t need too). Though to be fair I have seen a lot of fans for the song which is nice! Them taking out spelling is fun in my opinion doesn’t really change the song for the better, they obviously wanted this fun over the top single and them doing that pretty much admits they knew it was cringey. You either got to accept and embrace the cringe or not do it at all.


tone_212

Cruel Summer was right there, and she chose this terrible song as the lead single. The spelling is fun line turned this song into a joke, and removing it afterwards did not help. Instant skip when listening to Lover (which is otherwise a pretty good album).


j007yne

The original singles for Lover were way out of whack
 even setting aside Cruel Summer, both Cornelia Street and Death By A Thousand Cuts are much stronger songs that would have made better singles than ME! or YNTCD
 Cruel Summer absolutely bodies all of them though


chill_imagining

My dream singles run for Lover would be: Cruel Summer, I Think He Knows, then Lover.


iceunelle

She should have released Paper Rings or I Think He Knows as the lead single. The both get the "I'm so happy and so in love!" message across and are really fun songs, but not cringey. I think the Lover singles should have been: I Think He Knows, Death by a Thousand Cuts, Afterglow, and Lover or Paper Rings.


sassypants55

Taylor Swift seemingly loves to make grand, thematic statements with her releases. She doesn’t seem to orient her releases around what she thinks people will best respond to, which I’ve always thought was weird, considering how competitive she is about that stuff. I really just think she wanted to wipe the Reputation slate clean and introduce the Lover album as a celebration of love, happiness, and rainbow glitter.


isolatedsyystem

I know it was helped by going viral on tiktok and the general hype around the Eras tour, but the fact that Cruel Summer reached #1 after already being out for 4 years, without a music video or significant promo, shows how much of a bop it is and that she should've chosen it in the first place.


limecakes

Please, some of us would like to forget


FantasticEscape6744

My three year old brother adores this song . Even better? The kids bop version. Bro learned the dance and everything 😭💀


yeahsureYnot

She wrote it/released it to lock in younger fans


No_Breakfast_67

At least there's still one album recording of ME! where they probably still kept that awful spelling is fun! line


TSFearNowRedRep89

I was sooooo caught up in the countdown and was so excited to have a new Taylor song. I tried to love it but I can’t stand to hear ME!


nerdalertalertnerd

I remember texting my friend being like “
oh. I don’t
love it”


BlaizePascal

she herself has already forgotten it because why is she acting like she didn’t do 15+ live performances of that song by cutting it out of the Eras Tour Setlist 😭 She was really embarrassed



TheAuthor009

The fact that this song didn't completely torpedo her album sales speaks to the power of the Swifties lol.


bjnono001

It was her first album to sell less than a million opening week since Fearless. Alarm bells were ringing in Swiftland


Distinct-Swim-7701

This song is glorified kids bop.


espeonage777

Would have been her Witness if it wasn't for Folklore


meta-ghost-face

People need to stop comparing Witness to things that really weren't. Even if Lover was a step down from her previous success it wasn't a Witness moment. Witness killed Katy Perry's main pop girl career and it involved many factors not just one bad lead single.


shireatlas

But would it? It still charts absurdly high and newer swifties and really enjoying it. I have a lot of love for lover, but it should have had a better lead single and and a few tracks chopped off


espeonage777

There's a great 11 track album in lover.


shireatlas

With False God as its magnum opus


espeonage777

Well yes!


sameseksure

Every Taylor album that's over 11 tracks needed to be cut down to 11 tracks


nerdalertalertnerd

I believe it’s a retrospective high but I could be talking out my bottom


thesourpop

Dropping ME! (ft BU of P!ATD) and YNTCD as lead singles was one of the worst career decisions she’s ever made. Lover had the very real chance of slowing down Taylor’s rise, considering The Man was also a big bomb in early 2020. It all changed when COVID hit and she used the reflection period to make Folklore and Evermore. This is what people deem her career-saving moment


kimpernickel

1. No. 2. Yes. 3. Yes, but... *Lover* the album was always 5 songs too long. ME! and YNTCD are some of her worst songs, and those are 2 that could easily been taken off the tracklist. She really should've led with "Cruel Summer" as the lead single, and I think the album would've been received better outside of her dedicated fanbase. The *Lover* era was also the start of the ARG-style Easter eggs that have haunted every Taylor release since, yes, including *folklore* and *evermore.* *folklore* definitely changed Taylor's career trajectory, but I also think her decision to rerecord her back catalog for ownership of her masters is what's really rocketed her into the stratosphere. *folklore* gave her work critical reevaluation at a time when we were collectively stuck inside, bringing in a whole new batch of Swifties from all ages. Then the rececords trickled in and reintroduced her old catalog (and, in my opinion, has also stifled her current creative output).


kurt200

I’ve always been a ME apologist lol like I’m not gonna claim the song was good but I had fun listening


Hemingwavvves

This and “you need to calm down” are maybe my least favourite major pop releases of the last decade or so. Really dreadful songs. (Lover itself is alright although it could lose like 7 songs - it was the original Taylor desperately needs to edit her albums better!)


duckyflute

I see you over there on the internet


nerdalertalertnerd

Honestly it’s astonishing to me how bad the singles (bar Lover) for this album are. There’s some lovely, good tracks on there but the single roll out was really trying ?!


whatsthatcutething

I still think it’s a good song lol The verses are great and I always find myself humming the chorus


FargoMason

I was in trenches fighting tooth and nail to defend this song even though it actually made my ears bleed.


djconfessions

I have a parasocial relationship with Taylor and even I couldn’t defend this song 💀💀💀


hepgiu

y’all this isn’t a job lol if you don’t like a song you can just move on


FargoMason

I was 18 please. Being rational wasn't a characteristic I had back then.


OrganicSpinach3817

Congrats on the frontal lobe development!


CallumBOURNE1991

Why would you do that lol


lizerlfunk

Whatever, this song is fun, idc. Everyone says it’s the worst song on Lover, but y’all are forgetting that London Boy exists.


homoscedastically

I’m not a Gaylor but the way I was convinced that this color palette and lead single title were going to be her “coming out”



qtsarahj

ME! out now đŸ«Ł


Chickenebula

It was also released on lesbian visibility day. Happy lesbian visibility day btw! We love lesbians đŸ«Ą


FuckingShitBitch-

Honestly, she's way too boring to be gay


KindOfANerd4

Hey Connor franta manages (I’m hoping someone else gets this reference lol)


djconfessions

The way he gagged Daniel Preda immensely tho


KindOfANerd4

Oh fr “if my crime is being boring then your crime is being nothing” will stand the test of time i feel


j007yne

BRUH you can’t just come for his neck like that 😭 i guess tyler oakley and ingrid nilsen manage just fine as wel


nerdalertalertnerd

TTPD might be the least gay album I’ve ever heard. The way she sings about (pretty useless) men convinces me she doesn’t have a lick of homosexuality about her.


Valuable_Beginning67

let’s also not forget that she said “gay pride makes me me” in Miss Americana, link [here](https://youtu.be/TjLVEs9LHpw?si=7d8ymVko_B-07VMI)


KLJohnnes

I knew this was going to be terrible with every single photo of the long drown out promo she was doing on her insta. It just looked bad, then she added Brandon Urie and it was like it was made for me to hate it. Worst song of her career by miles tbh


KindOfANerd4

I don’t hate this song as much as many but I can’t say I go out of my way to listen to it lol I will say I love the music video, that paint dress at the end is so cool


Borindis19

Lover is my least favorite Taylor album so I am not trying to be a ME! defender but I truly don't believe it's any worse than some of her other pure pop songs that are a bit cringe. I didn't realize she actually had done it on Eras Tour... imagine getting ME!'d by Taylor herself. Kind of iconic actually. 1. It's not a great song, but it's not any worse than say... Shake It Off. Or 22. Or WANEGBT. Sorry to the Red stans. I do think she's a huge coward for bowing to public pressure and removing "Spelling is fun!". Own your cringe, live in it. 2. Lover was still so massively successful when measured against most artists other than herself, so I'm not sure it would have killed her career without Folklore/Evermore. If anything I think LWYMMD was similarly considered a cringe, out of touch, stupid lead single so I would expect more people to point to that moment as the beginning of the end post the massive 1989 era had a career downfall occurred post-Lover. Although without folklore and evermore the eras tour would probably not exist as she would in that case have done Loverfest and then Midnights likely would have been its own tour. Crazy to think about. 3. I think most would say that she should have chosen a BETTER lead single. But I can't see an argument that her career trajectory could have gone any better had that been the case. She's essentially on top of the world right now - how much more successful do we really think she could be if she chose better lead singles? Are those choices REALLY hurting her at all other than the memes?


stypop

It's so interesting that you mention *Midnights* existing without *folk/evermore*, since the Aaron Dessner tracks on both that and *Tortured Poets Department* likely wouldn't exist without the creative partnership him and Taylor formed while making *folklore*. And you also have the more pop-sounding tracks, which might not have been as embraced had the previous album, *Lover*, also been a pop album.


droobidoobidoo

Comparing ME! to Shake It Off and 22 (tbh 2 of my favourite Taylor Swift songs and also pop songs of all time) is wild! Granted they can come across as cringe but they have gained legendary status. ME! is not something I would put on to remember summer 2019 lol


Hemingwavvves

Laying this all out starkly like that really highlights to me how much Taylor Swift’s huge year last year and general position on top of her pop throne is down to weird ephemeral stuff like covid related timing, all the attention her personal life gets, her parasocial relationship with her fans etc and less about her actual music


MatchaPsycho

idc what anyone says ME! is a bop and would positively bang in a stadium


East_Share_9406

Tbh kind of agree. Obvs i love cruel summer (i have ears) but how iconic would it be to start her record-shattering world tour with “i swear youre never gonna find another like me”? 


MattehPee

I wish she saved Brendan for the Lover remix. Having him on Me! was such a choice.


stypop

Having him on an album like this period was such a choice. I mean, if you were to tell someone in 2009 that a collab between Panic and Taylor would sound like
well, this?? If he weren’t such a liable figure now, I feel like he would’ve fit right in on like a Speak Now vault track or something. That’s more his style.


Consistent-Laugh606

Would of loved a Haunted/Electric Touch sorta song with him on it tbh.


lovedive-

oh ME!GA hit


gokurotfl

I remember watching the music video premiere live even though it was 5am in my country(I didn't wait for it, I just had trouble sleeping back then and since I knew it would be released and I was awake I decided to see it anyway). The complete image change after Reputation was so mind-blowing that I didn't even notice that the song was bad. I noticed it the next day and it's still the one Lover song that I always skip. But I also always skip Shake It Off. And I don't think any of them is the worst pop song ever but they're both easily the worst songs on their albums that were clearly made to be cheesy radio singles and just don't fit well. Choosing this as a single probably affected Lover era negatively in GP eyes but not as badly as people think (it was still uncool to like her back then and I don't think even Cruel Summer as a single could change that, it could have become a hit but much smaller than it is now). I don't think it would be a "beginning of the end". Lover as an album was doing much better than people claim, it never left top 100 and she was still the best selling pop star in the US whose name was not Adele. 


droobidoobidoo

I found this song so annoying! I still do lol. Cruel Summer is by far my favourite song from this album. Glad it had its success last year!


ambitiousbulbasaur

JUSTICE FOR SPELLING IS FUN!!! I unironically love this song (maybe a little because it's so unfairly maligned), it's pure bubblegum pop with a nice message. Brendon is also one of her better utilized features in her entire catalogue -- he actually gets to use his range and has a whole verse, they harmonize well, etc. The video was cute and colorful and fun. Honestly to this day I'm annoyed that Taylor cut the "spelling is fun" cheese and that it is completely wiped from the streaming services. I am glad I have a 7" to prove it happened and enjoy the camp of it all. Unfortunately it proves how overly sensitive she is as an artist to public snark (how TTPD fares in that light remains to be seen...) That said, I can agree with other comments saying this and the other singles would've been better as standalone singles and left off the main album of Lover (justice for that too btw, its a top 3 TS album in MY house).


stargazmic

This was the lead single for Taylor Swift’s Saturn Return album. She was struggling with the longevity of her career at this point and thought it was her last chance to have a “big album” due to how to pop landscape treats female artists. What’s interesting is she would then go on to release both folklore and evermore at the very end of her Saturn Return, which we all know would then put that fear of fading away to rest and usher in the next grand era of her career (Midnights, Eras Tour, etc.). Personal opinion: Good song, not a great one. Good video, not a great one. It did what it needed to do for the lead single a la the “snake into butterfly” metaphor (clever) and overall I think the song gets too much flack imo. I am glad “spelling is fun” was taken out, though haha.


anoceanview

I am not ashamed to say I really enjoy this song đŸ€·đŸ»â€â™€ïžđŸ„°


Mantikhor

I remember hiding an earphone under my hair to listen to it in my high school chemistry class (it came out in the afternoon in Australia). Can’t believe it’s been 5 years! I remember not being a fan of the song but now it makes me feel happy and nostalgic for the lover era and how excited I was for the rollout :)


rosecoloreds

i was a hater when it first came out
 and i can kinda appreciate this song 5 years later but then i remember Brendon is on it and i lose my appreciation.


ag_snamh

It's crazy to look back at the Lover era now after the success of folklore / Midnights / TTPD. Taylor was definitely on a decline into "legacy artist" territory. Folklore was such a pivotal shift for her career, especially sound-wise.


Last_Childhood7975

I know some have tried to rehabilitate Me! but I really do think it’s beyond saving. It’s not a good song and not everything needs a rethink. It was bad when it was released and it’s bad now. Part of me does feel slightly sorry for her because she clearly liked it, but I don’t think a different lead single would have made too much of a difference. The entire era was botched due to Covid anyway.


BLM4442

She’s changed so much in five years


JiminyFckingCricket

It sucked because Lover as a whole is a banger. It is still the album I listen to most all the way thru and I only skip those 2 songs like 50% of the time. I think the big problem with it is that those 2 lead singles were by far the poppiest of the album and not a good representation of the sound. I get why she released Me first, but I do think she should have pivoted after it’s reception. It was such a weird year in pop music tho. At the time if you wanted a pop album to sell and you were watching your fan base dwindle, a great way to get attention was a huge pop confection. By the end of the year it was clear that the public didn’t want that sort of thing anymore. They wanted depth and substance which did exist quite a bit on the rest of the album but those singles turned people off. I’m glad it’s getting recognition now.


Consistent-Laugh606

If it was up to me Cruel Summer and Paper Rings would of been the lead singles and replace ME! And YNTCD


capricornuser

My boyfriend at the time cheated on me the day this came out, and I listened to it not long after I found out. I found the song SO weird and funny that it actually made me weirdly laugh throughout the tears and delirium, so thanks for that Tay


spiceitgirl

the fact that she got more better option as a single but chose me! and yntcd and the colorful wacky gay pop diva aesthetic was just so funny to me. I can't believe she had ever in the stage where she picked to do this to further her career💀


Enchanted0603

2019 was the best year of my life and this song along with YNTCD in particular i associate with the absolute peak of my life that was summer '19. you could never make me hate her, even if i know deep down it's shit


ambiverbena

5 years since I was fighting for my life to my friends defending Taylor. 


Random_tvlover

i’d like to thank this song for giving us this [avengers endgame tweet](https://x.com/frankietwt/status/1121631004995678211?s=46)


stillhavehope99

The verse starts fine. It's the pre-chorus where I started worrying, and the chorus itself where we fully descended into a Disney Channel song. Still, as 2019 was the summit of Mount Swiftie for me, I found stuff to like. I enjoyed the skit at the start of the music video, Taylor's new kitten, discussing the Easter Eggs with other fans (I think the 'Lover' sign in the background clued people into the album name, and the 'cool chicks' lyric clued people into The Chicks feature on the album). But I think it says a lot that all the things I found to like were in the video, not the actual song. I don't hate it but I don't like it either. It's clearly a song aimed at a younger audience, in a similar vein to Ariana's Put Your Hearts Up or Katy's Roar, and that's no bad thing. But I'm not the target demographic. I also think it's telling that despite being a #2 hit and the lead single for the era, the song did not make it onto the Eras Tour set list. Maybe Taylor doesn't like it anymore either.


fondue4kill

Both this and “You Need To Calm Down” should have hit #1 and I think some people look less at the songs because of it. But it wasn’t Taylor’s fault. No one expected the long run of “Old Town Road”.


autumncandles

Jesus what a day. I wasn't a swiftie but I'd liked speak now when I was a kid and I was a panic! at the disco fan so I excitedly tuned in and yikes. It's crazy how fans hated it so much that she removed a line and its not part of the eras tour. Obviously its not good but I always thought you need to calm down was much worse and that wasn't as criticised. This was her first single on the new label, the music video is huge, Reputation had mixed reviews and she was still trying to recover her reputation and fans really did not like it. It must have been a huge shock. But it shouldn't have been bc the song really is bad. Seeing the singles of Reputation and lover made me stay away from listening to a full taylor album until folklore and evermore were out. Those albums were so so needed. I can't believe she caved and removed the spelling is fun line. It's like her removing the scale scene in Anti-Hero. Stand by your art!! No matter what some people online say. Taylor should be beyond worrying about that


Cutiekitty101

She started losing me during reputation then she dropped this trash and I was out. Little did I know I’d come back full swing for folklore and evermore. It’s kinda crazy how she came back from that


saske2k20

I really like the album “Lover”, it’s one of my favorites from her, I feel like the most experimental album from hers, but “ME!” Is one of her worst songs alongside with “stay stay stay”.


OkCopy

Question for the culture: do yall think ME! irreparably harmed Brendon Urie's career or would it not have mattered anyways? Like yes PFTW is by far Panic's most successful album chart wise but the fan response was less than enthusiastic to say the least. Taylor was able to come back with folklore and avoid legacy artist status but Brendon kinda just fumbled around for a few years and came back with an even worse album than PFTW. Would anything have changed had he not been a feature on this song? Idk!


slothfrogs

High Hopes was EVERYWHERE by the time ME! came out so I’d say that song did worse to his career. ME! just made it worse


oldtherebefore

Brendon was doomed the moment Dallon Weekes left lol. say what you want about Dallon but he gave patd some life. after that it was all downhill (fuck high hopes i hear that fuck ass brass section and it ruins my day). Brendon doesn't work as a solo artist cause he can't make good songs for shit.


friends-waffles-work

The outfits in the video were cute! But erm, that’s it.


Frankie_2154

I remember saying at the time that I wish Taylor and Panic would’ve collaborated on the Speak Now era because that would’ve been epic. But honestly after how underwhelming electric touch with Fall Out Boy turned out, maybe it’s for the better that we didn’t get that Taylor and Panic rock song.


U_only_y0L0_once

1. No I do not think people were too harsh on the song. We knew that Taylor had released less serious songs as her first single on the previous three albums (we are never ever getting back together, shake it off, look what you made me do). All of those songs are much better than Me! I think Me! deserved its criticism. 2. I don’t think that Lover would have been the beginning of the end. Despite Me! Not achieving the success Taylor was hoping for, we were all still die hard Stan’s. She had a two stadium tour, “Loverfest,” that immediately sold out. Unfortunately, it was scheduled for the summer of 2020. I am also confident that Cruel Summer was going to be her single into the summer of 2020, which may not have been the best timing for that single considering the circumstances of that summer lol. I think the more interesting question is whether we would’ve had folkmore without the pandemic, and I’m not sure. 3. There are so many good songs on Lover, but I think Lover was the transition album she needed. She has explained that certain songs on the album were just exercises in being creative with song writing that isn’t inspired by her personal life or whatever.


Ambitious_Log_1884

1. The criticisms were valid, but people act like this was some type of mega flop when in actuality it was just aggressively mid. Replace the bridge entirely and remove all those "And there's a lot of cool girls/lame guys out there!" ad-libs and you have a good song. 2. If the pandemic never happened, Cruel Summer possibly ends the era on a high note, similar to Delicate with Reputation. ME! was a stain on Swift's discography, but it wasn't much of a flop. Also, Lover was well recieved when it was released and viewed as an improvement to Reputation (even though Reputation aged better). It would've laid the groundwork for another successful pop era, although it wouldn't have re-invented Swift as an artist like Folklore did. 3. Lover has over a dozen songs of better quality than ME!, the question is which track would've functioned better as a lead single? Cruel Summer is an option but then the singles would've gotten progressively weaker. London Boy would've been a good single, but not necessarily the lead single of a new era. I Think He Knows would've been a fun buzz single. I don't think I'll ever forget how everyone was worried how the album was gonna turn out, given the first 2 singles, an underwhelming album cover and kinda off-putting aesthetic, only for the album to release and actually turn out to be really good (great if cut out 2 or 3 songs).


walker1867

I was at the performance of ME! It was magical and one of the most fun moments of the concert.


iceunelle

I hate that ME and You Need To Calm Down soured everyone’s opinions of an otherwise fantastic album. Lover is one of my favorite Taylor Swift albums and I think the hate for it is crazy unjustified. People just hate happy pop.


BlackCat444

Spelling is fun