Taylor Swift has accomplished many unbelievable feats, including having a number-one song four years after its release. Swift has built a career on making the impossible possible. From the record-breaking Eras Tour to being the first person to win the Album of the Year Grammy four times, the singer-songwriter is unstoppable. Every time it seems she’s reached her peak, she surprises the world with another outstanding accomplishment.

Swift’s groundbreaking nature is what keeps her so interesting and keeps even the haters interested in watching her next move. While successfully re-releasing her old albums and having “All Too Well,” a 10-minute-long song, go number one seemed like the craziest thing she could do, Swift knows there’s always more where that came from. In fact, one of her most intriguing accomplishments was when a four-year-old song rose so much in popularity it hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts.

“Cruel Summer” Is Taylor Swift’s Most-Streamed Song On Spotify

The Lover Track Has Almost Three Billion Streams

While it wasn’t an official single during Lover‘s initial release, “Cruel Summer” is Taylor Swift’s most streamed song. The hit currently has over 2,800,000,000 streams on Spotify, nearing 3 million. Upon release, it became a fan favorite because of its synth-pop beat and sharp lyrics. Swift wrote the song with Jack Antonoff, with whom she has written some of her best pop songs.

Antonoff has become known for his synth production style and he didn’t hold back on “Cruel Summer.” What makes the song so special is Swift combined the clever lyrics she was known for early in her career with the pop anthems she became accustomed to later on. It’s euphoric, which is why it’s no surprise that it’s been streamed as many times as it has.

The single chronicles a summer fling-turned-love story where Swift is in constant fear of losing the person she’s with. The situationship is very fragile, and she fears if he finds out how she really feels, it’ll scare him away. In the bridge, Swift admits how she feels and her love interest admits he feels the same way. Lyrics like “I’m always waiting for your just to cut to the bone” as well as the entire bridge are what drew fans in enough to stream the song almost 3 billion times.

The Song Was Originally Released In 2019, But Hit Number 1 In 2023

“Cruel Summer” was the second track on the Lover album and despite being immediately beloved, Swift didn’t release it as a single. It’s widely assumed that Swift planned to release it as a single in the summer of 2020 while she was on her Lover Fest tour. Unfortunately, Covid-19 prevented the tour from ever happening. Instead of promoting “Cruel Summer,” she released folklore and began a whole new era, leaving the pastel skies behind and getting lost in the enchanted forest.

However, four years after the song’s release, Taylor Swift finally made “Cruel Summer” an official single. While it, unfortunately, never got a music video, the song gained so much traction that it reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Swift and Antonoff were shocked and posted a celebratory photo to Instagram thanking fans for continuing to love the song so long after its release. The most exciting part is that initially, the Lover album didn’t have a #1 single.

“I’m drunk in the back of the car

And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar

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

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.”

When Swift released “ME!’ and “You Need To Calm Down” she was battling against the ultra-popular “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus. However, by the time “Cruel Summer” reached number one, the country-pop hit had long left the #1 spot. While it may have taken a few years, Lover finally got its time to shine.

Why Cruel Summer Blew Up 4 Years After Its Release

“Cruel Summer” Gained Popularity In 2023

While it might seem strange that a song would go number one so long after Lover dropped, it was all thanks to the Eras Tour. After releasing four albums since her reputation tour, Swift thought it was only appropriate to celebrate the new albums and her rerecording era on the Eras Tour. Since the Lover Fest never happened, Swift kicked off the show with the Lover era. While the first song Swift sang was “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince,” she only sang a portion of it.

She then transitioned into “Cruel Summer,” making it the first full song she sang on the tour. Swift knew how long fans had been waiting to sing the song live with her so she made the bridge an extra special experience. The pop star asked “Does anyone here know the lyrics to this bridge? Prove it!” She then strutted down the runway as the crowd screamed the lyrics back to her just like they’d waited to do for four years. “Cruel Summer” quickly became the defining song of Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour which heavily contributed to it going number one.