• "Lover" by Taylor Swift was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2020 Grammys.
  • Swift called her album Lover a "love letter to love," and "Lover" might be the most romantic of the 18 tracks.
  • The song was inspired by Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn, a.k.a. the "magnetic force of a man" she describes in "Lover."

Confession: The song "Lover" has been stuck in my head since it came out in August 2019. Not the entire song, but rather the way Swift croons the word "table" at 2:47. When Swift sings about domestic bliss with her boyfriend, it sounds like she means it—and it's this authenticity, combined with a haunting melody, that turns "Lover" into such an iconic love song.

"Lover" is the fourth song by the 30-year-old star to be nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammys, after "Shake It Off," "Blank Space," and "You Belong With Me."

It's also the first song Swift has written by herself since "This Love," back in 2014. A slow, dreamy song, "Lover" is a callback to early Swift, all confessions and country vibes. However, whereas these earlier songs were tinged with fantasy and longing, "Lover" is written from the perspective of a woman content in a relationship.

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According to an interview with The New York Times, Swift wrote "Lover" on a late night at home in her piano in Nashville. Afterwards, she took the track to producer Jack Antonoff, a frequent collaborator, and built the final version in a matter of six hours.

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Swift was guided by a single image while tweaking her song. “In my head I had like, just the last two people on a dance floor at 3 a.m. swaying. Whatever that would sound like,” Swift told the Times.

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Likely, the "two people" Swift had in mind were her and her boyfriend of three years, Joe Alwyn. A British actor, Alwyn has recently appeared in Harriet, The Favourite, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Boy Erased. His part-time job, however, is being Swift's muse.

The couple first met at the Met Gala in 2016. At first keeping the relationship private, Swift has since started to open up about her feelings for Alwyn–mostly in song. The album Lover, like Reputation before it, is teeming with breadcrumbs about their relationship. She sings about his "ocean blue eyes" in the reputation song "Gorgeous," or his British roots in the Lover song "London Boy."

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Alwyn told The Sunday Times he doesn't mind being written about in chart-toppers. "It's flattering," he said.

While inspired by Alwyn, the lyrics in "Lover" could apply to anyone in a happy relationship. In essence, "Lover" is sung from the perspective of a person blissfully content with monogamy.

Swift opens by illustrating their apartment, a refuge from the world (and, in Swift's case, from the tabloids). "We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January / This is our place, we make the rules," Swift sings.

She doesn't want this to end, either. "Can I go where you go? / Can we always be this close forever and ever?" Swift sings, continuing a theme found in all of her songs. She's searching for the person who will be her "endgame" (as heard in the song "Endgame").

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With Alwyn, it seems she's found that person. She's in it for the long haul—and her promise to commit comes through in "Lover," as well as other songs. In the reputation song "Ready For It," Swift says she plans to "keep him forever." In "Delicate," she sings, "Stay here, honey, I don't wanna share."

The next step? Marriage. During the bridge of "Lover," Swift seems to allude to a wedding, her lyrics mimicking the ceremony's script: "Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? / With every guitar string scar on my hand / I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover."

Swift also brings up marriage in the Lover song "Paper Rings," singing, "I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings."

Wedding bells may be in the couple's future, but in "Lover," Swift reveals they already crossed another relationship milestone: Moving in. In the song "New Year's Day" from 2017, Swift describes watching her friends leave a hotel room. Now, in "Lover," her friends are leaving her place with Alwyn. "We could let our friends crash in the living room / This is our place, we make the call," Swift sings.

Since "Lover" is so personal, Swift is especially pleased with the Song of the Year nomination. “I really would have wanted that song to be the one that got acknowledged more than so many things that I’ve ever made,” Swift told the Times.

She shared a similar sentiment on her Instagram after the announcement. “Wrote this one alone in a quiet moment and seeing it honored in the Song of the Year category by my peers means so much," Swift wrote.

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In addition to Song of the Year, Swift was nominated for two other Grammys: Lover is up for Best Pop Vocal Album and "You Need to Calm Down" is in the Best Pop Solo Performance category.

In time for the ceremony on January 26, read the complete lyrics, courtesy of Billboard.

We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January
This is our place, we make the rules
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear
Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?

Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out, and take me home
You're my, my, my, my lover

We could let our friends crash in the living room
This is our place, we make the call
And I'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you
I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all

Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out, and take me home (forever and ever)
You're my, my, my, my lover

Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand?
With every guitar string scar on my hand
I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover
My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue
All's well that ends well to end up with you
Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover
And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me
And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover

Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out, and take me home (forever and ever)
You're my, my, my, my
Oh, you're my, my, my, my
Darling, you're my, my, my, my lover


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Elena Nicolaou

Elena Nicolaou is the former culture editor at Oprah Daily.