Five years after its release, the Taylor Swift song “Cruel Summer” has finally topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts, a moment that song co-writer and producer Jack Antonoff calls a testament to the power of fans in the music industry today.
In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Antonoff said it was always he and Swift’s “favorite song” from her 2019 album Lover. But they never expected it to be a major single, assuming it would remain their “secret best song.”
“It was always our favorite song on the album,” Antonoff told Fallon. “And then with nothing, with no gas in the fire, with no one on the business side doing anything, just kids started playing it more and more and more.”
Antonoff said the song’s rise exemplifies how much influence fans now have in determining hits, as the music business has “melted down into nothing but what people like.”
“The fans are God. What they say goes and all this,” he added.
The song initially received little promotional support as a single when Lover was released. But in recent months, driven purely by grassroots fan support, “Cruel Summer” gained massive traction on TikTok and streaming platforms.
Swift further fueled the hype by releasing “Cruel Summer (Taylor’s Version)” remixes and featuring the song prominently in her new Eras Tour concert film. Within days, the song reached #1 on the Hot 100 dated November 5, 2023.
To celebrate the chart feat, Swift posted a joyful video with Antonoff as they yelled and talked over each other about their excitement.
“Our favorite song from Lover from five years ago. The song that we said was the best song but we thought, ‘Oh, you know what? This is going to be our secret best song.’ That’s what we thought,” Antonoff said.
“We just wanted to say thank you so much for making ‘Cruel Summer’ a Hot 100 No. 1. And it’s not even the summer anymore, it’s deep fall. I’m wearing a sweater,” Swift added.
The song’s lyrics describe the exhilaration and anguish of a summer love affair, with Antonoff and Swift expertly capturing the season’s emotionally intense highs and lows through their harmonies and production.
Now nearing her mid-30s, Swift can look back with some nostalgia on those rollercoaster summer romances of her youth. But the song still vividly transports listeners back to those carefree yet dramatic summer flings.
Beyond reminiscing on a seasonal love story, Swift and Antonoff also created what many critics called her best pure pop song ever. Its glistening ’80s synthpop sound showed Swift’s evolution into an artist who could seamlessly blend modern and retro sounds.
Unlike chart-toppers today driven by viral TikTok hits, “Cruel Summer” rose organically through fan passion. Swifties made it a cult favorite by streaming it relentlessly and using it as a soundtrack for creative content.
The song proved so endearing that fans eagerly pushed it to #1 long after summer’s end, just as Swift sings she’s already reminiscing about the season in the fall.
For Antonoff, watching “Cruel Summer” finally reach #1 underscores his belief that fans now control the hits. Singles are no longer dictated by industry executives. If music genuinely moves audiences, they’ll rally behind it.
The multi-Grammy winning producer has been one of Swift’s most trusted collaborators for over a decade. Their musical bond has strengthened with each album.
“It’s been the thrill of a lifetime to get to watch you make music and just like, make art and put it out into the world,” Swift told Antonoff when he was honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
With “Cruel Summer,” their own private favorite transforming into a chart-topper proves fans connected deeply with the duo’s artistry.
The song’s success comes amid Swift’s Eras Tour and re-recordings project, which have underscored her special connection with fans. She has empowered Swifties to choose favorites like “Cruel Summer” and actively participate in her musical legacy.
Now, whenever summer love emerges in the future, “Cruel Summer” will be part of the soundtrack for generations to come. Antonoff and Swift gifted listeners a timeless pop gem that evokes the glorious highs and inevitable heartbreaks of each passing summer.
Thanks to her loyal fanbase’s passion, Swift can look back in a decade and tell yet another era of “Swifties” that long ago, “Cruel Summer” was her and Antonoff’s little secret. Until millions of fans turned it into the song of the summer for eternity.
