Cruel Summer

## Music Video

"**Cruel Summer**" is a song originally by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Olivia Rodrigo performed a cover of the song on April 22, 2020.

## Background

Olivia performed the cover on April 22nd, 2020, in an Instagram livestream for MTV's *Alone Together Jam Session,* and later posted the video on her own Instagram. The post gained the attention of Taylor Swift herself, who re-posted the cover on her Instagram Stories saying: *"THE TALENT! Love This!!! Thanks for this beautiful performance."*

Olivia is a huge fan of Taylor, and this was their first interaction on social media. She posted series of pics of herself looking overwhelmed with joy to Instagram after the fact, writing, *"TAYLOR SWIFT IS THE REASON I WRITE SONGS AND SHE POSTED ME ON HER STORY AND TOLD ME I WAS TALENTED???"*

Olivia also continued sharing her excitement on Twitter: *"TAYLOR SWIFT POSTED A VIDEO OF ME SINGING CRUEL SUMMER ON HER INSTAGRAM STORY. I WILL NEVER STOP SCREAMING, I AM GONNA FRAME THIS SCREENSHOT AND HANG IT ABOVE MY FIRSTBORN'S CRIB."*

## Lyrics

Fever dream high

In the quiet of the night

You know that I caught it

Bad, bad boy

Shiny toy with a price

You know that I bought it

Killing me slow, out the window

I'm always waiting for you to be waiting below

Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes

What doesn't kill me makes me want you more

And it's new, the shape of your body

It's blue, the feeling I've got

And it's ooh, whoa oh

It's a cruel summer

It's cool, that's what I tell 'em

No rules, in breakable heaven

But ooh, whoa oh

It's a cruel summer

With you

Hang your head low

In the glow of the vending machine

I'm not dying

You say that we'll just screw it up in these trying times

We're not trying

So cut the headlights, summer's a knife

I'm always waiting for you just to cut to the bone

Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes

And if I bleed, you'll be the last to know

Oh, it's new, the shape of your body

It's blue, the feeling I've got

And it's ooh, whoa oh

It's a cruel summer

It's cool, that's what I tell 'em

No rules, in breakable heaven

But ooh, whoa oh

It's a cruel summer

With you

I'm drunk in the back of the car

And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar (Oh)

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 (Oh)

And I screamed for whatever it's worth

"I love you, " ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?

He looks up grinning like a devil

It's new, the shape of your body

It's blue, the feeling I've got

And it's ooh, whoa oh

It's a cruel summer

It's cool, that's what I tell 'em

No rules, in breakable heaven

But ooh, whoa oh

It's a cruel summer

With you

I'm drunk in the back of the car

And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar (Oh)

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 (Oh)

And I screamed for whatever it's worth

"I love you, " ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?

(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

## References

1. ↑ https://www.teenvogue.com/story/taylor-swift-praised-olivia-rodrigo-cover-cruel-summer