Songfacts®:

• The song title references the "cruel summer" of 2016 when Taylor Swift faced extreme public criticism following her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian over the rapper's "Famous" lyrics, and a beef with Calvin Harris following the end of their relationship. It is the same name as the compilation album West's record label G.O.O.D. Music released in 2012.
  
  That difficult time in Swift's life coincided with the start of her relationship with the British actor Joe Alwyn. Whilst Swift was struggling to maintain her composure as West, Kardashian and Harris' attacked her character, she was also falling in love with a "bad boy."
  
  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
  
  Alwyn would soon be her "lover," and much of her Lover album is devoted to her English beau.
• Swift referenced her fall out with Kanye West more fully on the Reputation track "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things."
• Swift teased the song title in the music video for "You Need To Calm Down" during a scene when Adam Lambert tattooed "Cruel Summer" on Ellen DeGeneres' forearm.
• Taylor Swift wrote the dreamy song with St. Vincent, who also plays guitar on the track. Producer Jack Antonoff has a writing credit too.
• In a Spotify storyline, Swift wrote: "I wanted this song to feel like a desperate summer love that might be doomed from the start. My favorite line from this song is 'I love you. Ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?'"
• "Cruel Summer" debuted #29 on the September 7, 2019, Hot 100 in the week following the release of Lover. It fell to #71 the following week before slipping of the chart. After Swift included the song in the setlist of her 2023 the Eras Tour, it rebounded back to the Hot 100 on the chart dated June 3, 2023 at #49.
• Following its return to the Hot 100, Republic Records announced it would begin officially promoting "Cruel Summer" to pop radio stations as of June 20, 2023.
  
  Before the release of Lover, there were discussions about which songs should be singles. "Cruel Summer" was earmarked to be one of them, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted the plans, interrupting what would have been a fitting time to unleash a cathartic summer anthem. "I'm not trying to point fingers at the global pandemic, but it did play a role in preventing 'Cruel Summer' from becoming a single," Swift told fans from the stage at Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium stage on June 17, 2023.
  
  "None of us can quite fathom how this has come to be, but you all have streamed 'Cruel Summer' so fervently in 2023 that my label, Republic Records, has decided to honor it by making it the next single," she continued. 'It's never happened to me in the whole time I've ever been doing this."
• Amid the astounding triumph of the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film, Swift found herself awestruck as fans danced and even exchanged engagement vows during the cinematic screenings.
  
  To keep the Swifties' spirits high and dancing, Taylor gifted them The Cruelest Summer. Released on October 18, 2023, the EP contains the original "Cruel Summer," the live version from her Eras Tour recorded at SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, and a remix by DJ LP Giobbi.
• "Cruel Summer" reached #1 on the Hot 100 October 28, 2023, four years and two months after it made its first appearance on the chart. It rose to the peak position thanks to The Eras Tour concert film and the release of the live version and remix. The song was Swift's 10th chart-topper.