Taylor Swift Drops Delicate New Song 'The Archer,' Shares Lover Album Details

What a day to be Taylor Swift! Right after scoring 10 VMA nominations on Tuesday (July 23) — which puts her at the best of the list, tied with Ariana Grande — the "ME!" Singer went live on Instagram in the afternoon to reveal that her new song, "The Archer," is here.


"There's a vast piece of this album that I worked with Jack Antonoff on," she mentioned, naming the trusted collaborator who produced a handful of reputation and 1989 tracks. "I wanted to display to you a song that we had done with each other. The song is called 'The Archer' and I really hope you like it."


The song showed up on streaming services just minutes later, and it's a weak, emotional allocating that reflects on past relationships and expresses her need to "hold on" to her current one. "I've been the archer / I've Been the prey / Who could ever leave me, darling / However who could stay?" Swift asks on the chorus over a driving beat and minimalist production.


In true Swift style, a Easter Egg hinting at "The Archer" popped up several weeks prior, in her star-studded "You Need to Calm Down" video. In it, Hayley Kiyoko shoots an arrow at a target with the number 5 on it, and "The Archer" is, case in point, the fifth track on her upcoming seventh album, Lover. That number has some special standing inside the Swiftie world — her No. 5 tracks are traditionally earmarked as songs that are deeply personalized, and Swift acknowledged that fact while in her live stream.


"Track 5 is sort of a tradition that really began with you guys. I don't know why, nevertheless instinctively, I was just putting a very weak, personalized, sincere, emotional song as track five," she mentioned, referencing fan-favorites like "All Also Well" and "Delicate."


That tradition, she mentioned, continues with "The Archer," which sounds like it'll be one of the more intimate offerings from Lover — she mentioned it shows "a glimpse into another side of the album" that previously released singles "ME!" And "Calm Down" didn't cover. She was quick to add, though, that "The Archer" isn't an official single, and she hasn't shot a music video for it. As an alternative, Swift revealed at the tail end of her stream that she was filming from the set of another video, which we'll hopefully get to be able to see soon!)


To celebrate Lover's impending arrival in exactly one month (August 23), Swift also used her live stream to give fans a peek at the four deluxe editions of the album, which will honor Swift's 13th year of making music. Each deluxe edition will include journal entries from Swift's stacks of diaries that she's been keeping since she was 13 years old.


While we wait patiently for Lover, visualize all of Swift's VMA nominations here!