Would Cruel Summer Have Hit #1 in 2020?

[ificanthaveyou]

Let’s say it got a MV and vinyls and radio support, would it have peaked at #1 in Summer 2020?

[mikerivera]

The real what if is if it had been the lead single, would it have peaked at #1 in the summer of 2019. I'm not gonna say it definitely would have, given it would be competing with Old Town Road, but I will say Me came pretty close despite no one actually liking the song. Swap that with CS, a song that's clearly more loved and has more staying power, and it would have had a shot

[Az Paynter]

Absolutely not. It wouldn't have performed any better than 'ME!' had it been the lead single, not as far as #1 was concerned. OTR was a bullshit mountain that was just too high to scale. A better-received song may have had more longevity than 'ME!' but it still wouldn't put it in the running for #1 especially after 'You Need To Calm Down' still couldn't do it. And given how the rest of the era played out, it would never have been able to challenge for #1 ever because by the time it would've come around, the momentum would be all gone after 'The Man' flopped.

[Forever Winter]

Probably not but it would have been a massive hit had it been the lead single of Lover even if it didn't go #1

[whaleblubber]

As the 5th single no, Lover the era was dead as a dodo by then. Look at The Man's chart performance, and consider the fact that Taylor's singles have always tended to perform worse the further they were released into the era. It would have been overshadowed by the big pop hits (Abel, Dua, Harry, etc.), especially when pop radio wasn't that keen on Taylor.

As the lead single it would have had a cute #2 debut peak and better longevity as mentioned above.

[Eloqueen™]

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind had it been the lead off Lover it would have hit #1 and no one can change my mind. lol

[Luckie Starchild]

Oct 20, 2023 16:48:57 GMT -5 whaleblubber said:

As the 5th single no, Lover the era was dead as a dodo by then.

This.

[Deleted]

If it was the lead, it could not have beat OTR. If the pandemic did not happen, and it was the 5th single, it would not have been a success.

In the US Taylor was on a downswing in terms of industry support. Fans would have been there but that’s not enough for a #1.

[Choco]

It wasn't beating Old Town Road as the lead and it was going to tank as the fifth single in 2020. So no.