I’ve been sitting on this brain wisp for a while, but I would love to get a complete list of songs which have been able to completely reinvent themselves and were able to achieve top charting success multiple album cycles beyond their original release window.
Exhibit A below:
I feel like Cruel Summer, which was on Taylor’s Lover from 2019 had NOWHERE near the success it’s had through the virality of the Eras Tour and its catchy crowd-work focused bridge and the fact that it was the intro to the whole event. There were a few singles from that album run, right? Me? The Man? … was there another? Both certainly ‘hits’, both got sufficient radio play… but Cruel Summer? Nowhere to be found. Until Eras. And NOW, it actually hit the top of the charts, 4+ years after it came out. Just insane. What power.
I’ve spent a lot time thinking about it. Running Up That Hill definitely was reinvigorated – but this is inevitably due to the success of Stranger Things (which MY GOD PLEASE SEASON 5 COME OUT), and nothing Kate Bush herself did.. Taylor on the other hand, threw a “concert” and there Cruel Summer re-entered the zeitgeist. She did it herself.
Would love to learn if there other tracks/singles like it! Help my poor brain sleep tonight and take a night off for once.
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