Both were her last airplay #1s.

 

But which one do you prefer?

 

Which one was bigger? (Globally)

 

 

Edited August 25, 2025Aug 25 by naval23

Cruel Summer for both (although I also love AH). 

overall I think I prefer Anti-Hero. It's just such a gem. I also really love Cruel Summer but idk I just found myself streaming Anti-Hero way more over the years.

Anti hero  love synth 80s Taylor 

Cruel Summer for both. 

Love Anti Hero 

Anti-Hero is amazing and an instant favorite of mine, but Cruel Summer just has a magic to it that makes me obsessed. It's one of the few songs I could never get tired of listening to 

 

Also I think Cruel Summer was bigger WW

Edited August 25, 2025Aug 25 by SoulKiwi

Cruel Summer is bigger but I prefer Antihero.

anti hero. Cruel Summer chorus annoys me after a while. 

Anti-Hero is a bit better, but not that good overall. Cruel Summer was bigger hit, tho.

Prefer: Anti-Hero

Bigger: Cruel Summer

Cruel summer is her first super smash that I love. don't get me wrong, BA AH SIO etc are all great but they smashed right off the gate and it sort of feels like its not personal enough for me, it's for the GP. CS started as a fan favorite and eventually became her biggest streaming hit ever, but it still felt personal for me. probably due to its initial fan favourite status. 

Cruel Summer for everything yayyyyyyyyy 

my favorite: Anti Hero

bigger: Cruel Summer

Empti-Zero > Croak Singer

Anti-Hero makes me nostalgic already. It reminds me of a very happy and carefree time in my life, and sounds like autumn and Halloween, for some reason. It's the kind of song you used to love but forgot all about, until you rediscover it and you're reminded of your former self. It has a freshness to it that's gonna age better than a lot of her other hits imo.

i like anti hero but the lyrics are clunky and take me out of it somewhat. cruel summer is tightly written. i think after folklore and evermore shes had a complex abt her writing and overcomplicates it. 

Her brightest and happiest number one vs. her gloomiest and most melancholic number one. 
 

By a very thin margin I prefer "Anti-Hero," the smash from her return to pure pop, but "Cruel Summer" definitely was bigger, having been the unofficial theme song of The Eras Tour era. 

Edited August 25, 2025Aug 25 by HarajukuPrincess

Cruel Summer >>>>

Anti-Europe felt bigger in the wild probably because radios played it all the time for months. Cruel Summer was mostly an online phenomenon, but my phone's on mute when browsing social media (which I don't do much) so I can only wonder.  

26 minutes ago, GlitterfiedCyrus said:

i like anti hero but the lyrics are clunky and take me out of it somewhat. cruel summer is tightly written. i think after folklore and evermore shes had a complex abt her writing and overcomplicates it. 

the lyrics to Cruel Summer are less noticeable but she was already getting clunky by that point.

 

Hang your head low in the glow of the vending machine
I'm not dying

CRUEL SUMMER for both. It is probably her biggest song ever

I LOVE Anti-Hero but Cruel Summer is the bigger song, it's probably in the same league of Birds of a Feather, Flowers, Levitating and Die with a Smile. Anti-Hero is more like a Paint the town red kind of hit

Cruel Summer.

Anti-Hero, no question...?

One is a perfect pop song, the other one... just is