she received from fans to embrace positivity and vulnerability; despite her tarnished reputation in the press, she realized her fans "see [her] as a flesh-and-blood human being", which "changed [her] completely, assigning humanity to [her] life". To this end, she conceived her seventh studio album as a personal, vulnerable record that would connect her with her audience and showcase her strengths as a singer-songwriter: "This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me". Writing and themes Swift began writing Lover after having adjusted her personal life, freeing herself from her public image. Reflecting on her experience on the Reputation Stadium Tour, Swift learned to take her occupation as an entertainer less seriously than before. Although she used to think of show business as a competitive battlefield, as she performed on tour she realized; "We're just entertaining people, and it's supposed to be fun". Swift reconsidered her social media appearances and realized her focus was her music rather than her social media influence. These realizations inspired Swift to embrace her newfound artistic creativity and write songs from a free-spirited perspective. As with her songwriting for previous albums, Swift wrote Lover as a reflection of her personal life, describing it as very confessional and autobiographical, yet also playful and whimsical. In the September 2019 issue of Vogue, Swift described Lover as a "love letter to love, in all of its maddening, passionate, exciting, enchanting, horrific, tragic, wonderful glory". The track list consists of 18 songs—more than any of her other albums—depicting many sentiments stemming from love. Whereas the protagonists of the songs on Reputation are exaggerated characters Swift created as a reaction to the controversies, the songs on Lover are written from an honest, lighthearted perspective, and are inspired by her first-time discovery of "love that was very real". The album's central theme is love; Swift said she envisioned it as a romantic record; in addition to happy songs, it includes songs about sorrow and loneliness, which she said one can perceive "through a romantic gaze". Music critics noted Lover as Swift's return to her songwriting tradition of exploring love and emotional intimacy after the antagonistic viewpoints of its predecessor, representing her confidence, and her artistic and personal liberation. Most of the tracks on Lover are straightforward, open-hearted love songs celebrating the ups and downs of love.