London Boy (song)

"Cold War" was written and produced entirely by Cautious Clay in June 2017, after he had attended the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade in Brooklyn.

[8] "London Boy" is a bubblegum pop song with elements of reggae;[9][10] Annie Zaleski describes the genre as reggae-pop.

[17] Throughout the song, Swift mentions Motown Records, Southern California, Bruce Springsteen, Tennessee whiskey, and "American smile" as examples of her own culture, and name-checks the London locations Shoreditch, Camden Market, Soho, Hackney, Brixton, Bond Street, and the West End.

[16] Swift expresses enjoyment of several cultural activities in London, including having an evening high tea, hearing "stories from uni", and watching rugby at a pub.

Roisin O'Connor of The Independent called it one of the most divisive tracks of Lover, adding that "a lot of Brits are taking issue with the lyrics, as they're essentially a tourist's guide to where-not-to-visit in London".

[24] Many critics deemed it one of Lover's weakest songs, including Jon Caramanica of The New York Times,[25] Dave Holmes of Esquire,[26] and Erin Vanderhoof of Vanity Fair.

[27] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times deemed "London Boy" the second-worst track on Lover behind the lead single "Me!"

[29] Shon Faye from Dazed similarly expressed distaste towards the lyrics, but noted that it was justifiable for Swift, an American, to have a "wide-eyed naivety" embraced by first-timers in London.

[16] Sarah Carson from the i lauded the catchy production of "London Boy", but dismissed the lyrics as one of the album's "concessions to silliness and gimmicks".

[30] On the positive side, Keira Leonard of The Music complimented the track's lighthearted and rather silly nature, writing that the lyrics were "so pure" that "you wanna boop your partners nose with or put on when you're feeling down".