Мне нравится этот куплет, но припев всё равно запоминается быстрее.

Because нравиться and любить are not used in exactly the same way.

• Мне нравится этот куплет literally works more like This verse pleases me.
• Я люблю этот куплет means I love this verse.

So нравиться is often a bit lighter and more neutral than любить. In this sentence, the speaker is saying they like the verse, but the chorus is still more memorable.

Russian very often uses нравиться where English would simply say like.

Because with нравиться, the person who experiences the feeling goes in the dative case.

So:

• мне нравится = I like
• literally: to me, it is pleasing

In this structure:

• мне = to me
• этот куплет = the thing that is pleasing

This is one of the most common patterns in Russian:

• Мне нравится музыка.
• Ему нравится фильм.
• Нам нравится этот город.

Because the grammatical subject is этот куплет, which is singular.

With нравиться, the verb agrees with the thing being liked, not with the person:

• Мне нравится этот куплет. — singular subject
• Мне нравятся эти куплеты. — plural subject

So here:

• этот куплет = one verse
• therefore нравится = singular

It is in the nominative case.

That may feel surprising to an English speaker, because in English we think of I like X, where X feels like an object. But with нравиться, the thing liked is actually the subject of the Russian sentence.

So in:

• Мне нравится этот куплет

the grammar is roughly:

• мне = to me
• этот куплет = this verse
• нравится = is pleasing

Since этот куплет is the subject, it stays in the nominative.

In song terminology:

• куплет = verse
• припев = chorus or refrain

So the speaker is contrasting two parts of a song:

• they like the verse
• but the chorus sticks in the memory faster

Here, всё равно means something like:

• all the same
• still
• anyway
• nevertheless

So in this sentence, it means:

• I like this verse, but the chorus still gets remembered faster.

Yes, всё равно can also mean it doesn't matter in other contexts, for example:

• Мне всё равно. = I don't care / It doesn't matter to me.

But in this sentence, it has the meaning of despite that / even so.

Запоминается comes from запоминаться, which means:

• to be remembered
• to stick in the memory
• to become memorable

So:

• припев запоминается быстрее = the chorus is remembered more quickly / sticks in your head faster

It is not focusing on a deliberate action like I memorize it. Instead, it describes how easily something enters the memory on its own.

That is why this verb works well for songs, melodies, slogans, and phrases.

The -ся ending often gives a reflexive or passive-like meaning.

Here it makes the verb sound less like someone is actively doing the memorizing, and more like the chorus gets remembered or sticks.

Compare the idea:

• Я запоминаю припев. = I am memorizing the chorus / I remember the chorus
• Припев запоминается. = The chorus gets remembered easily / The chorus sticks

So -ся helps create that natural, almost automatic meaning.

The person is not stated directly, but it is understood from context.

Because the first half says Мне нравится..., the natural interpretation is that the chorus is remembered faster by the speaker or for the speaker. More broadly, it can also sound general, like the chorus is simply more catchy.

Russian often leaves this kind of experiencer unspoken when it is obvious or not important.

So the sentence does not need to say:

• мне припев запоминается быстрее

but it could. That version would make the personal angle more explicit.

Here быстрее functions as an adverb, meaning more quickly / faster.

It describes how the chorus is remembered:

• запоминается быстрее = is remembered faster

Russian comparatives like быстрее can often work as either adjective or adverb depending on context. Here it is adverbial because it modifies the verb запоминается.

It means faster than the verse, and that comparison is understood from context.

The sentence contrasts:

• этот куплет
• припев

So Russian does not need to spell out the comparison again.

You could make it more explicit:

• ...но припев всё равно запоминается быстрее, чем этот куплет.

But that would be more repetitive. The original is more natural because the contrast is already clear.

Because in the second clause, припев is the grammatical subject of запоминается.

So:

• припев запоминается быстрее
• literally: the chorus gets remembered faster

Again, English speakers often expect an object here, but Russian is structuring the idea around the thing itself: the chorus is the thing that has the property of being memorable.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, though the original sentence sounds very natural.

Original:

• Мне нравится этот куплет, но припев всё равно запоминается быстрее.

Possible variations:

• Этот куплет мне нравится, но припев всё равно запоминается быстрее.
• Мне нравится этот куплет, но всё равно припев запоминается быстрее.

These versions shift emphasis slightly:

• Этот куплет мне нравится emphasizes this verse
• всё равно placed earlier can emphasize the contrast more strongly

But the original order is a very normal, neutral way to say it.

Yes, very often that is the natural idea.

Literally, it means the chorus is remembered faster, but in good English the intended sense may be:

• the chorus is catchier
• the chorus sticks in your head faster
• the chorus is more memorable

So this phrase is often used for things that are easy to retain in memory, especially songs, melodies, ads, and short phrases.