Taylor Swift is wide awake as she arrives at ‘Midnights’
The greatest lyricist has returned — at midnight! Taylor Swift loves ruining our sleep as she released Midnights, her tenth studio album, last October 21, 2022. The singer-songwriter put 13 tracks (which we know is her lucky number since it’s also her birthday!) on the standard version and added seven bonus tracks for its 3 a.m. edition.
Here are the track names: Lavender Haze; Maroon; Anti-Hero; Snow on the Beach; You’re on Your Own, Kid; Midnight Rain; Question…?; Vigilante Shit; Bejeweled; Labyrinth; Karma; Sweet Nothing; and Mastermind
Seven bonus tracks on Midnights 3 a.m. edition: The Great War; Bigger Than the Whole Sky; Paris; High Infidelity; Glitch; Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve; and Dear Reader
We all know Taylor, the country girl with curly blond hair from Pennsylvania who is now a prominent singer and songwriter of country and pop songs for over 15 years, still amazingly stuns the world with her outstanding records and performances.
Alongside her long roll of achievements, Swift has recently added a doctor to her list! She received her honorary doctorate of fine arts at New York University last May 18, 2022, just five months before she dropped her newest album.
After a two-year hiatus, Taylor not only made music once again but another history. Our favorite blondie girl debuted her latest album at number 1 and swiftly occupied the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first time. Spotify even stated that Swift’s 10th studio album “broke the record for the most-streamed album in a single day” in its history with over 185 million streams. On Apple Music, it’s the biggest pop album of all time by first-day streams.
From a pop album Lover, indie-folk-leaning twin Folklore, and Evermore, Midnights feels like a mixture of everything! The songs are vastly different from each other, and when you play it, it’s like your customized Spotify Taylor Swift playlist. Just like her two alternative folk albums, this has also collaborated with Grammy-award-winning producer Jack Antonoff.
Taylor really loves communicating with her fans through her songs’ metaphorical storytelling. Although the album appears to be eclectic, the songs are thematically connected. This album is surely an assemblage of memories — and she’s wide awake to share these with cushy timbres, tropes, and sonic to her listeners.
As you listen to the album, you might hear a few glimpses from her past albums, but certainly, that is the point. Taylor described Midnights as 13 different nights throughout her career. And maybe that is the reason why fans are gushing over these newest tracks: because it lets them go back and relive those good old times.
Her fans also know that she loves putting Easter eggs on almost everything that she does, especially when she’s making public appearances. And every Taylor Swift album is like a new learning material for every Swiftie who likes to dissect and decipher her songs.
Lavender Haze, the first single in this album, is about being in love and doing everything she can to protect that love from negativities and all the things that keep on damaging her relationship. When you first hear its very pop vibe, it makes you feel like you want to dance and be in love. And that is what Taylor seems to have been telling us — that she’s in love, and she’s protecting that relationship from all the negativity and weird stuff that surrounds it. Fun fact: Taylor revealed that she learned the term lavender haze in a series called Mad Men, and it was a slang term coined during the 50s, which means being in love. Anti-Hero, Bejeweled, Maroon, and Snow on the Beach, featuring Lana Del Rey, also claimed top-tier positions worldwide.
Taylor presented Midnights delving deeper into her vulnerable parts of life. And just like everybody else, after-hours really hits differently as insecurities, shame, guilt, insomnia, and all sorts kick in.
This brand-new album of hers would probably be the theme song of our life, especially for nocturnal people out there. Those songs that you play in the middle of the night where you begin staring at your ceiling and start contemplating your life? Just like it, life is a mixture of our terrors and sweet dreams — and it keeps us awake at Midnights.
Published in The Perpetualite.