On Friday, October 21st, 2022, Taylor Swift released her tenth studio album called Midnights. It is about thirteen sleepless nights throughout her life. This album is under the techno-pop category, a new genre for Swift, and holds all Top 10 Billboard songs currently.
So far, for this album Swift has released two music videos: “Anti-hero” and “Bejeweled.” “Anti-Hero” has forty-eight million views on YouTube while “Bejeweled” has twenty-four million views.
Swift has released thirteen main tracks and seven bonus tracks on Midnights. These songs all have their own unique sound and lyrics. The songs were written by Swift and her co-writer Jack Antonoff.
The Tracks:
The first track on the album, “Lavender Haze,” is about being in love. Swift first heard the saying in the show Mad Men and decided to write a song about her relationship with boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. This song captures the feeling of being in love and how it feels to have someone. The lyrics say, “I just wanna stay in that lavender haze,” referencing wanting to stay in love.
The second track, “Maroon,” is a breakup song, referencing a past lover of Swift. It is a breakup song that expresses emotions of not having what you used to you. The lyrics say, “the lips I used to call home, so scarlet it was maroon.” Therefore, this song is a breakup song because Swift is talking about how she left the person who she used to call home.
The third track, “Anti-hero,” is about being your own worst enemy. Swift, in her music video, references a past eating disorder and how she used to struggle with body image. The lyrics say, “I’ll stare directly in the sun but never in the mirror.” This talks about the struggle of body image and how people see themselves.
The fourth track, “Snow on the Beach”, features star, Lana Del Rey. Rey sings in the song and helped write the lyrics. This song is about people falling for each other at the same time. It focuses on that moment when a person realizes that they are falling for that person too. Swift describes that sensation as “weird but beautiful.”
The fifth track, “You’re on Your Own Kid” is about Swift talking to her younger self about how far she’s come in her career. This song can relate to others by talking about to not being afraid and enjoying the moment while one is in it. The song says, “you’re on your own kid, you always have been.”
The sixth track, “Midnight Rain,” is about a relationship that ended because two people wanted different things. Swift sings, “he wanted a bride, I was making my own name.” One person wanted to get married and settle but, the other wanted to work by themselves and build a career.
The seventh track, “Question…?,” is about asking an ex-lover questions about things that happened. Swift sings, “Can I ask you a question?” with the theory being, the ex-lover cheats and the other lover is asking questions about what happened.
The eighth track, “Vigilante Shit,” is about giving revenge to people after being wronged. Swift sings, “lately I’ve been dressing for revenge.” This talks about how revenge will always come back around no matter what one does to try and prevent it.
The ninth track, “Bejeweled” describes how even though Swift left a relationship, she still shines. Swift sings, “I miss you, but I miss sparkling.” It talks about how a person does not need a significant other to be special. One can still shine and on great things on their own.
The tenth track, “Labyrinth,”is about breaking up with a lover and figuring out how to slowly move on. Swift sings, “break up, break free, break through, break down.” It hurts at first but people will move on and eventually find someone else again.
The eleventh track, “Karma,” is about being proud to be in a good place in life. Swift sings, “Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.”
The twelfth track, “Sweet Nothing,” captures the feeling of great moments in a relationship. Swift sings, “I found myself running home to your sweet nothings.” This is saying how Swift is in a happy relationship and things like money or fame don’t matter. Alwyn, Swift’s boyfriend, helped co-write the song.
The thirteenth and final track, “Mastermind,” is about Swift’s current relationship; she is a mastermind. Swift sings, “what if I told you I’m a mastermind? And now you’re minе. It was all by design.’ Cause I’m a mastermind.” Swift is saying how she helped create the relationship and got it started
The seven bonus tracks are “The Great War,” “Bigger Than the Whole Sky,” “Paris,” “High Infidelity,” “Glitch,” “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” and “Dear Reader.”
Stats:
Taylor Swift fans at McNicholas High School have given Midnights a four out of five-star rating.
Students and teachers voted their favorite song as “Anti-hero”-Theology teacher Maria Schroder stated,” I love Anti-Hero because she can create a song with a sound that is upbeat and fun, but with lyrics that are incredibly deep and meaningful. Her lyrics in Anti-Hero, in my opinion, perfectly encapsulate that little voice in your head that feeds you lies about yourself and points out your insecurities to the point where it’s almost poetic.”
Another favorite is the song “You’re on Your Own Kid”. Freshman, Lucinda Thompson stated, “the lyrics are very poetic, like the rest of the album.”
My least favorite song is “Vigilante Shit”. Junior, Calla Garretson stated, “the song just does not hit. It lacks a certain beauty that I look for in songs. It is less musical. The lyrics are not as relatable to me as other songs. It is more Reputation than many songs on Reputation are. It does not fit the vibe of Midnights for me.”
Overall, students and teachers liked the album. Freshman, Allie Runte stated, “I was so excited for this album to come out and I wasn’t disappointed with it, in fact, I think it’s my favorite album of hers!”
Taylor Swift has had much success with this album. Spotify temporarily crashed when Midnight came out. By the end of the first week of Midnights release the album had over 549.26 million streams. She sold over 1 million copies in the first week. Just recently, Taylor Swifts owns the Billboard charts having all the top ten spots, being led by “Anti-hero”. This is the first time one single artist has held the top ten spots. She is also the top artist and Midnights is the top album. Now, in 2023 she will be going on a stadium tour called “The Eras Tour”.
The McNicholas Milestone 