Taylor Swift delves into her sleepless nights on her new album, ‘Midnights’

By Kyler Jacobson, Staff Writer

Kyler Jacobson

On October 21, 2022, Taylor Swift released her tenth studio album “Midnights”, her first album of original tracks since 2020’s “Evermore”. 

She described this album as “stories of thirteen sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” Throughout the sleepless nights, she speaks of wanting to stay in the “lavender haze” with her lover; which, according to Taylor is “a common phrase used in the fifties where they would just describe being in love.” She wants to be in that state of love, where she doesn’t have to worry about the expectations of society like getting married or having children. She wants to enjoy her time with her partner and for it all to be simple. 

In the lead single, “Anti-Hero”, Taylor dives into some of her insecurities and critiques that have haunted her throughout her career, such as the belief that she might be the problem in her relationships. She noted before the song’s release that it was “one of [her] favorite songs [she’s] ever written.” 

With the accompanying music video, she recreated some of the lyrics but also mentioned her past eating disorder. Some criticism was thrown at the scene though, due to the use of the word “fat” on the scale that one version of Taylor stood on, which was seen by some as fatphobic: some feel that because she is a tall, slender woman the word doesn’t typically apply to her. 

The scene in the video was later removed with a different angle, to divert from the criticism. 

Some of the stand-outs from the album for me include “Snow On the Beach,” which features Lana Del Rey and represents the feeling you get when you’re in love but you’re not sure if that feeling is real because it’s so extraordinary–like snow falling on a beach, you’ll almost never see it. 

“You’re On Your Own, Kid” is my personal favorite because the writing of it is so relatable to a young audience. Taylor writes the song from the perspective of someone in love who then realizes that they’re all alone, and she is able to relate that to her life on the bridge: “I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this, I hosted parties and starved my body like I’d be saved by a perfect kiss.” 

Related to the “Midnights’ theme, she surprisingly dropped seven new tracks for the album at 3 AM, which include more standout tracks, including “The Great War” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”. 

I recommend this album because there’s a lot of quality lyricism, and even though some of the lyrics don’t click on the first listen, it is, overall, a fun pop album.