After a long cold winter, the new semester has begun. March — a month where anxiety and excitement coexist — gives sleepless nights to those mulling their new steps. Here, an album that contains hours of an artist tossing and turning all night is waiting for Kingos. In the dead of night, let yourself fall into the sweet melody of Midnights, an indelible tale by Taylor Swift.
Dusk: Stepping into Midnight’s Labyrinth
Brief Introduction to Midnights
Midnights is American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album, released on October 21st last year. The album features 13 tracks and was produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff. Three hours after its release, Midnights (3am Edition) came out with seven bonus tracks. Following such processes, Midnights received rave reviews from both the critics and the public. She not only became the first artist in history to sweep all top ten spots of the Billboard Hot 100 but also got nominated in the 2022 year-end best albums from major media outlets such as Rolling Stone and The Guardian.
Taylor Swift’s Sleepless Hours
As Swift projected her life immensely in Midnights, knowing about her is essential to understand the album entirely. One remarkable thing about Swift is that she is a songstress who writes all of her lyrics. As she did in her albums like Red and reputation, Swift unravels her own stories in Midnights by singing about her deepest fears. In addition, Swift constantly explores various genres of music. After debuting as a country artist, she expanded her musical spectrum to pop (1989) and alternative rock (folklore). Midnights seems to be the integration of her former albums, as it merges dream pop, the subgenre of alternative rock, with synth-pop. As Swift utilized subdued sounds throughout the album, the listeners are able to focus on the lyrics and be deeply absorbed into the world of Midnights.
Midnight
Emotions Ricocheting through the Lyrics
Swift once described Midnights as “a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.” In her dreamlike journey, she illustrates the process of overcoming self-loathing through introspection and love. As if the dawn sun brightens up the darkest hours, the swirling emotions of Anti-Hero gradually calm down as listeners pass through tracks such as Sweet Nothing.
Attractions That Bejewel Midnights
Amongst the numerous attractions of Midnights, Easter eggs hidden in the lyrics will make you sink into the album even more. For example, Maroon, a song that reminisces about an ex-lover, could be interpreted as an extension of Swift’s 11-year-old song Red. Contrary to Red, Maroon shows her mental growth by illustrating love with various red-colored images such as scarlet, burgundy, and maroon. Furthermore, Swift wisely confronts issues surrounding her throughout the album. In Karma, she directly disses Scooter Braun, who took ownership of the master recordings of her first six albums. Not only through lyrics, Swift also delivers hidden messages in her self-directed music videos. Through the music video of Bejeweled and Lavender Haze, she implies the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the third project following Fearless and Red to reclaim ownership of the masters.
Dawn: Recommendation to Dear Readers
You're On Your Own, Kid
“Everything you lose is a step you take You’ve got no reason to be afraid”
33-year-old singer Taylor calmly talks to herself in her younger days: “you’re on your own, as you always have been.” However, in her seemingly cold words, there is a hidden message that all the suffering would make you stronger. Her nonchalant whisper comes as a warmer consolation than any other words to young Taylor, and to us.
Midnight Rain
“He was sunshine, I was midnight rain He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain” On a slumberless night, Taylor takes out a piece of memory about her ex-lover. He came to her like sunshine, but she did not choose to be his moonlight as she desired success over love. With a mild voice, the cozy euphony shimmers brightly amidst 13 sleepless nights.
Mastermind
“What if I told you I’m a mastermind? And now you’re mine”
The song starts by describing Taylor’s love story with her beloved, how they accidentally met and fell in love. Then she suddenly recites Checkmate, implying all the incidents that connected them were her design. Meanwhile, the real twist ending is waiting for us; as Taylor tells him, “you knew the entire time,” he quietly smiles.