The Music Industry 

Taylor Swift is an American pop and country singer and songwriter. She is one of the best-seeking music artists of all time and has won over 300 awards. Taylor won her first Album of the Year Grammy at only 20 years old, making her the youngest winner of this award in history. She has won a total of 10 Grammys, 23 Billboard Music Awards, and 68 BMI awards. Her success and her talent have shaped her to become an amazing artist. 

On Friday, Oct. 21 at 12 a.m EST, Taylor Swift dropped her tenth studio album, “Midnights.” This album gives insight into what she describes as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” Her new album showcases beautiful and poetic lyrics all throughout and it soon became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day. 

“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams,” Taylor Swift wrote. “The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching — hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve… we’ll meet ourselves.”

Taylor continues to inspire others and shapes the lives of many of her dedicated fans. 

List of Songs in Midnight:  

• Lavender Haze

“Lavender Haze” is about the true meaning of being in love and what the state of being in one truly means. Many fans suggest that this song is about Taylor’s longtime boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. Swift explains everything she went through during her relationship along with the “weird rumors” that surrounded it. 

“My relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it, and so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.” – Taylor Swift 

• Maroon

Taylor Swift wrote “Maroon” as a way to further extend the meaning of its color. It is written about a short-lived relationship and the failed romance that came with it. This relationship is described as “maroon” and the fact that she is still grieving the loss of a passionate, all-encompassing love story. 

“It shows that shades of red were a constant in the relationship, but maroon is a brownish crimson color; it is not a straightforward red but allows for complexities and honesty.” – Taylor Swift 

• Anti-Hero

Taylor’s third song in her studio album describes the insecurities and anxieties in life she experiences both publicly and privately. Swift wrote about a protagonist who lacks heroic qualities and overall represents the idea of not “feeling like a person.” In this beautifully written song, Taylor also acknowledges that relationships can be pushed to the side when struggling with mental health. 

“We all hate things about ourselves and it’s all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we’re going to be this person,” she says. “Yeah, I like ‘Anti-Hero’ a lot because I think it’s really honest.” – Taylor Swift 

• Snow on the Beach 

“Snow on the Beach” explains the sensation of falling in love at the same time that someone is falling in love with you. It describes the feeling of hope and desperation you get over someone and the excitement you begin to feel when everything seems to be falling into place.  

“The song is about falling in love with someone at the same time as they’re falling in love with you — sort of in this sorta cataclysmic, fated moment where you realize someone feels exactly the same way that you feel at the same moment. And you’re kind of looking around, going, ‘Wait, is this real? Is this a dream? Is this for real? Is this happening? Is it really happening?’ Kind of like it would be if you were to see snow falling on a beach.” – Taylor Swift 

• You’re on Your Own, Kid

Swift’s 5th song, emphasizes the fact that she has now come to a conclusion that life is something she has to face on her own. It brings awareness to her own journey navigating fame, love, and the people she has lost and gained over the years. In this song, Taylor goes in depth about the struggles of wanting a guy’s attention, losing friendships, past eating disorders, and public serial dating. 

“Life can be heavy, especially if you try to carry it all at once,” she said. “Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release. What I mean by that is, knowing what things to keep, and what things to release. You can’t carry all things, all grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold and let the rest go. Oftentimes the good things in your life are lighter anyway, so there’s more room for them. One toxic relationship can outweigh so many wonderful, simple joys. You get to pick what your life has time and room for. Be discerning.” -Taylor Swift 

• Midnight Rain 

“Midnight Rain” is about leaving behind the comfort and tranquility of being in a healthy relationship to avoid settling. Taylor writes about a past partner being so perfect that she had to end a relationship to focus on her own career instead. She follows the breakdown of a relationship and the struggles of recovering from it. 

“The song also reflects on a relationship where the two were opposites of each other, in which this case is “Sunshine” and “Midnight rain”. Each wants something different out of the relationship and has different expectations.”

• Question…?

Question…? is about a certain situation in which a good girl and sad boy have an unexpected encounter, leaving the girl with so many questions. She describes their romance declaring that she doesn’t remember who she was before them and puts blame on miscommunications for the breakup. In this song, Taylor has always been portrayed as this good girl and has been pressured to maintain a true role model character. 

“The number one feeling I felt in the whole relationship was anxiety,” she said. “Because it felt very fragile, it felt very tentative. And it always felt like, ‘Okay, what’s the next road block? What’s the next thing that’s gonna deter this? How long do we have before this turns into just an awful mess and we break up? Is it a month? Is it three days?’ And so, you know, I think a lot of relationships can be very solid and that’s kind of what you hope for, for it to be solid and healthy but that’s not always what you get. And it doesn’t mean that it’s not special and extraordinary just to have a relationship that’s fragile and somehow meaningful in that fragility.”

• Vigilante S**t

“Vigilante S**t” explains the efforts made to take revenge on men. It talks about her disdain for men who do bad things. Many fans also suggest that this song revisits the Braun Borchetta drama while also returning the revenge-seeking Swift last seen during her folklore and evermore albums.

“Vigilante S**t” follows a woman who seeks revenge on her lover, presumably someone who has committed a crime. Taylor and the subject of the song ostensibly obtain their revenge following a breakup – instead of getting sad, they get even.” 

• Bejeweled 

In Taylor’s ninth song she talks about the frustration of not being treated better by her partner. She later realizes that she is in fact a jewel and should be treated as such. In this relationship, she feels as if he’s not giving her the proper respect and love she deserves and in a way is “walking on her speech of mind wearing the shoes she bought him.” Bejeweled also concludes, how no matter how hard she tries, she always seems to be failing and can’t please anyone in this world. 

“The song “Bejeweled” is a song that I think it’s really about finding confidence when you feel that it’s been taken away, for whatever reason. You know, you’re feeling insecure, you’re feeling taken for granted… One of the things we love to do at night, ‘cause we love to go dancing, we love to put on an outfit that makes us feel good, and we love to feel like we’re still bejeweled.”

1. Labyrinth 

“Labyrinth” is about the fear of falling in love too quickly and reflects on a past relationship feeling as if she’s spent her whole life getting over it.  Labyrinth takes us on a journey through an unveiling relationship of what it feels like to find love. Through this, she details the fear of experiencing heartbreak and someone swooping in and changing her perspective. 

Taylor quoted the song’s lyrics, “Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breath out,” in her NYU graduation speech. 

1. Karma 

In “Karma”, Taylor Swift confronts people from her past, warning them about the consequences of their actions. She also mentions how Karma is one of the most important life lessons to be learned and when considering the way they acted towards Swift, the song reveals how it will do her justice. 

Taylor expressed her love for this song as it was from “a perspective of feeling really happy, really proud of the way your life is, feeling like this must be a reward for doing stuff right.” 

• Sweet Nothing 

“Sweet Nothing” expresses the nonsensical romantic whispers that occur between relationships. It explains the highs and lows that come with being in the public eye, but also finding solace in her partner, Joe Alwyn. In the chorus of this song, she reveals that while many people have ulterior motives, she finds comfort in Joe. She feels safe enough to share her innermost thoughts and insecurities with Joe without any fear of judgment. 

Taylor Swift says she “loves running home to her lover’s sweet nothings–romantic and intimate whispers of love and affection that can heal her from a day’s labor.”

1. Mastermind 

In “Mastermind”, Taylor Swift explains that some happy accidents in her life may not have been accidents after all. As the song begins, Taylor describes how a thousand planets aligned for that fateful night she met Joe Alwyn. She describes this encounter as forcing destiny for her own benefit and compares women in relationships to pawn in a chess game. 

Taylor Swift spoke about the inspiration behind the song; “‘Mastermind’ is a song that I put last on the album because I’m really proud of it, and I love that, when we were making this song, we wanted the verse to sound like romance and this sort of heroes type of soundtrack, and then we wanted the chorus to sound like a villain has just entered the room and the idea that you’re flipping this narrative, and you have been planning and plotting things and making them look like an accident.”

Overall, Taylor Swift’s 10th Album was a huge success. She was quick to break the record for the biggest second day streams for any album on Spotify with a total of 118.6M. According to Billboard’s Hot 100, all of her songs were featured in the top 10, making her legendary for this.  

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