I remember writing the review for Taylor’s Red re-recordings just under a year ago and not even considering the possibility of new music coming out until every song in Blondie’s discography had “Taylor’s Version” in the title. Yet, here I am listening to not only thirteen brand new songs that tell “the stories of 13 sleepless nights” throughout Taylor’s life, but also a “chaotic surprise” (named as such by Taylor herself) consisting of seven additional songs. Because Taylor makes every decision with a purpose (and frankly, I have too much to say for one article), I’m only going to cover the thirteen songs on the original album.
The second that the intro to “Lavender Haze” began, I knew that Lover and Midnights had to be the original sister albums. The backing vocals and beat, paired with “glitter gel pen” like lyrics are very reminiscent of many tracks on Lover, especially “I Think He Knows” and “Cruel Summer”. It should also be noted that during “Lover’s Lounge (Live)” Taylor mentions that she originally thought the title of Lover would be “Daylight”, so it only makes sense that the sister album would be named Midnights.
As I continued listening to the album, I was so excited to hear all the references to some of Blondie’s older songs. The lyric “I remember” being used at the beginning of “Question…?” for example, references “Out of the Woods” from 1989, and let me just tell you my jaw dropped when I heard it. Another highly noteworthy reference is “Karma” which is first mentioned in “Look What You Made Me Do” from Reputation with the lyric “…all I think about is karma,” but is then followed by “The Man” music video where “Karma” is spray painted on the wall in the infamous, clock-like “13th Street Station” scene. I would also like to point out that “Karma” is spray painted twice in that scene, which may mean we haven’t seen the last of this reference. Additionally, “the burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine onto me,” in “Maroon” may reference “the wine-stained dress” in “Clean.” Not to mention, “Midnight Rain” contains the lyric “I guess sometimes we all get some kind of haunted” which references the song “Haunted” from Speak Now.
I also want to point out how reflective “Anti-Hero” is of “The Archer.” In “Anti-Hero” Taylor sings, “I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror” and in “The Archer” she sings, “Then I hate my reflection for years and years.” Not only do these devastating lyrics mirror each other (see what I did there), but they are followed by more similarities. In “The Archer” for instance Taylor includes, “I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost” and “All of my heroes die all alone,” both of which are portrayed in the “Anti-Hero” lyrics and video.
Additionally, “Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep and breathe out,” from “Labyrinth” is a direct quote from Taylor’s NYU commencement speech. There are so many more references and “easter eggs.” So many that I could never explain them all in a way that makes sense in one article, let alone find them all for you. I still feel like every time I re-listen to a song I make more and more connections.
I also couldn’t write this review without mentioning the jump scare that is “Midnight Rain,” the iconic fifth track, “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” or Taylor’s only feature on the album, “Snow on the Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey).” First of all, while the voice alterations in “Midnight Rain” was quite the surprise, they’ve grown on me more than any other work Taylor has done, proving once again that she knows what is best. I was also initially disappointed in “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” simply because I had put so much pressure on the fifth track (after all, it’s competing with heartbreakers like “All Too Well,” “All You Had To Do Was Stay,” and “White Horse”). It wasn’t until I re-listened to the song that I really decided I liked it and that the fifth track is exactly where it needed to be. My only real disappointment that has stuck is that Lana Del Rey is featured. I know, controversial, but since Midnights tells the story of 13 of Taylor’s sleepless nights, I feel like a feature-less album would have been more fitting – not that you can really hear Lana anyway.
I really can’t believe I’ve written this much so far and still haven’t mentioned nearly half of the songs. So, if you’ve made it this far, here’s a rundown of “Mastermind,” “Sweet Nothing,” “Karma,” “Vigilante Shit,” and “Bejeweled.”
“Mastermind” is probably in my top three songs on this album and the lyrics are very reminiscent of Folklore and Evermore due to the story-telling nature of the song. “Bejeweled” is for the girlies who let someone walk all over them or change them in some way, but are now thriving without that person. It mirrors “mirrorball” (see what I did there) in the way that “Mirrorball” is the girl still in that dimming relationship, and “Bejeweled” is that same girl after she realized her worth and got her sparkle back.
“Karma” and “Vigilante Shit” are clearly sleepless nights in the Reputation Era, and I love them both for this fact alone. I would like to add that two of my favorite lyrics in these songs are: “Karma is a cat” in “Karma” and “draw the cat eye sharp enough to kill a man” in “Vigilante Shit.” You can’t tell me those aren’t two of the most iconic Taylor Swift lyrics you’ve ever heard.
Finally, “Sweet Nothing” is possibly the sweetest love song in Taylor’s discography, and the fact it was written by Taylor and William Bowery (who is actually her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn) makes this song even sweeter. Are we ready to talk about the lyric “A pebble that we picked up last July, down deep inside your pocket”? Because I’m fully convinced that by “pebble” she means rock… as in engagement ring. But maybe I’m stretching….
So, that concludes my initial review of Midnights. While I still believe the album is a sister album to Lover, I also felt like Midnights has an overall sound similar to a combination of Reputation and 1989. So, maybe Midnights is the older, wiser, and darker sister to Lover – it is the opposite of “Daylight” after all. But then again, the album also contains the lyric, “I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser,” so, what do I know? Nonetheless, stream Midnights.
