After becoming so familiar with Midnights over the past few months, I’ve finally found myself in a position where I can rank an album that I consider to be incredibly versatile and constantly changing. Even with an album as recent as Midnights, I know that my ranking of most of these songs will not move around much because of how well they’re already established in my mind. Whether it’s self-insecurity, reminiscing about past relationships, or feeling like a monster on a hill, there is no way that this album doesn’t speak to you. Even though it’s hard to relate to the life of this multi-millionaire, wildly successful, and lyrical genius, Taylor Swift shows us time and time again why she will never go out of style.
- The Great War
A song about fighting a war that was all in your head really speaks to how we are oftentimes our own enemy, plotting to ruin even our own good endings. This song is easily the best song on the album, and it knows it. Swift gives us an inside look at what it’s really like to live with insecurities: how the self-doubting and self-sabotaging threaten to ruin all the good things we have, but ultimately, we see beyond the haze that is this deceit to make it out.
- Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve
This song details the heartbreaking experience of Swift’s relationship with a man who was much older than her, and who has forever shaped the way that she loves. As someone who was manipulated by an older man, she details that these risks that she took were ultimately something that she wouldn’t repeat again. She was stripped from her girlhood, and she is forever scarred by how he ripped apart her innocence, trust, and love at such a young age.
- Bigger Than The Whole Sky
A song about loss that is much bigger than what it seems, this song is one of the most vulnerable tracks that Swift has put out. It’s a song that is tucked away under your pillow, slowly getting soaked by tears of grief.
- Midnight Rain
One of my current favorite songs, “Midnight Rain” focuses on the “what-ifs” about relationships that seemed to get away—but there is almost never any regret about them. Even though it was for the best, these glimpses of what was once love slowly creep in on the nights that are lit by the flicker of curiosity of what life would’ve been like if it had worked out.
- Karma
“Karma” was a grower, for sure. This is a song about the good things in life that have come back around, but some people wouldn’t know what that looks like.
- Lavender Haze
This is a song that I blast while I’m showering. With its sensual lyricism fogging up the view, there is a kind of denial that this haze brings as there is nothing certain in this relationship.
- Anti-Hero
As someone who is insecure about many things in my life, something about seeing myself as the monster on the hill really sticks with me. Sometimes I am alienated from the people around me because I like loneliness, or I make bad decisions that I know are bad, but somehow I root for myself to make it out unfazed. Especially when I’m thinking about this song through the lens of someone with an eating disorder, the idea of being the person who takes up too much space—physically or emotionally—is something that this song captures perfectly.
- Maroon
A song that I’ve deemed as queer, something about describing your partner through the different shades that they have when they’re flustered gives it an intimate glimpse of itself. Such shades that are made just for you— there is nothing more romantic.
- You’re On Your Own, Kid
Navigating college alone, even with friends right by my side, there is nothing about the song that I don’t relate to. At the end of the day, there is no one I depend on more than myself! It’s scary to think about leaving college, which is something that has offered me stability for the past 3 years, but there is also a kind of freedom that comes with the unknown. It’s scary, but it’s still freeing.
- Bejeweled
This song comes on at a party and you know I’m there to dance to it. A song about flaunting your desirability after being taken for granted, this song will have you shimmering on the dance floor.
- Sweet Nothing
It’s the little things that are there when there is nothing else in the world that means the most. It’s something that’s sweet that doesn’t stand for anything else— it’s nothing but sweet.
- Labrinth
Falling in love again with someone that you’ve already fallen for? This song is for you.
- Paris
I’ve never been to Paris, but this song is hard not to love. It’s about leaving everything behind—even the gossip that follows you to the ends of the earth— and starting something new with someone you love. Not only is it about hiding your love from everyone else to keep it safe, but it’s about living in a world where no one will care who you are holding hands with, or even who you are.
14. Mastermind
There is something that is cruelly good about knowing that most of your friends have come from mirroring them. Kind of referencing “Mirrorball,” I’ve always thought that this song about manipulating someone into liking or loving you is evil– but is usually true.
15. High Infidelity
This song is rumored to be about multiple partners, but I’m not here to discuss that. No matter how many times I listen to this song, there is not much I understand about this track. Whether it’s condoning cheating or hiding secrets, Swift knows how to deliver an anti-hero track.
16. Question…?
This song is a big question mark to me: I find myself finding new meanings within the song while still understanding very little about it. Within its confusing nature, it usually stands as a song that I listen to when I’m just that: confused.
17. Snow on the Beach
Although this song is so far down on the list, It’s a song that I think holds onto the delicate nature of love. It might actually be about snow on the beach, but Swift’s lyricism always has a story hidden underneath.
18. Glitch
This song is about falling for someone you weren’t supposed to fall for, but it’s still a pleasant surprise. Thinking about a relationship as a glitch in your life is interesting: not only is it making you feel like love is something out of what is expected within your life, but it’s almost like a glitch serves to shake up your whole world for the better.
19. Vigilante Shit
Taylor Swift attempts to understand how the FBI works, but she doesn’t quite get there. This song is a sexy friend of a few tracks from Reputation, but it doesn’t have what it takes to be a revenge song like “Karma.” Although the live performance steals the spotlight, this song is not enough for me to like.
20. Dear Reader
The ending track is a bit underwhelming but does seem to break the fourth wall to tell a cautionary tale about following advice from someone who is just as troubled as her audience. Whether it’s middle-aged white women, mentally ill college students, or young girls who look up to her, she is pushing against people blindly following someone who is just as human as them.
It’s these experiences that are so intimately connected with our own that makes us wonder if we’ve lived the same life as Taylor—but we haven’t. I still have bills to pay, and she has concerts to fill. Even with worlds that are so apparently different, there is no way that I don’t envision myself living within these songs, or these songs living within my life.