ARTS & LIVING The Labyrinth of Midnights

Taylor Swift’s Latest Album Midnights

KAWTHAR ALASAAD Arts & Living Editor

On midnight of Oct. 21, 2022, Midnights was birthed, and so was history. Midnights, written and produced by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff, threw Swift into becoming the first artist to completely take over the top 10 spots of the Billboard Hot 100 chart after its release. Midnights is also the first album to have 10 songs in the top 10.

Leading number one on the chart was “Anti-hero,” followed by “Lavender Haze” in second and “Maroon” in third place.

Swift’s Reputation, which sold 1.216 million copies, set a record for a conventional album’s largest U.S. sales week five years ago. This record was surpassed in just four days by Midnights. It is safe to say this is Taylors Swift’s most significant success yet.

After the midnight Midnights release, Taylor Swift discreetly released an additional version of Midnights named Midnights (3 am Edition). Midnights (3 am Edition) includes seven more tracks not included on the original Midnights track list of 13 songs. Swift explained in a Twitter post, “I think of Midnights as a complete concept album, with those 13 songs forming a full picture of the intensities of that mystifying, mad hour. However! There were other songs we wrote on our journey to find that magic 13.”

Taylor Swift’s “13 sleepless nights” are the source of the lyrics for Midnights, which ruminates on themes including anxiety, insecurity, self-criticism, self-awareness, insomnia and self-confidence. The album tackles topics that have touched many people, especially her fans.

Taylor Swift explained that the 13 songs are “a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.” A sentence that precisely describes the journey one takes as they spend their midnights listening to Midnights.

The lead single from Midnights, “Anti-Hero” has been described as a collision of synth-pop, neurotic image analysis and dense lyricism. “It’s me / Hi / I’m the problem / It’s me” is a line that is a fan favorite and also went viral on multiple music applications, such as TikTok. Taylor Swift has stated that “Anti-Hero” is her favorite track on Midnights. “This song really is a real guided tour throughout all the things I tend to hate about myself. We all hate things about ourselves,” Taylor explained. “So yeah, I like ‘Anti-Hero’ a lot because I think it’s really honest.”

A surprise feature that shook many fans up was the song “Snow on the Beach,” which featured the famous Lana Del Rey. Although Lana only happened to occur a few times in the track, which disappointed many fans of Lana del Rey, Swift’s fans enjoyed the song regardless.

Midnights takes us on a roller coaster of emotions and holds meaningful lyrical poems to many songs that have significantly impacted the music industry and Swift’s fans. Tracks such as “Labyrinth” and “Dear Reader” obtain so much value within mental health topics, holding safe spaces to be open about such issues. Midnights is an album of comfort and vulnerability, opening the door for many midnights spent with company.