ART & ENTERTAINMENT Meet Me At Midnight... or 3 am?

With her tenth studio album, Taylor Swift returns to pop music

EviE Cook STAFF WRITER

What keeps you up at night? In Taylor Swift’s recording-breaking studio album “Midnights,” Taylor mentions five things that keep her up at night: self-loathing, fantasizing about revenge, wondering what might have been, falling in love, and, finally, falling apart.

All 21 of the songs featured “Midnights” fall into one of these categories. “Midnights” revives her pop roots after crossing to the alternative and folk genres during 2020 with “folklore,” “evermore,” and re-recordings of “Fearless” and “Red.”

Swift in the past, has talked about a follow-up to her 2019 album, “Lover”, which she originally wanted to call “Daylight.” “Lover” is a very bright happy pop album that jumps into her being in love but also combats some of her haters.

“Lover” has some of my personal favorite songs like “London Boy” and “Cruel Summer.” “Midnights,” on the other hand, is a darker album which dives into her insecurities.

Swift starts the album with the upbeat “Lavender Haze.” The title comes from a fifties term for being in love, or, as Swift says, “in that all encompassing love glow.”

Swift perfectly describes being in love while being criticized and having deciding whether to listen to them, like she sings in the line, “I find it dizzying... They’re bringing up my history... But you weren’t even listening.”

The track “You’re on Your Own, Kid, ”is the most heartfelt and raw for Taylor and for most Swifties, making it a perfect fit for the famous track five. It describes being alone, and how you have to learn to be on your own while growing up.

Each lyric from the bridge corresponds to an “era” of her musical career.

“From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes,” represents her debut album, “Taylor Swift.” Transitioning to her sophomore album, “Fearless”, she writes, “I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this,” which represents her transition from her solo written, “Speak Now,” to her country-pop album, “Red.”

“I hosted parties and starved my body. Like I’d be saved by a perfect kiss.” This line portrays her “1989” era when, later, she openly talks about having an eating disorder and how she “dated too much” in her 20s.

“The jokes weren’t funny, I took the money, ” she says, referencing her famous “reputation” era, where she was “canceled” by Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

Illustrating her “Lover” era where she met the love of her life and she finally got past all the drama of her early twenties., she sings, “I looked around in a blood-soaked gown. And I saw something they can’t take away,”

Finally, “everything you lose is a step you take” represents her once re-recorded albums, “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” and “Red (Taylor’s

Version),” which were stolen from her by her former manager Scott Borchetta who sold the masters to her first 6 albums without telling her.

All in all, with “Midnights,” I am excited she is finally moving on from her old management and becoming her own manager and musician. Swift finally can make her own musical choices, and I’ve loved seeing her grow as an artist through all these years.

The second lead single from Midnights, “Bejeweled,” came with an amazing music video. It’s a play on Cinderella with her friends from the band HAIM playing her evil step sisters and actresss Laura Dern as her evil stepmother.

During the video, she leaves easter eggs which Swifties think hint to her third album, “Speak Now,” being re-released soon, as she plays a violin cover of “Enchanted” at the beginning and a strings cover of “Long Live” at the end and many more.

I loved the video, and seeing all the easter eggs she left behind and discovering them is really anexperience and makes me, and many others, feel involved in the

Swifie community.

My favorite song is track 12: “Sweet Nothing.” She wrote it with her boyfriend of 6 years, Joe Alwyn, who writes under the pen name “William Bowery.” He is such a talented pianist and, when he works with Taylor, they create great things. For example, “folklore”, Swift’s 3rd Album of the Year winner at the GRAMMYS.

Swift knows exactly how to express being in love with someone. My favorite line from the song is, “On the way home, I wrote a poem, you say ‘What a mind’, this happens all the time.” It’s so beautiful of someone to compliment, not only you, but your mind, and it’s a great way to represent a long lasting love.

The last song I’m diving into is “Hits Different.” This is the Target Exclusive song. People have fallen in love with this song as it reminds them of her, 2014 album “1989.”

I hope Swift brings “Hits Different” to streaming platforms. My favorite lyrics from the song are, “Dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief in the good in the world, you once believed in me.”

Swift shows once more she is a remarkable writer and this bridge is no exception. She writes about being in love, but the other has already fallen out of love and she has to move on. I think it depicts that experience well and how moving on is so hard. It’s about remembering the good times and wondering how it ended so badly when they had been such a good person.

Overall, I loved the album and I think it’s one of her best works. I would give it an 8/10, as there are some songs that aren’t for me, like “Dear Reader”, “Midnight Rain,” and “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve.”

I don’t love the digital sound of “Midnight Rain” and “Dear Reader.” I like the lyrics, but not the way it’s presented. “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve” is a fan favorite, but I don’t personally relate to the song as many others do, so I don’t listen to it as often as others even though the lyricism is great. It just doesn’t hit close to home for me. Honestly, every album has a couple songs I’m not a fan of.

With “Midnights,” Swift shows once again she is one for the ages. I can’t wait to see what comes next for her musical career.