I wanted to get this out one before year-end season kicks off. You should see the Best Music of 2022 vid next week, then the Top 10 Albums the week after that. Thanks for watching!
Midnights to me just feels like an epilogue of sorts. A lot of the album seems like she’s getting some lingering feelings off her chest that must have ballooned up having to go back and re-record her previous albums and revisit old memories and old wounds. I feel like once the re-recordings are completed she’ll continue exploring the sounds and storytelling elements she touched on in folklore and evermore.
Yes! Like, she probably re-recorded Speak Now, and we know a lot of songs are about her relationship with John Mayer, and Would've, Could've, Should've clearly is about him also so... she relived this memories and feelings again
@Clau-chau Nicol You're absolutely right. I'm 25 now. I'm a fan since I was 13. I used to identify with the songs she wrote back then and I still do with the songs she writes right now. Some are like past experiences I had and some are exactly like I feel right now. No other artist make me feel like that. I grew up with Taylor's songs and I feel connected to them, I feel like they understand me. and I know swifties feel like that too that's why we have such a strong connection with her because she used to write songs about the boy crush on high school when we were on high school too and now she writes songs about the pressure of getting married soon, for exemple, and we can relate to that. We can feel that.
@@beatrizpestana She has definitely re-recorded SN, TS and 1989, or at least most of them, remember it has been already two years since she started re-recording, artists on a rush can make albums within 1 to 3 months, I don’t think she needs almost a full year per re-recording since the music is already there. Maybe only stuff missing are collabs and release plan. Hopefully despite the tour being next year, she releases one re-recording.
I agree 100% but I also feel like this is what we’ve been saying about rep and lover and folklore and evermore… when are the new themes gonna start lol. But i also don’t care cause it’s her life her art she can do whatever she finds cathartic and it’s still usually high quality, even if the revenge song and “oops I was hoeing but fell right into the love of my life’s arms instead” song keep popping up.
@@hannah-6080 LOOOOL it’s so true we’ve heard about how she and Joe met so many times at this rate! Like don’t get me wrong I love a lot of those songs (Delicate, Cornelia Street, and Cruel Summer are all in my Taylor Top 10, and I love Glitch!!) but it’s definitely well trodden territory at this point. I am curious to see where she goes when the re recordings are done, because Midnights seems heavily inspired by revisiting her past and reflecting it through her current feelings!
@@hannah-6080 Rep first time she talked about Joe and revenge, Lover was like a closing of that chapter to just talk about love, probably because Rep was so controversial, Folklore and Evermore is when she decided to experiment with new themes, idk why you think she wasn’t doing that in those two albums in particular, and Midnights is just looking at everything from the past with a grown up point of view and finally closing those chapters, if she makes another album about herself it should serve as an update to where she is right now and the things she has experienced right now (kind off like what Adele does with her albums).
If there's any "bitterness" on Midnights I think it stems from the constant need Swift feels to reinvent herself every few years to stay relevant, not from being an "underdog". Her fans elevated her to a level of fame and success that has, in turn, alienated her from virtually everyone else alive today. The resulting themes of isolation and exhaustion in her recent albums just happen to match up with the world's current mood which ironically has brought her even more success.
I can buy this for a dollar. I've only heard a few songs but when I heard them, as someone who rarely listens to her but hears what's going on with her, I thought "yeah, this sounds like a girl who's isolated and dealt with a lot of shit from being so far up the mountain" And also because it seems like she can't find someone to share in all of this so she's doing it solo and as a result, dealing with all of these issues herself. Tough girl but I hope she finds whatever it is she's looking for because looking for something, she is.
this. honestly, I chalked it up to just dealing with mental health issues. Lines like "everything I touch turns sick with sadness", or hurting the people she loves in "the great war" because of her own insecurities, or the entire bridge of Dear Reader where she talks about feeling like she has nobody, and how her fans should find someone else to look up to...the bitterness I see in this record comes from her being more open about self-hatred and self-imposed isolation more than anything else- themes she has already explored in the past couple of years, but without hiding behind the hyper-positive marketing of Lover (which effectively hid the darker themes in songs like the Archer, Afterglow or False God) or the fictional stories of Folklore/Evermore
I kind of see this album the same way I saw All Too Well (10 Minute Version) last year. Not necessarily Taylor slipping back into old habits, but more her looking back on her life (be it the relationship that inspired ATW or the 13 sleepless nights) and writing about it with the benefit of hindsight, making it feel more mature then, say, the original All Too Well or her previous pop albums such as Reputation. Personally, I see the album just as that, as a more mature take on her previous pop brought to her by the hindsight that she only now has.
I couldn't disagree more. The album was very disappointing to me. It didn't add anything, however the 10 min all too well added a whole lot to that already bolved song by Taylor. She gave us a whole video and more wholesome lyrics. The new album? not really. Pretty much same old stuff.
To your point at the end about Taylor winning, Taylor has always marketed herself as the underdog. A woman in country, a country star breaking into pop, fighting against big machine, Kanye, Apple. Midnights is the first standard album rollout she’s had where she is just a successful musician, and can’t use any other pretext
@@gusslx Taylor swift said she used the Cinderella theme because it uses Midnight as an important plot point Just like how she wrote the album around sleepless nights and midnights in her life that impacted where she is today
Midnights feels like the closing chapter of Pop Taylor for me. I feel like she wasn’t all too ready to let go of it yet when the Lover era had been forced to shut down because of the pandemic (she was about to go on this big tour for that, too). Folklore and Evermore were products of a tumultuous time and were able to breathe within it, but these were albums she wasn’t expecting to make. Midnights feels like she needed to make this one to close out that pop, tabloid-y side of hers. Plus, it’s enough material for a new tour-“The Eras Tour”-which makes it seem more plausible to me that this is her capping off that huge part of her life. P.S. I hope she works with Sounwave more in the future
Here's my thoughts: I got really into Taylor after Evermore. I'd denied myself the pleasure of actually enjoying her music because I was a bit of a snob in some ways. But Evermore won my heart and she won me over. I was also genuinely hoping for more of a Dessner influence over this album. Honestly I also miss some of her Max Martin sounds too, but I know they won't be collaborating again soon (such a shame because I felt like some of this album could have been improved with his intervention). I remember a long-time Swiftie once saying Max is one of the few people that isn't a yes man around her. Antonoff has produced some of my favourite tracks of hers so I can't say anything against their collaboration on this album, but having some variety in producers would have been nice. On first listen this album was kind of monotonous, but I came to appreciate the slight differences between the tracks. And yes this album was a sort of retread on what her old work was like, but I think that was sort of the point. It genuinely was an album that rewards her fans. Fans that know her back stories, the stories behind her older song etc. Yes the tracks can stand on their own, but knowing the context of these new songs (looking back on a failed relationship in hindsight almost a decade after it ended for e.g.) adds a layer to the listening experience. There are even multiple call-backs to her earlier sounds (like the "I remember" you pointed out being a big one people noticed), so that's another added bonus for her fans, especially the ones that have been with her over the years. And honestly, in a way yes Taylor really is on top. No denying that. But I kind of still get the underdog narrative. She still gets written off by people when it comes to her technical skills. Yes some critics liked this album, but some didn't and I do feel like quite a few of these songs age well over time. Just like Red had a score revision years after its release. Also Taylor is coming for that EGOT. She's not gonna slow down until she wins all 4.... maybe then she'll gun for a Pulitzer or something
As she wrote herself, the songs are all based on thoughts she had past midnight and I think anyone can have similar feelings and thoughts at midnight if you're overthinking about love, friendship, hard battles and revenge so I don't think its a case of saying "Why is she writing a song when she has basically won" because its her mind that is overthinking things. To us, she has won because we would compare her to Kanye/Scooter but we don't know how her brain is thinking about these things. She could be comparing herself to her idols or just thinking pessimistically about what "winning" means.
Super interesting video Mr. The Snare!! Listening to this album, the thing that was most present in my mind is "where does someone as big as Taylor Swift go from here?" And I think its going to be a while - and a few more "Taylor's Versions" before we actually see Taylor more her music forward.
We're kind of already seeing Taylor exploring already, going into acting and filmmaking. It kind of fits this image of a certain bitterness at the top, where you don't really know where to progress to now. Sure, Taylor could just do the next album cycle, give her fans something new, sell millions of records, but I could imagine that after 6-7 times of doing that, it too becomes mundane and kind of bland. That's where Folklore and Evermore were a breath of fresh air, breaking out of the usual cycle, but Midnight kind of just picked up where her career left off at Lover. I'd love to see her change things up a bit with her next new album but we'll see what happens.
I think the main thing you're forgetting is all these songs weren't written after the releases of folklore/evermore. In a way this album is Taylor going back and looking at her past. Even tho there were some recent events she talked about (mostly in the more upbeat songs), it was an album very much focused on the past and past events, and you can feel it in her writing. Since I'm not Taylor, I can't say anything for sure, but I don't feel like her next album will be as focused on her past. She seems rather happy with herself and I (and many other swifties) feel as though she's pretty much moved on from her past. To me, Midnights feels like Taylor's personal time capsule. [edit : someone commented that the sogns were actually written after folklore/evermore, couldn't find the source tho so I don't know if it's true but I felt I should add that. Even so the album is still focused on the past and that production, lyricism and other stylistic choices all show that]
i came to the same conclusion it feels like a finale thoughts type of thing its like finishing a huge book and any thing that comes after to me will feel like the start of the sequel
I'm pretty sure the songs were written after the release of folklore and evermore, she said the songs were new, they're about past events but they're new.
@@7siete7 While we don't know when she wrote the album exactly, she described the album as "the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout her life" so I assume that the songs were written on those 13 sleepless nights. My interpretation is that those sleepless nights weren't (all) recent, especially considering the numerous callbacks to her pasts eras. But that's just my personal interpretation. Ultimately, until Taylor's says it herself we don't know.
@@7siete7 I wanted to add that even if this is true, the point still stands. Midnigths is considered a concept album and it's concept is primarily looking back on the past and those "sleepless nights". It makes sense to me that Taylor would go back to some of her old roots while writing an album that's mostly focused on the past.
Idk, I really like that Taylor moves around in genres a little. Folklore and Evermore brought me back after I didn't absolutely love her more pop-y albums (not saying they're bad, just not my cup of tea). I loved her more country stuff. So, I hope the next new album (not Taylor's Version) will be another step in a different direction. I think she's smart and likes to keep people guessing, knowing most of her fanbase will stick around.
For the run of songs in the middle that are all in C major, all of those songs are midnights from before she met her current boyfriend Joe Alwyn. YOYOK is a memoir track which goes over her issues of her own identity in her life, and then the next five songs are all about her past. "Midnight Rain" is about a crush from her hometown, "Question...?" is about meeting a random guy at a party (1989 era), "Vigilante Shit" is about getting revenge on her haters (reputation era), "Bejeweled" is about her "cheating" on Tom Hiddleston (also reputation era), and "Labyrinth" is about her falling in love with Joe Alwyn. Karma is a different key because it represents a midnight in the present day, where she's enjoying her "karma".
Interesting, very interesting. As a swiftie myself, I completely agree with you, It does feel like repeating the cycle. And I'm having fun with it, reminiscing and re-living. I like Taylor's music because it makes me feel like i'm not the only one who feels how I feel, I'm going to loose my shit when Speak Now it's announced. It's very cool that you see it that way, and I completely understand, like completely. I thought the same but got excited)? and that's why I really liked this video, a new perspective and so fresh as always.
As someone who’s already considered all of the things you’re voicing: I just kinda don’t care if she is positioning herself as an underdog/victim in her music- because music is about expressing feelings. She happens to be really talented at expressing feelings of betrayal, loneliness, petty anger, insecurity, revenge fantasies. Those feelings are part of the human experience. I’m just exhausted from having this conversation… all artists draw from their experiences. Taylor got lost in the sauce of drama in her public life in the past, but she’s pretty chill now. Can the woman not write some cool songs without you all continuing to sling shit? Can we not respect the value of expressing negative emotions through art, without drawing parasocial conclusions on artist’s intent or moral character?
perfectly said. feelings need to felt to be able to move through and forward in life and it’s incredibly harmful to tell people not to do that. i’ve been subjected to that by people in my life my whole life and it has only ever hurt me.
I think one of the major themes of Midnights is that you never truly get over those things that haunt you in the middle of the night. You never get past the things that kept you up years ago. Even when things are great in Taylors life (her love life, her rerecordings, her music career) she is still hurt by the past and she admits in this albums that its an issue she needs to work on, but she struggles with it. The bridge on Would've Could've Should've is the best example (I can't let this go, I fight with you in my sleep, The wound won't close") She wants to move on, she wants to live in the good and best parts of her life (as seen in the outro of Lover "I wanna be defined by the things that I love, Not the things I hate...Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night"). This album is bitter, yes, but it also her admitting that she wants to heal but she can't always find her way through her own negative thought patterns. I think Lover was her attempt and moving forward and leaving her past behind and then folklore/evermore was about realizing she can't ignore her past because each new step reopens her old wounds. ("It still hurts underneath my scars from when they tore me apart, but what you did was just as dark" -hoax) I agree with your points about how Midnights can feel like a rehashing of old beef/bitterness. It does feel like songs about situations we've already heard about from new/different POVs. But to Taylor, no matter how much she wins, she never feels like a winner. I think you can take the cynical approach that she's doing it to market herself as the underdog, but I think it actually is the most vulnerable and true she has ever been. To stand at the top of the mountain, past all the crazy ups and downs of her career and be surrounded by everything she's ever wanted and still say, "actually, you know what? I'm STILL FUCKING SAD." No matter what she wins, or achieves, or does, she gonna feel like Cinderella sometimes and for me that is a feeling that will always resonate.
“Be new to us, be young to us, but only in a new way and only in the way we want,” she said. “And reinvent yourself, but only in a way that we find to be equally comforting but also a challenge for you. Live out a narrative that we find to be interesting enough to entertain us, but not so crazy that it makes us uncomfortable.”
I love folklore and evermore too. However, midnights is the album that really got me and I think that that is because of its personal topics. Taylor has always used music/songwriting to deal with her emotions, and that´s why her songs are so relatable. I think she genuinely enjoys writing those autobiographical albums. That does not mean she won ´t do albums centered around storytelling anymore, but maybe just mixed up with more personal records. I also think that she really has won, but we should not forget about how she got to that point in her career. In the past decade she has faced so much unfair, sexist etc treatment, which obviously left trauma. It does not matter that all those enemies of her have lost, the emotional damage that kind of trauma causes you oftentimes haunts you even years after it has happened. So I feel like midnights is her being on top of the mountain, looking back on her way there, and that´s why it´s so emotional for a lot of people. ty for reading this essay ;)
i think the middle run (actually the entire back half of the album) is semi-chronological. you’re on your own kid and midnight rain can be seen as two sides of her learning how to be single in the 1989 era, one at the start of that journey one in the middle of it, question is reflecting on her relationship with harry styles (she also reuses the ah ah ahhhs from ootw in the chorus if you listen closely) and also is what happens when you get two midnight rains in a relationship with each other, vigilante shit is her tendency to start/stay in fights, another thing that got out a smidge out of hand towards the end of the 1989 era, bejeweled is partially about her leaving calvin harris in 2016, and labyrinth is about her falling in love with joe during the fallout. so imo the first four songs set up dominant themes and then the rest of the standard album is in more or less chronological order
YES i've been thinking about this! The first four tracks are kinda setting the scene, the middle five are taylor reminiscing and getting lost in the past, and the final four are about taylor finding & grounding herself in the present
Everyone is totally entitled to their own opinions about the album and I understand where this sentiment comes from. But I think the feeling of "being here before" makes sense when the album concept is comprised of Midnights throughout her career. Every song has some sort of connection to a prior album of hers, most specifically, 1989, Speak Now, Reputation. I also think that while Taylor has been in the industry for 15 years now, and yes, has absolutely won, I don't think that diminishes the exhaustion of being scrutinized by the public for things that a man would not be questioned for whatsoever, and would probably instead be praised for. I see how it can be tiring to hear her "complain" and be bitter about her circumstances, especially when, like you've stated, she is easily one of the most successful musicians of all time and has become an acclaimed songwriter, performer, etc. But I think as a woman, listening to her speak about the scrutiny she's under, the bitterness she feels toward the public's view of her, and more, make sense. It all feels like we've been here before because Taylor has been experiencing this for 15 years and I'm sure she's tired of it. She's worked to make her life more private, backing off of social media and interacting with the public as much as she did before. And still, the public continues to dive into her personal life and give their own opinions on it in the same ways they did before. If you're tired of it, imagine how tired she is of it. Again, I completely understand the sentiment and feelings toward the album. But I do think this album was one for the fans, chalk-full of references and samples from old albums and eras, storytelling that has multiple layers to it that fans can pick up on. As for the Cinderella reference, totally get it. She is not longer Cinderella. But from a conceptual standpoint, if her album concept is based off of Midnights, then the Cinderella story fits in perfectly with the concept, which she spoke about in the music video announcement.
She probably wouldnt be under such scrutiny, if every boyfriend didnt have 1or 2 songs about them. If she didnt re-record a ten minute song about a decade old relationship that the guy didnt get hounded about again. Or just recording Look What You Made Me Do. Just let stuff go. I like a few of her songs.
@@michaeladkins6 but how many male artists write songs about their exes? I can name bruno mars, the weeknd, charlie puth, the list goes on. and they don’t get scrutinized in the same way. She’s a songwriter, obviously she’s going to write songs about her experiences. Not to mention that not all of her songs are about romantic relationships. She has songs about grief, friendship, growing up, family. She’s said multiple times that she decided to re-record the 10 minute version because her fans have been begging for it for a decade. It was never her intention to release it but her fans hounded her for it for years. What’s the problem with Look What You Made Me Do? She doesn’t name drop anyone, she’s simply writing a song the same as anyone else would. Do we see Kanye getting the same level of scrutiny for making a music video with a naked taylor swift in bed with him, calling her a bitch and taking credit for her fame? No, instead, she was shamed for even being upset about all of those things. The problem is that women are held to a much higher standard than men in the industry and it can be seen everywhere you look. Women can point it out so quick but most men not only refuse to acknowledge it, they actively speak out against it and refute anyones claims that women are treated differently by the media
@Michael Adkins Taylor Swift always win. She lives for that. And many things she has done is for winning. If you remember the release of Look What You Made Me Do, it was received as "petty" (and I did Something Bad too). What EVERYONE expected was an apology. And she was never going to apologize because she knew she was right. So the alternative was to release any album but people will forget about her because she was canceled. What other option she had? Make a big deal about how people always try to drag her down. And it worked. She gained attention again and kept winning with her sold out stadium tour. Now, I can't critize her decitions to make songs about exes. Everyone does. The thing is people is obsessed with drama and will never let go. After Speak now she has always been pretty silence about who the song is about. Is media who keeps pushing. For example, there was a lot of hate towards Ariana Grande when Mac Miller passed away (many of it blaming on her).
I appreciate your takes, even when I disagree (I think the bitterness is a function of going through her back catalog for the re recording process so it doesn’t bother me, plus it’s tempered by a lot of other emotions throughout the album)! I’ve watched all your TSwift videos and I get the impression that *overall* her music is generally not to your taste (and the discourse that follows her is VERY MUCH not to your taste) but that you have an appreciation for the things she is good at, and you give her credit when she does them well. It just feels very…normal? Like a NORMAL way to talk about an artist you like sometimes but don’t absolutely love, basically I wish more of the internet was like this channel 😂
Your last sentence, right 100%. Why is it that so few people are able to just have normal opinions, like "it's not my taste but I appreciate the effort"
The only thing I disagree is “Taylor still puts herself as the underdog on this album”. I mean considering this album is about past situations, she indeed WAS the underdog back then. She is not lying or kinda forcing a “poor me” vibe, it was just reality. Would’ve could’ve should’ve shows how her 2009 abusive relationship with John Mayer traumatized her 19 yo self, and how this trauma stills haunts her to this day Midnight rain is back to December’s older sister, also about Taylor lautner and how she admits their break up was her fault. Lavender Haze, labyrinth and sweet nothing are full on love songs. Question is about her turbulent relationship with harry styles. Basically the way Taylor promoted this album (sleepless nights throughout her life) kinda doesn’t allow us to say it’s a album of her “still playing the underdog”, cus since she indeed was the underdog back then and the album IS about past (some way older and newer) experiences, the concept works
I'm a fan of Taylor but I do wish that Midnights would engage with her feelings/traumas in a more productive way than just reflection. It reminds me of when my therapist says that talking about/reflecting on your past is 100% a part of the process, but it's one that you have to move past at some point for your own personal peace. However, pop doesn't really reward ppl moving on. Whenever a big artist starts writing about their joy, they are constantly told that they have now sold out and that they are no longer ""authentic"" or ""real"" (exhibit: BTS, Halsey, The Weeknd and even Taylor with Lover). But the way Art has been commodified over the past century demands sadness and misery from artists, not healing and moving on. Ig that plays a role in the way people have received this album.
I really don't see this as regression or a bitter album. This feels more like a more emotionally centred Taylor looking back on previous relationships/public drama through a more mature lense. It also continues the trend that started in the previous 3 albums of being more open and reflective on her mental health issue in a way that feels really refreshing and unique.
I feel like Midnights is the album she needed to make at this time in her life. Not only because she clearly needed to get some feelings out that wouldn't have fit with the Folklore sound, but because, like you pointed out, the Folklore/Evermore approach was kinda diminishing returns sales-wise and probably would've continued had she stuck to it. And you could definitely look at that as pandering and cynically going back to the sound that would make her all of the money again (and I'm not saying that wasn't part of it), but I also think that someone like Taylor Swift could never really comfortably settle into being a smaller drama-free artist for the rest of her career (at least not right now), and I feel like Midnights was a way for her to recapture that audience and that side of her without completely losing the growth she showed on the Dessner albums. I wouldn't be surprised if she spends the foreseeable future alternating between albums like this and albums like Folklore, just to keep things balanced. She certainly has the clout to do it.
folklore did around the same as Lover (and is also the biggest debut of the 2020 decade before midnights) and evermore only did much lower as it had no physicals in first week of release. her sales were never diminishing
You’ve put everything I’ve felt about this album into words! I couldn’t help but feel like the majority of this album was something that we’ve already heard from her before-except just at a slower tempo? To me it was like something was…missing from this album. I was blue-balled by Taylor. (Also, the way you felt about the Bejeweled music video was the same way I felt about the song Vigilante Shit. I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes slightly when I heard it for the first time.)
The album is called Midnights & Cinderella's fun night etc ends at midnight so she wanted to do something with that as her album is titled that for a video.
Agree on a lot of things. I came back to her music with folklore and evermore (I disliked reputation and Lover) and I definitely knew that the next album wasn't gonna be like those two and I was fine with that. What got me was her marketing those 70s visuals with angsty/sad poses. It made me think she's gonna try out a new sound and I was a bit scared thinking what Taylor would sound like trying to make her version of Joni Mitchell or Fleetwood Mac but I was keeping an open mind. I was very much surprised that it ended up just being a continuation of reputation and Lover as if nothing happened since then. I appreciate some of the songs, there's bops and there's some great lyrics but I felt like a fool for expecting a totally different album after seeing her marketing visuals and thinking we're gonna move forward from folkmore, not backwards. Also cannot get over some of the lines that are clearly meant to be quoted on tiktok and in insta captions.
Dude your words are literally my brain processes as I was listening to the album. I also felt like a fool thinking she was gonna try something different. I guess, to be fair, she doesn't have to but after listening to the album, it does sound a bit derivative. I think the marketing definitely heightened mt expectations of it which made me a bit disappointed when I listened to it. I also like some of the songs but I just can't get behind the petty revenge lyrics. They seem infantile to me. I think she would get away with it before as a teenager/young adult. However, she's in her 30s now and it just seems off-putting. My favorite tracks are Lavender Haze, Maroon, Paris, Would've Could've Should've, Bigger Than the Whole Sky, and Midnight Rain.
@@gerardovazquez6441 yes :) I was listing the prominent artists of the 70s and she is one of them. If I remember correctly one of Taylor's songs is already speculated to be about Joni so it wouldn't be that farfetched to think she would make more music inspired by Joni Mitchell after putting out promo photos that look like she's referencing the fashion and interior design of the 70s. No one was comparing them, I just thought she'd use her as inspiration :D but she did not lol
@@katjau_ Taylor has taken a lot from many artists: Avril Lavigne, Robyn, Lana del Rey, Billie Eilish and in Midnights the shadow of Lorde appears but due to the simplicity of Taylor's compositional DNA I doubt that she can use Joni, not only her, anyone who try would be ridiculous. But there is an even greater impediment: the philosophical one. This is the great deficit of contemporary artists, that's why Taylor and Joni in the same sentence sounds so discordant to me. I think there is too much market presence pending the algorithm, the stream, tiktok, Billboard and all that stupidity, unfortunately many artists they feel comfortable within this decadent logic.
i just realised that all of the songs on midnights (including the 3am tracks) sample from multiple random songs from all her past albums and it wasn't just Question lmao. For example, Maroon samples from King Of My Heart (Reputation) and Lavender Haze sampled I Think He Knows (Lover). If anyone reads this comment, do you know what other songs Midnights samples from?
Bejeweled is a song about being in a relationship where your partner can't see your worth. And throughout the song she reclaims her worth. That is why the Bejeweled music video has Taylor playing the character of Cinderella, someone who is underappreciated. The thing is, is that no amount of money and fame can fix relationship problems, and no matter how rich and famous Taylor gets, she is still human, which is why she will have unlimited material, as long as she can still feel things.
it always feels so icky hearing a man say something along the lines of "i thought she was done with that drama" like sorry you don't get to tell her what she should or shouldn't still think and feel and write about
I feel like I’m listening to a different record because Midnight’s is not at all bitter to me. Several parts feel triumphant and reflective on her career with a more mature and nuanced take on love and relationships. Particularly the recurring themes of marriage and family vs career are extremely relatable to me as a woman and most of my friends have to navigate the same thing. I’m not really sure if the underdog framework is that deep, she probably picked Cinderella to fit the “midnight” theme and because it’s fun. I know she’s a mastermind but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I always appreciate your take on things even if we disagree! Midnight Rain and Vigilante Shit are faves of mine.
I don’t see what’s wrong with Taylor still creating music from the perspective of being an underdog. No one seems to take issue with wildly successful rappers talking about beating the odds and fighting their way thru the industry but if Taylor does it then suddenly it’s not genuine and it’s all an act? Ultimately her music is also for listeners to relate to and she shouldn’t be obligated to only write songs about other people just because her life is too unrelatable. Food for thought…
speaking as a Swiftie who bought two copies of Midnights, I agree wholeheartedly with the issue of being disappointed/worried that Midnights is a step back and could be the sign of repeating the old cycle again; when folkmore was clearly a step forward.
As a veteran Swiftie (established c. 2007), I kinda low key wish people will start disliking her again so that I can get those Eras Tour tickets without competition and in peace 😅
I think a lot of the reason that Taylor is still framing herself as the underdog is that like you said, she is basically the most popular artist on the planet right now, and in the age of the internet self-deprecation is like the ideal level of ego to have. If taylor started displaying any amount of self-congratulation of confidence, she would lose some amount of her audience, plus lose some level of relatability, a huge reason so many people flock to her music.
I agree with many of the comments saying some nuance was missed here. Every album by Taylor offers something new, and she obviously knows what she is doing - which is why she has been able to break so many records and have “won”. Just because she makes a dark-ish pop album doesn’t make it Reputation part 2. Who knows what she will shock us with in the future along with the re-recordings
You just wonderfully articulated all the hangups I had with Midnights. Folkmore are my favorites out of all her work and would LOVE to hear more like it from her
I agree with what others are saying about this album being a bookend of sorts! My hope is that after the re-releases are done, she'll hit a new stride and do really well creatively. I definitely get where you're coming from with the cinderella thing, but (to give her the benefit of the doubt) I think it fits with the song and she genuinely really likes fairy tales! I'm not sure she meant to paint herself as a Cinderella of the industry, but that that's how she felt in that particular relationship-beleaguered and down trodden on a personal, romantic level rather than a professional one. I like karma, midnight rain, and lavender haze the most off the main listing, and I like bigger than the whole sky and would've could've should've off the bonus tracks :)
When I heard this album I thought it just felt like Lorde (Taylor's Version) but Reputation 2 Electric Boogaloo is probably a better way to describe it
I feel like midnights isn’t as revengeful as rep, I think it’s so dialed back : it’s a mature look back at the situations as opposed to like her actively fighting them: and to be fair when it comes to Folklore and Evermore : hoax, my tears ricochet, mad woman, closure, it’s time to go, long story short, all have at least some references to scooter, record label Scott, etc. it’s just veiled in the genre of those albums; revenge is on every album just in different forms and I actually feel like that makes her even more of an artist
I think she is Cinderella in the bejewelled music video because she felt like an underdog in her head and then she went out and became ‘Bejeweled’ and then was happy again. Not that she actually *was* the underdog
She wasn't even giving underdog vibes when she was dressed up as "peasant wench Taylor". I mean, she was rolling her eyes at and was being loudly and verbally snarky to her stepmom and stepsisters. She had this "i'm better than you/I'm so over this bs" attitude. If anything, she was actually more of an opportunist just lying in wait for the right moment to strike
She's revisiting old subject matter because This is The Re-Recordings Album. These are songs she wrote while looking back on her old work, so they are mostly about her old work. Yes, "Vigilante Sh*t" could have come off of reputation, like "Question...?" samples "Out of the Woods" and could have come off of 1989. (btw, the five songs in the same key are the ones that are looking at her past life/work in chronological order, so I think that's intentional.) The bitterness that's present on this album stems less from her past, and more from things fame and fortune can't fix. "Lavender Haze" is about trying to stay happy in the midst of sexist microaggressions, and "Anti-Hero" is about how universal (and ridiculous) self-loathing can be. In an interview, she said the "Bejeweled" music video is for the fans, who know not only that it's a vehicle to announce Speak Now (TV), but that that album was preoccupied with fairy tales, which she felt the need to outgrow soon after ("Give me back my girlhood / It was mine first"). Can we collectively stop comparing Taylor and Kanye at this point? Kanye is using his platform to take aim at marginalized groups (which he has been doing for years), and that has nothing to do with his feud with Taylor Swift. It also doesn't mean that Kanye is past relevance. There are people who want to hear him say the hateful things he's saying, and those people have more power in this country than they've had in a long, long time. Kanye's not a joke; he's an active threat to human rights. There's a lot to potentially dislike about this album, and I don't fault anyone for giving it a bad review, but speaking of it as though it spells the end of her creativity, ambition, and emotional growth seems like a reach. I would have loved another ten folklores, and I hope this synth-pop record doesn't mean she's done with genre exploration, but I don't think it's a step back either? I'd recommend Professor Skye's Record Review if you're interested in listening to someone explore the emotional maturity present on this album.
The Bejeweled music video is just a fan-service easter eggs music video and the reason she choose Cinderella is because when you think of midnights in film culture the most prominent is the Cinderella midnight storyline lol
The second I listened to Midnights all the way through I thought, “Mic is going to hate not having Aaron Dessner.” Glad to know I was right. On another note, I understand why you might want her to embrace her stardom and stop playing the underdog, but that’s the complete opposite of the brand she’s crafted. She’s still thanking her fans in every single awards speech, acting as though she’s shocked they would listen to her music, and she’s outrageously humble for how big she’s gotten. For her to do a 180 and embrace how big she’s gotten would probably lead to #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty 2.0. And no one wants that. I understand the criticism though, 100%.
But the lyricism is actually good. If the production was like evermore/folklore people would appreciate it more. Those people just can‘t look beyond the pop sound. Songs like Maroon, Dear Reader, anti-hero even midnight rain and you’re on your own kid have some of her best and most daring lyricism. I agree that some songs are a little bit eye roll worthy especially vigilante shit but this album acutally good. I feel like most people just don‘t want to scratch beneath the surface to fully appreciate the album for what it is.
@@mirrorball1135 Agree, many people dismisses her for the longest time because she's a pop star and never cared to listen to her lyrics. But the truth is she always have great lyrics, it just took folklore and evermore for some people to see that. While I do think those two albums are probably her lyrical best to date, I also enjoyed the self-reflection on Midnights. For me Midnights is not about being an underdog or a misunderstood villain story like reputation, but rather Taylor admitting her insecurities and her narcissism in the most honest ways. I always think that her ability to jump around genres should be celebrated instead of being shamed, you don't see many pop stars doing these insane and seamless transitions, but it just proves how good of a songwriter she is that she's able to jump around these genres like nothing.
I'm not generally a fan of pop Taylor. There's probably only two or three songs off both 1989 and reputation I don't skip and Red isn't much better. Folklore and Evermore were a fresh of breath air for me (and I mostly liked Lover too) but I don't think the lyricism on this album is the problem. The sameyness of the music and the feeling that it's just slowed down reputation is what makes me lose interest. On repeated listens, I've put the half of the album I'm okay with on a playlist and don't plan on listening to the other half, however good the lyrics are.
@@mirrorball1135 i agree i do think midnights has some great lyrics. the sexy baby line is one of my all time fave lines of hers lmao. it’s just a very different style of writing that doesn’t resonate as much for me.
I'm very interested in the perception of bejeweled now vs. then with the added context of ending a really private relationship and entering an incredibly public one.
Having never been a big fan before, I love this album. I’m working my way backwards thru her discography, but the atmosphere & vibe of “Midnights” is dope af
Folklore and Evermore were fantastic, imo. The Last Great American Dynasty is my favorite song Taylor has ever put out. I wish she would release more albums like those, but I also understand that it would have been harder for Taylor to tour and build hype behind those albums, given their toned-down nature. They were also released at the very height of the pandemic anyway, when touring was impossible. Midnights is the opposite of those, and honestly, it did its job in building hype for her next tour. I’ve never seen this much craze over one. Love or hate Taylor, she knew exactly what she was doing here.
I remember listening to folklore for the first time thinking that it was the first Taylor Swift album I had heard in a long time that felt like I was listening to Taylor the person, and not Taylor the headline.
I don’t have much to say other than I agree. The themes feel like retreads. But they always do. The only songs I truly felt were uninspired thematically were Mastermind, Paris, Sweet Nothing, and Lavender Haze. That’s not to say they weren’t great songs, just that it’s the same theme of “I’m happy with my new bf” from reputation repackaged with minimal production to fit this era. As a longtime swiftie, I was disappointed we went back to the autobiographical storytelling from before folklore, because, as she’s stated herself, it’s inherently limiting. She’s one of the most successful and richest people in the world. I think that’s why it feels like reputation part 2 in a way. Her struggles might have relatable moments, but they are ultimately above the average person. And yeah I get that evermore was technically the last album to come out, but because of the re-records, it felt like we had already stepped back into her life before this. I’d just like more of that storytelling for storytelling’s sake. And I’d love her to explore more themes outside of love and heartbreak. Anti-hero is a phenomenal song, in part because she rarely discusses themes like that. I want more of that and less romance.
Bejeweled is not about her being the oppressed Cinderella. Rather looking back and going been there done that. Now i ghost the princes (tho before she thought she would be saved by a perfect kiss) and keep my eyes on the castle (her career and all)
I think your read on the Bejeweled video feels a little off to me. Firstly, I see no reason to assume it's a way for her to say she currently is some sort of underdog. The video ends with her in a castle, in a lavish gown, guarded by dragons. If anything, it's a nod to how far she has come. But I also think it reflects some insecurity. She's mentioned that coming back to pop on Midnights made her feel nervous after the success of folklore and evermore, so it may also reflect her sort of "return" to pop. But secondly, and others have said this, I really don't see the bitterness as pervasive as you claim. There is bitterness in this album, but there are also songs examining past sadnesses, current loves, and insecurities. The album seems to be inspired by her work rerecording her albums, and so she is inspired to look back at and expand upon some of the ideas she wrote about in the past. I don't get the sense all the songs reflect how she feels now. I also find it weird to lump her thoughts on past romances into bitterness or whatever... like, she's allowed to sing about things that have happened to her and it isn't always about "coming back for revenge" or w/e. Some fans will take it that way but idk. It doesn't seem like her intentional artistic direction.
I really don't think Taylor's going to look at the sales differential between Folklore/Evermore and Midnights and never do anything like F/E again. The aim of F/E career-wise wasn't to sell like her pop albums, it was to boost her critical acclaim and establish that she's at the point where she doesn't need to play the pop game anymore when she doesn't feel like it. And now that Midnights has established she's bigger than ever when she *does* choose to play the game, she can kinda do whatever she wants on future releases.
Thank you. I've been hesitant to call this era a (huge) step back after Folklore and Evermore. But now, I fully see it and hope she'll move away from that underdog narrative (and that Aaron will produce more of her music).
I am gonna preface this by saying NOT a Swifty. I am only a few years younger than Taylor Swift and have grown up with her music. I think her greatest strength is how relatable she is. I will never be a musical legend, but I understand her feelings. I remember crying to "Tear Drops on My Guitar" and wishing for a "Love Story" as a preteen. I remember "I Knew You Were Trouble" when I was at the age of getting into boy trouble. The Midnight album feels exactly as she described: the midnight thoughts of a late 20's, early 30's woman. On the pop hits, I don't like "Bejeweled". It's a ear worm song for sure, but I cannot stand the disrespect for my girl Cinderella. "Anti-Hero" actually hits too close to home. I struggled with depression in my early 20's and it was HARD to climb out of the worst of it. Like she said, it's hard to root for the anti-hero, aka yourself. You have to root for yourself though because "You're On Your Own Kid". It can be depressing to think back on all the times others forced you to realize that, but also brings a feeling of freedom. I can take whatever path I want. "Mastermind" is a cute song, but is also so true. People don't just trip and fall in love with you. You have to mastermind that 'meet cute' moment sometimes. "Vigilante Shit" is a revenge fantasy, but it's not /my/ revenge fantasy. It's someone who I see in a shitty situation and think 'good for her'. There are a lot of songs about destroying the other women or the other woman trying to steal someone else's man. Why not a song about two women helping each other and becoming friends in the process? It's juicy gossip shit and I am here for it. Wow. I am just now realizing I can write a whole essay on how I relate to Taylor Swifts songs. Not all of them. I can't relate to all of them. She's just a good measuring stick and a reassurance that "oh, so feeling this way is totally normal and okay". It also has the added benefit that a lot of good music has. It helps me reflect on my life process my feelings, and try to find a way forward.
With the keys thing that's what held me back from the album in my first listen, I felt that a lot of the songs sounded the same when I was first listening to it. So I got bored. After listening to some songs again, I realised there were some good ones but a lot did just mush together at first.
When the Bejeweled MV premiered, I expected everything but a Cinderella reboot. I completely agree with the idea of "why does she have to still pretend she's the underdog?" That's my only problem with the album in general (and some bonus tracks being meh)
I’ve been trying to understand how I feel about this album and why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted since the day it was released but only now, with the conclusion of this video, I came to understand my feelings towards Midnights
I know this album has been huge and as a swiftie I really don’t get why. 🤷🏼♀️ 3am tracks and Maroon are awesome but nevertheless I don’t catch myself listening to it . Maybe it’s my fault for having expectations before having listened to anything but maybe it’s Taylor’s promotion channeling 70s vibe and it delivered shit. I didn’t want another “folklore” or “evermore”, I wanted something a bit more upbeat than that, not necessarily full pop. Ideally I’d like a 70s Speak Now or a mix between Speak Now and 1989 but I got none of them. Out of the 13 tracks, I skip almost 4-5 of them and that’s not a good sign. I know she’s a queen but…this record didn’t click well with me. The production felt rushed, repetitive, idk. Some songs seemed to build but they didn’t explode. Even bejeweled which went from skip to one of my favs could’ve been a lot better musically.
i do feel like this album only makes sense if you're a fan and you know what the songs mean, if you can't follow the stories, I understand how it can sound kinda repetitive maybe? im a huge swiftie and i love this album but i get it
I hope people can be a little bit more open and look beyond folklore and evermore. Those 2 albums were made during and represented a period of time where isolation and loneliness went rampant. And now the world is slowly opening up to normalcy, I think she feels compelled to embrace that sense again. There are some songs on Midnights standard that I don't necessarily gravitate towards but it's only due to preference, but I get why they're there after a whole listen. And I do find the 3am tracks are incredible, but I also get the idea sort of why they're being left out. Then, I do agree with a lot of people who have listened to Midnights that say this album is made for her longtime fans, those who have been listening to her since day 1 and have grown through different sounds that she have explored all these years, and it might not be for everyone. Which bring us to the fact that she switches her music all the time. A lot of newer fans from previous album (from what i observe) just can't seem to accept that and would prefer her to stick to that sounds. I'm sure if she sticks to it, just as much as she sticks to pop or keep doing country, she'll still get some sort of disdain and probably people would wonder and say if she's going to do this kind of music for the rest of life or otherwise. She can't appease everybody. Might just let her do what she feels she wants to do. If she wants to look back at her past and wants to write about it, wants to write different things, explore different perspectives of the same event, please do. Her writing has always been immaculate. In fact, I think I can say for a lot of her fans that what draws them to her in the first place, primarily, is her pen game. Whether it's folkmore poeticism, storytelling of RED/Speak Now/Fearless or pop rep/1989/lover, if you're familliar with her music, that's just how she writes her music over her sounds. It might sound strange or wordy or awkwardly worded over the sounds she produces, but that's her brand of writing. Her pen game is as the result of years of honing in Nashville and country music. That stylistic nuance is always going to be there. She'll go all out telling stories and poetry over songs sounding like Folkmore, Red etc. She'll bend it a bit when she writes pop songs. And they may seemingly end up sounding off or unfitting over pop sounds, because pop songs especially in modern era are usually sound-driven and seem to have less focus on words and are not "conventionally" written they way she writes hers. She actually brings a distinct approach to writing these songs, and that is in a form of story/poetry or story-like/poetry-like presentation. And it works for her, with her and to her and certainly it works with her fans as well. It's true that she is a titan at the moment, and she doesn't really need to present herself as an underdog. But I think she is just being grateful and humbled for what she has and always sees herself as a person who still wants to hones her craft further and may try new stuff a long the way without losing sense of who she is and her identity as an artiste. And that brand of humbleness and being grateful may come off as pretentious or she just putting a facade because she is a titan and she should have embraced the kind of stardom that she experiences now. But I guarantee if she is doing the opposite, people will still call her out for it. And then, there's the 16-year-old career. Of course being 16 years deep into her career seems already like a long time. But 16 years is technically still young. She has a lot more years ahead of her, and a lot more new people coming in to listen to her for the first time. So, let's just let her do whatever she wants and take her time to explore things 🤷🏻♂️
I completely agree. I thought the album was fine all around, not her worst but far from the best and yet I still felt disappointed. I figured that maybe it was because I expected something new and exciting (especially after the re recordings) that built from Folklore/Evermore and got a continuation of her work with Jack from Lover instead (at least musically). But I think you got it right by noticing that the themes from reputation are back and it's all just a big loop. It kinda takes away from the perceived growth from the 2 latest albums... I guess being at the top do be lonely tho and haters will keep on hatin and Taylor will keep on winning
reputation is actually one of my favorite taylor albums, but i couldn't get into midnights really at all, like i haven't gone back to listen to basically anything from it
i completely agree that she 'won' in terms of other people in the industry, but i wouldn't say she is fully accepted by people either. the timing of this video also being on the day news broke that she wrote an original screenplay and is directing the movie, the first reaction to it was people saying she doesnt deserve it and that it cant possibly be good. that relates to a lot of other ways people still view her and not respect her as an artist and writer. so i would say she's won in terms of people going directly against her personally, yes. but the general public still has this view on her that isn't positive. i saw so many people since midnights came out and the ticketmaster issue come out of the woodwork saying she's overrated, she's never made a song that meant something to people etc. thats where the whole 'cinderella' thing comes in i think. people still belittling her.
I get your point, but I think a huge amount of negative reactions Swift gets, comes from the market kinda being oversaturated with her music/discourse about her. Since early 2020, she has put out so much material, won so many awards, got a lot of praise and broke records with there being seemingly no breaks in between albums. Because she is so inescapable it is easy for non-fans to get annoyed by it. And sadly, some people are not smart enough to express that in a nice way.
@@hyathumibis5187 i always thought it was because of her being so pretty and so white and so emotional and not in a “mature”way like Adele but in so many songs she’s just downright petty and I love it but society is jealous of her, in many ways she’s the very ideal kind of woman and so many people just want her to shut up and say she has nothing to say because how can a pretty white woman really have anything “deep” to say. Also I think her music like someone said talks about men the way Drake, who has actually saturated the market too and won so many awards, does, it can be very jarring. I also think the Cinderella thing is a throwback to how she always felt like she was Cinderella in a fairy tale but she never got the man, she got the house and the money tho.
@@gracejacobs7146wouldn't call taylor immature but she might be implusive to say and that she's always on the news also gets ppl annoyed but it's show business baby it's damned if you do and damned if you don't
@@nobodyelse7911 I meant early Taylor Swift and lover era singles clearly give off an immature pop vibe, she was winning awards with song lyrics teenagers will write in their diary at 13 and cringe at 20.
Midnights is a commentary on Taylor’s public persona vs her deepest inner self. She starts the album with Lavender Haze a song about how she doesn’t care what the media says. She’s changing the narrative around her lover. Cuddling when she’s with the cameras but ultimately looking lost and sullen when alone with her lover. She creates a smoke around them and disappears into a cloud and eventually to another kind of fishbowl. Ultimately just like in the bejeweled video she’s alone. But she’s still in the fishbowl. Then she ends the album twice. Once with mastermind both a commentary on the publicity of her relationship as well as her climb to fame. Then with dear reader she talks about how she’s an unreliable narrator. She can’t tell us everything. She’s falling apart at the seems and much of it is because of her grappling with who she is vs who she’s portrayed to be. The rest of the album is full of many diff takes on her fame, her personalities, the relationships its affected, and many more related and also unrelated themes. But the most common theme through most songs deal in some way with fame. And ultimately I think the production of the album is a commentary on that as well but my thoughts are not complete there and much longer so I’ll leave it here
i like your willingness to be honest about your taylor opinions despite likely catching a lot of shit from taylor fans every time you invoke the name, whether positively or negatively. it’s hard to stand firm when talking about an artist whose fanbase is ever present, defensive, and incredibly parasocial. and im saying that as someone who enjoys her music. i was stunned to see peeved off taylor fans in the comments because if anything you praised her past two albums and parts of this album, so it’s not even like you’re being a hater. but i guess thats just what happens when you have even sparing criticism for the worlds most successful and beautiful and private jet flyingest perpetual underdog. again, i like her music. but i think it’s silly to jump to her defense as if she can’t overcome michael the snare pointing out tangible musical fact that the middle run of songs on the album are all in the same key
as a taylor swift fan i completely agree, this album was so disappointing to me following folklore/evermore. it feels like a regression and a 1989 remake rather reputation
I always appreciate your viewpoint, but I have to disagree about the album feeling as resentful as reputation. With the exception of Vigilante Shit, Bejeweled, and (sorry) Karma, Swift seems much more mature and less petty. Anti-Hero is my favorite single of hers since Style for how the framing is much more self-lacerating and existentially anxious than 97% of what we get in pop music. Across the album, she's not bitter so much as she is resigned and weary, and I respect that, even if I prefer Folklore and Evermore.
Anti-Hero is quite literally the epitome of Taylor'r self-centered pick-me attitude. She's on top of the music-world, and yet feels the need to constantly frame herself as some sort of victim (here in the form of the misunderstood villain). I'm so over it.
I do find it weird that Taylor seems to be actively pursuing more fame, wealth, power, recapturing her old fans… what for becomes the big question. Maybe it’s so she can smoothly transition into film? But idk I don’t completely believe that
i think it’s important to keep in mind that taylor wrote this album looking back at her life and the events that happened throughout it (the thirteen sleepless nights). and, she said multiple times how much she liked the ideia of having an album that doesn’t feed in gossip culture. i think people are misunderstanding the concept of the album. it isn’t mostly about currently taylor, its an album mostly about topics she already talked about, and putting a new light on to it.
What is wrong with being bitter about being so isolated that you don’t feel like a real person? I think her being Cinderella is just her emphasizing how alone she is, she literally ends up in the castle ALONE She doesn’t frame herself as an underdog, she knows she is not
Isn’t that ‘revenge’ mood an important element in much of country’s themes and lyrics? Maybe it’s the kind of thing that gets her going and traces back to her country roots.
I'd like to imagine that once Taylor finally gets done with all the re-recordings, she'll be free to just kind of map out her own universe through her songs. I.e. what I'm getting at here is that I would _really_ love to see a true concept album (like The Wall, Tommy, or The Black Parade) from her at some point. Like an album all about the fictional town of Woodvale and all the various characters that inhabit it.
I wanted to get this out one before year-end season kicks off. You should see the Best Music of 2022 vid next week, then the Top 10 Albums the week after that. Thanks for watching!
Okay. Now please never speak about Taylor for minimum 5 years we don't need any more Taylor Swift anything. It's killing me.
Fcuk yeah I love the music awards. so excited to see who wins the best jrpg song in b flat minor award
Looking forward!
youre welcome
You are doing a good work 👃✨
Midnights to me just feels like an epilogue of sorts. A lot of the album seems like she’s getting some lingering feelings off her chest that must have ballooned up having to go back and re-record her previous albums and revisit old memories and old wounds. I feel like once the re-recordings are completed she’ll continue exploring the sounds and storytelling elements she touched on in folklore and evermore.
I am of the same opinion
Yes! Like, she probably re-recorded Speak Now, and we know a lot of songs are about her relationship with John Mayer, and Would've, Could've, Should've clearly is about him also so... she relived this memories and feelings again
I think describing Midnights as an album of “lingering feelings” is perfect.
@Clau-chau Nicol You're absolutely right. I'm 25 now. I'm a fan since I was 13. I used to identify with the songs she wrote back then and I still do with the songs she writes right now. Some are like past experiences I had and some are exactly like I feel right now. No other artist make me feel like that. I grew up with Taylor's songs and I feel connected to them, I feel like they understand me. and I know swifties feel like that too that's why we have such a strong connection with her because she used to write songs about the boy crush on high school when we were on high school too and now she writes songs about the pressure of getting married soon, for exemple, and we can relate to that. We can feel that.
@@beatrizpestana She has definitely re-recorded SN, TS and 1989, or at least most of them, remember it has been already two years since she started re-recording, artists on a rush can make albums within 1 to 3 months, I don’t think she needs almost a full year per re-recording since the music is already there. Maybe only stuff missing are collabs and release plan. Hopefully despite the tour being next year, she releases one re-recording.
I feel like this album is her finally closing those chapters in her life in order to move on to somewhere new and explore new themes.
Hopefully. I'm getting sick of the revenge, bad mad girl things she's writing about (aside from nbnc, keep 'em coming)
I agree 100% but I also feel like this is what we’ve been saying about rep and lover and folklore and evermore… when are the new themes gonna start lol. But i also don’t care cause it’s her life her art she can do whatever she finds cathartic and it’s still usually high quality, even if the revenge song and “oops I was hoeing but fell right into the love of my life’s arms instead” song keep popping up.
@@hannah-6080 LOOOOL it’s so true we’ve heard about how she and Joe met so many times at this rate! Like don’t get me wrong I love a lot of those songs (Delicate, Cornelia Street, and Cruel Summer are all in my Taylor Top 10, and I love Glitch!!) but it’s definitely well trodden territory at this point. I am curious to see where she goes when the re recordings are done, because Midnights seems heavily inspired by revisiting her past and reflecting it through her current feelings!
@@hannah-6080 Rep first time she talked about Joe and revenge, Lover was like a closing of that chapter to just talk about love, probably because Rep was so controversial, Folklore and Evermore is when she decided to experiment with new themes, idk why you think she wasn’t doing that in those two albums in particular, and Midnights is just looking at everything from the past with a grown up point of view and finally closing those chapters, if she makes another album about herself it should serve as an update to where she is right now and the things she has experienced right now (kind off like what Adele does with her albums).
@@wzwzwz She only has a handful of songs like that in her entire catalogue. It’s really not as pervasive in her work as you think it is.
If there's any "bitterness" on Midnights I think it stems from the constant need Swift feels to reinvent herself every few years to stay relevant, not from being an "underdog". Her fans elevated her to a level of fame and success that has, in turn, alienated her from virtually everyone else alive today. The resulting themes of isolation and exhaustion in her recent albums just happen to match up with the world's current mood which ironically has brought her even more success.
That's a really good point!
I can buy this for a dollar. I've only heard a few songs but when I heard them, as someone who rarely listens to her but hears what's going on with her, I thought "yeah, this sounds like a girl who's isolated and dealt with a lot of shit from being so far up the mountain"
And also because it seems like she can't find someone to share in all of this so she's doing it solo and as a result, dealing with all of these issues herself. Tough girl but I hope she finds whatever it is she's looking for because looking for something, she is.
This is an incredibly astute and thoughtful and insightful comment. I'm going to be thinking about this all weekend.
Well said
this. honestly, I chalked it up to just dealing with mental health issues. Lines like "everything I touch turns sick with sadness", or hurting the people she loves in "the great war" because of her own insecurities, or the entire bridge of Dear Reader where she talks about feeling like she has nobody, and how her fans should find someone else to look up to...the bitterness I see in this record comes from her being more open about self-hatred and self-imposed isolation more than anything else- themes she has already explored in the past couple of years, but without hiding behind the hyper-positive marketing of Lover (which effectively hid the darker themes in songs like the Archer, Afterglow or False God) or the fictional stories of Folklore/Evermore
The Jesus Christ collaboration in this video was sublime.
No it was Jesus christ
I know right, he didn’t need his own verse because his VIBE was just imbued through the whole thing! Amazing awesome genius I love it 😍
@@HandlePan😂😂😂😂
That’s hurt
I kind of see this album the same way I saw All Too Well (10 Minute Version) last year. Not necessarily Taylor slipping back into old habits, but more her looking back on her life (be it the relationship that inspired ATW or the 13 sleepless nights) and writing about it with the benefit of hindsight, making it feel more mature then, say, the original All Too Well or her previous pop albums such as Reputation. Personally, I see the album just as that, as a more mature take on her previous pop brought to her by the hindsight that she only now has.
THIS 💯💯💯
I couldn't disagree more. The album was very disappointing to me. It didn't add anything, however the 10 min all too well added a whole lot to that already bolved song by Taylor. She gave us a whole video and more wholesome lyrics. The new album? not really. Pretty much same old stuff.
To your point at the end about Taylor winning, Taylor has always marketed herself as the underdog. A woman in country, a country star breaking into pop, fighting against big machine, Kanye, Apple. Midnights is the first standard album rollout she’s had where she is just a successful musician, and can’t use any other pretext
It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem it’s me.
Except for the Bejeweled MV
@@gusslx its just a music video though, its not real? they were all acting
@@gusslx Taylor swift said she used the Cinderella theme because it uses Midnight as an important plot point Just like how she wrote the album around sleepless nights and midnights in her life that impacted where she is today
@@CatNagTaylorsVersioni love Mic but just a little extra thought and his whole point about Bejeweled is mute. Isn’t that funny
Midnights feels like the closing chapter of Pop Taylor for me. I feel like she wasn’t all too ready to let go of it yet when the Lover era had been forced to shut down because of the pandemic (she was about to go on this big tour for that, too). Folklore and Evermore were products of a tumultuous time and were able to breathe within it, but these were albums she wasn’t expecting to make. Midnights feels like she needed to make this one to close out that pop, tabloid-y side of hers. Plus, it’s enough material for a new tour-“The Eras Tour”-which makes it seem more plausible to me that this is her capping off that huge part of her life.
P.S. I hope she works with Sounwave more in the future
yes i wholeheartedly agree!
Yea, Midnights is like revisiting her past one last time and after that she'll close the chapter.
The solution is simple: *make the next album a ROCK album*
Olivia Rodrigo :
Here's my thoughts:
I got really into Taylor after Evermore. I'd denied myself the pleasure of actually enjoying her music because I was a bit of a snob in some ways.
But Evermore won my heart and she won me over.
I was also genuinely hoping for more of a Dessner influence over this album. Honestly I also miss some of her Max Martin sounds too, but I know they won't be collaborating again soon (such a shame because I felt like some of this album could have been improved with his intervention). I remember a long-time Swiftie once saying Max is one of the few people that isn't a yes man around her.
Antonoff has produced some of my favourite tracks of hers so I can't say anything against their collaboration on this album, but having some variety in producers would have been nice.
On first listen this album was kind of monotonous, but I came to appreciate the slight differences between the tracks.
And yes this album was a sort of retread on what her old work was like, but I think that was sort of the point. It genuinely was an album that rewards her fans. Fans that know her back stories, the stories behind her older song etc. Yes the tracks can stand on their own, but knowing the context of these new songs (looking back on a failed relationship in hindsight almost a decade after it ended for e.g.) adds a layer to the listening experience. There are even multiple call-backs to her earlier sounds (like the "I remember" you pointed out being a big one people noticed), so that's another added bonus for her fans, especially the ones that have been with her over the years.
And honestly, in a way yes Taylor really is on top. No denying that. But I kind of still get the underdog narrative. She still gets written off by people when it comes to her technical skills. Yes some critics liked this album, but some didn't and I do feel like quite a few of these songs age well over time. Just like Red had a score revision years after its release.
Also Taylor is coming for that EGOT. She's not gonna slow down until she wins all 4.... maybe then she'll gun for a Pulitzer or something
As she wrote herself, the songs are all based on thoughts she had past midnight and I think anyone can have similar feelings and thoughts at midnight if you're overthinking about love, friendship, hard battles and revenge so I don't think its a case of saying "Why is she writing a song when she has basically won" because its her mind that is overthinking things. To us, she has won because we would compare her to Kanye/Scooter but we don't know how her brain is thinking about these things. She could be comparing herself to her idols or just thinking pessimistically about what "winning" means.
I think this is the best explanation because she is basically on her own
Super interesting video Mr. The Snare!! Listening to this album, the thing that was most present in my mind is "where does someone as big as Taylor Swift go from here?" And I think its going to be a while - and a few more "Taylor's Versions" before we actually see Taylor more her music forward.
We're kind of already seeing Taylor exploring already, going into acting and filmmaking. It kind of fits this image of a certain bitterness at the top, where you don't really know where to progress to now. Sure, Taylor could just do the next album cycle, give her fans something new, sell millions of records, but I could imagine that after 6-7 times of doing that, it too becomes mundane and kind of bland. That's where Folklore and Evermore were a breath of fresh air, breaking out of the usual cycle, but Midnight kind of just picked up where her career left off at Lover. I'd love to see her change things up a bit with her next new album but we'll see what happens.
I think the main thing you're forgetting is all these songs weren't written after the releases of folklore/evermore. In a way this album is Taylor going back and looking at her past. Even tho there were some recent events she talked about (mostly in the more upbeat songs), it was an album very much focused on the past and past events, and you can feel it in her writing. Since I'm not Taylor, I can't say anything for sure, but I don't feel like her next album will be as focused on her past. She seems rather happy with herself and I (and many other swifties) feel as though she's pretty much moved on from her past. To me, Midnights feels like Taylor's personal time capsule.
[edit : someone commented that the sogns were actually written after folklore/evermore, couldn't find the source tho so I don't know if it's true but I felt I should add that. Even so the album is still focused on the past and that production, lyricism and other stylistic choices all show that]
i came to the same conclusion it feels like a finale thoughts type of thing its like finishing a huge book and any thing that comes after to me will feel like the start of the sequel
I'm pretty sure the songs were written after the release of folklore and evermore, she said the songs were new, they're about past events but they're new.
@@7siete7 While we don't know when she wrote the album exactly, she described the album as "the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout her life" so I assume that the songs were written on those 13 sleepless nights. My interpretation is that those sleepless nights weren't (all) recent, especially considering the numerous callbacks to her pasts eras. But that's just my personal interpretation. Ultimately, until Taylor's says it herself we don't know.
@@7siete7 I wanted to add that even if this is true, the point still stands. Midnigths is considered a concept album and it's concept is primarily looking back on the past and those "sleepless nights". It makes sense to me that Taylor would go back to some of her old roots while writing an album that's mostly focused on the past.
@@vialivialiviali She did confirm to SiriusXM that these were all written recently, though inspired by events throughout her life!
Idk, I really like that Taylor moves around in genres a little. Folklore and Evermore brought me back after I didn't absolutely love her more pop-y albums (not saying they're bad, just not my cup of tea). I loved her more country stuff. So, I hope the next new album (not Taylor's Version) will be another step in a different direction. I think she's smart and likes to keep people guessing, knowing most of her fanbase will stick around.
I’m with you I love her more country flavor but I’m really lovin this type of Midnights kind of pop.
I hope it’s dreamy 70s inspired pop rock like what people were theorizing it would be.
@@slystone4892 Yes! midnights has been my favourite of her pop albums for sure 😊
@@captainayaaya28 oooh yes please! Sign me up!
@@Clazz94 it’s like a 1989 just more subtle and toned down, may I say more mature.
For the run of songs in the middle that are all in C major, all of those songs are midnights from before she met her current boyfriend Joe Alwyn. YOYOK is a memoir track which goes over her issues of her own identity in her life, and then the next five songs are all about her past. "Midnight Rain" is about a crush from her hometown, "Question...?" is about meeting a random guy at a party (1989 era), "Vigilante Shit" is about getting revenge on her haters (reputation era), "Bejeweled" is about her "cheating" on Tom Hiddleston (also reputation era), and "Labyrinth" is about her falling in love with Joe Alwyn. Karma is a different key because it represents a midnight in the present day, where she's enjoying her "karma".
Isn't Bejeweled more about Calvin Harris though?
vigilante shit is actually all about scooter braun & his ex-wife... it has a reputation sound but lyrically it's more recent
Pretension
oh my god
lmfao bejewelled isn’t about cheating at all?
Interesting, very interesting. As a swiftie myself, I completely agree with you, It does feel like repeating the cycle. And I'm having fun with it, reminiscing and re-living. I like Taylor's music because it makes me feel like i'm not the only one who feels how I feel, I'm going to loose my shit when Speak Now it's announced.
It's very cool that you see it that way, and I completely understand, like completely. I thought the same but got excited)? and that's why I really liked this video, a new perspective and so fresh as always.
Carly did a great job on this video
the queen never misses
As someone who’s already considered all of the things you’re voicing: I just kinda don’t care if she is positioning herself as an underdog/victim in her music- because music is about expressing feelings. She happens to be really talented at expressing feelings of betrayal, loneliness, petty anger, insecurity, revenge fantasies. Those feelings are part of the human experience.
I’m just exhausted from having this conversation… all artists draw from their experiences. Taylor got lost in the sauce of drama in her public life in the past, but she’s pretty chill now. Can the woman not write some cool songs without you all continuing to sling shit? Can we not respect the value of expressing negative emotions through art, without drawing parasocial conclusions on artist’s intent or moral character?
Amazing comment here.
finally someone said it
Praise this comment
Say it louder gurl ❤️
perfectly said. feelings need to felt to be able to move through and forward in life and it’s incredibly harmful to tell people not to do that. i’ve been subjected to that by people in my life my whole life and it has only ever hurt me.
I think one of the major themes of Midnights is that you never truly get over those things that haunt you in the middle of the night. You never get past the things that kept you up years ago. Even when things are great in Taylors life (her love life, her rerecordings, her music career) she is still hurt by the past and she admits in this albums that its an issue she needs to work on, but she struggles with it. The bridge on Would've Could've Should've is the best example (I can't let this go, I fight with you in my sleep, The wound won't close") She wants to move on, she wants to live in the good and best parts of her life (as seen in the outro of Lover "I wanna be defined by the things that I love, Not the things I hate...Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night"). This album is bitter, yes, but it also her admitting that she wants to heal but she can't always find her way through her own negative thought patterns. I think Lover was her attempt and moving forward and leaving her past behind and then folklore/evermore was about realizing she can't ignore her past because each new step reopens her old wounds. ("It still hurts underneath my scars from when they tore me apart, but what you did was just as dark" -hoax) I agree with your points about how Midnights can feel like a rehashing of old beef/bitterness. It does feel like songs about situations we've already heard about from new/different POVs. But to Taylor, no matter how much she wins, she never feels like a winner. I think you can take the cynical approach that she's doing it to market herself as the underdog, but I think it actually is the most vulnerable and true she has ever been. To stand at the top of the mountain, past all the crazy ups and downs of her career and be surrounded by everything she's ever wanted and still say, "actually, you know what? I'm STILL FUCKING SAD." No matter what she wins, or achieves, or does, she gonna feel like Cinderella sometimes and for me that is a feeling that will always resonate.
It's 2024 and this video aged like a fine wine
“Be new to us, be young to us, but only in a new way and only in the way we want,” she said. “And reinvent yourself, but only in a way that we find to be equally comforting but also a challenge for you. Live out a narrative that we find to be interesting enough to entertain us, but not so crazy that it makes us uncomfortable.”
exactly
I love folklore and evermore too. However, midnights is the album that really got me and I think that that is because of its personal topics. Taylor has always used music/songwriting to deal with her emotions, and that´s why her songs are so relatable. I think she genuinely enjoys writing those autobiographical albums. That does not mean she won ´t do albums centered around storytelling anymore, but maybe just mixed up with more personal records.
I also think that she really has won, but we should not forget about how she got to that point in her career. In the past decade she has faced so much unfair, sexist etc treatment, which obviously left trauma. It does not matter that all those enemies of her have lost, the emotional damage that kind of trauma causes you oftentimes haunts you even years after it has happened. So I feel like midnights is her being on top of the mountain, looking back on her way there, and that´s why it´s so emotional for a lot of people.
ty for reading this essay ;)
i think the middle run (actually the entire back half of the album) is semi-chronological. you’re on your own kid and midnight rain can be seen as two sides of her learning how to be single in the 1989 era, one at the start of that journey one in the middle of it, question is reflecting on her relationship with harry styles (she also reuses the ah ah ahhhs from ootw in the chorus if you listen closely) and also is what happens when you get two midnight rains in a relationship with each other, vigilante shit is her tendency to start/stay in fights, another thing that got out a smidge out of hand towards the end of the 1989 era, bejeweled is partially about her leaving calvin harris in 2016, and labyrinth is about her falling in love with joe during the fallout. so imo the first four songs set up dominant themes and then the rest of the standard album is in more or less chronological order
I didn’t even think of it like this, holy shit
YES i've been thinking about this! The first four tracks are kinda setting the scene, the middle five are taylor reminiscing and getting lost in the past, and the final four are about taylor finding & grounding herself in the present
She's on some Hounds of Love shit
Everyone is totally entitled to their own opinions about the album and I understand where this sentiment comes from. But I think the feeling of "being here before" makes sense when the album concept is comprised of Midnights throughout her career. Every song has some sort of connection to a prior album of hers, most specifically, 1989, Speak Now, Reputation. I also think that while Taylor has been in the industry for 15 years now, and yes, has absolutely won, I don't think that diminishes the exhaustion of being scrutinized by the public for things that a man would not be questioned for whatsoever, and would probably instead be praised for.
I see how it can be tiring to hear her "complain" and be bitter about her circumstances, especially when, like you've stated, she is easily one of the most successful musicians of all time and has become an acclaimed songwriter, performer, etc. But I think as a woman, listening to her speak about the scrutiny she's under, the bitterness she feels toward the public's view of her, and more, make sense. It all feels like we've been here before because Taylor has been experiencing this for 15 years and I'm sure she's tired of it. She's worked to make her life more private, backing off of social media and interacting with the public as much as she did before. And still, the public continues to dive into her personal life and give their own opinions on it in the same ways they did before. If you're tired of it, imagine how tired she is of it.
Again, I completely understand the sentiment and feelings toward the album. But I do think this album was one for the fans, chalk-full of references and samples from old albums and eras, storytelling that has multiple layers to it that fans can pick up on.
As for the Cinderella reference, totally get it. She is not longer Cinderella. But from a conceptual standpoint, if her album concept is based off of Midnights, then the Cinderella story fits in perfectly with the concept, which she spoke about in the music video announcement.
She probably wouldnt be under such scrutiny, if every boyfriend didnt have 1or 2 songs about them. If she didnt re-record a ten minute song about a decade old relationship that the guy didnt get hounded about again. Or just recording Look What You Made Me Do. Just let stuff go. I like a few of her songs.
@@michaeladkins6 but how many male artists write songs about their exes? I can name bruno mars, the weeknd, charlie puth, the list goes on. and they don’t get scrutinized in the same way. She’s a songwriter, obviously she’s going to write songs about her experiences. Not to mention that not all of her songs are about romantic relationships. She has songs about grief, friendship, growing up, family.
She’s said multiple times that she decided to re-record the 10 minute version because her fans have been begging for it for a decade. It was never her intention to release it but her fans hounded her for it for years. What’s the problem with Look What You Made Me Do? She doesn’t name drop anyone, she’s simply writing a song the same as anyone else would.
Do we see Kanye getting the same level of scrutiny for making a music video with a naked taylor swift in bed with him, calling her a bitch and taking credit for her fame? No, instead, she was shamed for even being upset about all of those things.
The problem is that women are held to a much higher standard than men in the industry and it can be seen everywhere you look. Women can point it out so quick but most men not only refuse to acknowledge it, they actively speak out against it and refute anyones claims that women are treated differently by the media
@Michael Adkins Taylor Swift always win. She lives for that.
And many things she has done is for winning. If you remember the release of Look What You Made Me Do, it was received as "petty" (and I did Something Bad too).
What EVERYONE expected was an apology. And she was never going to apologize because she knew she was right. So the alternative was to release any album but people will forget about her because she was canceled. What other option she had? Make a big deal about how people always try to drag her down. And it worked. She gained attention again and kept winning with her sold out stadium tour.
Now, I can't critize her decitions to make songs about exes. Everyone does. The thing is people is obsessed with drama and will never let go. After Speak now she has always been pretty silence about who the song is about. Is media who keeps pushing.
For example, there was a lot of hate towards Ariana Grande when Mac Miller passed away (many of it blaming on her).
Too much text to defend a mediocre album, gosh
@@darielzahidpalacios1605 and you’re spending your precious time replying, so looks like we’re one in the same :)
I appreciate your takes, even when I disagree (I think the bitterness is a function of going through her back catalog for the re recording process so it doesn’t bother me, plus it’s tempered by a lot of other emotions throughout the album)! I’ve watched all your TSwift videos and I get the impression that *overall* her music is generally not to your taste (and the discourse that follows her is VERY MUCH not to your taste) but that you have an appreciation for the things she is good at, and you give her credit when she does them well. It just feels very…normal? Like a NORMAL way to talk about an artist you like sometimes but don’t absolutely love, basically I wish more of the internet was like this channel 😂
Your last sentence, right 100%. Why is it that so few people are able to just have normal opinions, like "it's not my taste but I appreciate the effort"
Yes I agree, like its totally fine some of her music or album are not your taste but you still respect her work and giving her credit.
The only thing I disagree is “Taylor still puts herself as the underdog on this album”. I mean considering this album is about past situations, she indeed WAS the underdog back then. She is not lying or kinda forcing a “poor me” vibe, it was just reality.
Would’ve could’ve should’ve shows how her 2009 abusive relationship with John Mayer traumatized her 19 yo self, and how this trauma stills haunts her to this day
Midnight rain is back to December’s older sister, also about Taylor lautner and how she admits their break up was her fault.
Lavender Haze, labyrinth and sweet nothing are full on love songs.
Question is about her turbulent relationship with harry styles.
Basically the way Taylor promoted this album (sleepless nights throughout her life) kinda doesn’t allow us to say it’s a album of her “still playing the underdog”, cus since she indeed was the underdog back then and the album IS about past (some way older and newer) experiences, the concept works
I'm a fan of Taylor but I do wish that Midnights would engage with her feelings/traumas in a more productive way than just reflection. It reminds me of when my therapist says that talking about/reflecting on your past is 100% a part of the process, but it's one that you have to move past at some point for your own personal peace. However, pop doesn't really reward ppl moving on. Whenever a big artist starts writing about their joy, they are constantly told that they have now sold out and that they are no longer ""authentic"" or ""real"" (exhibit: BTS, Halsey, The Weeknd and even Taylor with Lover). But the way Art has been commodified over the past century demands sadness and misery from artists, not healing and moving on. Ig that plays a role in the way people have received this album.
I really don't see this as regression or a bitter album. This feels more like a more emotionally centred Taylor looking back on previous relationships/public drama through a more mature lense. It also continues the trend that started in the previous 3 albums of being more open and reflective on her mental health issue in a way that feels really refreshing and unique.
I feel like Midnights is the album she needed to make at this time in her life. Not only because she clearly needed to get some feelings out that wouldn't have fit with the Folklore sound, but because, like you pointed out, the Folklore/Evermore approach was kinda diminishing returns sales-wise and probably would've continued had she stuck to it. And you could definitely look at that as pandering and cynically going back to the sound that would make her all of the money again (and I'm not saying that wasn't part of it), but I also think that someone like Taylor Swift could never really comfortably settle into being a smaller drama-free artist for the rest of her career (at least not right now), and I feel like Midnights was a way for her to recapture that audience and that side of her without completely losing the growth she showed on the Dessner albums. I wouldn't be surprised if she spends the foreseeable future alternating between albums like this and albums like Folklore, just to keep things balanced. She certainly has the clout to do it.
folklore did around the same as Lover (and is also the biggest debut of the 2020 decade before midnights) and evermore only did much lower as it had no physicals in first week of release. her sales were never diminishing
You’ve put everything I’ve felt about this album into words! I couldn’t help but feel like the majority of this album was something that we’ve already heard from her before-except just at a slower tempo? To me it was like something was…missing from this album. I was blue-balled by Taylor. (Also, the way you felt about the Bejeweled music video was the same way I felt about the song Vigilante Shit. I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes slightly when I heard it for the first time.)
The album is called Midnights & Cinderella's fun night etc ends at midnight so she wanted to do something with that as her album is titled that for a video.
I love Dessner's work with Swift so much, Evermore is 2 years old today. Best Swift album for sure.
Agree on a lot of things. I came back to her music with folklore and evermore (I disliked reputation and Lover) and I definitely knew that the next album wasn't gonna be like those two and I was fine with that. What got me was her marketing those 70s visuals with angsty/sad poses. It made me think she's gonna try out a new sound and I was a bit scared thinking what Taylor would sound like trying to make her version of Joni Mitchell or Fleetwood Mac but I was keeping an open mind. I was very much surprised that it ended up just being a continuation of reputation and Lover as if nothing happened since then. I appreciate some of the songs, there's bops and there's some great lyrics but I felt like a fool for expecting a totally different album after seeing her marketing visuals and thinking we're gonna move forward from folkmore, not backwards.
Also cannot get over some of the lines that are clearly meant to be quoted on tiktok and in insta captions.
Dude your words are literally my brain processes as I was listening to the album. I also felt like a fool thinking she was gonna try something different. I guess, to be fair, she doesn't have to but after listening to the album, it does sound a bit derivative.
I think the marketing definitely heightened mt expectations of it which made me a bit disappointed when I listened to it. I also like some of the songs but I just can't get behind the petty revenge lyrics. They seem infantile to me. I think she would get away with it before as a teenager/young adult. However, she's in her 30s now and it just seems off-putting.
My favorite tracks are Lavender Haze, Maroon, Paris, Would've Could've Should've, Bigger Than the Whole Sky, and Midnight Rain.
Hi! May I ask you if you like her country stuff more? If yes, do you think the re-recordings are much better?
Is it necessary to put T Swift and Joni Mitchell in the same paragraph?
@@gerardovazquez6441 yes :) I was listing the prominent artists of the 70s and she is one of them. If I remember correctly one of Taylor's songs is already speculated to be about Joni so it wouldn't be that farfetched to think she would make more music inspired by Joni Mitchell after putting out promo photos that look like she's referencing the fashion and interior design of the 70s. No one was comparing them, I just thought she'd use her as inspiration :D but she did not lol
@@katjau_
Taylor has taken a lot from many artists: Avril Lavigne, Robyn, Lana del Rey, Billie Eilish and in Midnights the shadow of Lorde appears but due to the simplicity of Taylor's compositional DNA I doubt that she can use Joni, not only her, anyone who try would be ridiculous. But there is an even greater impediment: the philosophical one. This is the great deficit of contemporary artists, that's why Taylor and Joni in the same sentence sounds so discordant to me. I think there is too much market presence pending the algorithm, the stream, tiktok, Billboard and all that stupidity, unfortunately many artists they feel comfortable within this decadent logic.
i just realised that all of the songs on midnights (including the 3am tracks) sample from multiple random songs from all her past albums and it wasn't just Question lmao. For example, Maroon samples from King Of My Heart (Reputation) and Lavender Haze sampled I Think He Knows (Lover). If anyone reads this comment, do you know what other songs Midnights samples from?
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) just got announced. And yes, the cycle is most definitely gonna repeat itself again.
Looks like the cycle is already getting to the Lover phase, with Cruel Summer hitting #1.
Bejeweled is a song about being in a relationship where your partner can't see your worth. And throughout the song she reclaims her worth. That is why the Bejeweled music video has Taylor playing the character of Cinderella, someone who is underappreciated. The thing is, is that no amount of money and fame can fix relationship problems, and no matter how rich and famous Taylor gets, she is still human, which is why she will have unlimited material, as long as she can still feel things.
You know the day is going to be good when mic the snare uploads
it always feels so icky hearing a man say something along the lines of "i thought she was done with that drama" like sorry you don't get to tell her what she should or shouldn't still think and feel and write about
I feel like I’m listening to a different record because Midnight’s is not at all bitter to me. Several parts feel triumphant and reflective on her career with a more mature and nuanced take on love and relationships. Particularly the recurring themes of marriage and family vs career are extremely relatable to me as a woman and most of my friends have to navigate the same thing. I’m not really sure if the underdog framework is that deep, she probably picked Cinderella to fit the “midnight” theme and because it’s fun. I know she’s a mastermind but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I always appreciate your take on things even if we disagree! Midnight Rain and Vigilante Shit are faves of mine.
When Speak Now TV is annouced…
I don’t see what’s wrong with Taylor still creating music from the perspective of being an underdog. No one seems to take issue with wildly successful rappers talking about beating the odds and fighting their way thru the industry but if Taylor does it then suddenly it’s not genuine and it’s all an act? Ultimately her music is also for listeners to relate to and she shouldn’t be obligated to only write songs about other people just because her life is too unrelatable. Food for thought…
speaking as a Swiftie who bought two copies of Midnights, I agree wholeheartedly with the issue of being disappointed/worried that Midnights is a step back and could be the sign of repeating the old cycle again; when folkmore was clearly a step forward.
so proud to see a jesus cameo! crazy how far you've come, michael the snare!
As a veteran Swiftie (established c. 2007), I kinda low key wish people will start disliking her again so that I can get those Eras Tour tickets without competition and in peace 😅
I think a lot of the reason that Taylor is still framing herself as the underdog is that like you said, she is basically the most popular artist on the planet right now, and in the age of the internet self-deprecation is like the ideal level of ego to have. If taylor started displaying any amount of self-congratulation of confidence, she would lose some amount of her audience, plus lose some level of relatability, a huge reason so many people flock to her music.
I agree with many of the comments saying some nuance was missed here. Every album by Taylor offers something new, and she obviously knows what she is doing - which is why she has been able to break so many records and have “won”. Just because she makes a dark-ish pop album doesn’t make it Reputation part 2. Who knows what she will shock us with in the future along with the re-recordings
You just wonderfully articulated all the hangups I had with Midnights. Folkmore are my favorites out of all her work and would LOVE to hear more like it from her
I agree with what others are saying about this album being a bookend of sorts! My hope is that after the re-releases are done, she'll hit a new stride and do really well creatively.
I definitely get where you're coming from with the cinderella thing, but (to give her the benefit of the doubt) I think it fits with the song and she genuinely really likes fairy tales! I'm not sure she meant to paint herself as a Cinderella of the industry, but that that's how she felt in that particular relationship-beleaguered and down trodden on a personal, romantic level rather than a professional one.
I like karma, midnight rain, and lavender haze the most off the main listing, and I like bigger than the whole sky and would've could've should've off the bonus tracks :)
Although I can't stop thinking about the fact the Midnight Rain is about Tom Hiddleston lmao, makes me laugh every time.
When I heard this album I thought it just felt like Lorde (Taylor's Version) but Reputation 2 Electric Boogaloo is probably a better way to describe it
The Cinderella retelling is literally just because it’s a famous story that talks about midnight the literal name of the album 🤨
Crazy frog still appears in Mike the Snare's videos more than Lana Del Ray did on Snow on the beach lmao.
Who cares that I’m taking an exam, my professor should understand that I need to watch mic the snare
Please study, then come back
I feel like midnights isn’t as revengeful as rep, I think it’s so dialed back : it’s a mature look back at the situations as opposed to like her actively fighting them: and to be fair when it comes to Folklore and Evermore : hoax, my tears ricochet, mad woman, closure, it’s time to go, long story short, all have at least some references to scooter, record label Scott, etc. it’s just veiled in the genre of those albums; revenge is on every album just in different forms and I actually feel like that makes her even more of an artist
Completely agree. I would rather see her create create something folklore-like or even a bluegrass or pure country record than Midnights.
I think she is Cinderella in the bejewelled music video because she felt like an underdog in her head and then she went out and became ‘Bejeweled’ and then was happy again. Not that she actually *was* the underdog
She wasn't even giving underdog vibes when she was dressed up as "peasant wench Taylor". I mean, she was rolling her eyes at and was being loudly and verbally snarky to her stepmom and stepsisters. She had this "i'm better than you/I'm so over this bs" attitude. If anything, she was actually more of an opportunist just lying in wait for the right moment to strike
She's revisiting old subject matter because This is The Re-Recordings Album. These are songs she wrote while looking back on her old work, so they are mostly about her old work. Yes, "Vigilante Sh*t" could have come off of reputation, like "Question...?" samples "Out of the Woods" and could have come off of 1989. (btw, the five songs in the same key are the ones that are looking at her past life/work in chronological order, so I think that's intentional.) The bitterness that's present on this album stems less from her past, and more from things fame and fortune can't fix. "Lavender Haze" is about trying to stay happy in the midst of sexist microaggressions, and "Anti-Hero" is about how universal (and ridiculous) self-loathing can be.
In an interview, she said the "Bejeweled" music video is for the fans, who know not only that it's a vehicle to announce Speak Now (TV), but that that album was preoccupied with fairy tales, which she felt the need to outgrow soon after ("Give me back my girlhood / It was mine first").
Can we collectively stop comparing Taylor and Kanye at this point? Kanye is using his platform to take aim at marginalized groups (which he has been doing for years), and that has nothing to do with his feud with Taylor Swift. It also doesn't mean that Kanye is past relevance. There are people who want to hear him say the hateful things he's saying, and those people have more power in this country than they've had in a long, long time. Kanye's not a joke; he's an active threat to human rights.
There's a lot to potentially dislike about this album, and I don't fault anyone for giving it a bad review, but speaking of it as though it spells the end of her creativity, ambition, and emotional growth seems like a reach. I would have loved another ten folklores, and I hope this synth-pop record doesn't mean she's done with genre exploration, but I don't think it's a step back either? I'd recommend Professor Skye's Record Review if you're interested in listening to someone explore the emotional maturity present on this album.
I am rewatching this with the TTPD release and I cannot believe how right you are.
The Bejeweled music video is just a fan-service easter eggs music video and the reason she choose Cinderella is because when you think of midnights in film culture the most prominent is the Cinderella midnight storyline lol
The second I listened to Midnights all the way through I thought, “Mic is going to hate not having Aaron Dessner.” Glad to know I was right. On another note, I understand why you might want her to embrace her stardom and stop playing the underdog, but that’s the complete opposite of the brand she’s crafted. She’s still thanking her fans in every single awards speech, acting as though she’s shocked they would listen to her music, and she’s outrageously humble for how big she’s gotten. For her to do a 180 and embrace how big she’s gotten would probably lead to #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty 2.0. And no one wants that. I understand the criticism though, 100%.
as a huge fan of taylor swift, i miss the folklore/evermore lyric style so much
Me too I would love for her to explore further this kind of writing.
But the lyricism is actually good. If the production was like evermore/folklore people would appreciate it more. Those people just can‘t look beyond the pop sound. Songs like Maroon, Dear Reader, anti-hero even midnight rain and you’re on your own kid have some of her best and most daring lyricism. I agree that some songs are a little bit eye roll worthy especially vigilante shit but this album acutally good. I feel like most people just don‘t want to scratch beneath the surface to fully appreciate the album for what it is.
@@mirrorball1135 Agree, many people dismisses her for the longest time because she's a pop star and never cared to listen to her lyrics. But the truth is she always have great lyrics, it just took folklore and evermore for some people to see that. While I do think those two albums are probably her lyrical best to date, I also enjoyed the self-reflection on Midnights. For me Midnights is not about being an underdog or a misunderstood villain story like reputation, but rather Taylor admitting her insecurities and her narcissism in the most honest ways. I always think that her ability to jump around genres should be celebrated instead of being shamed, you don't see many pop stars doing these insane and seamless transitions, but it just proves how good of a songwriter she is that she's able to jump around these genres like nothing.
I'm not generally a fan of pop Taylor. There's probably only two or three songs off both 1989 and reputation I don't skip and Red isn't much better. Folklore and Evermore were a fresh of breath air for me (and I mostly liked Lover too) but I don't think the lyricism on this album is the problem. The sameyness of the music and the feeling that it's just slowed down reputation is what makes me lose interest. On repeated listens, I've put the half of the album I'm okay with on a playlist and don't plan on listening to the other half, however good the lyrics are.
@@mirrorball1135 i agree i do think midnights has some great lyrics. the sexy baby line is one of my all time fave lines of hers lmao. it’s just a very different style of writing that doesn’t resonate as much for me.
I'm very interested in the perception of bejeweled now vs. then with the added context of ending a really private relationship and entering an incredibly public one.
Having never been a big fan before, I love this album. I’m working my way backwards thru her discography, but the atmosphere & vibe of “Midnights” is dope af
Folklore and Evermore were fantastic, imo. The Last Great American Dynasty is my favorite song Taylor has ever put out. I wish she would release more albums like those, but I also understand that it would have been harder for Taylor to tour and build hype behind those albums, given their toned-down nature. They were also released at the very height of the pandemic anyway, when touring was impossible. Midnights is the opposite of those, and honestly, it did its job in building hype for her next tour. I’ve never seen this much craze over one. Love or hate Taylor, she knew exactly what she was doing here.
Question…? Is definitely an OOTW callback! You can hear the OOTW outro vocals on Question’s chorus!
I remember listening to folklore for the first time thinking that it was the first Taylor Swift album I had heard in a long time that felt like I was listening to Taylor the person, and not Taylor the headline.
I don’t have much to say other than I agree. The themes feel like retreads. But they always do. The only songs I truly felt were uninspired thematically were Mastermind, Paris, Sweet Nothing, and Lavender Haze. That’s not to say they weren’t great songs, just that it’s the same theme of “I’m happy with my new bf” from reputation repackaged with minimal production to fit this era.
As a longtime swiftie, I was disappointed we went back to the autobiographical storytelling from before folklore, because, as she’s stated herself, it’s inherently limiting. She’s one of the most successful and richest people in the world. I think that’s why it feels like reputation part 2 in a way. Her struggles might have relatable moments, but they are ultimately above the average person.
And yeah I get that evermore was technically the last album to come out, but because of the re-records, it felt like we had already stepped back into her life before this. I’d just like more of that storytelling for storytelling’s sake. And I’d love her to explore more themes outside of love and heartbreak. Anti-hero is a phenomenal song, in part because she rarely discusses themes like that. I want more of that and less romance.
Bejeweled is not about her being the oppressed Cinderella. Rather looking back and going been there done that. Now i ghost the princes (tho before she thought she would be saved by a perfect kiss) and keep my eyes on the castle (her career and all)
I think your read on the Bejeweled video feels a little off to me. Firstly, I see no reason to assume it's a way for her to say she currently is some sort of underdog. The video ends with her in a castle, in a lavish gown, guarded by dragons. If anything, it's a nod to how far she has come. But I also think it reflects some insecurity. She's mentioned that coming back to pop on Midnights made her feel nervous after the success of folklore and evermore, so it may also reflect her sort of "return" to pop.
But secondly, and others have said this, I really don't see the bitterness as pervasive as you claim. There is bitterness in this album, but there are also songs examining past sadnesses, current loves, and insecurities. The album seems to be inspired by her work rerecording her albums, and so she is inspired to look back at and expand upon some of the ideas she wrote about in the past. I don't get the sense all the songs reflect how she feels now. I also find it weird to lump her thoughts on past romances into bitterness or whatever... like, she's allowed to sing about things that have happened to her and it isn't always about "coming back for revenge" or w/e. Some fans will take it that way but idk. It doesn't seem like her intentional artistic direction.
I really don't think Taylor's going to look at the sales differential between Folklore/Evermore and Midnights and never do anything like F/E again. The aim of F/E career-wise wasn't to sell like her pop albums, it was to boost her critical acclaim and establish that she's at the point where she doesn't need to play the pop game anymore when she doesn't feel like it. And now that Midnights has established she's bigger than ever when she *does* choose to play the game, she can kinda do whatever she wants on future releases.
Thank you. I've been hesitant to call this era a (huge) step back after Folklore and Evermore. But now, I fully see it and hope she'll move away from that underdog narrative (and that Aaron will produce more of her music).
Couldn't help but laugh when I saw the "Swiftzerland" sign.
As a swiftie, I appreciate this.
I am gonna preface this by saying NOT a Swifty. I am only a few years younger than Taylor Swift and have grown up with her music. I think her greatest strength is how relatable she is. I will never be a musical legend, but I understand her feelings. I remember crying to "Tear Drops on My Guitar" and wishing for a "Love Story" as a preteen. I remember "I Knew You Were Trouble" when I was at the age of getting into boy trouble.
The Midnight album feels exactly as she described: the midnight thoughts of a late 20's, early 30's woman. On the pop hits, I don't like "Bejeweled". It's a ear worm song for sure, but I cannot stand the disrespect for my girl Cinderella. "Anti-Hero" actually hits too close to home. I struggled with depression in my early 20's and it was HARD to climb out of the worst of it. Like she said, it's hard to root for the anti-hero, aka yourself. You have to root for yourself though because "You're On Your Own Kid". It can be depressing to think back on all the times others forced you to realize that, but also brings a feeling of freedom. I can take whatever path I want. "Mastermind" is a cute song, but is also so true. People don't just trip and fall in love with you. You have to mastermind that 'meet cute' moment sometimes. "Vigilante Shit" is a revenge fantasy, but it's not /my/ revenge fantasy. It's someone who I see in a shitty situation and think 'good for her'. There are a lot of songs about destroying the other women or the other woman trying to steal someone else's man. Why not a song about two women helping each other and becoming friends in the process? It's juicy gossip shit and I am here for it.
Wow. I am just now realizing I can write a whole essay on how I relate to Taylor Swifts songs. Not all of them. I can't relate to all of them. She's just a good measuring stick and a reassurance that "oh, so feeling this way is totally normal and okay". It also has the added benefit that a lot of good music has. It helps me reflect on my life process my feelings, and try to find a way forward.
With the keys thing that's what held me back from the album in my first listen, I felt that a lot of the songs sounded the same when I was first listening to it. So I got bored. After listening to some songs again, I realised there were some good ones but a lot did just mush together at first.
This is such a good take. I'm ready to just focus on the craft too but TTPD will probably not let anyone rest 🥹
Love this format of album discussion. Looking forward to the end of the year lists!
When the Bejeweled MV premiered, I expected everything but a Cinderella reboot. I completely agree with the idea of "why does she have to still pretend she's the underdog?"
That's my only problem with the album in general (and some bonus tracks being meh)
I’ve been trying to understand how I feel about this album and why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted since the day it was released but only now, with the conclusion of this video, I came to understand my feelings towards Midnights
I know this album has been huge and as a swiftie I really don’t get why. 🤷🏼♀️ 3am tracks and Maroon are awesome but nevertheless I don’t catch myself listening to it . Maybe it’s my fault for having expectations before having listened to anything but maybe it’s Taylor’s promotion channeling 70s vibe and it delivered shit. I didn’t want another “folklore” or “evermore”, I wanted something a bit more upbeat than that, not necessarily full pop. Ideally I’d like a 70s Speak Now or a mix between Speak Now and 1989 but I got none of them. Out of the 13 tracks, I skip almost 4-5 of them and that’s not a good sign. I know she’s a queen but…this record didn’t click well with me. The production felt rushed, repetitive, idk. Some songs seemed to build but they didn’t explode. Even bejeweled which went from skip to one of my favs could’ve been a lot better musically.
i do feel like this album only makes sense if you're a fan and you know what the songs mean, if you can't follow the stories, I understand how it can sound kinda repetitive maybe? im a huge swiftie and i love this album but i get it
I hope people can be a little bit more open and look beyond folklore and evermore. Those 2 albums were made during and represented a period of time where isolation and loneliness went rampant. And now the world is slowly opening up to normalcy, I think she feels compelled to embrace that sense again. There are some songs on Midnights standard that I don't necessarily gravitate towards but it's only due to preference, but I get why they're there after a whole listen. And I do find the 3am tracks are incredible, but I also get the idea sort of why they're being left out. Then, I do agree with a lot of people who have listened to Midnights that say this album is made for her longtime fans, those who have been listening to her since day 1 and have grown through different sounds that she have explored all these years, and it might not be for everyone.
Which bring us to the fact that she switches her music all the time. A lot of newer fans from previous album (from what i observe) just can't seem to accept that and would prefer her to stick to that sounds. I'm sure if she sticks to it, just as much as she sticks to pop or keep doing country, she'll still get some sort of disdain and probably people would wonder and say if she's going to do this kind of music for the rest of life or otherwise. She can't appease everybody. Might just let her do what she feels she wants to do.
If she wants to look back at her past and wants to write about it, wants to write different things, explore different perspectives of the same event, please do. Her writing has always been immaculate. In fact, I think I can say for a lot of her fans that what draws them to her in the first place, primarily, is her pen game. Whether it's folkmore poeticism, storytelling of RED/Speak Now/Fearless or pop rep/1989/lover, if you're familliar with her music, that's just how she writes her music over her sounds. It might sound strange or wordy or awkwardly worded over the sounds she produces, but that's her brand of writing.
Her pen game is as the result of years of honing in Nashville and country music. That stylistic nuance is always going to be there. She'll go all out telling stories and poetry over songs sounding like Folkmore, Red etc. She'll bend it a bit when she writes pop songs. And they may seemingly end up sounding off or unfitting over pop sounds, because pop songs especially in modern era are usually sound-driven and seem to have less focus on words and are not "conventionally" written they way she writes hers. She actually brings a distinct approach to writing these songs, and that is in a form of story/poetry or story-like/poetry-like presentation. And it works for her, with her and to her and certainly it works with her fans as well.
It's true that she is a titan at the moment, and she doesn't really need to present herself as an underdog. But I think she is just being grateful and humbled for what she has and always sees herself as a person who still wants to hones her craft further and may try new stuff a long the way without losing sense of who she is and her identity as an artiste. And that brand of humbleness and being grateful may come off as pretentious or she just putting a facade because she is a titan and she should have embraced the kind of stardom that she experiences now. But I guarantee if she is doing the opposite, people will still call her out for it.
And then, there's the 16-year-old career. Of course being 16 years deep into her career seems already like a long time. But 16 years is technically still young. She has a lot more years ahead of her, and a lot more new people coming in to listen to her for the first time. So, let's just let her do whatever she wants and take her time to explore things 🤷🏻♂️
I completely agree. I thought the album was fine all around, not her worst but far from the best and yet I still felt disappointed. I figured that maybe it was because I expected something new and exciting (especially after the re recordings) that built from Folklore/Evermore and got a continuation of her work with Jack from Lover instead (at least musically). But I think you got it right by noticing that the themes from reputation are back and it's all just a big loop. It kinda takes away from the perceived growth from the 2 latest albums...
I guess being at the top do be lonely tho and haters will keep on hatin and Taylor will keep on winning
reputation is actually one of my favorite taylor albums, but i couldn't get into midnights really at all, like i haven't gone back to listen to basically anything from it
it grows on you the more you listen, i promise.
@@stevnrey not for everyone, i listened to it like 4 times to see if i would like it more i did not
It’s a shame Labyrinth gets buried in that 5 track run, I think it’s her take on a Beach House track and pulls it off well
i completely agree that she 'won' in terms of other people in the industry, but i wouldn't say she is fully accepted by people either. the timing of this video also being on the day news broke that she wrote an original screenplay and is directing the movie, the first reaction to it was people saying she doesnt deserve it and that it cant possibly be good. that relates to a lot of other ways people still view her and not respect her as an artist and writer. so i would say she's won in terms of people going directly against her personally, yes. but the general public still has this view on her that isn't positive. i saw so many people since midnights came out and the ticketmaster issue come out of the woodwork saying she's overrated, she's never made a song that meant something to people etc. thats where the whole 'cinderella' thing comes in i think. people still belittling her.
I get your point, but I think a huge amount of negative reactions Swift gets, comes from the market kinda being oversaturated with her music/discourse about her. Since early 2020, she has put out so much material, won so many awards, got a lot of praise and broke records with there being seemingly no breaks in between albums. Because she is so inescapable it is easy for non-fans to get annoyed by it. And sadly, some people are not smart enough to express that in a nice way.
@@hyathumibis5187 i always thought it was because of her being so pretty and so white and so emotional and not in a “mature”way like Adele but in so many songs she’s just downright petty and I love it but society is jealous of her, in many ways she’s the very ideal kind of woman and so many people just want her to shut up and say she has nothing to say because how can a pretty white woman really have anything “deep” to say.
Also I think her music like someone said talks about men the way Drake, who has actually saturated the market too and won so many awards, does, it can be very jarring.
I also think the Cinderella thing is a throwback to how she always felt like she was Cinderella in a fairy tale but she never got the man, she got the house and the money tho.
@@gracejacobs7146wouldn't call taylor immature but she might be implusive to say and that she's always on the news also gets ppl annoyed but it's show business baby it's damned if you do and damned if you don't
@@nobodyelse7911 I meant early Taylor Swift and lover era singles clearly give off an immature pop vibe, she was winning awards with song lyrics teenagers will write in their diary at 13 and cringe at 20.
Midnights is a commentary on Taylor’s public persona vs her deepest inner self. She starts the album with Lavender Haze a song about how she doesn’t care what the media says. She’s changing the narrative around her lover. Cuddling when she’s with the cameras but ultimately looking lost and sullen when alone with her lover. She creates a smoke around them and disappears into a cloud and eventually to another kind of fishbowl. Ultimately just like in the bejeweled video she’s alone. But she’s still in the fishbowl. Then she ends the album twice. Once with mastermind both a commentary on the publicity of her relationship as well as her climb to fame. Then with dear reader she talks about how she’s an unreliable narrator. She can’t tell us everything. She’s falling apart at the seems and much of it is because of her grappling with who she is vs who she’s portrayed to be. The rest of the album is full of many diff takes on her fame, her personalities, the relationships its affected, and many more related and also unrelated themes. But the most common theme through most songs deal in some way with fame. And ultimately I think the production of the album is a commentary on that as well but my thoughts are not complete there and much longer so I’ll leave it here
She didn't win, she became the final pop boss or whatever tf
i like your willingness to be honest about your taylor opinions despite likely catching a lot of shit from taylor fans every time you invoke the name, whether positively or negatively. it’s hard to stand firm when talking about an artist whose fanbase is ever present, defensive, and incredibly parasocial. and im saying that as someone who enjoys her music. i was stunned to see peeved off taylor fans in the comments because if anything you praised her past two albums and parts of this album, so it’s not even like you’re being a hater. but i guess thats just what happens when you have even sparing criticism for the worlds most successful and beautiful and private jet flyingest perpetual underdog. again, i like her music. but i think it’s silly to jump to her defense as if she can’t overcome michael the snare pointing out tangible musical fact that the middle run of songs on the album are all in the same key
I'm sorry, but calling Reputation a sad album tells me that you don't understand it at all??
as a taylor swift fan i completely agree, this album was so disappointing to me following folklore/evermore. it feels like a regression and a 1989 remake rather reputation
As a Taylor fan since Tim McGraw, this sweet video captured a lot of my feelings. Stan or no, lovers of good music will always hope for the best
I always appreciate your viewpoint, but I have to disagree about the album feeling as resentful as reputation. With the exception of Vigilante Shit, Bejeweled, and (sorry) Karma, Swift seems much more mature and less petty. Anti-Hero is my favorite single of hers since Style for how the framing is much more self-lacerating and existentially anxious than 97% of what we get in pop music. Across the album, she's not bitter so much as she is resigned and weary, and I respect that, even if I prefer Folklore and Evermore.
Anti-Hero is quite literally the epitome of Taylor'r self-centered pick-me attitude. She's on top of the music-world, and yet feels the need to constantly frame herself as some sort of victim (here in the form of the misunderstood villain). I'm so over it.
i love this so much thank you for making this
I do find it weird that Taylor seems to be actively pursuing more fame, wealth, power, recapturing her old fans… what for becomes the big question. Maybe it’s so she can smoothly transition into film? But idk I don’t completely believe that
i think it’s important to keep in mind that taylor wrote this album looking back at her life and the events that happened throughout it (the thirteen sleepless nights). and, she said multiple times how much she liked the ideia of having an album that doesn’t feed in gossip culture. i think people are misunderstanding the concept of the album. it isn’t mostly about currently taylor, its an album mostly about topics she already talked about, and putting a new light on to it.
This is very interesting to watch after the tormented poet Society, or whatever she’s calling it got announced.
Watching this after ttpd release… this is more relevant than ever omg
What is wrong with being bitter about being so isolated that you don’t feel like a real person?
I think her being Cinderella is just her emphasizing how alone she is, she literally ends up in the castle ALONE
She doesn’t frame herself as an underdog, she knows she is not
Isn’t that ‘revenge’ mood an important element in much of country’s themes and lyrics? Maybe it’s the kind of thing that gets her going and traces back to her country roots.
I'd like to imagine that once Taylor finally gets done with all the re-recordings, she'll be free to just kind of map out her own universe through her songs. I.e. what I'm getting at here is that I would _really_ love to see a true concept album (like The Wall, Tommy, or The Black Parade) from her at some point. Like an album all about the fictional town of Woodvale and all the various characters that inhabit it.