What Is Midnights?? (a video essay)
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- Опубліковано 7 жов 2024
- When I filmed this video it was VERY timely and relevant because I had started early enough for it to be done the week after then Grammys, when I assumed a Midnights retrospective would be the Most Relevant. I was extremely proud until Taylor came in and wrecked my plans. Did the extra credit but got graded on a curve, as it were. But I think the new album announcement might make this an even better time to look back on the Midnights era and try to sort out what, exactly, we got. Because it was certainly an era. But I’m not sure it was an album.
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“Sonically cohesive” (Interview for the Grammys)
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My unhinged theory is that Taylor knew You're Losing Me was an amazing track, could have been the jewel of the album, but she also knew Joe would never forgive her for releasing such a clear breakup track and wanted to give the relationship a chance.
Yup. That's what makes it a vault track. It went in the vault for the relationship and would have stayed there for a long time (or possibly forever); but when the relationship ended, there was nothing keeping it in the vault.
Jack Antonoff said it was written in Dec of 2021 so I think you're spot on. I don't like speculating on people's love life but this makes total sense to me. It's impossible to know her intentions but I'm glad we had a period of Midnights not being reduced to just "the breakup album"
@@caesar98 In the Anti-Hero remix featuring The Bleachers Jack Antonoff sings "Sometimes, I feel like everybody is an art bro lately
And I just judge them on the hill
Too hurt to hang out, talking shit about your famous baby
Pierced through the heart of 90's guilt." It's pretty clear Jack did not like Joe.
I think it was probably written after Midnights but before TTPD. I am guessing the vibe and aesthetic for TTPD would not match with You're Losing Me, so that is why it was cut from that album, possibly put through a different production and put much later, after the break-up announcement, as a part of the Midnights (Late Night edition). The real question is why are we being made to spend so much money?!
@raveenasavadi655 Antonoff posted the exact date it was recorded: Dec 2021. She sat on that track for awhile
I completely agree that the rollout of Midnights was more chaotic than her other albums. As a long time fan, not being able to have a physical version of the album with every song was incredibly frustrating! Waiting for You’re Loosing Me (one of the best songs!!) to be on streaming was so insanely long I was starting to think she genuinely forgot about it.
That being said, I disagree that Midnights is only of this moment. I think Taylor’s singles often can feel that way but the greater albums do not. If Shake It Off or You Need to Calm Down was released today, you could argue that it was “made for Tik Tok.” In reality, she often casts a very large net with her initial singles to grab those big numbers. I don’t love it but I don’t think it’s out of character.
Especially when "Would've, Should've, Could've" is a masterpiece that is a testament to her skills as a songwriter.
@@princess_intelli will not forgive her for not releasing it on the vanilla lp
And she’s at it again with TPD. She’s announced 2 variants with exclusive bonus tracks.
3 now. she needs to stop
These bonus tracks will almost certainly be on streaming before the release of the next TV. No one is forcing the purchase of all of them either. I'm buying all of them because I personally want to and can but I'm not going to act like you're fake because you don't. I'm getting them purely for the physical collector items, not the bonus tracks. I say this because I'm like 98% confident that they will all either be on streaming immediately or by the next Taylor's Version.
4!!!
@jupiterliam7961 there is NOT 4. There are 3. There are 2 standards as there ALWAYS is. The regular, and the target exclusive which is literally just a different color.
They are all on streaming now
She was slow-launching joever. I think that’s why Hits Different was kept quiet at first because it’s the first inkling that they were breaking up. Then Losing Me was reeeeally kept quiet because that was the confirmation.
This is it.
I get what you're saying (truly I do I thought the same thing)
But when I heard "Does it feel like everything's just second best after that meteor strike?" on Question...? I was like "... Either something is up with her relationship with Joe or he is VERY comfortable in their relationship and confident in himself to hear that line and not be upset" 😂
Dear reader also very clearly implied they had already broken up in my opinion. Something about “going home to a house not a home cause no one’s there”
@@justsomeone8403 that made my ears perk too. I was reminded of the Miss Americana documentary and how she felt so alone accepting albumn of the year for 1989 and stated "I went home alone with no one to celebrate" even though she was dating Calvin.
@@justsomeone8403 I think they had been off and on for a while by the time the breakup became PR official
SHES DONE IT AGAIN! as of now we have:
- The Tortured Poets Department
- The Tortured Poets Department (Physical Collector's Edition Including The Manuscript)
- The Tortured Poets Department (4x special Editions)
AND ITS NOT EVEN COME OUT
now also the albatross edition🤣
Do you go around criticizing other artists as well? Because i can tell for sure that you don't know that there's an album with 26 vinyl variants.
@@eshanidhir5831 last time I checked my other favs do an album then a deluxe, not the same album with one different song
Which one? @@eshanidhir5831 I know Ariana is following Taylor's path by making thousand versions for one song and variants for album covers.
@@eshanidhir5831you’re referring to the chart that has wrong data hold the girl doesn’t have 26 versions. also most other artists don’t put one track on each version so fans who want every song on physical need to buy each version, that’s different to different colours
I always took the curve lyric to mean she did so much extra work for it to not matter at all
Taylor swift is in her K-pop idol era lol. From the album trailer to the multiple editions to creating a promotion schedule. All she’s missing are the photo cards
She did photo cards in the 1989 era and did a cheaper version for 1989 (Taylor's Version) 😂
She’s been doing that for a while 😂
Taylor actually does have four photo cards in the collector's CD for her upcoming album 😭
@@Sarurah omg I forgot about those! 😂
The tortured poets department will have 4 photocards
As someone who doesn't really know anything about Taylor Swift, you're about to give me all the information I'll have.
Fascinating!
As someone who is *not* a 'Swiftie', where should I start? If I was to go to my library and check out a physical CD, which one should I check out?
@@Amcsae
if you like Pop music I’d start with 1989, Reputation, Lover, then Midnights.
If you like country I’d go Debut, Fearless, Speak Now (They get progressively more pop though speak now does have some pop rock elements to it)
If you like more indie-pop music then listen to Folklore and then evermore if you really want to.
And then Red is probably the one I’d recommend the most as it’s her best lyrically and has all the pop, indie-pop, and country that you might love on all her other records mixed into one solid album.
@@FellDownTheCornHole Thanks! That's very helpful 😁
@@FellDownTheCornHolerecommending Lover before Midnights is interesting…
@@FellDownTheCornHoleWhy would you do that to someone? why would u recommend reputation
I have notes on the Bejeweled line! I think “graded on a curve” is figurative, a reference to her partner/the culture around them being too shallow to appreciate her. I’ve always read it as “I make every possible effort to be a good partner to you and you only care about appearances.” Like, it doesn’t matter if she is a supportive/adoring/perfect partner, the system she’s being judged in weighs her figure above all of that. And as a the patron saint of “all I do is try, try, try” she needs a partner who will grade her extra credit and tell her that her effort is what matters.
i rly like this!! i always saw it as like she put in so much effort but it wasn’t being reciprocated so like the bar was rly low. idk if that makes sense but i LOVE this interpretation lol
I love this! Also I always heard it as the curve of her body. As in she does all this work, so prolific and masterful and creative and people still want to talk about her figure and ask when she’s going to settle down and get married and fulfil her womanhood
I feel like not mentioning what was happening in her personal life through the entire Midnights release is ironically leaving the story of how Midnights was released incomplete. There are tons of things that point to her using Midnights to navigate the breakdown of her relationship without explicitly writing about it because she was still trying to salvage the relationship. Which is why YLM was released the way it was.
Also if its industry standard to release multiple variants of an album then doesn't that mean that the sales records are still an accurate measure of the album's success?
But I like her analysis leaving that out because it just showcases how much the breakup really did change everything
Her producer let the cat out of the bag that You’re Losing Me was recorded in 2021. That’s quite a gap between it’s eventual release and the breakup with her boyfriend. There was still some plausible deniability with Hits Different. The timing of You’re Losing Me is a lot more obvious.
I think the stuff going on in her personal life had a lot to do with the chaos of all the Midnights editions.
I'm convinced that no one in the industry has much FUN with album marketing as Taylor Swift. I love a good treasure hunt, and at the end, I get an album from my favorite artist!
childish gambino, the weeknd, kanye, beyonce..
Correction: the target bonus tracks are only on the CD not the vinyl. I always forget that…and it makes me sad not having hits different on vinyl. 😢
ohh ty bc I have the target vinyl and I was so confused
As someone who lives there life not paying attention to Taylor swift I knew none of this but as soon as you started talking about the multiple versions ( the presale versions that just had different art and things) I started laughing because that’s how kpop/idol music has been doing it for years. They sell multiple versions of the same album with different covers that can sometimes interconnect and include different versions of photo cards or posters. It’s a brilliant marketing tactic and it’s interesting to see a US artist pick up on it. Also this video was very informative and clear for someone who has no clue about any of this.
She did the multiple album covers first with folklore, actually
@@neilwritesstuff arguably even earlier with the four diary/deluxe versions of lover. which to be honest are designed *exactly* like a kpop album.
the craziest thing is the 3am edition does not have its own CD/ vinyl never made one and thats crazy to me youd have to get them 3rd party
This now explains how I thought “how have I never heard this song?!” So many times after the initial album came out 😆
I also think it’s not just the lyrics Swifties like it’s her melodic songwriting, it’s how the music carries the lyrics. A lot of her songs wouldn’t work as poems, others would, and oh man does she have an ear for melody that can elevate more mid tier lyrics (itwam, tvfn, etc).
The way I see You’re Losing Me is that is a vault track in the way it was probably cut close to the announcement, and that it’s a reflection of Taylor’s personal life. Ending the album with Mastermind, then Dear Reader, then Hits Different, THEN You’re Losing me tells a different complete story, which could be either one of love, loss, self reflection or the potential of re-ignition of a lost relationship. I wouldn’t be surprised if Taylor wanted to tell the most authentic version of her story at the time of release, which was Mastermind, but her life has changed, and You’re Losing Me is a reflection of that change. So it is a vault track in the same sense that All Too Well 10 Minute Version is a vault track - a redux of the experience that inspire the album, but based on her personal reflection.
In my opinion, Midnights (standard version) is the capstone to close off her first 10 albums. It chronicles the story of where's she has been, and where she is now. There are so many callbacks to her previous work, both sonically and lyrically-- Maroon to Red, Karma to Reputation, Sweet Nothing to Folklore, etc. The two centerpieces of the record, Mastermind and YOYOK, serve as dual thesis statements for her current relationships to love and life respectively. I don't think it's spaghetti thrown at the wall so much as it's a retrospective on her career thus far.
This is such a good take.
This is such a beautiful interpretation, I love it
Exactly!! and that’s exactly what she said that the album was about, she made a point to tell us that it was 13 sleepless nights THROUGHOUT her life, which makes the eras tour an extension of the album as well!
Yeah but it’s not very good. It sounds muddy and distorted and it’s just a bunch of forgettable songs that will not become classics. Is anyone really dying to hear Lavender Haze again?
@@kittymaya4615yes I love lavender haze. Speak for yourself
i personally see midnights as a collection of scattered thoughts as Taylor’s 6 year relationship was breaking down. This is why the story is not cohesive. Some days she needed it to end some days she was madly in love some days she was indifferent. You’re Loosing Me is the core message of the entire album and it was hidden because taylor didn’t want the news of the breakup being shared yet. The true message of midnights which is a breakdown of a relationship was disguised to hide a breakup. Overall i see its message most close to red with the many scattered thoughts. However, I think it’s less diaristic because she was hiding the true message of the album whether it was to herself or the world. I am very excited for poets as i think it’s going to be the exact opposite and the most diaristic!
It's like trying to follow the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but music marketing.
And that’s just Midnights the album. All her other albums are their own worlds.
Your question of 'will we listen to midnights and more specifically anti-hero in 5 years?' is super interesting. I hadn't thought about it before. And I think the answer might be no. In a way Midnights has more 2022 vibes and screams more 2022 and even folklore and evermore scream pandemic, which is fascinating to me because I can't stomach a lot of the stuff I listened to or watched during 2020/2021, but I go back to folklore and evermore every few month.
I think it might be "yes" because it (to me, a swiftie) reads like a retrospective of her work in the middle of her TV project. It also has many, many 10/10 excellent Taylor Swift songs.
I suspect that once TTPD is out, midnights will hit different (pun intended)
Speak for yourself mama
My teachers always used “grading on a curve” very loosely. Like it wasn’t a literal curve they basically meant that it was “relaxed grading” but they also did give extra credit. Basically they did what they could to give everyone a chance to succeed.
But I think you can also think of a curve grading as something that’s just.. unfair
Watching this not because I'm a Swiftie, but because I'm a Babbitie. A Katie. A...hang on, I'll crack this.
A Babbie.
@@LordMogatron Or a Babbity. Just to keep it simple.
As some people already said, what Taylor did with Midnight is basically the kpop norm. She just needs to start giving photocards with her physical copy albums now lol
Also, I found the part where you talked about the lyrics vs cohesion dichotomy very interesting. Maybe that’s why I don’t like many of Taylor’s albums as a whole body of work that much, liking some tracks instead. In the western side of music I’m used to listening to albums that focus more on being cohesive, not as much about the lyrics and story. So yeah, nice video! Gave me some things to think
I preordered the deluxe version of her newest album and it comes with 4 pc, they even call them photocards in the description haha (tbh though she has had inclusions/photos in her albums since at least 2014 with '1989')
Looking at the rollout of the Tortured Poets Department, it is interesting how she's sorta dialled back the rollout for it. Like, we haven't gotten all these variants yet- and so far, one bonus track and it's been two weeks since the announcement dropped- so that's interesting. We also have the tracklist now when last time it was spread out. So that's interesting.
There is a rumor that the track list was leaked, it would make sense since that is a great way to market the album and to just release it all right next to the album announcement is kind of weird.
It hasn't even been a full week since the announcement, let alone two. There's probably more chaos on the way. But I agree that the rollout so far is noticeably different from Midnights.
@@cardiganweather I was referring to just the track list, I would hope that there will be more promotion lol
i believe the common consensus is that she put out the tracklist because it leaked immediately. also, two weeks? i had to google it again to see if ive been losing track of time, but no, as of time of writing it's been exactly 7 days. that is to say, way too early to draw conclusions about this album roll-out.
today she announced another version of the album, including a exclusive bonus track for it... I think she'll release at least 4 versions, The Manuscript, The Bolter and for more 2 exclusive songs
I think Midnights is so messy because it contains a lot more content about her relationship with Joe Alwyn than we were made to believe. The relationship was breaking down and songwriting sessions were producing a lot of music Taylor wasn't comfortable releasing while that relationship seemed somewhat salvageable. I think that's why You're Losing Me was released so late, despite Jack admitting it had been written in 2021. I think she was proud of it, regretful that it couldn't go on Midnights, and yet it didn't really fit the vibe of TTPD, which I truly believe will contain the rest of those heartbreak songs she held back while she still had hope. I suspect she came up with the concept of Midnights at some point to disguise the true nature of the songs from either fans or Joe himself, released those that could have varying interpretations, and may have written a few songs in support of that concept to really sell it. Like Question...? and Vigilante Shit. And don't forget, we got All of the Girls... during the Midnights era as well. It wouldn't be totally out of the question to assume Midnights contained some of her Lover Era writing content, the most recent album she'd released while in love with Joe and still sonically similar to the Midnights project. Maybe Paris. Or Mastermind. The release of Midnights was equal parts marketing and sales strategy and pure chaos, the kind that can only come from a conflict between Taylor's truth and PR.
WAIT you’re telling me Taylor hand selected the 13 original midnights tracks that had sonic cohesion in order to win the Grammy ( allegedly ) AND THE FINAL TRACK ON THE STANDARD IS MASTERMIND????
this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is such a helpful entry in my "content i watch to understand Taylor swift as a cultural phenomenon as a non swiftie", so thanks. Had no idea any of this went on. I listened to midnights once or twice when it came out and moved on. Personally I think this level of music industry gameification would kinda get on my damn nerves as a fan after a while but if it's working for you guys I'm happy for you haha. That final bit does confirm to me that album of the year should have been SOS if the grammys had actually judged the albums as works of art that are detached from what the artist has going on otherwise.
A pretty sizeable chunk of the fan base actually is very tired of the gameification of her music/merch releases. But, as other fans remind them, the way to make that stop is to not buy every edition that's released, and not buy merch every time there's a drop. You vote with your wallet, but some of the fans will complain that they feel it's scammy or a cash grab, and then buy all of it anyway.
@@cardiganweather as a fan I totally agree. She is free to release multiple versions but you are also free to buy Just One of them. For TS11 I'll wait at least a year before buying a physical Copy so I Will be able to valuate what version I'll like best. It's really Easy to do.
In case you haven't seen it yet (though you probably have beause it rightfully has a ton of views), Alexander Avila's "This Video Isn't About Taylor Swift. It's About You" is FANTASTIC.
I'm also not a swiftie but I find Taylor Swift and the culture surrounding her fascinating.
i'd actually argue that the album i'd deem to be the most deserving on the 'ignore everything else' criteria would be lana's ocean blvd. several of the nominated albums had huge reasons (other than their core tracklists) which led to them being so eagerly received; sos because it was sza's first work after such a long gap, endless summer vacation because of how huge flowers was, midnights because of the sheer scale of the taylor sector.
but ocean blvd arguably had literally none of these factors; no top ten lead single, no huge wait beforehand, no personal life drama surrounding it. in fact it was kinda the opposite, with lana having released two whole new albums barely even two years prior to its release, two albums that didn't receive huge levels of commercial or critical success, and the hype for the album was arguably not that great prior to its release. it's almost purely the strength of the album as a body of work that's led to it being so acclaimed.
i think sos was absolutely deserving, it's a brilliant album. but if we're looking solely at albums which had few or no exterior factors affecting their success, i think ocean blvd would probably come out on top.
My understanding of the grading on the curve metaphor, as a burnt out gifted kid, is the speaker/Taylor has been doing all the work but still didn't feel like she was being rewarded for it, so she took on self assigned extra credit to chase that 105 grade. And then the curve came in and just said whoever did the best in class gets a 100. She was one of those overachievers for whom an A was expected and thus an A+ was the only way to feel accomplished, and then after she did all the extra work she was dragged back down, her efforts written off.
I haven't actually listened to the song tho so maybe the full context proves me wrong 😅
The craziness you describe surrounding this album mirrors the period of her life. While writing this album, she was in a six-year relationship that was slowly ending, coming out of COVID, and rerecording her old music. This all fed into the seemingly disordered release chronology. However, I do think all the songs, regardless of the Midnights "edition" they were on, fit the sleepless nights theme - things that keep you up at night. You're limiting this theme to the introspective, even painful stuff, but you can stay awake into the wee hours of the night because of joy, excitement, anger, and frustration. It's an album about ruminating, nostalgia, talking to your younger self, and facing your demons (all because it won't let you sleep if you don't). I think despite its insane length (only rivalled by RED), it will have enormous staying power and will continue to grow on people.
“between the couch cushions” made me lose it 😭😭😭
tbh , we finally just need a version of midnights like
Midnights (Up All Night Edition)
1. Lavender Haze
2. Maroon
3. Antihero
4. Snow On The Beach (Featuring MORE Lana Del Ray)
5. You’re On Your Own, Kid
6. Midnight Rain
7. Question…?
8. Vigilante Shit
9. Bejewelled
10. Labyrinth
11. Karma
12. Sweet Nothing
13. Mastermind
14. The Great War
15. Bigger Than The Whole Sky
16. Paris
17. High Infidelity
18. Glitch
19. Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve
20. Dear Reader
21. You’re Losing Me
22. Hits Different
23. You’re On Your Own, Kid (remix)
24. Sweet Nothing (remix)
25. Karma (Featuring Ice Spice)
26. Lavender Haze (acoustic)
27. Antihero (acoustic)
28. Karma (acoustic)
My personal theory is that releasing You’re Losing Me right before the NJ/NY shows was her way of telling us why she wouldn’t be playing Cornelia Street as a surprise song that weekend! Like that was her saying-this relationship ended really badly and I can’t walk/sing Cornelia Street right now.
The midnights era was probably one of the best for me. I was going through a rough time by the time it came out so listening to the album when it first released really changed my mood. I even bought my mom the Target exclusive cd with Hits Different and those two remixes as a Christmas gift. I also got so excited when the Late Night & Till Dawn editions came out because I was not expecting them to come out at all and they came out on the day after my birthday. By then Hits Different was available to stream on Spotify. And then You're Losing Me was able to be streamed on Spotify a few months after it came out. I can't wait for The Tortured Poets Department next.
Thank you for this. I love Taylor so much but at the end of the day, she is a capitalist obsessed with getting validation from charts. After rep wasn’t nominated she was crushed and said “I’ll have to make a better album” and I’m like WHY THOUGH???? Rep tells such a great story of how she was at her lowest and found peace and light in that dark place and told her side of all that publicity mess. WHO CARES if the Music Industry™ didn’t wanna award it?!?! All the chart obsessed releases are exhausting and starting to become exploitative.
Amazing video, and no pressure but genuinely hoping the Samantha eras shirt is an easter egg of your own for what's on deck!
It's funny when you present the album schedule and teasers as something weird and groundbreaking when she's really just doing a kpop release schedule to the T including different album versions to sell more and visual teasers and release event
And then with the 3AM tracks she just did a repackage lmao
Can't wait for Taylor to add in different language versions of songs onto her albums to follow the total Kpop wave
@@magicmike191v2 you know she has to appeal to the Japanese market lmao
I feel like people say a lot about Taylor's Eras and marketing. And I'm not shaming it, but it does give Kpop vibes
Such a fantastic and well articulated video!!!
Omg my fave!
You have easily been one of my favorite UA-cam channels. I’m so glad I discovered you.
WE NEED MORE TAYLOR SWIFT CONTENT FROM YOU THIS IS AMAZING
I’ve been confused about what Midnights is about since its initial release, but it hasn’t helped that each subsequent rollout has recontextualized it in very different ways. 3AM tracks like Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve, seem to encourage the interpretation of Midnights being about her past break-ups and more matured perspective looking back on them, which is further helped by Maroon or Question…? But then what the heck is up with Bigger Than The Whole Sky? Hits Different and You’re Losing Me seems to paint the album as a denial of her affected relationship with Joe, but that just makes the unrelated tracks seem like tangents, plus it completely makes Mastermind or Sweet Nothing as last tracks seem so out of place, like they didn’t read the room
Every time Taylor is now announcing a new version of TTPD with a new bonus track I think of this video omggg
god i love midnights and midnights era so much. i didn’t realized that until this video essay. THANK YOU
MMWM was such a great time. Screaming, crying, throwing up, punch me in the face.
I Like some of Taylor's music but she really is all about the $$$$ isn't she.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I love how you explained this topic and also acknowledged the conglomerate that is t. swift
This was such a good video, you really cleared up that chaotic era, thank you!
I love your videos, becuase you can make anything interesting. The passion that exudes from you voice about a topic makes everything you post worth watching! Your scripting is amazing
i love this video ! i think a lot of the points you made about the album itself were made by swiftologist "midnights does not deserve aoty" video (i don't know if you've seen it but it's a really good video too!). 100% agree on what is midnights without the moment in time it was released and more importantly, what is midnights without the eras tour. The only songs i think would have like a lasting legacy from midnights is YOYOK, which really encapsulates her journey up to this point....cause that's just midnights ! And anti-hero just by pure extension cause it was a massive hit, i think I'll be a staple in the upcoming tours. But like you said, just the grammy poster thing says it all. I'm happy she got the aoty because i love her and her work but i feel kinda sad for the other contenders and also worried about built up resentment and hate towards her from the general public for all of this.
Anyways I'm just hoping she goes back to a "normal" era with TTPD and she tries something new, idk why but I'm quite confident with this one !
Also! I kinda disagree with You're losing me not being a vault track! A vault track is just a song that didn't make the cut for the album, which according to what Jack Antonoff said about it being written on december of 2021... it absolutely is a vault track! She just didn't include it on the album because she didn't want to share it with us yet because she hadn't decided on the whole joe thing. I think it could've been included as a 3am track if she had been willing to giving us that piece of information, but she wasn't yet...so it was kept in the vault. I do not like the way it was released, but i do think it fits the definition of a vault track!!
i remember when it came out listening to the 13 songs to impress my swifty ex boyfriend for some reason (we were exes at the time and still now so idk why i wanted to impress him but anyways were still on semi friendly terms) and after we talked about the album we went back to our barely talking and just viewing each others insta stories so id forgot all about it and i just ignored all the bonus tracks so now hearing about it baffles me with just how many there are???
Love your thoughts about the Grammys and midnights-thank you for articulating why I didn’t feel great about its AOTY win. I love the album! But I agree, it felt more like an award of Taylor’s massively popular appeal and her as an artist, rather than an award for the album and its respective impact.
this is genuinely one of the most enjoyable videos i’ve seen lol. i constantly rewatch it and it doesn’t even have to do with the topic by itself, even though it is what brought me here, you should do more music related vids !
I do agree that Midnights didn't win because of itself, but it won because of how huge Taylor Swift was, I mean she was TIME's person of the year. If it were for me, I would have given AOTY to GUTS or SOS.
Sincere question: I'm curious to know how people who are fans of TS and the album feel about having to spend 3+ times as much money to get the whole album physically? Especially if you have to buy a whole new album for just one or two new songs? I don't have any special insight, but I think if an artist I love did that, I might feel a little financially exploited?
I mean personally, the multiple collectors editions and easter egg hunt of songs does piss me off. But also you don’t HAVE to spend that much money. I’ve been around long enough to know these songs will eventually make their way to streaming (or some other secret illegal thing) and won’t buy more than the standard edition. I don’t understand the people who buy into it and actively go out and buy every version. some of the younger fans, i get how they can fall into the trap, and that for sure feels exploitative. but I think most older swifties with a brain recognize that her whole merch/store/album sales system is consumerism to the max. unfortunately, as long as it’s successful and enough people buy though, she will keep doing it. 😒
Agree with this. I know the kids do it. Their parents and aunts and uncles etc buy them different versions or they have part time fast food jobs for spending money and they are young with no mortgage or auto loan to pay so I see the kids buying all these different versions of their idols output. We that are adults with bills to pay are not so quick to do that. As for me I will wait until all the versions are released and I will pick one cd or vinyl with the bonus tracks and cover art I want and that will be what I purchase as a physical copy. Until then I will listen on streaming. I can’t order a new copy of the same album every week with one new bonus track. Also it really pisses me off that I waited and got the late night edition of midnights thinking I had the last cd with all the bonus songs and I still had to buy Hits Different on iTunes. That’s just messed up and I’m getting tired of this. I love Taylor but it shouldn’t be this hard to buy one complete album.
@@brandyl2183 Yeah I said all this and then she just announced another edition of TTPD with a different bonus song. I’m tired of this shit. 😒
@@tuxegirls Yes and we have 2 months before the album release. This is only the beginning of the variants.
Many international swifties dont own anything, like me, so its like whatever, just one copy of something is amazing, like, she had never performed in LaTam before the eras tour
We will now need a new video like this for ttpd
More Taylor Swift content please! I love a good analytical lens on her work!
I have been a Swiftie since debut and had no clue about You're Losing Me until maybe two or three weeks ago when it randomly played on one of my autogenerated spotify playlists. TO be fair, though, I wasn't following the tour stuff because I couldn't get a ticket and that made me sad lmao. This is such a strange album timeline though, and I remember being super confused and getting even more confused as more tracks/album versions released. Very interested to see how the new album goes.
Also, concerning the end ramble, I always interpreted it as "I put in all this extra effort, but you're giving out extra points to the people that are failing/doing nothing so all of my hard work is going unappreciated." I just got out of a long term relationship that was very Tolerate it/You're Losing Me core, so that's how I saw it. Like you give all this time and praise to all your friends, etc. but I'm putting in all this work and I don't get shit. I still don't know if that makes perfect sense, but that's how I'm going to continue to interpret it.
21:10. There is no way to own Glitch and Paris physically. The 3 AM edition is only exclusive to streaming!
i think she was scared to release you’re losing me bc she was very much in a full relationship with joe when the original version came out, so she put it away. then when she remembered it, she was like “let me make more money real quick”
For me Midnights is very similar to Reputation in the way that they both represent a very specific moment in time; it’s one of those things where if you weren’t there when it came out, you probably wouldn’t like it as much, and I bet that most people will forget about midnights as they did with most of Reputation’s tracks; they’re definitely not her best albums, but being there at that moment and experiencing it all is what makes those two albums for me; a very strong feeling of nostalgia, and longing.
I don’t how this correlates with the video just kind of wanted to talk about this.
I feel you
But Midnights doesn't represent a specific moment in time. It's an album from many times in her life. Statistically speaking Rep is one of her most popular albums. I'm not sure what planet you're living on
@@cosmoslady i get what you’re saying, i know midnights is a representation, and reflection on her career, but i’m talking about the time it released, how the album represents it; the time of the re-recordings, and the eras tour; it’s a very specific moment in her life that will stick in my mind everytime i listen to the album, and it reminds me of moments of my life when i was experiencing the album’s moments happen in real time; i i don’t know if im just saying shit out my ass but this and reputation give me very specific feelings when i listen to them and this is my attempt at describing it.
as for reputation being her most popular album, its because of the re-recordings, no one really talked about it that much before the re-recordings, especially the b side of the album.
i hope i gotten my point across.
@@spbrk yeah it’s much more cohesive in my opinion, and better written, but i like how midnights captures taylor, with its kind of cringe lyrics, it feels like her, and i mean that in the best way possible.
@@Idontexist10 I get what you're saying but I feel that way with every one of her albums. Hearing it for the first time captures that moment in time in your mind and you associate that album with it for evermore! (see what I did there!? lol). 1989 brings back so many memories for me. Love does too.
Rep is her third most streamed album and has been for years. It was second before Midnights came out. I think perception of what albums are popular depends on where you live. Speaking in America, the East Coast is more Lover, the West is more Folkore, the Midwest more Rep. But overall Rep, Midnights, and 1989 are her most popular albums.
I have no thoughts about or investment in Taylor Swift, but you’re being absorbed into my knowledge bank for “media to have thoughts on without engaging directly with the media”. Thank you! 😅
Great video! Very much how I feel about midnights! Also, I’m shocked to hear TTPD news because to me, the Eras tour is also very distinctly the Midnights Tour. Like, the two exist together and to benefit eachother. It seems so odd to release a new album during the tour that celebrates your entire history with the centerpiece being your latest! I guess we shall see!
The rant at the end was sending me
Love this video so much! You hit so many good points about why I have the hardest time enjoying Midnights. Mainly I think it's because a lot of the tracks were made in a lab for social media, namely her lyrics. Any sound-byte of any song can be an 15 second reel or tiktok. I applaud that she wanted to make another pop album after folklore/evermore, but even 1989 and Reputation had a rich depth to the way she wanted to craft the image and sound. Midnights really feels thrown together in a way that isn't Taylor's usual M.O. It kind of makes me uneasy that TTPD will end up the same way.
i would love to see video essays for her other albums!!
Not really into Taylor swifts music but this popped up in my recommended. Great video, it’s very interesting to try to understand the music industry’s marketing. I mean the overarching theme is quite obvious, but I liked how you outlined the chaotic timeline.
this was so good!!! cant wait for your analysis on her new personal album called the tortured poets department
Midnights to me as a concept is the perfect era for Taylor to have the “eras tour”. The prologue for midnights was very reminiscent to not just her “romantic life” but what she’s currently going through now with the re-records. She always said midnights to her was a writing prompt so to me songs being interchangeable makes sense.
“It’s a Midnights track getting the evermore treatment” 😂😂
Girl u just came on the internet and spoke straight facts. thank you for this
As I've seen other creators talk about Midnights I've made my own idea. I think the first chunck of releases was very intentional on a marketing point. She wanted people to buy multiple versions to be able to experience the full album. HOWEVER! I also think that as she became aware of the public's response to Midnights she decided to "correct" her "mistakes" (lets think about Snow on the beach feat more lana del ray) with a new version. Regarding You're Losing Me I'm convinced she didn't want to put out the song maybe because it felt too personal or too close to The Tortured Poets Department 's theme. I think she decided to put the song out on a whim or maybe because something happened in her personal life idk. I think you're losing me is really a gift in some way as much as a marketing move.
Huh. It would be interesting if You’re Losing Me was originally for Poets. She said she’s been working on it for two years.
Probably not, but it’s an interesting thought.
@@IUsedToBeAnAdventurerLikeYou IT IS a fun idea. The only thing that makes me doubt Is the facts that She released It anyway before the album. Most likely you're losing me inspired her to keep writing After Midnights was done. Making up this theories and talk with other fans it's Just too FUN!
Ahh I really appreciated your analysis- made me realize why although I loved Midnights (sonically) I have been struggling (lyrically) with what it's really about at its core, when I find it feels thematically fractured and hazy
It also helps me understand why 1989 which was lauded for its sonic cohesion doesn't do it for me quite as much as Red and Reputation where I can really feel my way into and live in the writing- so helpful to conceptualize it as lyric vs sonic!
Your tangent at the end about the grading on a curve line is how I feel about the "You were Romeo, I was a Scarlet Letter" line from Love Story. I know it's older, but I think about that line a lot and what she meant by it. I genuinely have no idea, because Juliet and Hester are not even a little bit the same character, and Shakespeare and Hawthorne are not even a little bit contemporaries.
The grading on a curve rant in the credits was the best part of this video, I love you lmao
Minor note on the "grading on a curve" commentary over the end: the only time I ever had teachers curve grades was when there was a test or assignment that the majority of the class did SO poorly on that the instructor decided that some of the questions/assignment components were fundamentally flawed. So they threw them out, effectively, by adjusting scores overall for everyone. So if you happened to be one of the handful of people who did the all of the work or had actually studied for the exam and had no problem even with badly written questions (hi, it's me. I'm that kid, it's me), you had ultimately zero positive effect on your grade while everyone else was raised up for....literally not doing the work.
Whether that's the true pedagological definition of grading on a curve or not (and now I'm questioning everything I thought I knew), that was my experience with it, so that's how I interpreted the lyric. FWIW.
Saying 1989 is “timeless” is questionable 🤨 maybe it’s because I grew up with it but it’s _very_ 2014 to me, _especially_ the singles…maybe nostalgia is talking there?
Also, I think fixating on “sleepless = bad” when the songs on Midnights that aren’t Trauma Central are about staying up all night partying, probably doesn’t help the whole “Midnights isn’t cohesive” thing.
My theory is that Midnights depended so much on whether her relationship survived or not. She thought in late 2021 when she began recording, that her relationship was basically DOA. But it did survive for a year beyond You’re Losing Me being recorded (Dec 2021), so she redesigned the whole idea behind Midnights. Then her relationship DID end, and she was like well…could’ve just kept the original idea. Put the breakup tracks out there now I guess.
Okay Swifties, help me incode this real life phenomenon please 🙏 I was talking with my boyfriend with my phone in my purse and it started randomly playing “message in a bottle” My relationship is healthy; it’s new (6 months) but the most fun I’ve ever had with another human. I’m not convinced it’s about that relationship. Is it my relationship with me? My family? The world? 🤔
I LOVE Midnights, but I agree it wasnt Album of the Year. Do I think she eventually would've won a fourth AOTY? Yes. But I do wish she hadn't broken that record with Midnights? Also yes.
When it comes to You're Losing Me, although topically it fits the concept of Midnights better than some other tracks, for me it is a vault track, especially since sonically, it sounds like a demo. It was retrieved from the cutting room floor without polishing it up. I don't think of it as part of the album for that reason.
The thing is, a lot us Swifties are older and have been her fans for a long time. And a lot of us don't use social media like you younger folks. I don't have Twitter, FB, IG, literally anything. So i have to wait for the news to tell me what I need to know about upcoming stuff from Taylor, or of course UA-cam. I didn't really see the rollout of Midnights. But I have noticed with that album and 1989 (TV) that she's getting carried away with all these different versions. I buy one physical cd and that's it. I actually protested Hits Different for the longest time. "If she doesn't want me to hear it then fine, I won't." Same with You're Losing Me.
Wow what a great video. I basically agree with all your point!
And now you made me think about the curve:
1) already metaphorizing a relationship as a classroom positions love as a power struggle.
2) she did all th extra credit because she thought that's what the class (=the relationship) was. she thought that was the system and that effort will be rewarded/appreciated
3) but they switched it out on her - her effort was useless all along, she was always doomed to only be appreciated by comparison to others, in a system outside of her control
4) so she's switching it up BACK, and becoming the teacher herself. in the power struggle of the relationship (which is unhealthy regardless but whatever!) she is now on top.
I loved the little rant at the end.
The way this video introduced me to the fact that a Lavender Target exclusive album exists and there’s a piano version of Sweet Nothing and a strings remix of YOYOK. Getting on spotify rn
never stop making videos pls 🫶
I'm gonna be real, I didn't realise You're Losing Me was connected to Midnights (I've listened to it and consider myself a Swiftie)
i really love your enthusiasm. literally sat down for whole 30 minutes, which i never did before. keep up the good work :D
As a big Swiftie, the Midnights era really angered me. It felt like the selling of multiple versions to make a clock and the multitude of album versions with different songs were super unreasonable, because she should know that fans will buy everything she puts out. It feels very cash-grabby, not to mention the landfills all those copies will end up in one day...I really hope she takes a different approach for TTPD.
You put into words exactly what I’ve been thinking but have had no way to articulate 😍😍
Thank you for your videos!!!
How does it feel to be right every single time?
Lately, I find myself getting very annoyed at Taylor's business model. All these releases and re-releases do wonders for numbers, sure, but it feels a bit exploitative of her *VERY* dedicated fan base. The staggered releases so that people have to make multiple purchases on her website (which means that 1) you're gonna pay for shipping multiple times and 2) you might not subconsciously notice just how much money you're spending, because it's multiple smaller amounts instead of one big purchase) feels shady to me, not to mention a 20 dollar price point of a RENTAL for a movie most people had already seen, using the extra songs as an incentive for people to rewatch and then doing it in the laziest way possible? I know it's not out of the ordinary, I know it's a way to get the most out of the industry, but to me it feels like sometimes it's at the expense of her most dedicated group of fans. Did I pay an exorbitant amount of money for VIP tickets to the tour? Yes. It was worth every penny, and I would pay it again. But did I tell every person I could about where you could easily find a high quality torrent for the eras tour film? Aye aye.
Small opinion here:
I think her vinyl and CD releases should be used to give a chance to those who couldn't afford to preorder fast enough, not for richer people to hoard and collect. Supply and demand really. But then some people end up buying different editions of the same album while some are still left empty-handed so it does feel like an exploitative business model
Yes! I preordered midnights then when I woke up and saw there was a deluxe edition I was just like oh. Taylor is in her cash grab era. The different colors and stuff are fine as merch/collectors items, but to make it so expensive to even get the songs is just really making me lose interest in any of it.
This is already starting to happen with TTPD. One version has ‘the Manuscript’ but not ‘the bolter’. And another version is the opposite. I wonder if we’ll have an album that winds up putting those together.
Since both Karma and anti-hero have seen big increases in streams since being taken off tiktok, I guess that’s a start to answering the longevity question. The songs don’t need tiktok.
i NEED your analysis of tortured poets- both the release and the album itself
Many artists do Delixe editions of their albums but Taylor abuses this system to get more money out of her fans. This is a critique Ive had of her since the early 2010s. Where Im from We dont have Target, so I didnt get to listen to those extra songs legally. But also, Im not paying for several versions of the same album for extra songs. The fans are very dumb to support this BS. If everyone pirated her extra songs, she would stop doing this shit. But y'all will buy 4 versions of the same album. I guess thats why they say her fans are white rich girls.
Taylor is my age and I've grown up alongside her with her music as the soundtrack of my life. But its important to recognize that someone can be a good poet/song writer, musician and not be a good person. She is not a good person
I think all that you described indicates a return by Taylor Swift to an aspect of her career she LOVED from debut through 1989 which was engaging directly with fans, releasing things for the fans, etc. Her relationship with Joe Alwyn severely curbed her ability to do that, and so to me it makes sense that for midnights (which we now know is a "breakdown" album regarding their relationship) she'd focus more on returning to that fan engagement.
midnights personally is my favorite album and is 100% cohesive, but i see your point
Rewatching this after TTPD ‘s come out really has me wondering what her thoughts on this album’s release are 🤔
Omg I watched your video this morning, and then right now I just found your Disney princess dress dilemma short again. I had already seen the video but I was like “where else have I seen this girl?” and when I looked at your channel, there was this video. I just thought I would share this weird roller coaster, I also am going to subscribe because this video was great!
In my experience, “grading on a curve” was more about adjusting the difficulty of tests to make sure they’re fair. Like, if you’re a competent teacher and you are administering a test you expect the kids to get varied results because some kids are smarter than others and some kids don’t apply themselves. But you still expect some to do well. So if the kids that you know are smart and diligent about doing their homework and paying attention in class are NOT doing well on the test… it might not be a them problem. It could be that the material wasn’t taught well enough or it could just be that the test itself was too difficult. So by taking the highest grade in the class and bumping it up to 100 and shifting everyone’s up that amount you are balancing out the possibility. If you taught the class well and your test was fair and not overly nitpicky, you probably have at least a few kids getting 95+ and aren’t bumping much up. I’ve never seen it go the other way as the entire point is for kids to learn and do well. If everyone is doing great you would probably just either teach more stuff or make sure the tests are covering everything sufficiently, as that’s weird. But even that would probably not be that concerning unless even the kids that suck at school and don’t pay attention are also doing great.