Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” Review

By: Jes Cates

Even though I’ve never been the most avid listener of Taylor Swift, I have been surrounded by Swifties and forced to hear of their undying love of the icon. However, the release of her new album, “Midnights,” piqued my interest, so, I decided to write a review of it, using the help of my Swiftie friend, Taryn Lahr, to give me more insight. I will rate the songs based on their lyric depth, tempo, significance, and overall vibe.

“Lavender Haze” 7.5/10 - 

This is a love song. It's about how even though the media has put her through a lot, her love for her partner allows her to get past it. I liked the beat of this song especially, and I feel like it made sense with the lyrics. Overall I thought the beat and lyrics paired with the way she would often vocalize at the end of the lyrics gave the song a good vibe

“Maroon” 8.5/10 -

This is a song about a past relationship. I appreciated the symbolism Swift puts in this song. Specifically, she uses purely red colors (maroon, burgundy, scarlet, etc.) to describe glimpses of this relationship, this shows the audience that it wasn't a good relationship, as red generally has negative connotations. I also liked the choice she used to speed up her singing before ending a line with “maroon” and then pausing for periods at a time. This song is ranked higher than “Lavender Haze” because she uses specific moments of the past relationship, allowing the listener to relive her past with her, I just felt like there was more to this song.

“Anti-Hero” 7/10 -

This is a song revealing some of Swift’s biggest doubts, insecurities, and fears, such as people leaving her or killing her for inheritance. Because she’s singing about such a deep and meaningful topic--which for some is life and death--I felt like this song needed more. Going from the symbolism in Maroon to this was just a bit underwhelming. To see that Swift has the ability to make deeper songs with symbolism, like that of Maroon, but not use it was upsetting. Overall, it was a digestible song, not complete garbage, and very relatable, so I give it a 7/10.

Taylor Swift's "Snow on the Beach" cover. Credit: Taylor Swift.

“Snow on the Beach” 8/10 -

To me, this song is a story about her falling out of love with someone. She says, “It's coming down, all around, don’t make no sound, like snow on the beach,” this might be Swift talking about her relationship and how he’s quietly pulling away from her and their relationship is ending slowly. This a very versatile and relatable feeling, even if it’s not necessarily from a romantic relationship, many people relate to being slowly let go of. For some, it may get a bit repetitive towards the end, but I can understand why it was done, to set the mood, soft, gentle, and slow, therefore showing the listeners part of how her relationship feels right now. Also, many people looked forward to this song because of the collaboration of Swift and Lana del Rey, however, Rey’s contribution was underwhelming, these two artists sound very similar so at first, I thought it was Swift singing the chorus. Overall, it’s a relatable song, and the tempo and instrumentals paired with the lyrics set a good vibe. 

“You’re on Your Own Kid” 4/10 -

The next song is bittersweet, describing her past life, old  home, and a person that she cared about deeply, even though it wasn't reciprocated: “I picked the petals, he loves me not.” This song is also about her struggles leaving home and becoming a famous musician, “My dreams aren’t rare.” This song isn’t really my favorite, mostly because it isn’t a very relatable song, it’s mostly just her complaining about this experience that many starving artists are dying to have, I feel like it’s kind of unnecessary considering what’s become of her struggles, so I give it a 4/10.

“Midnight Rain” 7/10 -

This song is basically just expanding “You’re on Your Own Kid.” This again mentions her hometown, it was boring and unlikeable, but her partner enjoyed it there. But, they had problems because she wanted different things than him, “He wanted a bride, I was making my own name.” Even though they didn't work out, she still thinks about him occasionally, “And I never think of him, except on Midnights like this.” I really empathized with this song--I understand what it’s like to have people you’re close to and have to let go of because your paths are different. The reason that I’m rating this song so low is that she uses a distorted voice most of the times that she sings “He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain, He wanted a bride, I was making my own name,” this is just personal preference, but distorted voices in songs make me cringe and not fully enjoy the rest of the song.

“Question…?” 4/10 -

There was a lot in this song, I interpreted it as her having an argument with her partner, and she then questions how he feels, is he overthinking about it? Does he still miss her? These are some of the questions she wants to ask him. The only thing I don’t like about this song is, even though it has a lot of things for the listener to hold onto, it doesn’t really show how she feels. Yes, it can be inferred that this song represents her overthinking and that can be a sign that she cares about this person, but I wish we were given more. Is she mad at him? Does she think she’s at fault? I feel like these details were omitted to make this song relatable to a wider audience, but I feel like it makes the song lose some of its meaning.

“Vigilante $***” 8/10 -

I’ve always been a fan of songs that make the listener feel confident. I think this song does a good job of that. It effectively empowers its audience, specifically women, “Ladies always rise above.

Ladies know what people want,” The only reason this song isn’t rated higher is that the lyrics are kind of unrelatable to me. This song is about getting revenge on someone, specifically one who she used to be close to, and they might have dated, “You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them,” even though I have experienced wanting and getting revenge in the past, that’s not really a person I am anymore or someone I want to be, so I don’t really vibe with these kinds of songs, even though I appreciate the confident aura it has.

Taylor Swift in her music video, "Bejeweled." Credit: Taylor Swift VEVO.

“Bejeweled” 6/10 - 

This is the fastest and catchiest song of her album. I felt like it was similar to Vigilante, it definitely has that confident vibe, but I did find it a bit confusing because I wasn’t sure if she was dating the person this song is directed to, or if they’d already broken up, because she calls the person “baby,” “baby boy,” etc. but she also says this line “They ask, ‘Do you have a man?’ I can still say, ‘I don't remember,’" which makes it sound like they’ve broken up, but I can’t be certain. If they had already broken up, she is definitely saying that she still has power and hasn’t been broken by her ex. Personally, I like this version better. But, if she’s still with this person, I feel like this song is more of a slap in the face to him because it’s obvious she’s unhappy and upset with him but still stays for whatever reason. Because I, and the internet, have uncertainties about this song, I am rating it so low. I also don’t really like the vibe, I feel like it’s too preppy and almost annoying at times. 

“Labyrinth” 7/10 -

Thi is a sweet love song, but it also hints at her insecurities and fears about being in a relationship again, “Oh no, I’m falling in love” and  “Never trust it if it rises fast, it can't last.” I found this song very relatable, I think it's a widely-known feeling to be afraid of jumping into a relationship. The only reason that I rate it lowly is that she only sings the chorus around halfway through the song. I felt like there was something missing and I can’t help but blame the over-used chorus for that.

Karma: 5.5/10 -

Another confident song, this one talks about the retribution that someone is going to receive, “Karma's a relaxing thought. Aren't you envious that for you it's not?” But, unlike “Vigilante” this is more about supernatural vengeance, or at least revenge that isn’t necessarily caused by her, even though it is on her side, “Sweet like honey, karma is a cat, purring on my lap ‘cause it loves me.” This one is related so low because I feel like it doesn't really make sense with her other more confident songs, “Vigilante” and “Bejeweled.” yes they're all in a way about getting back at someone, but the idea of Karma isn’t about revenge it's about fairness, reaping what you sow. Karma is a pretty passive idea to the victim, usually used to put their mind at ease, but from her other songs we can see that Swift is not a very passive person, which is an admirable thing, but it doesn't make sense to sing a song about such a passive idea when she is “on her Vigilante S*** again.”

“Sweet Nothing” 7.5/10 - 

This is a very bittersweet and slow song. It’s about her love for this person, but they don’t have the deepest or most meaningful relationship, “All you ever wanted from me was sweet nothings.” However, Lahr thinks this song is more about the love she has for her current partner, Joe Alwyn, and how the media is really hard on her, but she can forget that with him. This is a very sweet interpretation, but I feel like the use of the phrase “sweet nothing” feels fake, like their relationship isn’t quite real, it's just about being sweet to one another, so I prefer to think of it as a past relationship that she’s been dwelling on. Overall, I felt like this song had a good vibe, the slow pace and reminiscing gave the song a very nostalgic feeling to it. The only reason it’s rated so low is that I feel like it doesn't make sense this late in the album, the song before is about retribution, and the song after is about mind games, I feel like a lot of these songs go back and forth like that, but this one is the most sudden to me.

“Mastermind” 4/10 -

I am only rating this song so high because I feel like she effectively puts the audience in her shoes, and sets a scene. I feel like this song puts Swift in a very egotistical light, this makes her seem way too full of herself, and it’s basically just her singing about how smart and clever she is. As I said previously I do prefer confident songs, but I feel like this one has gone too far. Love is not a game, and Swift should not treat it as such. It hurts to have your emotions played with, and it's equally upsetting to hear someone sing about it like it's a good thing, like she's proud of herself. And it's not okay, even if the person glorifying it is a woman. Some people consider this a love song, but I would say that it's more of a song of ownership, she sings the line “And now you're mine” three times throughout the song. You can’t own a person and you should never treat them like an object, they’re a human being and they should be treated as such.

The album as a Whole 5.5/10 -

This album had me thinking about the meaning of music, the reason it exists, and why we still have it. We have music as a way of expressing ourselves and our experiences to other people and allowing them to live that experience with us in about three minutes and thirty seconds. The way Taylor Swifts writes music, she breaks the number one rule of any English class, which is “show, don’t tell,” I found she often would give the listener how she feels without setting a scene, explaining why, or giving the listener a reason to feel with her.

Instead of using her resources to effectively give her listeners a good experience, such as her instrumental, backup vocals, the emphasis she puts on certain words, her lyrics, and so on, she simply tells her audience what she is feeling. This gives the listener nothing, this music is overall emotionless, and simply, digestible. Of course, there were several songs that I felt with, “Sweet Nothings,” “Snow On the Beach,” etc. But, the variation in quality is not something any artist should have, especially in such a drastic way.

I am giving this album a 5.5/10 because none of these songs were absolutely terrible, some of them were really good, but they did not make up for some of the other songs, “You’re on Your own Kid,” “Mastermind,” etc. were on such a lower level than some of the others, in my opinion. Plus, for a lot of these songs, I only found them not annoying the second time listening to them, so if I stumbled upon this album in the wild, I probably wouldn’t have gotten through the first three songs.