By SOPHIA WODATCH, Contributing Writer
If you follow pop culture, you know that Taylor Swift has been trending in anticipation for her newest album, “Midnights,” her tenth original album, released at midnight on Oct. 21.
Currently, Swift has been in the process of rerecording past albums, so the announcement of an album full of new songs was incredibly exciting, especially to her fanbase, the Swifties. To keep anticipation levels high, she posted TikTok’s that released each track title. In Swiftie lore, certain track numbers correlated to a certain type of song. Swift met everyone’s expectations; “Midnights” racked in over 170 million streams within its first 24 hours.
During the first listen-through, a couple of songs jumped out to me: “Anti-Hero,” “Karma,” and “Mastermind.”
“Anti-Hero” received the honor of getting the first music video. It acknowledges Swift’s tendency to leave hidden messages, definitely a nod to the fans. The catchy chorus starts with “It’s me/Hi/I’m the problem, it’s me,” providing context behind the title, with support from the end of the chorus, “I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror/It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.”
“Karma” held a lot of potential in the fan community. Karma was allegedly the title of a scrapped 2016 album written by Swift amidst the “Famous” scandal with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. This song definitely fits the theme of, well, karma. It mentions talking shit, betrayal, and telling lies which all apply to Swift’s side of the infamous online drama.
Lyrically, fans, including myself, thought “Karma” to be reminiscent of Swift’s album “Reputation” which also had clear ties to the aforementioned drama. The pop beat adds a different layer, with the chorus of “Cause karma is my boyfriend/Karma is a god/Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend/Karma’s a relaxing thought/Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?”
“Mastermind” is a “Lover”-esque song, making the listeners pine to experience love. Swift sings about planning interactions so things go in her favor with the one she wants, something I’m sure we’re all guilty of doing. These three songs are my initial favorites off of “Midnights.”
“Vigilante Shit” gave an insane amount of “Reputation” vibes. The lyric, “Picture me, thick as thieves with your ex-wife,” seems to be a direct reference to the recent divorce between Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
“Bejeweled” also seems like it would’ve been on “Reputation.” The songs “Labyrinth” and “Sweet Nothing” remind the fans of “Lover.”
An additional seven songs were released at 3 a.m., adding to the craze. The star track seems to be “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.” The song has religious imagery painting a painful relationship filled with what-ifs. Lyrics such as “Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first” and “You’re a crisis of my faith” are heartbreaking for us listeners to hear, yet a lot relate.
“Paris,” another song off of the 3 a.m. edition release, is another favorite. A mix of “1989” and “Lover” comes together perfectly, especially with the lyric “I wanna brainwash you/Into loving me forever.”
Overall, the album and the surprise 3 a.m. edition seemed to be a delightful mix of Swift’s previous albums “Reputation,” “1989,” and even “Lover.” Everyone appears to be interested, as the release caused Spotify to crash for a majority of listeners. There are hidden references to past lovers and moments that fans have noticed, creating a deeper sense of connection to these songs.
Personally, I can say that some of these songs hit close to home, only making me love them more. This album marks an important milestone in Swift’s career, and we are all happy to share this with her.
