It was midnight but the whole world was awake. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. It had been two months since Taylor Swift first teased us with the news of a new album, debuting at midnight on October 21st. Swift shocked the world with the album to complete all albums. She has made history and set a precedent for all different genres of music around the world. 

Hidden messages 

The new album is filled with secrets only the most devoted Swifties will notice. Recognize the beginning of the song “Question…?”, but can’t put your finger on what it is? The opening two words are “I remember,” very similar to the “I remember” from “Out Of The Woods” from the album 1989. When compared to other albums, almost every song on Midnights could fit perfectly into another one of her previous albums. For example, “Snow On The Beach” could fit into Folklore perfectly, and “Vigilante S**t” sounds just like a song from Reputation. This is made clear in the “Bejeweled” music video, which begins as a scene from the “Cardigan” music video, and she changes into a jumpsuit much like the one she wore on the Reputation world tour.

Many of her songs in this album are about her past relationships as well as her present one. The song “Midnight Rain” is clearly about her previous entanglement with Tom Hiddleston. The line, “He wanted a bride, I was making my own name, chasing that fame, he stayed the same,” hints at their painful breakup because of her growing popularity. In “Maroon,” there are some examples of lyrics alluding to her brief relationship with Harry Styles. In the first verse of the song, it says “I chose you, the one I was dancing with, in New York, no shoes,” which connects to a leaked video of Swift and Styles dancing in New York, coincidentally barefoot. Another verse, “The burgundy on my T-shirt when you splashed your wine into me,” shares a similarity with the One Direction song, “Olivia,” when they say “She’s lying in bed with my t-shirt on, just thinking how I went about it wrong, this isn’t the stain of a red wine, I’m bleeding love.” The song “Lavender Haze” suggests a possible engagement to her boyfriend of 6 years, Joe Alwyn. One lyric says, “All they keep asking me is if I’m gonna be your bride. The only kinda girl they see is a one-night or a wife.” Rumors have circulated over the years that Swift is not good at relationships and “goes on too many dates but can’t make ’em stay.” This lyric is potentially a response to these rumors and that of her engagement to Alwyn. Is she telling us that she is going to be his wife? Or that she’s sick of haters keep trying to box her into two options, marriage or being a player? 

Swift also delves into deeply meaningful lyrics such as in the song “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” which relates to the tragedy of a miscarriage with the lyrics, “I’m never gonna meet what could’ve been, would’ve been, what should’ve been you.” She also makes her past and present struggles with body image clear in her “Anti-Hero” music video, where she stands on a scale that reads “fat.” This controversial scene got an extensive amount of hate which prompted her to remove it from the video. Some said that it was toxic for young girls watching the video to see an artist with incredible influence feel uncomfortable in her own body, while others could relate and felt that she was bringing attention to a far too prevalent issue.

Eras tour

Swift sent us all into a spiral when she announced her upcoming Era’s tour, which won’t be strictly based on one album, but rather a combination of all of them over the years. November 15th was simply a war among Swifties. Starting at 10 AM, fans competed to be the first ones to get their hands on the presale tickets deemed impossible to secure. To say it was a swarm of emotions would be an understatement. Fans waited in an online queue for up to 10 hours, and if anything, were only able to secure seats far from the stage, or extremely expensive ones up close. Almost every single stadium was sold out in a matter of minutes. 

With a grand total of 52 tour dates, Swift will be taking the stage globally for the first time since her Reputation tour in 2018. Ever since the groundbreaking news of the tour was released, fans have been planning every aspect imaginable. From outfits, to makeup, to accessories, every detail has been carefully crafted. Many Swifties are planning to dress up as their favorite eras, combining aspects of each album to make the complete Swiftie look. Fans are expressing their devotion by dressing in leather for Reputation, sporting hearts for Lover, and more. 

Broken records

     Swift has broken several Spotify and Billboard records with her Midnights album. These broken records are listed below:

• largest streaming week ever for an album by a female artist
• third-largest streaming week ever for an album
• first artist in history to claim all top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single frame
• Swift’s Midnights album earned over 1.14 million US pure album sales in one week, she was the first to achieve this, beating her own record set by her Reputation album sale
• Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day
• broke the all-time record for the biggest album ever released globally in Spatial Audio on Apple Music
• Became the single-largest sales week for a vinyl album
• Midnights debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking Swift’s 11th chart-topping album