I've been a Taylor Swift fan since her debut album. I've bought every single album since Speak Now on the day it was released, even when I had to drive over an hour to Target for RED (had to get the deluxe edition of course!) or when my first stop in Maui was at Target so I could pick up Reputation. I have favorite eras obviously (hello Red and 1989), but there are lots of songs I like on every single album. Except possibly this one. Midnights is just... not good.
The three opening songs are average. Not amazing, but they're the ones that might grow on me later. Unfortunately it gets worse from there. I read a review that called Midnights "electro-pop melancholia" and it's a fitting description. It's slow and kind of depressing.
Anti-Hero, the lead single, is good and bad. I can sympathize with the struggle she faces of trying to come to terms with her fame while still trying to be a "normal" person. Lines like "Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby, and I'm a monster on the hill" kill me, because while I understand the concept she's trying to convey, I hate the way she phrases it. I get it- there are so many celebrities who are shiny and new, and sexier than Taylor ever was. Taylor is not only older and literally much taller than most of these pretty young things, but she's been around a while. Is she still relevant? How can she compete with all that?
"I'm the problem, it's me," is both an admission that her own insecurities are to blame, and a sarcastic wink at the media narrative, which portrayed Taylor as a crazy psycho who couldn't hold on to a man. When people get the "tea" at tea time, everyone agrees - she's the problem. It must be exhausting always waiting for an anti-hero to take our heroine down.
"Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism" refers to times she actually got criticized for surprising fans with gifts. Although Taylor was incredibly generous (and the fans LOVED it) the media said it was merely a publicity stunt.
Taylor is most relatable in the line, "I wake up screaming from dreaming one day I'll watch as you're leaving and life will lose all its meaning". No matter how big she gets, she still has the same basic fear all of us have - losing someone we love.
When she says "everybody agrees-s-s, dragging out the "s", she sounds exhausted by it all. As she later admits on Sweet Nothing, maybe she is "too soft for all of it" - the constant criticism, unfair media narrative, and speculation on every aspect of her life. She wants to write about specifics because that's how she connects to her art and her fans, but she also lives under a microscope. It would be one thing if that microscope revealed her authentic vulnerable self, but the media lens always distorts the truth.
Snow on the Beach is annoying because it could've been better. I hate the way she describes snow on the beach as "weird but f*ckin beautiful". I can think of so many better ways to describe it. How about " unusual but magical". Then there's the fact that Lana Del Rey is on the track but barely sings!
The jury's still out on You're on Your Own, Kid.
I hate Question... ? with all the endless questions.
Ok Vigilante Shit - "Draw the cat eyes sharp enough to kill a man" ? Hard eye roll. I do like "while he was doing lines and crossing all of mine" but that isn't enough to redeem the rest of the sing.
Bejeweled is like a worse version of Mirrorball. Another hard eye roll at "don't put me in the basement when I want the penthouse of your heart", although I do like the lyric "I did all the extra credit then got graded on a curve".
I can't remember a single lyric in Labyrinth, so I guess it's pretty forgettable.
I do like Karma because it's the only bop on the album, and it's fun, but I anticipate getting tired of it quickly. However I still think it's funny and it reminds me of This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things.
I like the sentiment of Sweet Nothing, but can't get past the cheesy sing-song nursery style rhymes.
Mastermind is annoying because it re-writes the heart-warming story of fate in Invisible String to a tale of conniving and scheming. Taylor takes a little too much credit here.
Favorites:
Maroon - She reminisces on that love that was "Red", but now it's all different shades - burgundy wine, scarlet cheeks, rust that grew between telephones, and lips she used to call home.
Midnight Rain - It's hard when a relationship ends because the timing's not right. Sometimes you're moving towards your own goals in life and just end up going in a different direction from someone else's path, and you wonder what could've been. You can never make a choice without giving up something else.
Karma - at least it's upbeat and fun
Hits Different - the bonus track is better than most of the songs on the album.
Overall, it's a weird mash-up of Reputation and Folklore, but not as good as either. I feel like she tries to be too clever with the lyrics, and the music is too over-produced. It seems like Taylor and Jack Antonoff went too deep into their own rabbit hole and no one else was around to rein them in to say, "this is actually not good music anymore". We still remember All Too Well and Blank Space, so we know what she can do. Midnights just ain't it.
