By Kathryn Taleporos | October 24, 2022
On Oct. 21, Taylor Swift fans met the pop star at midnight for the release of her brand new album, “Midnights.” The highly anticipated album contains 13 songs, as well as seven bonus tracks that Swift released at 3 a.m.
The album is classified as a pop album, but varies vastly from her previous pop albums. “Midnights” overall takes a softer pop tone, mirroring her past two albums “Folklore,” and “Evermore.”
Compared to her previous albums, not only does “Midnights” have a softer tone, but it also has a maturity to it that her other albums lack. As this album is “the story of 13 sleepless nights,” according to Swift in an Instagram post, the album dives deep into all of Swift’s insecurities that frequently kept her awake at night.
The songs “Anti-Hero” and “Your On Your Own, Kid” explore Swift’s past struggles with depression. Swift reveals her battle with an eating disorder in the “Anti-Hero” music video, where she steps on a scale that reads the word “fat.”
“I hosted parties and starved my body,” Swift revealed in a lyric for the song, “Your On Your Own, Kid.”
The addition of mature topics such as mental illness and eating disorders is something that Swift does not typically discuss in her music. There is a constant stereotype that Swift only writes music about her past relationships or about being in love, but the maturity found in the “Midnights” album prove that Swift’s music is not just for lovesick teenagers.
Music is used as a coping tool by many who struggle with mental illness, and Swift’s ability to convey that struggle into a song is therapeutic.
While the maturity in this album allows fans to relate more to Swift’s music, there is a level of chaoticness to many of the songs throughout the album that make this album a rollercoaster of emotions.
Swift goes from lovesick songs like “Lavender Haze” to a revenge anthem titled “Karma.”
“Karma” may have been the most anticipated song on the album because of the fan theory that “Karma” was supposed to be the title of an album. The fan theory says that Swift wrote an album after her acclaimed “1989” record, but was never able to release it because of the “Cancel Taylor Swift” movement that went viral on Twitter.
The song “Karma” talks about all the drama that happened between Kanye West and Swift and is all about revenge. The drama began when West interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs. It then spiraled further involving Kim Kardashian calling Swift a snake and public feud between the three.
“Me and karma vibe like that,” Swift said in the song.
Not only are the original songs on the album chaotic as they jump from vengeance to romance, but Swift added further chaos by releasing seven bonus tracks three hours after the release of her album.
These seven songs fit perfectly with the album, matching the vibes of the era perfectly. However, releasing them right after the release of the album took away from the initial album. If Swift would have released all 20 songs at the same time, then all of the tracks would get the appreciation that they deserve. By releasing seven new songs right after the album meant that people would skip over the original album and move onto the bonus songs.
Overall, this album may not have met the expectations of fans who anticipated this album to be similar to her previous ones, but the maturity and growth that Swift has shown as a songwriter makes this album a masterpiece.
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