the meaning behind every track on taylor swift’s #TSmidnighTS: a thread 🌘
lavender haze:
opening track for #TSmidnighTS, taylor talks about her relationship with joe alwyn since six years and how they’re ignoring all the stupid and fake things the tabloids are constantly reporting about them.
maroon:
taylor describes a love affair that was “so scarlet it was maroon”. the burgundy shade describes wine splashed on her t-shirt, the blood rushing to her cheeks and other elements of a romance that began with someone she was “dancing with in new york.”
anti-hero:
this track is about taylor, her vulnerability and not feeling like a human sometimes, she describes herself as “the problem” while singing “I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror, it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero”.
snow on the beach (feat. lana del rey)
this track is about falling in love with someone at the same time as they’re falling in love with you. “is it really happening? kind of like it would be if you were to see snow falling on a beach” swift explains.
you’re on your own, kid
track 5 is about taylor’s struggles with fame and her own mental health: “from sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes, i gave my blood, sweat and tears for this, i hosted parties and starved my body, like i’d be saved by a perfect kiss”.
midnight rain
this track is one of many of hers about precipitation, but this is a different kind: the sadness that comes late at night.
“feels like midnight rain, i can’t help it, hear your name, i can't seem to wash you away, another season i hear your name”.
question…?
taylor sings a series of questions to a love interest about someone he’d been with prior:
“did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?” & “did you leave her house in the middle of the night?"
vigilante sh!t
the song opens with taylor saying “they say looks can kill and i might try […] lately i’ve been dressing for revenge”.
she sings about being “thick as thieves with your ex-wife.” and also mentions that she doesn’t “dress for villains or for innocents”.
bejeweled
the song describes a woman losing some of her sparkle in a relationship with a someone who doesn't appreciate her (putting her “in the basement” of his heart when she wants the “penthouse”), but she refuses to dull her shine.
labyrinth
the track is about the anxiety in her own mind when falling in love and assuming the worst but getting the best: “oh no, i’m falling in love again, oh, i’m falling in love, i thought the plane was going down, heard you turn it right around”.
karma
karma is written from a perspective of feeling really happy and proud of the way your life is, feeling like this must be a reward for doing stuff right.
sweet nothing
it seems swift is not only singing about adoration for her partner, but also for her seething disgust with the battle for her masters (maybe), singing that everyone wants something from her but alwyn himself: “i found myself running home to your sweet nothings”.
mastermind
swift pokes fun at her reputation for scheming and plotting, as well as her love for her partner and reveals that her strategist ways are a result of deep-rooted insecurity.
the standard album is done, let’s keep going but with the 3am version songs! 🫶🏻
the great war
swift compares a dark period of a relationship to world war I, in which there were no clear heroes or villains, but just widespread devastation and loss.
bigger than the whole sky
the heartbreaking track is about loss of a relationship. it could be a sequel to “the 1” either a devastating song about a miscarriage ‘cause of: “I’m never gonna meet what could’ve been, would’ve been, what should’ve been you”.
paris
paris features taylor singing about being madly in love with her partner and escaping the noise and drama of her life surrounding her when they first got together in 2016, as well as the media attention thereafter.
high infidelity
the story is told from the perspective a woman cheating on her husband. taylor specifically mentions april 29th on this song but details aren’t public yet.
glitch
it’s most likely about her relationship with her partner, ‘cause there was a blood moon on sept 16, 2016 around the time they began dating: “but it’s been 2,190 days of our love blackout.”
would’ve, could’ve, should’ve
this track tells of regret over a relationship when she was 19 years old.
dear reader
is an advice column taylor writes to herself warning “never take advice from someone who’s falling apart” & “burn all the files, desert all your past lives, and if you don't recognize yourself that means you did it right”.
the meaning behind every track on taylor swift’s “lover”: a thread 🫶🏻
i forgot that you existed
the album opener is clearly showing she moved on from someone, “it isn’t love, it isn’t hate, it’s just indifference” she sings, even throwing in a laugh.
cruel summer
the fan favorite track paints the picture of an emotional rollercoaster of a summer, which features a new love and its uncertainties mashed up with taylor’s vulnerability.