Taylor Swift released her new album Midnights on Oct. 21 at midnight. This is her 10th studio album, not including her two re-records, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version). 

Before the album dropped, Swift released the names of the 13 tracks appearing on Midnights. However, when Oct. 21 rolled around, Swift dropped seven additional songs at three a.m, coining the deluxe name Midnights 3 a.m. Edition. 

Swift also released three bonus tracks: “Hits Different,” “You’re On Your Own, Kid (Strings Remix),” and “Sweet Nothing (Piano Remix).” These songs are only available on Target’s exclusive deluxe edition CD. 

When referring to the lyrical aspect of her album, Swift said, “[The songs tell] the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” 

Swift has notoriously made announcements regarding her music through clues and “Easter eggs” in her social media posts. This release has been anything but an exception, with a huge build-up from Swift herself. She sporadically released the titles of tracks on social media through TikTok. On numerous days at midnight, she posted videos announcing the title of one of the 13 track’s titles. Swift called this series Midnights Mayhem with Me.

“I know I have a habit of dropping cryptic clues and Easter eggs when giving you information about my music,” Swift said in the first video of the series on TikTok. “I’m not here to deny that, but I am here to defy that.” 

Fans learned that everything Swift does can be an Easter egg, from the dresses she wears at award shows to the words she uses at the start of her videos. Swift’s Midnights Mayhem with Me video series opens with the words “It’s me, hi,” which fans later heard in the lyrics of track three, “Anti-Hero.”

Before the tracks were even released, Swift opened the option to pre-order exclusive vinyl on her online store, with four different designs: Mahogany edition, Moonstone Blue edition, Jade Green edition, and Blood Moon edition. Swift later revealed that, when combined, the vinyls create a clock.

The intensity only increased as Oct. 21 approached, with Swift announcing that her fans should tune in to Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime for a surprise announcement. In the announcement, she explained that she would be creating Music Movies for her songs; the announcement created immediate reminiscence amongst fans of the “All Too Well” music video from November 2021. 

Swift’s release of her new album didn’t disappoint fans, and some people are still looking for Easter eggs in every move she makes. Swift’s unique relationship with her fans helps build up her releases and ultimately leads to the unprecedented success of her records and sales. This relationship and her stellar songwriting abilities have created great hits and favorites among fans.

Typically, people develop their favorite songs on an album. Through an anonymous poll, five of our editors voted on their favorites from Midnights 3 a.m. Edition. The three winners are “Maroon,” “Anti-Hero,” and “The Great War.” 

All three songs contain gorgeous lyrics and composition. Despite “Maroon” and “Anti-Hero” being faster-paced songs than “The Great War,” they still have meaning. 

Each of the three songs covers a different aspect of Swift’s life. Fans have speculated that “Maroon” could be about Taylor’s ex-boyfriends—including Jake Gyllenhaal, Harry Styles, and Tom Hiddleston. No matter who the song is about, it is a truly amazing song.

In “Maroon,” Swift composed a dreamy song that reminded us of the wistful sounds on one of her previous albums, Evermore. Specifically, we feel “Gold Rush,” an song on Evermore, offers an ethereal mood that provides similar feelings to those elicited by “Maroon.” Also, the colorful references allude to different songs she has written through the years. For example in “Maroon” she says “The burgundy on my t-shirt” and in “Red” she sings “Losing him was blue, like I’d never known.” The contrast between the metaphors in both songs expresses her writing style. 

In “Anti-Hero,” listeners get a glimpse into Swift’s insecurities. This is the first time Swift has really delved into her insecurities in her music and her struggles with self-love, and we are all here for it. After all, everyone deals with insecurities, and this is a song a lot of people can relate to. The metaphors in this song are so powerful, including “when my depression works the graveyard shift,” referring to when her depression comes back at night, and “I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror,” referring to how she cannot confront her own insecurities. The self-directed and casted music video, posted on YouTube, seems to reflect on the story of Swift’s life, taking on abstract plotlines to represent her struggles against herself. The recurring line “it must be exhausting rooting for the anti-hero” may be Swift’s way of recognizing the unwavering support of her fans, whether Swift believes she deserves it or not. 

“The Great War” was the first new track released as a part of the 3 a.m bonus tracks and is a brilliant way to introduce the new songs. The song uses her songwriting skills, specifically her ability to compose metaphorical lyrics, to relate a toxic relationship to a “Great War,” which could be referring to her relationships during scandals Swift has faced in the past. The chorus is very catchy and gives fans imagery while they listen to her song, as seen in the lines “All that blood shed, crimson clover / Uh-huh, sweet dream was over / My hand was the one you reached for / All throughout the Great War.”

Swift’s 3 a.m tweet announcing the songs said, “Surprise! I think of Midnights as a complete concept album, with those 13 songs forming a full picture of the intensities of that mystifying, mad hour. However! There were other songs we wrote on our journey to find that magic 13.” The other songs include: “The Great War,” “Bigger Than The Whole Sky,” “Paris,” “High Infidelity,” “Glitch,” “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” and “Dear Reader.” 

These songs are lyrically beautiful, exhibit deep emotions, and explore her past, present, and future selves. Some of the tracks directly relate to romantic relationships. In “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” Swift reflects on one of her relationships from when she was 19 years old and why she regrets being involved with her past partner. 

Overall, Midnights is a perfect tenth album for Swift, consisting of elevated aspects from each of her past albums. The fun pop elements that correlate with 1989 and Red are intensified in certain tracks, but the icon’s signature high-caliber lyricism is never lost. Reputation-esque revenge themes make appearances as well as their opposites, Lover-esque dreamy songs. Compared to those in her other albums, each track in this album contains a deeper rawness and honesty—an answer to why can be found in the name and hours of its creation: Midnights.