At midnight on Friday, October 21st, famous singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift released her tenth studio album, Midnights. There are 13 songs on the album, each inspired by thirteen sleepless nights, or midnights, throughout Swift’s life. 

Some popular songs from the album are You’re On Your Own, Kid, which sentimental bridge ends with the advice, “So make the friendship bracelets / Take the moment and taste it,” and Maroon, where Swift compares her emotions to colors, like Maroon. Junior, Marie Ireland exclaims, “I really like Maroon because it sounds a lot like Clean, which is one of my favorite songs.”

There are many songs on Midnights that sound like songs on previous albums. These new songs are seen as more mature versions of the previous songs, now that Swift has learned and grown from her past relationships and experiences. Junior, Lexi Parsi recalls listening to Lavender Haze for the first time, “As soon as I listened to it I was like, this is just I Think He Knows 2.0.”

Fans loved many, if not all, of the songs on Midnights but some had disputes over some, such as Anti-Hero, which had high anticipation surrounding it after Swift described what it was about on her Instagram. She said that it was her most vulnerable song yet where she opens up about her deepest insecurities. This seems to be why the fans were a bit let down by the upbeat pop song that Anti-Hero ended up being. 

On Anti-Hero, the lyrics, “sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby,” has been criticized a lot due to the odd connotation of the phrase “sexy baby.” Although the lyrics don’t sound the best, fans feel as though they effectively capture society’s beauty standard of women needing to look younger and smaller and how Swift has always felt like she sticks out.

In addition to the 13 original songs on Midnights, there are also seven “3am edition” songs, which were announced and released, as their name suggests, at 3:00 am, on the 21st. Many people prefer these songs over the original thirteen because they are a bit slower with more laid back production, giving them a more real and calm feel. 

The common favorite out of these tracks is Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve. When interviewed both Ireland and Parisi voiced that it was their favorite song on the album and many fans feel the same way. Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve is thought to be about Swift’s relationship with John Mayer because Swift sings, “And I d**n sure never would’ve danced with the devil / At nineteen.”

Swift expresses the pain the relationship caused her and the regret she has for staying with him through the powerful lyric, “Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first.” Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve has the emotion and lyricism some fans wanted more of in the original songs.

Overall, Midnights met Swifties’ high expectations with many notable and chart-topping songs. It’s a great combination of Lover, Reputation, and 1989, with the pop sound fans haven’t heard since 2019, when Lover was released. Although it isn’t as emotional as Folklore and Evermore, Midnights is a good, upbeat album that Taylor Swift fans can sing at the top of their lungs during late night car rides and dance to all night long.