There was a time when being a Taylor Swift fan was a life-saver for me. That time was high school, when season one of The Summer I Turned Pretty was all anyone could talk about and “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” broke the internet. I was a senior in high school, trying to understand what I wanted to get out of life, where I would go to college, and, most importantly, dealing with boys. Specifically, a very difficult situationship (haven’t we all?).
When Taylor announced her tenth album, Midnights, on Oct. 21st, my friends and I collectively lost our minds. The last time Taylor dropped anything new was in 2020, when she released evermore, Grammy-winning album folklore’s sister album. Around that time, she also dropped Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version). To have new Taylor Swift set the soundtrack for my senior year? It was all a girl could dream of.
When I turned 18, however, Hurricane Ian struck my hometown, and the devastation was so bad that I was out of school for three weeks. I stayed with my mom, who lived the next district over, while my dad and my stepmom worked to restore power to our house.Â
The album came out the day of my cheerleading senior night. We couldn’t have a proper senior night on our own football field, so we held ours at the rival school’s instead, and they were gracious enough to let us. I still remember staying up until midnight, waiting to press play on the album as quickly as I could. And then, when I woke up, Swift somehow managed to drop another seven songs. It was all I could ask for.Â
“Anti-Hero” was the first single off the album, and the subsequent joke for one of my friends and me coincided with things happening in my life at the time that just needed some sort of code. The subtle meanings in the song helped me work through a lot of difficult things at home and within myself as well.Â
When the Eras Tour was announced, I knew I had to go. I begged my parents to get me tickets for Christmas, and somehow, they relented, with my mom and I fighting in the legendary Ticketmaster queue until we secured nosebleed seats to the first Tampa show. I was so excited—the only artist I had ever seen in concert was James Taylor, and now I was going to see Taylor freaking Swift! Hearing those songs live (plus “Treacherous” and “Speak Now” live as surprise songs) ignited in me a love of concerts that has followed me around ever since.
2023 continued to be a great year for Swift and me. I went to Colorado, then Louisiana to tour LSU, getting to see New Orleans, a city I’d been waiting ages to see.
I went to prom alone (after being kind of stood up, mind you) and took back my power (even if I hated it). The “Bejeweled” transition was very trendy that year, and I think my dress matched the theme perfectly, if I do say so myself.
“Lavender Haze” was my favorite song off the album for so long that it topped nearly all of the original thirteen songs, and my makeup look for tour was heavily inspired by Taylor’s makeup in the music video.Â
With the summer after I graduated came more surprises from Taylor: another few songs, like “Hits Different” and “Karma”, a remix with rapper Ice Spice, and a music video full of her classic Easter eggs. Not to mention her breakup with longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn and the extremely depressing ballad chronicling it (“You’re Losing Me”).
Looking back at that year now, I know that I’ve grown a lot as a person. Whenever I listen to this album, I reflect on memories from my senior year of high school, a pivotal moment in my life.
I decided to stay in state for college but move in with friends early, leaving home two days after I graduated (“You’re on Your Own Kid”). I came to terms with a lot of things about myself and decided to work really hard to succeed after college because I was tired of people underestimating me (“Karma” and “Mastermind”).
And most importantly, I came out the other side of a very devastating situationship (“Anti-Hero,” “Snow on the Beach,” “Midnight Rain,” “Question,” “Paris,” “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve”). Yes, I am fairly certain that man still thinks about me when I’m on TV (get it?)
But I moved on. And four years later, this album is still just as impactful to me as ever.