Last Thursday night, I stayed up until midnight EST, listened carefully to every song on Taylor Swift’s Midnights, took a quick nap, and then listened to her surprise songs at 3am. I highly anticipated this album and unlike some, I thoroughly enjoyed every song. I would consider Midnights to be a no skip album, even if some songs took me a couple listens to really start liking. I’ve had this album on repeat all week, and believe that I can finally put the 20 songs into tiers based on my personal judgements.
Instead of ranking each song 1-20, I’m placing each track in a tier to differentiate my absolute favorites to the ones that aren’t always on repeat. I know many Swifties will have differing opinions than me, but I encourage everyone to try and fit the album into these types of tiers as a fun way of comparing them.
My four tiers are “Superior,” “Excellent,” “Also Amazing,” and “Not on Repeat but Still Good.” I also wanted to include an outstanding lyric from each song to display Taylor’s unique storytelling and outstanding writing:
Superior Tier: The life changing, mind blowing, tear inducing, very best tracks on this album
You’re on Your Own KID
“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
“Cause he was sunshine
I was midnight rain
He wanted it comfortable
I wanted that pain
He wanted a bride
I was making my own name”
mastermind
“What if I told you none of it was accidental?
And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me
I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork
The dominoes cascaded in a line”
Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve
“Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts
Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first”
“God rest my soul, I miss who I used to be
The tomb won’t close, stained glass windows in my mind
I regret you all the time”
Excellent Tier: Songs with incredible lyrics and sounds that I immediately loved, and will continue loving, since they have so many great details
lavender haze
“I find it dizzying
They’re bringing up my history
But you aren’t even listening”
Maroon
“And I wake with your memory over me
That’s a real fucking legacy to leave”
“The lips I used to call home, so scarlet, it was maroon”
anti-hero
“I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving
‘Cause you got tired of my scheming
For the last time”
“I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero”
bejeweled
“Familiarity breeds contempt, don’t put me in the basement
When I want the penthouse of your heart
Diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real, I polish up real nice (nice!)”
karma
“Karma’s a relaxing thought
Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?”
The Great war
“To that bloodshed, crimson clover
Uh-huh, the worst was over
My hand was the one you reached for
All throughout the Great War”
paris
“Stumbled down pretend alleyways
Cheap wine, make believe it’s champagne
I was taken by the view
Like we were in Paris”
Also Amazing Tier: the ones that I appreciate and like more every time I listen to them, and keep in my rotation of replays
Question…?
“But one thing after another fucking situation
Circumstances, miscommunications
And I have to say, by the way
I just may like some explanations”
Labyrinth
“Breathe in, breathe through
Breathe deep, breathe out
I’ll be getting over you my whole life”
Bigger Than the Whole Sky
“Did some force take you because I didn’t pray?”
High Infidelity
“Rain soaking, Blind hoping
You said I was freeloading
I didn’t know you were keeping count”
Dear Reader
“Dear reader, burn all the files
Desert all your past lives
And if you don’t recognize yourself
That means you did it right”
Not on Repeat but Still Good Tier: the songs aren’t bad at all and I certainly like them, I just don’t queue up in my replays that often
Snow on the beach
“Life is emotionally abusive
And time can’t stop me quite like you did
And my flight was awful, thanks for asking
I’m unglued – thanks to you”
vigilante shit
“I don’t start shit, but I can tell you how it ends”
sweet nothing
“On the way home
I wrote a poem
You say, “What a mind”
This happens all the time”
Glitch
“But it’s been two-thousand one-hundred ninety days of our love blackout”
Staying up all night to listen to Midnights was so worth it, and I’m very happy to have a new Taylor album to put on repeat. I believe that many songs are going to grow on people after a couple careful listens and be rightfully loved. And I’m sure that all our rankings and opinions of tracks will change after every listen.