It’s October! Although it is time for autumn leaves to fall down like “pieces into place”, this fall will not be a “Red”-girl autumn like it was in 2021. In just a few short days, Taylor Swift will be releasing her tenth original studio album called, “Midnights”. If you have been keeping up with Miss Swift, you may have noticed her recent mini-series on TikTok, “Midnights Mayhem with Me”. This series announced the titles of the 13 tracks on her new album, with each song representing a different sleepless night.
I’ve formed my own opinions on what I expect from the album and will be sharing predictions about the songs, as well as my overall thoughts on all of the titles for my fellow “Swifties”.
Track one starts us off with what I think is my favorite track title of the album. It makes me think that it may have a similar feel to one of her recent songs, “Carolina”, which she released this summer for the film “Where the Crawdads Sing”.
Regarding her inspiration for the title, Swift said in an Instagram video, “I happened upon the phrase ‘Lavender Haze’ when I was watching ‘Mad Men,’ and I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool, and it turns out that it was a common phrase that was used in the ’50s where they would just describe being in love.”
2. Maroon
We are “all too well” aware that the color maroon is in the same color family as red. In my opinion, I think this song will either have references to that time of her life (maybe even her doomed relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal) or will be a song that was considered for her “Red” album. I think my first theory seems more realistic, but Swift always reminds us to expect the unexpected.
3. Anti-Hero
The word “hero” immediately stood out to me. Swift uses the word hero in multiple other tracks and on different albums. But, the one I immediately thought of was in the song “Long Live” from her “Speak Now” album where she says, “You held your head like a hero on a history book page,”. This line makes me want to reconsider my prediction for “Maroon.” Maybe the songs are simply from different sleepless nights while writing different albums?
4. Snow on the Beach (ft. Lana Del Rey)
This song title and the featured artist is throwing me for a loop. Since Swift is from Hendersonville, Tennessee, I want to assume this is from a later time in her life. I’m looking forward to a collab between these two amazing artists and I think their voices are going to complement each other really well on this track.
If I were to guess, I think this song will be more about a feeling, rather than literally telling someone they’re on their own. Possibly a “Never Grow Up” type of song about a younger sibling, or perhaps, it may even have a similar feeling to “Fifteen”. Either way, I expect this song to me in my “fall feels” since it’s my freshman year of college and my first time living away from home.
This is the closest track we have to a title song. We all know how much Swift likes to mention the rain, but something about this being a title track makes me feel like it will be the “Sparks Fly” or the “Fearless” part of the album. I think the spacial audio of this track will carry similar energies to those two songs, and I can’t wait.
7. Question …?
This song definitely DOES raise “questions”. Swift rarely uses punctuation in her song titles, so I am interested to see if this is going to be more of a literary track, similar to her “Folklore” or “Evermore” albums. The title doesn’t give us much of an indication of what this song will entail, but I can’t wait for all of our questions to be answered.
8. Vigilante Shit
Right off the bat, this track sounds like it would blend right in with the album “Folklore.” When I saw this song title, I immediately thought of the track “The 1” from that album. I think this song might give in to the idea of “Midnights” being a trio with “Folklore” and “Evermore.” While I don’t necessarily agree with this theory, I am hopeful for there to be similar songs to the tracks on the “Folklore” album.
9. Bejeweled
Seeing the word “jeweled” took my mind to the bathtub full of jewelry in the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video. Will we see remnants of Swift’s darker era again in this album? I think this could be an accurate prediction for this song.
10. Labyrinth
A “labyrinth”, with origins in Greek mythology, can be best described as an intricate passage or a confusing structure. Taking this into consideration with Swift’s complex songwriting abilities, I can assume that this song may have relations to Greek mythology or could be yet another literary reference.
11. Karma
What song title makes you think of “Reputation” more than this? Another vision of the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video immediately came to mind when I saw this track. If I had to make a prediction, I would say this song is going to be more on the pop-sounding side for the album, and I’m looking forward to “pop Taylor” making a reappearance.
12. Sweet Nothing
This song title makes me think back to the overall theme of “sleepless nights”, and I can’t quite place why. I am considering the idea that it may be about a sleepless night alone, hinted by the word “nothing”. I predict that this song may end up being one of the more melancholy songs on the album, which makes me even more eager to see the lyrics.
13. Mastermind
Last but certainly not least, lucky number 13 is sure to be big on this album. I’m eager to know if this song will become one of her newest trending songs or just another masterpiece lost in the midst of her top tracks. This song title makes me think it will feel similar to the songs from “Reputation”. It has a title that represents her independence, and I am looking forward to seeing how this is shown through the lyrics.
We are only a few short hours away from hearing this album, and I cannot wait to see if any of my predictions are accurate! Either way, I’m sure there will be some legendary songs that will go down in “Swifty” history!
Feel free to reach out with your thoughts or predictions on all of the HerCampus socials!