I don’t know about you, but I’m the biggest fan of Taylor Swift, so when she surprisingly announced her tenth studio album during a VMA’s speech, I was floored, ecstatic, and everything in between.
Swift has described this album as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered through my life.” So I’ve stayed up to midnight a plethora of times these past two months to soak up all the Swiftie material I could!
Disclaimer: I wrote all of these song predictions before hearing any parts of any of the songs, just using what we were told in her tik toks and my own intuition. If you’re reading this after October 21st, feel free to tease me about how wrong I was or congratulate me on how well I know Taylor.
Let’s get into it!
- Lavender Haze – Taylor has said that this song is about her relationship with Joe Alwyn and having to deal with rumors and hate the public expresses towards their relationship. I think this will be a beautiful song and possibly a single.
Related songs: peace, Lover, Delicate
- Maroon – I’m super excited for this one. This title is obviously similar to the song “Red.” I heard someone say that Maroon is like a more mature version of the color red, so maybe the sleepless night this song was written about occurred during the Red era. I think it will have a more laid-back vibe, and be really musical.
Related songs: Red, Afterglow
- Anti-Hero – I was thinking this was going to be more of a reputation like track with a rock vibe like people were predicting for TS10, possibly like “mad woman.” But then Taylor said it was about her insecurities and that she had never written about her feelings this deeply before. Oof. And this isn’t Track 5?
Related songs: Nothing New, The Archer, Mirrorball, This is me trying
- Snow on the Beach (ft. Lana Del Ray) – Taylor herself has said this song is about realizing you love someone at the same time they are realizing they love you back. Since it’s a collaboration with Lana Del Ray, I think it’s going to be super cinematic and romantic.
Related Songs: Lover, You Belong With Me, Love Story, Enchanted
- You’re On Your Own Now, Kid – This one is going to hurt, I already know it. I feel like it will be about growing up and having to do things on your own. It’s going to be extra special to me now that I’m in college. I think it will be very Speak Now-ish, since she was becoming an adult then and wrote some of her most dramatic music around that time.
Related songs: Never Grow Up, Innocent, A Place in This World, Change
- Midnight Rain – Midnight? Rain? This sounds like a super romantic song to me. Possibly about her relationship with Joe Alwyn. I am a sucker for her slow, romantic songs, so I’m hoping this becomes a new favorite for me!
Related Songs: Fearless, Cornelia Street, peace, Daylight, Sparks Fly
- Question…? – Ok, I think this one is going to be about Taylor asking someone a question, kind of like will you come home with me? Will you love me even after everything you’ll have to go through to be with me? I think it will fit in the theme of doubting herself and self-loathing.
Related songs: peace, Cornelia Street, Gorgeous
- Vigilante Shit – I think this one is going to be the rock-anthem of the album. Taylor has stopped caring what people think and is writing whatever she wants. This one is going to be one of her more mischievous, fearless, and unique songs.
Related Songs: I Did Something Bad, mad woman, I Knew You Were Trouble
- Bejeweled – Track 9’s are usually some of Taylor’s best. Enchanted, Getaway Car, Cornelia Street, etc, so obviously I’m excited for this one. I think it might either be a confident upbeat song, about being “bejeweled” and shiny and perfect. Or it could be the complete opposite, like being bejeweled like a “mirrorball” and in reference to her previous lyrics, “people throw rocks at shiny things.”
Related Songs: Paper Rings, Ours, mirrorball
- Labyrinth – Labyrinths are complicated and intricate structures that are usually depicted in the form of a maze. I think that this song will be about Taylor feeling lost in her thoughts and overwhelmed with her life. I think it will have some of the most complex, in depth, and personal lyrics on the album.
Related songs: The Archer, The Lucky One, Clean, Renegade
- Karma – If you’re knee-deep into Taylor theories like I am, then this title is a BIG deal. Whether Karma was always just a song, or Taylor is hinting at something big coming our way, Karma is an important word that Taylor has used in reference to the Kanye West and Scooter Braun drama. This song will no doubt be hardcore and one of the more mean and dark tracks on the album. I think it will have more of a rock feel like people were predicting for TS10 and could’ve been on her reputation album.
Related Songs: Look What You Made Me Do, I Did Something Bad, This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, mad woman
- Sweet Nothing – William Bowery is credited as writer for this song, and if you know Taylor, you know that William Bowery is her long-time boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. This is the only song he is listed as a songwriter for. “Sweet Nothings” are “words of affection exchanged by lovers,” so I think that this will also be a super romantic song. This song in particular will have a “strings version” on the Target bonus tracks, so I think it will be magical and intimate as a song and in its lyrics.
Related Songs: Lover, New Year’s Day, invisible string, London Boy
- Mastermind – If there’s one thing that’s true, it’s that I am a sucker for Swift’s closing tracks. I have evermore and Clean posters up in my dorm right now. New Year’s Day? Long Live? Daylight? All of these songs are top 5 within their respective albums in my opinion. I think Mastermind is going to be about Taylor and her career and all the effort that she has put into her work. She really is a mastermind. The fact that it has the word “master” in it makes me think it could allude to the master’s situation between her and Big Machine Records.
Related Songs: My Tears Ricochet, Look What You Made Me Do
- Hits Different – So, this song is a bonus track on the Midnights album, but I might as well share my prediction. I think it will be a pop hit and more upbeat than the rest of the album, which is why she is making it a bonus track. I think it might be about falling in love and describing how this relationship “hits different” than previous ones.
Related Songs: I Think He Knows, Gorgeous, 22
Overall, I am SUPER excited for Midnights. I think it’s going to be one of her best albums and one of my favorites, just based on what I know now. I think it’s going to be really raw and open, more open than Taylor has been in the past – which is a strong thing to say. Part of the reason I love Taylor’s music so much is that she is so relatable and honest in her songs and it helps people connect deeper with her and her music. I also think Midnights will be more experimental than her previous albums, as she has been branching out in her music recently. That’s all the Taylor predictions I have for now, unless that 3am surprise is a double album. Who knows – it’s Taylor Swift after all. But until then…
See you at Midnight!