Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights has once again captivated her supporters as she continues to amaze with her lyrical abilities. She is the only artist to paint beautiful pictures with her words, she describes full stories through her lyrics. To experience her music to the fullest you must listen to the words; as she is a writer who can inflict drastic emotions due to her capabilities to portray life. Her songs are realistic and demonstrate scenarios that people can relate to; other singers write for themselves while Taylor writes for her fans.
Off her new album, she added a 3 am version which included an additional seven songs on top of her already released thirteen songs. On the extended version Taylor dropped a song “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” which depict a person in a borderline abusive relationship who feels the loss of innocence and challenges the idea of this time in their life. Reflecting on this relationship has brought up the realization of conflicting beliefs and the harsh memories of the person they used to be.
“Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve “is an extension of her song “Dear John”; ten years later Taylor revisits this relationship and targets the recurring fears. The opening begins with claims of turning down the advancements if there were any clear signs to run. She highlights, “And if I was some paint, did it splatter/ On a promising grown man?”. When men are called to rectify their wrongs, or in court people don’t want to ruin their future because they’re a ‘promising young man’, but where does this leave the ones impacted? Taylor exclaims a grown man because this person was an adult chasing after a nineteen-year-old. She follows with “And if I was a child, did it matter/ If you got to wash your hands?”, when no one is held accountable they are able to wash their hands free from any responsibility even when the mistreatment was towards someone drastically younger. Her use of following any thoughts of the relationship with “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”, demonstrate the understanding of not being able to change the events that occurred.
If they did not enter this relationship, then they would have stayed following their faith. The use of the devil in the song depicts both the abuser in the relationship and for the loss of direction with their own morals. Taylor does admit to the pleasure at this time but how it came with immense pain and mistreatment. Memories of this time cause a sense of suffering which she claims they feel like weapons. The song is filled with regret and the want to have stayed wondering, but this was taken from them due to this unfortunate connection. People want to feel wanted and needed especially from a partner, but when this neglects an individual’s own standing there will be remorse.
The Midnights album is stories told over sleepless nights, and this relationship keeps her up at night, she can’t let it go due to him leaving untouched. Everyone around them viewed the relationship as acceptable but her truth was forgotten, and this needed to be voiced. There was a part taken from her, a part that can’t be replaced and this innocence lost felt stolen by her partner, depicted in the line, “Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first”. This line also gives the sense of how she was a child at the time and when children did or have something first it belongs to
them, and sharing is no longer an option. She exposes how she misses herself before him and she wants the peace that came before their connection. The whole experience, even the aspects that were delightful was tainted by the “bipolarness” of the relationship and the power advantage over her. “I regret you all the time”, this song is emotionally raw with the description of mistreatment in an abusive relationship. Taylor’s reevaluation of an old connection demonstrates how it’s okay to return to a place of wrong treatment and demand it to be reconciled. It’s her explanation of being alone and no one seeing the truth of the matter. Her visit back to “Dear John” has made “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” her best song off of Midnights.