Nothing Mid Here

October 23, 2022

Nothing Mid Here

I know that this post is later than expected (and promised, but that's on y'all for thinking I would stick to an imaginary deadline), but I really needed time to reflect and gather my thoughts and up my meds and such.

I of course stayed up to listen. It did help that I scheduled my flu shot and COVID booster and made Friday a sick day because I have some INTENSE immune system response. It's giving antibody-ody-ody-ody. I sent Emily a text that I did not remember the next morning because she was anxious that we might not vibe with this album.

That being said I have only had 72 hours with these...technically 21...tracks so this post is still just my initial thoughts. Overall...Bejeweled was my instant favorite on the first listen, with Karma and Anti-Hero rounding out my holy trinity.

I do prefer the Midnights tracks to the 3ams and I pre-ordered the album so I wasn't thrilled to learn I would need to repurchase it to get the other 7 tracks, but I got the clean version of the 3am edition so now I can play it in class. #thankfulgratefulblessed

Midnights

1. Lavender Haze

The iconic "meet me at midnight" yes ma'am! The chorus is giving Cruel Summer, the pre-chorus is giving Delicate. We're getting right into the patriarchy with the 1950s gender roles and the Madonna-whore complex. We stan a feminist queen. And the line "get it off your chest, get it off my desk" I mean...iconic. Idk what IT is, but it best not be on my desk.

2. Maroon

I definitely get why people think this is about Karlie, but y'all don't wanna let Taylor be straight. Literally let it go. Until she tells us otherwise she is in a 2,190 days and counting relationship with Joe Alwyn.

I love all the references to shades of red which Genius Lyrics cleverly pointed out invoke the Red album. Particularly heartbreaking is the line "carnations you had thought were roses." To me this is saying one person is in philia love and the other is in eros love for all my Greek freaks out there.

3. Anti-Hero

Incredible. And you know what? It IS me. I AM the problem. I ALWAYS vibe with the track 3s and Anti-Hero is no exception. This is also very Afterglow-y for me, the music video is so 1970s and deranged. Love it.

And say what you will about sexy babies but Taylor has always stayed true to the authenticity of her storytelling, and if a line from 30 Rock felt like the most accurate analogy for her then go off queen! Don't act like you don't have expressions and quotes that are weird to other people but super meaningful to you.

4. Snow on the Beach (ft. Lana Del Rey)

The word feature is generous and reminiscent of Taylor's collabs on Highway Don't Care and another song that shall not be named (see track 19). Life IS emotionally abusive. And more often than not, my flight WAS awful. We stan a relatable queen. "Stars by the pocketful" are you kidding me? Poetry.

5. You're on Your Own, Kid

Look. I don't want to imply or really even consider that I know better than Miss Taylor Alison Swift. But for me. This isn't giving track 5 for me. My brother absolutely loves it so...idk what I'm missing here. It's not that I don't relate because I have DEFINITELY been friendzoned. Maybe this will click for me later? The blood-soaked gown/Carrie imagery is also bringing back the 1989 era Taylor who was so happy to have girlfriends.

Also people are speculating that Daisy May is the name of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's 4th child.

6. Midnight Rain

I'll admit at first listen that voice caught me off guard and I wasn't a fan. After more listens I can admit that I was wrong. According to the internet.com this is about Tom Hiddleston and this makes me feel so sad for him. I mean there's no shame in not being the one for somebody, and he's so hot. He's probably fine now, right? We are referencing the Madonna-whore dichotomy again, we're haunted like in Haunted, we're introspective and sad that we hurt someone. We're empaths.

7. Question...?

Okay I love this because when a girl says "can I ask you a question?" RUN! It is never just a question. It is NOT casual. I can't articulate what she means by "a color I've searched for since" but I understand it and it's beautiful.

Also your friends should make fun of you if you're engaging in PDA, I said what I said.

8. Vigilante Shit

If lewks could kill, am I right? I still primarily dress for comfort, but I love this idea of another option! Very I Did Something Bad vibes. Very Scooter go to jail. And honestly? Don't get sad. Do get even. That's just solid advice. Also the whole being friends and plotting with the ex-wife thing is like how I interpreted No Body, No Crime the first time I heard it...which was wrong but it really came full circle here!

9. Bejeweled

On my first listen, the first time I heard the chorus, I was obsessed. Instant fave and the song I have listened to the most, still my fave. It's giving A Little Bit Alexis for me and I love that. "Familiarity breeds contempt" echoes Tolerate It, a top 10 Swift track if I've ever heard one. And I've heard all 127 of her top 10s. A diamond's gotta shine.

10. Labyrinth

I wouldn't skip this song so much if it wasn't sandwiched between 2 of my absolute faves. A little unrelatable for me because it's escalators I'm afraid of, not elevators. But also very relatable because the only kind of thinking I do is overthinking.

A fun fact about this song is that I know how to spell labyrinth now!

11. Karma

Let's start by clarifying that the line is "my pennies made your crown" not panties. Just in case anyone (other than me) was slightly confused at first. "Coming straight home to me" is very "I'm the one he's walking to" from Call It What You Want. This chorus is infectious. It's the new pandemic. I really can't say any more or I will tear up again from the beauty of it.

12. Sweet Nothing

This reminds me of New Year's Day and Peace, and while I can't relate to the feeling of being loved, the lyrics make me almost get it? A man in the kitchen??? We knew it already but Joe is the one. For me, it's Joe (Taylor's version).

Now Taylor's ex Calvin Harris ALSO has a song called Sweet Nothing. With vocals from Florence Welch. Who is famously friends with Blake Lively. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???

13. Mastermind

She IS known for her hints and codes and plans. As far as I'm concerned "we were born to be the pawn in every lover's game" is the real Queen's gambit. Let's get Anya Taylor-Joy in the music video! I love the revisit to the unpopular kid motif that really inspired the whole squad movement of the 1989 era. Scheming to make people like you, because in a way don't we all do that? Imagine if one of my plans to make a guy like me actually worked? Could never be me.

Deluxe CD (Target edition, lavender)

14. Hits Different

Tradition dictates that we MUST go to Target on the day of a Taylor album release. However, technological advances dictate that I no longer have a CD player in any capacity. Luckily Emily still does in her car so she got the deluxe CD at Target and we immediately listened to Hits Different and it's SO GOOD. Honestly Emily should Uber just so more people have the chance to hear this song. The first verse says, "I pictured you with other girls in love then threw up on the street," and it's giving that episode of Sex and the City where Carrie sees Big with Natasha for the first time at a party in the Hamptons and then throws up on the beach, right?

15. You're on Your Own, Kid (strings remix)

Not gonna lie, haven't listened to this one yet because we just replayed Hits Different the whole way home. We do live 3 minutes from Target though so it wasn't excessive.

16. Sweet Nothing (piano remix)

See above.

3am edition

14. The Great War

This reminds me so much of Afterglow, a song I will silently SOB to, okay? Thinking that her and Joe may have almost broken up once upsets me more than I can verbalize. I love the term "hairpin triggers" because when you're going through it, it really be like that. And as we head into winter, I am going THROUGH IT.

15. Bigger Than the Whole Sky

I saw somewhere online that people speculated that this was about a miscarriage and I wouldn't wish that on anyone but now it's all I can hear. This is such a beautiful song, it gives me It's Quiet Uptown and it introduces the could've, would've, should've been theme. I also love the vulnerability of the line "did some force take you because I didn't pray?" because I have definitely felt that way before.

16. Paris

Taylor wants me to go back to Paris and who am I to argue? Paris by the 1975 is one of my favorite songs and I am very open to a mash-up. Jack Antonoff, make this happen. "I'm so in love that I might stop breathing." I mean, who DOESN'T feel this? No actually, who is your psychiatrist, I just wanna talk.

17. High Infidelity

Okay there is A LOT to unpack here but I just wanna start by saying the idea of slowly killing someone by never loving them enough...I had to sit down after that.

I did a deep dive after hearing the line "constellations in his eyes" because we know Miss Swift is a zodiac girly. A lot of people online are saying this April 29th business refers to Calvin Harris...he's a Capricorn. Next she dates Tom Hiddleston, Aquarius and then Joe, a Pisces. These are all sequential and Taylor Swift herself is a Sagittarius, the sign before Capricorn. I'm like a guy on an episode of Pawn Stars who is gonna get a second opinion. I don't know what I've got, but I know it's something.

I also love that this is sparking a conversation about where we were on April 29th. One year I was...

...as you can see, home. Which really tracks. Another year I was unfortunately on Bumble.

18. Glitch

I cannot help that this just makes me think of Wreck-It Ralph. I didn't ask for this. "Wanting dudes who give nothing"...'tis the curse of the heterosexual female. Also I hope that her saying 2,190 days instead of 6 years doesn't legitimize the whole "my 22 month old" situation.

19. Would've, Could've, Should've

I'll say it. I think this would've, could've and should've been the track 5. Incredible. I've never really vibe with Dear John the way most Swifties do and this track feels like I can finally let out my anger at John Mayer in an honest way.

There's also some Sex and the City imagery here, a season 4 episode is titled Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda. Are we thinking she is going to get another cat and name it Carrie Bradshaw? No one asks a question like Carrie Bradshaw so that would really tie the 3ams in with the midnights.

20. Dear Reader

That second "never take advice from someone who's falling apart" HITS DIFFERENT. Okay so the whole "dear reader" trope comes from Jane Eyre and I also thought of Jane Eyre in Bejeweled with the lyric "don't put me in the basement when I want the penthouse of your heart." I suppose the attic and penthouse are both upper levels...I'll ask an English teacher.

Of course I IMMEDIATELY set forth making fan art. Decorating a pumpkin à la all of the people I've ghosted (knowing damn well that I am the ghosted and not the ghoster).