The mastermind herself dropped her 10th album at midnight on Oct. 21, 2022, which Swifties figured out is Swift’s 12,000th day on this planet. Midnights lyrics tell “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout [Swift’s] life.” “We lie awake in love and in fear, in turmoil and in tears. We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made ages and pray that we aren’t—right this minute—about to make some fateful life-altering mistake,” she explained when announcing the project. “This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching—hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve … we’ll meet ourselves.” Get the song meanings and Easter eggs behind all Midnights songs here, including the Midnights (3 AM Edition) and bonus tracks. Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift Midnights Easter Eggs
1. “Lavender Haze” Easter Eggs
Midnights opening track “Lavender Haze” was inspired by Joe Alwyn and Mad Men, as well as the Madonna-whore tropes common in overall sexism, but especially in pop culture criticisms and examinations of her life. “I happened upon the phrase ‘Lavender Haze’ when I was watching Mad Men, and I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool,” Swift said in an Instagram video about the tune. “And it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ’50s, where they would just describe being in love,” she said. “If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant that you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful.” She added that the tune focuses on “doing whatever it takes to stay” in that blissful honeymoon phase of love. “I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures,’ because we live in the era of social media. And if the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re gonna weigh in on it,” she said. “Like my relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
2. “Maroon” Easter Eggs
“Maroon” is literally dark red … as in, Red? Sort of. In the title track to “Red,” Swift describes it as the color of love, and in “Maroon,” Swift describes a love affair that was “so scarlet it was maroon.” The burgundy shade describes wine splashed on her T-shirt, the blood rushing to her cheeks and other elements of a romance that began with a man she was “dancing with in New York.” It does describe the relationship as one that was over, so could it be about Tom Hiddleston?
3. “Anti-Hero” Easter Eggs
“Anti-Hero,” Midnights’ first single, is one of Swift’s favorite songs that she’s ever written. In the lyrics, she describes herself as “the problem,” singing, “I’ll stare directly at the sun / But never in the mirror / It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.” She shows a sense of humor and even some self-consciousness about her height, singing, “Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby / And I’m a monster on the hill / Too big to hang out / Slowly lurching to your favorite city / Pierced through the heart but never killed.” She also says she has “covert narcissism disguised as altruism.” “I really don’t think I’ve delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before,” she said of the song. “You know, I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized, and that I, you know … not to sound too dark, but, like, I struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person. But don’t feel bad for me. You don’t need to.” “This song is a real guided tour throughout all the things that I tend to hate about myself,” she added. “We all hate things about ourselves, and it’s all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we’re going to be this person. So, yeah, I like ‘Anti-Hero’ a lot because I think it’s really honest.” On Nov. 8, 2022, Swift dropped another version of “Anti-Hero” featuring Bleachers, Antonoff’s band. You can hear his vocals in some verses; the song sounds exactly as you’d expect it to.
4. “Snow on the Beach” Feat. Lana Del Rey Easter Eggs
“Snow on the Beach” features Lana Del Rey and even a Janet Jackson reference (“Now I’m all for you like Janet”). “The song is about falling in love with someone at the same time as they’re falling in love with you,” Swift previously said about the collaboration. “Sort of in this, sort of, cataclysmic faded moment where you realize someone feels exactly the same way that you feel at the same moment. And you’re kind of looking around going like, ‘Wait, is this real? Is this a dream? Is it Is this real? Is this happening? Is it really happening?’ Kind of like it would be if you were to see snow falling on a beach.” “The fact that I get to exist at the same time as [Del Rey] is an honor and a privilege and the fact that she would be so generous as to collaborate with us on this song is something I’m going to be grateful for for life,” she gushed. “Absolutely love her and I really hope you love this song as much as I do.”
5. “You’re On Your Own, Kid” Easter Eggs
Swifties know that Track 5 on a Taylor Swift is serious. Midnights Track 5 is “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” and it touches on Swift’s struggles with fame and her own mental health, including the eating disorder she previously revealed in Taylor Swift: Miss Americana: “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.”
6. “Midnight Rain” Easter Eggs
“Midnight Rain” is one of many Swift songs about precipitation, but this is a different kind: The sadness that comes late at night. Some Swifties believe this one may be about Jake Gyllenhaal because of the references of “flames” harkening back to “State of Grace,” which mentions “twin fire signs / four blue eyes.” Check the “Midnight Rain” lyrics mentioned below: “Feels like midnight rain / I can’t help it I hear your name / I can’t seem to wash you away / Another season I hear your name / Feels like midnight rain / Still I got myself in your flames / I can’t seem to wash you away / Another season I hear your name / Feels like midnight rain.”
7. “Question…?” Easter Eggs
“Question…?” features one o the lyrics Swift put on billboards ahead of the Midnights album release. “Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?” is in the hook of the song, which features Swift singing a series of questions to a love interest about someone he’d been with prior: “Did you leave her house in the middle of the night?”
8. “Vigilante S**t” Easter Eggs
Swifties think that “Vigilante S**t” will be the second music video Swift releases from Midnights because she held her phone upside down when announcing the track name. The song opens with Swift mentioning her signature cat-eye liner, singing, “They say looks can kill and I might try / I don’t dress for women / I don’t dress for men / Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge / Don’t get sad / Get even.” The ever-vengeful Swift sings about being “thick as thieves with your ex-wife.” She also mentions that she doesn’t “dress for villains / or for innocents.” Could this song reference her feud with Kanye West, who’s now in the process of divorcing Kim Kardashian? Some Swifties also believe it to be about Scooter Braun, who divorced wife Yael Cohen since buying Swift’s masters.
9. “Bejeweled” Easter Eggs
Swift may have hinted at the title of her ninth Midnights track, “Bejeweled,” when she announced the album at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards in August. Though she didn’t mention the specific phrase “Bejeweled,” her outfit spoke a thousand words. “Best believe I’m still bejeweled / When I walk in the room / I can still make the whole place shimmer.” The song describes a woman losing some of her sparkle in a relationship with a man who doesn’t appreciate her (putting her “in the basement” of his heart when she wants the “penthouse”), but she refuses to dull her shine: “Diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real nice.”
10. “Labyrinth” Easter Eggs
“Labyrinth” features lyrics from a billboard and from Swift’s NYU commencement speech in May: “Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out.” The song is about the anxiety in her own mind when falling in love and assuming the worst—but getting the best: “Oh, no, I’m falling in love again / Oh, I’m falling in love / I thought the plane was going down, heard you turn it right around.”
11. “Karma” Easter Eggs
Zoë Kravitz has another writing credit on “Karma” with Swift, Antonoff, Mark A. Spears, Keanu Torres and Jahaan Sweet. Some of the lyrics appear to possibly be about Swift’s beef with Scooter Braun over her masters: “Spider boy, king of thieves / Weave your little webs of opacity / My pennies made your crown / Trick me once, trick me twice / Don’t you know that cash ain’t the only price / It’s coming back around.” Early on, Swifties believed “Karma” would be about Swift’s longstanding feud with Kanye West. Some cited that the song title being announced Oct. 6, 2022, was deliberate because his song “Famous,” in which he claimed to have made Swift famous, debuted on Oct. 6, 2016. Swifties also pointed to lyrics for her first single from Reputation, “Look What You Made Me Do,” which alluded to the beef and had lyrics including “All I think about is karma.” Further, Swifties noticed that “Innocent,” a song about West’s interruption at the 2009 VMAs, was track 11 on Swift’s album Speak Now.
12. “Sweet Nothing” Easter Eggs
Swift co-wrote “Sweet Nothing” with Joe Alwyn using his now-famous William Bowery pen name. Like other tracks, it seems Swift is not only singing about her adoration for Alwyn, but also for her seething disgust with the battle for her masters (maybe)—singing that everyone wants something from her but Alwyn himself: “Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors / And smooth-talking hucksters out-glad-handing each other / And the voices that implore, you should be doing more / To you I can’t admit, that I’m just too soft for all of it / Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh / They said the end is comin’ / Everyone’s up to something / I found myself running home to your sweet nothings / I’ll take their pushin’, shovin’ / You’re in the kitchen humming / All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing.”
13. “Mastermind” Easter Eggs
Swift pokes fun at her reputation (ahem) for scheming and plotting, as well as her love for Alwyn, in “Mastermind”—and reveals that her strategist ways are a result of deep-rooted insecurity:
Taylor Swift Midnights (3 AM Edition) Easter Eggs
14. “The Great War” Easter Eggs
In “The Great War,” Swift compares a dark period of a relationship to World War I—a war in which there were no clear heroes or villains, but just widespread devastation and loss. Could the soldier reference Alwyn, who starred as soldier in Billy Lynn’s Halftime Walk? Possibly, especially because she mentions “haze,” a phrase obviously in “Lavender Haze,” but also in her song “Lover” about him.
15. “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” Easter Eggs
“Bigger Than the Whole Sky” is a heartbreaking song about loss of a relationship. Some Swifties believe it’s a callback to “The 1,” in which she sang, “But it would’ve been fun / If you could’ve been the one.” Others have interpreted the devastating song to be about a miscarriage because of lyrics like “I’m never gonna meet / What could’ve been, would’ve been / What should’ve been you.”
16. “Paris” Easter Eggs
“Paris” features Swift singing about being madly in love with Alwyn and escaping the noise and drama of her life surrounding her when they first got together in 2016, as well as the media attention thereafter. Swift and Alwyn have each made a point of protecting their relationship from public consumption.
17. “High Infidelity” Easter Eggs
“High Infidelity” is told from the perspective a woman cheating on her husband. Swift frequently mentions “April 29th.” Swifties have been digging to see where she herself was on April 29th at any given time, but other than a party thrown by her former pal Dianna Agron and a pre-Met Gala outing with Lily Aldridge in 2016, not much has come up just yet.
18. “Glitch” Easter Eggs
“Glitch” features the lyric “blood moonlit,” likely the inspiration for the “Blood Moon” edition of Midnights. It’s likely about her relationship with Alwyn, because of math:“I was supposed to sweat you out / In search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else’s playground / But it’s been 2,190 days of our love blackout.” When you divide 2,190 by 365, you get six, which is how many years she and Alwyn have been together. There was a blood moon on Sept. 16, 2016 around the time she and Alwyn began dating.
19. “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” Easter Eggs
“Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” tells of regret over a relationship when Swift was 19 years old. Swift was linked to John Mayer when she was 19 and Jake Gyllenhaal shortly after, and they both did a number on her heart that’s documented in “Dear John” and “All Too Well” previously. Mayer trended on Twitter almost immediately after the release of Midnights (3 AM Edition), so it’s clear that the Swifties’ general consensus is that the song is about the “Paper Doll” singer. Another “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” Easter egg? It’s track 19 about her being 19. Cute!
20. “Dear Reader” Easter Eggs
“Dear Reader” is an advice column Swift writes to herself (and possibly her Swifties who follow her every move), warning, “Never take advice from someone who’s falling apart.” She appears to allude to her beef with Kanye West as well, singing, “Burn all the files, desert all your past lives / And if you don’t recognize yourself / That means you did it right” and “When you aim at the devil / Make sure you don’t miss.” Some also think it’s a callout to John Mayer because of the title similarity to “Dear John.”
Midnights Lavender Edition CD Easter Eggs
21. “Hits Different” Easter Eggs
Swift describes regret over her past romantic life in “Hits Different” and how she drunkenly can’t get over the person she’s singing about—even if she had no issues moving on from others: “I used to switch out these Kens / I’d just ghost / Rip the band aid off and skip town / Like an a**hole outlaw / Freedom felt like summer then / On the coast / Now the sun burns my heart and / The sand hurts my feelings.” Next, get up to speed on Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn’s low-key love story.
