It's been months and months since the Midnights album has been released, and a lot has happened since then - music videos, collabs, breakups (💔), hookups (💗), to breakups again, awards, breaking records here and there, and of course, the ongoing Eras tour. It's been a ride being a Taylor Swift fan. There's always something going on, and it's never boring. I'm so happy to be able to witness these events that would surely be topics of interest for the next decades to come when they talk about the music industry highlights of this year in history. 

Following my tradition with her music releases, I did sit down and write my thoughts about her latest album, similar to what did for reputation 🐍, Lover 🦋, folklore 🌲, and evermore 🍂. It just took me forever to clear my schedule and really have the time to sit down and do this thing, but finally here it is!

With just a few seconds of the track, we already knew that pop Taylor is back! I love her raspy voice here and the playful melody that makes this song very fun to sing. I notice that one of Taylor's strengths is the way she is able to incorporate the lyrics with the melody. For sure there's a term for that technique, but for now that's what I'm gonna call it. 😅

The only kinda girl they see 

Is a one-night or a wife

I admit, this song still needs to grow on me. 😅 But as usual, it has such amazing lyrics. Taylor also has mastery with playing with words, making the song tell a story with every verse, chorus, and bridge.

With just the first listen, I knew this is gonna be that song. I had goosebumps because of how much I related to the lyrics. I think Taylor was able to deeply connect with her audience with this song because of how vulnerable she is here. Taylor Swift, one of the biggest superstars in the world, is telling you her deepest insecurities. This really made her so relatable.

I loved everything -- from the lyrics to the melody, and to the music video! I'm just so happy that my favorite song (on first listen) on Midnights is the first released single off the album. Also, even though it's already history, Taylor first sang this song live in acoustic at a The 1975 concert! Aaah, my fandom worlds really collided at that moment. I'm so happy with the memories I have attached with this song. This song for sure holds one of the top Taylor Swift song spots in my heart. 🤗

ALL OF IT!

I was really not that exposed to Lana Del Rey's music so it was a treat for me to discover another great artist through this song. It's so magical and dreamy, and just that concept of having snow on the beach is outside of this reality. It's weird, but it's beautiful. 

At first listen, I thought it sounded very like It's Nice to Have a Friend from the Lover album. It was very noticeable that Lana didn't really have a solo verse on the song (but the vocal blending with Taylor's is ethereal 😇). But yeah, fast forward to several months, Taylor heard the fans and actually released a new version of the song with more Lana Del Rey on it. 😁👏

I wasn't really able to connect with this song initially, but after absorbing the lyrics and connecting the dots to her NYU speech wherein she actually used the lyrics in it (sneaky Taylor and her easter eggs! 🥚), I was able to feel the message this song is trying to bring across. And my favorite part is the bridge, which is very powerful and just shoots me with dopamine every time I hear it (which also inspired the friendship bracelets at the Eras tour):