revisiting Midnights after THE breakup of joe alwyn + taylor swift 💔 

Also.. has anyone else noticed the lyrical parallels between Peace and Midnight Rain cause I was kinda shook when I noticed this two days ago. I mean… “I’d give you my sunshine give you my best but the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me” and “he was sunshine I was midnight rain”

I think Midnights has this feel of a relationship falling apart and you start looking to the past and your exes thinking about the commonalities. How do things break down, is there a pattern, am I the problem?

I think Taylor was very unhappy, trying to keep herself and her relationship out of the spotlight as much as possible for Joe, she missed sparkling.

I feel like most of these songs will have been written 'about' events or relationships prior to Joe, but unavoidably her present emotions (at the time) about her and Joe's relationship became intertwined with them. Like Midnight Rain was probably 'written' about someone else from her past, but the fact that these specific emotions were on her mind so strongly seems to suggest that things with her and Joe were no bueno

What about dear reader? To me, this song was the warning sign that something was not ok. It was the final track (big significance in the track list) and she literally says: I prefer hiding in plain sight, like she wants to tell us that the message hides in plain sight. Also: coming home to a house not a home all alone cause nobody’s there. I always felt like “you should find another guiding light” is about her not being able to live up to the love story she manifested and everyone believed in.

I have a psychology background with an expertise in communications. Analysis always fascinates me. I think Lavender Haze reveals Joe as Taylor's rock of stability that's kept her grounded. Taylor has often spoke to a need for grounding in such a surreal life. Going back before Joe, she did interviews speaking to her reviewing the social media posts of everyday people to just touch base with normality. When the world thinks you're a goddess, you kinda need that someone to not pay so much attention and the tone of the song is gratitude that he's been that for her. Joe's 32. Taylor's 33. He might be wanting to start a family and settledown into a more (less jet set) private life. He seems far less career driven and not at all a fan of fame. Undoubtedly, Lavender Haze speaks to the pressure Taylor has felt to settledown... mostly in terms of societal pressure. But I would suspect there's been a lot of private pressure on both Taylor and Joe for marriage and children when it's clear she's not ready to give up her career as their families count their years spent together in-tune to Taylor's biological clock tick-tocking. Perhaps right when he was ready to settledown, she was ready to produce a new album complete with a huge tour? Midnight Rain is especially poignant in this kind of self-reflection as if she's facing the same issue of her youth all over again. Taylor Lautner wanted to settledown. He wanted the peppermint candy kind of life in his fenced yard paradise. That ghost come back to haunt her as she, perhaps, faced the same struggles with Joe. Taylor has always seemed to me like she's stuck between two worlds, and I think many people are with the societal upheaval and role changes that have occurred in the recent scope of human history. There's the baking cookies, southern down-home girl, who wants to settle into the comfort of lifelong love as per her country roots. Then, there's the extremely ambitious and highly competitive star within her that wants to shine brighter than all the others. I imagine she wars with herself a lot, and she knows it. She shows us that war all the time. I think we shouldn't be so hard on John Mayer and his song "Paper Doll" when he wrote that Taylor was like "22 girls all in one". She has shown us that herself in videos like "Look what you made me do" where she shows the many aspects of her, as if unique personalities, battling on the mountain for ultimate supremacy. I think Joe's a good guy. They just stopped being compatible when they hit that pivotal road mark that revealed they didn't share the same relationship goals.

“I made you my world, have you heard, I can reclaim the land” ok until this video I did not appreciate how hard this slaps. It’s the sharpest “don’t try me” 👏👏

IMO the biggest red flag for why this relationship wouldn't work was when Taylor began reinventing the wheel. All the Joe songs were about the same period of time, the same message. The "he saved me" "he's normal and I love it" etc. Taylor is a multifaceted songwriter and this was supposed to be the love of her life and yet... we were at Midnights, 6 years deep, and she's singing songs like Snow on the Beach and Lavender Haze. Even Folklore and Evermore which are primarily fictional snuck in that same tired storyline.

I think the biggest clue we have on Maroon being about Joe is that the line “looked at the sky and it was maroon”. The thing is, the people thought that maroon was about Jake believed this because it was a shade of red. It really was. In Daylight, Taylor says “I once belive love would be burning red, but it’s golden like daylight”. And that’s the problem. Taylor now looks at the sky and sees that it was never golden, just a cooler and less vibrating shade of red. She thought because this relationship is calmer, this is the healty true love but it’s actually because it lacks passion and kinda mess that she likes in a relationship.

you calling Taylor a "sugar mama" to Joe was the absolute slay of this video

wow i'm really starting to believe that Midnights is supposed to be a breakup album all along, because she is a mastermind, she was cryptic and machiavellian and dishonest to us fans regarding this because she cares.....at the end of Lover she says "now i see daylight, i only see daylight....not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night"...but she is midnight rain....so the relationship only worked in the daylight....i believe Taylor is still grateful for Joe, because all he ever wanted from her was sweet nothing and he showed her this normal life in the daylight

She was revisiting impactful moments from her past because her present wasn't fulfilling her and it was bringing back memories of other relationships breaking down. Also she hints all through out the album that she needs a bit of chaos and drama to not be bored with "I just need that love spiral", saying she's the problem in anti-hero or still longing for a relationship that was a "meteor strike". Meanwhile it seems like her relationship with Joe was a lot more mundane and a bit boring like most long term relationships are, that is pretty clear in how she describes it in Sweet Nothing. I think he was ready to lock it down and pop out some babies but she's not in the mood for that "1950's shit" yet and she's still chasing that fame. It's still pretty clear he was still very significant for her and I hope she doesn't regret breaking up with him later...

Labyrinth actually makes me feel uncomfortable the first time I listen to it. I never really understood why it was labeled as a love song in the first place... I feel like Labyrinth is about her anxiety in the relationship. It feels like she was hurt in the relationship at one point ("It only hurts this much right now") and was thinking about breaking up ("Break up, break free, break through, break down"). It feels like she was quite overwhelmed with the thought of the aftermath of not being able to move on ("I'll be getting over you my whole life") or being scared about finding new love ("You know how scared I am of elevators never trust it if it rises fast" and "You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back" ). She kept saying " I'm falling in love" which feels more like a way she convinced herself to stay in love. In the song, she almost sounds surprised that she could talk herself out of the breakup ("How'd you turn it right around") when it feels like the relationship was near its end ("I thought the plane was going down"). But with the way the song is fading out, it almost seems like it's a cycle that could only end when the plane crash

I hate how people get mad when I say that I’m excited to hear the next record. If you are offended by someone being excited to hear what Taylor has to say about the relationship through the music, you need to get a grip. Just because I am excited for music, doesn’t mean I am “happy that Taylor and Joe broke up”. I feel like a lot of new swifties aren’t really familiar with the way it works around these parts.

Question? Is honestly a masterpiece. My favorite song in the album, to all the girlies who can't forget literally ANYTHING, can't get over the most basic deep connection from years ago. That song is a cry for help lol 😭

In daylight she says "I once believed love would be burning red but it’s golden" She always described Joe as golden but now in maroon she realises Joe was maroon and she hasn’t found her actual golden yet.

I love the chorus of Maroon. It’s one of my favorite bits in the record in the way the lyrics can sound both positive and negative based on the way she sings it. Was the wine splashed because they were in a careless, happy moment and someone wasn’t watching their wine glass or was the wine thrown in anger? Are her cheeks flushing with happiness and excitement or out of anger or shame? Did the rust grow between telephones because it was in such heavy use or because it was left abandoned? Is the mark on her neck a love bite or was it a bruise from more sinister circumstances? The emotion in her voice when she sings these lines the first time compared to when she sings them towards the end of the song changes so much that it feels like the meaning changes as time goes on. Like she’s describing different points of their relationship using the same lyrics.

i think Taylor is so grateful for Joe coming into her life. Because at that time she was on her lowest point of her life. Then slowly Taylor was rebuilding her career. After success of Folklore and Midnights, Taylor maybe wanted to do something more beyond that. And then Joe wanted to settle down, probably have kids, etc. But she’s the pop star, She didn’t like the idea of settling down quickly. So that’s maybe why she wanted to end the relationship but in a healthy way. I also think that she might go back to Joe again at some point.

I think the entire lover album is “I’m the problem, you saved me, I’m so lucky to have you because you look past my faults and the fame” And bejeweled is “you know what, no fuck that IM THE CATCH, HERE!”

Maybe he's not sunshine in personality - but her sunshine, as in what is perceived as healthy for her to take in - but she's midnight rain. That really aligns with the being drawn to the wasteland - it might not be the best for her, it's dark but it's hers.. I love it

My theory: they had a break on the relationship and that’s when she wrote maroon and midnight rain, bejewelled, glitch etc . When they got back together she wrote the Great War, and….LABYRINTH “ I’ll be getting over you my whole life/ oh oh I’m falling in love again I thought the plane was going down how DID YOU turn RIGHT AROUND”. The only away Joe could possibly accept songs like question and glitch is if they were broken up at some point. Also People magazine wrote “they had problems before and worked that out so friends thought they would spend some time apart but eventually come back together”. So friends were not taking the break up so seriously because they have broken up before and got back together, until the break up was midia oficial, when they realised this time would be for good. This theory makes all the songs make perfect sense. You are welcome.

Please do an addendum to this video that includes Hits Different because that song is the biggest hint ever and I can't get over how smart she was to make that the target exclusive so it wouldn't be streaming in everyone's ears constantly.

not related to the breakup, but in mastermind i originally thought she said “i’m only cryptic and machiavellian cuz i CAN” and i was just like “yes you can ms. swift” and didn’t question it

i would just like to point out that in tampa n2 she said that midnights represented her current life the most. what if saying that midnights was about moments scattered throughout her life was a copout to explain her true feelings on her relationship… (which is what this video is about)

I have been in a relationship before where our level of “extroversion” was so so different: he wanted to be home like 99% of the time and I am 50/50 : we had SO many fights about me wanting to go out and him wanting to stay in, and tried so many various strategies to help: I feel this is similar to what she dealt with: he is SO private, so quiet , she is a HUGE pop star who has always lovedddd the spotlight and her fans . I can imagine that would be a huge strain.

I think in light of recent happenings Bejeweled is one of the most interesting songs on Midnights because it is a perfect example of what others have pointed out already in the comments - a song about past events where current feelings intertwine. I still think it was written about Calvin Harris because IMO there are a few lines that are unmistakably a reference to him - “I can still say I don’t remember”, “did all the extra credit then got graded on a curve” (reference to TIWYCF), “we dance all night and you can try to change my mind but you might have to wait in line” (reference to Met gala). However, there is something which I can’t quite make sense of now that I think about it, and it is that while she was with Calvin, however unhappy the relationship was, she WAS shining in the public eye until the very last stretch of the relationship. Like sure she could’ve meant “I miss sparkling” as her perceiving that things were crumbling in 2016 but when she left him it was still early stages of the whole canceling process, the line makes much more sense in the context of having withdrawn from the public eye and become much more private and missing being THAT girl which she was in 2015 (when she was with Calvin). So yeah in conclusion, I think she intended to write this song about a past breakup/situation but ended up mixing her own current feelings in the process - how she missed the spotlight.

Honestly it makes a lot of sense for songs on midnights to almost have multiple meanings. Her past relationships that she’s intentionally reflecting on, and her then current relationship with Joe when she was writing this. I know for myself I don’t often realize my present until I’m reflecting on the past, and I wonder if that was the same for Taylor here too

Brilliant analysis. I recently watched an interview of Taylor discussing her writing process & she said that sometimes she doesn't know how she feels about something until she writes it down. The writing of songs gives her clarity in working through her worries. I feel that with Midnights her subconscious is rather loud throughout the album. Definitely grappling with the unraveling of a long term relationship & how they grew apart, thinking of her future & what she wants for her life/achievements/goals/legacy & reflection of her values. The theme of agency is huge. These are all the things that have been keeping her up till midnight as she's undergone a seismic transformation like Cinderella when the clock strikes 12.

Antihero has a huge Easter egg in the pre-chorus. "Someday I'll watch as you're leaving cause you got tired of my scheming." This is one of those primal, raw fears, that her SO would tire of her and leave before she decides she wants to leave him. She said it in so many words in I Did Something Bad: "you gotta leave before you get left."

The way she ended the 3am edition with dear reader, going home all alone. It was there the whole time cant believe i missed that.

Question? is still the most out of pocket , craziest song LMAO . It’s for those who can’t and won’t let things go if things and can’t leave well enough alone. It’s for those who probably should go to therapy. It’s me and it’s one of my fav songs on the album just bc the. Craziness and hieroglyphic of it is phenomenal

I do feel like you're not giving Joe enough credit as an artist due to his lack of fame prior to Taylor. He's an actor after all (also artistry in itself) and he literally co-wrote and composed some of the songs on folklore with Taylor. So saying he might not intellectually keep up with her does not really add up. Of course, you're also just speculating on potential reasons for them drifting apart but it does seem a little spiteful towards him, which I don't feel is fair and I'm pretty sure it's not something Taylor would want. There doesn't always have to be a "bad guy" for a relationship to end. Sometimes it's just not the right match for the long haul and that's ok.

omg yes how she HAD too tell us that she found herself writing this album because she was alone with jack while joe and margareth were filming

The breakup news definitely gave Midnights new emotional layers for me. Like I’m sure she was ALSO reflecting on past experiences but that gave her a nice blanket to explore and infuse the way she was feeling in the present! I’ve seen some takes that are very all-or-nothing and oversimplifying in this regard, like people saying “omg midnights was actually a breakup album” OR on the flip side “no way do any of the songs on midnights have new meaning now” and I DON’T GET IT! We are all a patchwork of everything we’ve been through in life. I think the re recording process absolutely informed Midnights, and I think her present circumstances at the time did too! Many things can be true at once and it bugs me when her work gets collapsed into a one dimensional narrative. It never is! Anyways ty Zack for breaking it down and ALWAYS seeing the layers!

Honestly, I really was speculating to myself what’s happening with Taylor and Joe a few days before the news of their split. Not to dehumanise them or strip them of their personal life at all. I was thinking how Joe and Taylor are in different places in life. Taylor is in the middle of a career metamorphosis. She’s essentially book-ended a significant portion of her career. We know she’s about to embark on newer creative outlets beyond songwriting. Joe seems to be in a comfortable place if his life. A sizeable career, very private life, and probably ready to settle down. And I was thinking what is next for them. She can’t really settle down yet. Joe is in the perfect place to settle down. Also, their personalities are kinda opposite. And yeah opposites may attract at times. But this time, I don’t think so. But that’s the extent of my speculations. I didn’t want to fill in the blanks and make false accusations.

i really think that if taylor is going to date anyone again, she needs to STOP looking for guys that are "oh my god he is so smart, so cultured, look how he listens to these indie albums that are cooler than mine", like girl you need a ryan reynolds in your life you know, someone minimally funny sometimes is good, and taylor is a funny person, she needs someone VERY similar to her, this business of "opposites attract" is a lie and an invention of the media, she needs someone with a fame similar to her of course too, and i think she had it in her head that you relating to a person completely different from you was the right thing to do and i think now that she realizes that it is not

the fact that joe was perceived as ‘daylight’ and then she drops ‘midnight’ 🥲

Just re-visiting these videos before TTPD. The fact that you mention 'Autopsy of Joe Alwyn' and the fact that the sentence of the apple music word hunt could be 'We hereby conduct this post mortem' is giving me goosebumps. 😂😂

She said on Jimmy Fallon that she wrote Bejeweled because she was trying to hype herself up to go back to pop music!!! So it's definitely something recent, not about Calvin Harris, like some of us thought. About "Labyrinth", "I'll be getting over you my whole life" sounds a lot like "That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend", from "Cornelia Street". In hindsight, "Midnights" had a lot of clues indeed

OH ALSO in Maroon, she notes how, joe, as we suppose, stands 'hollow-eyed in the hallway' symbolising an empty void of boredom and mundanity. It could possibly show how joe was still confused or at a loss as he just stands in the hallway with an indiscernible expression. In You're Losing Me, taylor notes how joe is 'RUNNING down the hallway'. So, now, instead of standing idle in the middle void of their relationship, Joe's running away as quick as possible, trying to get out of this empty point in their relationship. Thats my take on it.

The context of question is Billboard Music Awards 2015, Taylor went with Calvin, the one she forgot, the dickhead, and Harry was there too. In fact, according to "Question", he was under the influence - and you can totally tell by the videos of that day. Taylor was at the front roll with Calvin, hugging and talking. When Harry got on the stage to accept an award, he literally turned his back to the crowd lol. 1989 was at it's peak, and "Style" was everywhere. Haylor was still fresh. Also, if you want to get a little deep, every news article after the fact had "sources close to Taylor" saying that she was oh so happy with Calvin, and happy to share her happiness on the face of Harry Styles lol. There you go, that's the context. I think holding to something that happened 8 years ago is the most Taylor Swift that Taylor Swift can get. I LOVE THE SONG.

I agree with you almost completely, we believe the same theories and see Taylor in the same light, but I think you're being a bit too harsh on Joe and that can color how you view some of these lyrics to be a bit more negative attributing "bored" and "over it" where "melancholic" or "bittersweet", to me, would have been a bit more in line with Taylor's possible mindset. We can't forget she truly loved this man. And unless we get a new album with Taylor bringing some hot tea, I would really describe Joe as sunshine. Have you seen the video where he is shy watching her singing Gorgeous in Rep tour? Is there something more sunshine than that? I think that was how he was in private but we barely got to see that, and that is fine, it wasn't for our eyes anyways. Edit: After seeing how all her friends and brother unfollowed him, I must stick with girlie. #clownface

What you said about lavender haze is so true and I thought the exact same thing especially re listening to it and the first verse especially like it might seem cute just hearing it& moving on to the chorus but if someone doesn’t read into your sadness one could see that as not a good thing.

So, listen! My theory is Midnight rain is about the same person she wrote "Breathe" on Fearless about (one of her most overlooked 2ams;). "It's 2 ama feeling like I just lost a friend" She broke his heart cause he was nice (also missing screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain comes to mind ...). Breathe and TWALY must have been about a normal boy she dated back in highschool. Now she looks BACK (deep portal, time travel) and thinks about what her life might have been have she stayed with him and not preoritise her carere (life I gave away). This guy, years gone, has normal life (Picture perfect, shiny family, Holiday, peppermint candy). And thinks of her only when she is on TV. And SHE thinks of him on midnights like this, wondering if she sould preoritise her carere again, now over Joe.

I always thought the bridge in Dear Reader was really telling. It literally screams “I’m both alone and lonely and I don’t what I’m doing” idk maybe it’s just me

I feel, even if the songs were not about him, or the songs are not about the breaking of the relationship now, a lot of times in our lives, if we don’t get over our past issues and traumas, or even if we have worked on them, they Can and will come back. If we’re truly over it, we can go pass through it, but if we are truly not, if there’s still something there in the past, then they’ll bring us down again, they’ll cause us pain, like seeing ghosts from the pasts, that keep haunting you. So things that could be about other relationships can still apply to the current one. Or even for past conflicts between the same relationship, a lot of times couples fight over the same things. A lot of fights are because of trust issues and past traumas. The question is, did they really triumph over them after the Great War, is there an afterglow this time? “You drew up some good faith treaties I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone You said I have to trust more freely But diesel is desire, you were playin' with fire And maybe it's the past that's talkin' Screamin' from the crypt Tellin' me to punish you for things you never did” -the Great War “I blew things out of proportion, now you're blue Put you in jail for something you didn't do” -Afterglow And it makes so much more sense when you listen to “anti-hero” “I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser” What do you need to learn to get wiser, Taylor? Do you want to become wiser tho?

I am from the uk near where Joe was brought up and where he and Taylor spent their time together with his family. She made a video in a restaurant in our high street. It is very sad because in the end it was inevitable. They fell in love in a bubble and the bubble burst. I think it is hard to analyse people who are from such completely different worlds. I really admire them for holding on to their love for 6 years. Love to them both 🙏🏻

I LOVED the analysis of the first verse of Sweet Nothing, I think that’s insanely smart. I think there’s a couple more lyrics that fit with this re-analysis of Midnights… On Maroon, when she says “carnations you had thought were roses, that’s us,” she could be comparing a cheaper, more commonplace flower (carnations) to the classic love symbol of roses, saying that the love wasn’t as richly realized as it could have been. In Snow on the Beach, she says “my smile is like I won a contest” which harkens back to that concept of being inferior to a partner, as in you’re having to win their affections via a contest rather than that love being given freely. In YOYOK, the second verse talks about essentially realizing that “something different bloomed” in her priorities (being successful, writing music, playing songs in parking lots) after realizing that “he loves me not.” I think this again goes back to the tendency Taylor has to choose her career over love, even though she is such a hopeless romantic and is so inspired by love, she’s also just gotta shine and take over the world like the girlboss she is. Not to mention that Bigger Than The Whole Sky is a really deeply sad song… is she daydreaming about ending her first long-term relationship that was “more than just a short time”? Finally, in Labyrinth she’s talking about “getting over you my whole life” which is pretty much mourning a relationship before it even ends; I suspect that it’s more of her Wildest Dreams-esque fatalism coming in, but it could signify that she saw the end coming even as she was “falling in love again.” I’m sure there’s so much more we haven’t even thought of yet!

The breakup makes me think of question: “Everything was second best after that meteor strike” (referencing a past relationship) so idk but that lyric just hits so different now

i truly think that lavender haze is a song she wrote to cope with the initial breakdown of the relationship. convincing herself she WANTS to stay in the state of lovey dovey no commitment. i think she got max when people would ask when they’re getting married because she was upset deep down that joe never wanted the relationship to go further

Yesss, I totally agree with your takes! Midnights was so confusing to me until the news about the breakup broke out. Now it makes so much sense and you put it so perfectly!

False God is nearly the happier version of Bejeweled. There were lots of red flags in False God to me but she was kind of putting a rose colored glass over it. Also, Afterglow is very alarming. For her to think that she entirely the problem in a fight is bad

During Maroon, it always stuck out to me how “your roommates cheap ass screw top rosé” is the same melody as “is this the end of all the endings?” …. hinting at Joe???

I agree with most of these analyses, except maybe for “Sweet Nothing”. I think Sweet nothing is a simple song about simple love, where both of them don’t really expect much of the other except being together in each other’s presence. It’s comforting for me ☺️

Have you thought about where matty fits in midnights? I think there’s way more to the story now that matty is involved and that Joe knew they were collaborating!

Can I just say I love how you speak. You’re very confident and eloquent. I just wanted to give you props on it. It is refreshing.

I always interpreted that SHE is the meteor for the other person, not the other way around. Basically because she's asking the questions to him, so: does it feel like everything's just like second best after me? (Taylor) 😅

i actually thought they broke up when i first listened to "hits different" and thought she wrote their breakup song for the future. but now it's a hella different ride with whole midnights. i'm not talking about their relationship specifically, but about her thoughts and feelings on all of this. i usually skip such videos but yours were interesting to watch, i like your perspective and your attitude. ❤

Love your analysis and the vibe! Now that the breakup has happened, it almost feels like we should have seen it coming. You don’t go from “I like shiny things but I’d marry you with paper rings” to Champagne Problems and Midnight Rain without some switch flipping in Taylor’s head…

Omg I didn't read in to the meaning of each songs that deeply before but concider what you just talked about, it's written so cleverly. I can clearly see her growth from the past. I feel like she has had so much realizations about herself in the last couple of years and I can't wait to see what she's gonna create and do. btw Carnation is flower you bring to funeral and ruby is the jewel she used in Reputation era. I was like 10 years old so I didn't really joined the "era" and idk well but there was ruby emoji on her app.Ruby represented reputation i guess. These two things are something that I've been thinking about when I listen to Maroon. Sorry if the grammar was wrong!! Love ur vids:)

When I heard Hits Different I was thinking that something had happened in their relationship Also I think Midnight rain is probably about a few relationships, I think there are clues hinting at a few different guys that this sentiment of choosing the life of a popstar over the more comfortable life she could have had if she'd chosen to really try to settle down. I think it's a reflection on those times in her life when a good guy did want a comfortable life with her, but she didn't want that, and just how that has consistently impacted those relationships(the most recent being joe). Also TV can also mean Taylor's Version(exes not really thinking about her until the music she wrote about them gets re-recorded and they hear it again)

Idk, Maroon seems so connected to Wildest Dreams to me. The bridges are basically saying the same thing, almost from a later perspective or other persons pov. They both mention red lips, rosy cheeks, and looking at the sunset. They’re both based in remembering the relationship and it’s the same imagery. Also, in a C&R breakdown they talked about how the spareness of the song is purposeful because it’s doing what the lyrics are saying and making you feel how she feels.

I agree with everything you said Zach! Such a big brain energy, thoughtful video, I just wanted to thank you for always giving us a fresh perspective on the messy machinations of our favorite popstar

verses on maroon sample the melody of bridge from king of my heart, which definitely indicates its about joe

Such good takes Zack! These last couple of premieres have been great fun ❤

I just discovered your channel. You are very pleasant to listen to. I wasn't feeling the that well and your calm observation is just lovely. Also you look great! And you really changed my thoughts on that quote "I miss you but I miss sparkling"

I literally always admire the thought and effort that goes into these videos, its the best to listen to them while I'm working or painting 🤞

also, "i see you everyday now" aligns with the fact shared with the media about their relationship enliven in the pandemic years. i'm always curious about what you have to say. you're articulated in a way that blows my mind, it's professional. thank you, love and support from brazil 💜

Love these takes... you pretty much summed it all up for me! This is the kind of content that I love to listen to, it gets me thinking and it's more interesting rather than catty or gossipy like all of those other pop culture channels. Thank you Swiftologist

I am obsessed with your videos and Patreon member of evolution of snake SO to Maddie as well!! This video is my exact thoughts when I found out about the breakup. Taylor’s shine was getting dimmed by this relationship and it’s empowering to see her do her damn thing and regain herself through this tour and moving forward with her career! I truly cannot WAIT to see what we see from Taylor next! Thank you for what you do for the OG swiftie community!! 🫶🫶🫶

You’ve given us a lot to think about here, thanks for that. I saw Taylor last night in Tampa-wow- phenomenal! I found myself thinking about Joe & how sad for her to do songs like Lover and Champagne problems. But there was NO sadness vibe from her. She has moved on and is definitely in her prime right now!👏🏻

Joe co-wrote Sweet Nothing so I think your point was a bit of a reach. He also helped to write Champagne Problems and other songs on Folklore, so he does have musicality/creativity which is why they bonded so much during their early years (according to sources I've read).

Love the analysis. One point about maroon- she describes on and off relationships with a lot of past muses (ATW10, WANEGBT, Style). Maroon has so many specific evocative images (carnations you had thought were roses, dancing barefoot in New York, incense on the vinyl shelf) - it reminds me of the Red style of writing. Those on and off relationships really affect her deeply, that’s why the relationships with Jake and Harry still have such a hold on her and the public imagination.

Hi! I am actually a relatively new Swiftie and I just discovered your channel. I want to thank you so much for the education I’ve been getting from your videos. 👍🏻💜

ur literally the most interesting youtuber i have come across i literally could listen to u talk all day

the fact that taylor and joe's breakup was more interesting than their relationship...

Your analysis of Lavendar Haze has me RIP ☠ I never realized all that!

I just had to let you know that my husband walked into the room as I was watching this and said you had very cool striking eyes, and he's right! Wonderful video, fantastic analysis as usual 💙

She has always put her self down in her songs when talking about how he’s her lifeline and the one who saved her and how he’s better than her and all that basically there’s a type of inferiority she feels I get it bc I felt that way about a relationship I was in a one point but once I figured out that you shouldn’t feel that way I became that bitch lol. Like it sounds sweet on surface level bc she’s gassing him up but at the same time she’s putting herself down over things she can’t control aka fame even if she tried to and she has we know this but it’s very interesting In hindsight

I want to talk about the great war and hits different, since this video only covered the standard tracks The great war: The great war as a title already is an extremely visual and complex term. They got their Ups and downs but they still went through everything together. There was even a point where she felt betrayed by him for some reason Proof/lyrics: "It turned into something bigger Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed" on the other hand she was scared that she actually lost him Proof/lyrics: "That was the night I nearly lost you I really thought I lost you" This song is also very complex because at first glance one could think at the end this is a happy song, because they survived the great war. Personally I don't think that's what this song is intending. She explains that, yes they survived together, but it's not the same as before. Proof/lyrics: "We can plant a memory garden Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair There's no morning glory, it was war, it wasn't fair And we will never go back" On one hand she says, the damage is caused, it's irreparable. There was a time before "the great war" and there is a time after "the great war", but the time before & after will never be the same. On the other hand I feel like these lines also try to explain a "happy" ending. They fell apart, but not like her other relationships. That's actually astonishing, because I always hear: "the great war is a perfect song for relationships/friendships who went through the Corona virus." And yes I partly agree. But I feel like the great war is as intense as it is because of it's outcome, because of the result and the result is not a happy still existing relationship. The great war is basically a story. The result is a relationship which went through a lot of stuff and therefore fell apart, yet in a "good way" Let's be honest, the great war has a lot of lines but the bridge of this song is what reminds us when we hear about the great war, the bridge captures everything In this song. Hits different: Unlike the great war, hits different is very obvious and direct. She's going through a recent break up and it feels painful and different because this person (=joe) is different from all the others she dated before. She can't move on because it hits different. I feel like this song especially represents what you (so the creator lol) said in the video: she tried to safe this relationship, thinking this is what she needs, but deep inside her she knew this is not going to workout and it hits different (also) because of this (kind of) dilemma. Overall I want to thank you for this video, I really enjoy analyzing songs and you motivated me to do so with these 2 songs

I think now that she is dating Travis Kelce, we know that she doesn’t necessarily want a private love life. She was doing it for Joe or because of joe. When I was in rocky relationships in my past, I didn’t want to go out with friend groups because I didn’t want my friends to see how bad things were. Joe was such a dud! Bejeweled really says it all! 😘

your way of speaking is really impressive👍 Also in the song great war, Taylor says " maybe it was egos swinging, maybe it was her" and also "somewhere in the haze, I got a sense I have been betrayed " there are rumors of emma laird and joe alwyn dating, so who knows, just a speculations.

I listened to Labyrinth recently and it made me think that maybe the song is simultaneously about her breakup with Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy cause in the song she sings uh oh I'm falling in love again which you wouldn't sing about someone you've been in a 6 year relationship with. I think Taylor and Joe broke up way before she released Midnights and i think she's been dating Matty for a while just my opinion.

Congratulations on 20k!!!❤

About Midnight Rain I have a completly different interpretation: the song is about a high school boyfriend (with the sunshine energy that always was present in the male protagonists of her old videos e.g. mine) that she only thinks about in bad midnights and also about the fantasy itself of the life that could have been and that she is/was pursuing with Joe. She is talking about how much she changed since the time she had that future as a possibility and chose the fame, realizing that it isnt possible anymore to be the fairy tale bride she always pictured herself being in her first songs. Being with Joe is looking trough the window to that life and unraveling a LOT of love (lover era), only to not be possible because she gave that life away. At the end, she got what she wanted, as she says. The line about the TV is about both of them. The old boyfriend really doesnt think about her, only when she is on TV. Joe soon will be like that too. While she will be still thinking of them in midnights like this. The last 2 verses are almost wishful thinking with a shock of reality.

Your content literally helps me cope with life, I feel like some friend of mine is talking to me about all this :)

Ok so I love this video, but I genuinely think I need your skincare/makeup routine because you are GLOWING ❤

34:51 rip me i died dead; also, can we talk about how much more relatable midnights gets when we look at it through the lense of a breakup, or is it just me

i would love to hear your thoughts on Hits Different- i think there’s a lot of tea in the lyrics about how they were kind of doomed from the start, their relationship felt wrong, she was sooo hung up on him and really idealized him and praised him for just wanting to be with her.

Love your insightful and thoughtful re- analysis of Midnights!

Just wanted to say that I found you a month ago and I’ve been loving your content-especially the Lana videos!! Keep it up ❤

Something I've noticed now which makes me think Midnights in retrospect was meant to be a "breakup/chronicle of the end of a relationship album" all along is the one interview with Joe about the things he cannot live without. In it he says he has an extensive lighter collection (and I apologise if this is old news)...well, what's on the cover of Midnights? Sometimes the most pertinent clues are the ones hidden in plain sight. But maybe I'm overthinking. Loved the analysis in the video!

I also think hits different is very much a clue to this breakup because of how many times she has said she’s scared of other people taking joe away or seeing him with other girls. Hits different literally says that in the first verse. Knowing the context of that and kind of piecing the lyrics together with the relationship IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

you really got me with your midnight rain interpretation, so interesting!

A possible problem with Taylor is that she compares herself with younger women. It seemes like she needs to choose between being relevant in her carrer or being married and possible have kids. For exemple, Beyoncé had her daugher at 30 years old and had twins at 36, she has been married for 15 years, does that makes her less relevant? Being a wife and a mother does not make beyoncé shine less in her carrer, it does not matter if she putting an album out or if she is touring, she is beyoncé and everyone knows her and acknowledge that. It seems like Taylor want to stay young in her personal life as well, she wants to feel like she has been dating someone for one week instead of years, but that is not how long term relationships work, the other person does not have to guess what you are thinking bc you are both adults who can comunicate with each other. Joe has a life that he care about, he loves his job but he would not care about pausing the carrer a little bit if he wanted kids, his job does not consume his identity and it shows bc he was dating one of the most popular public figure of the world and he never took advantage to be more popular because of her, he liked her and not the pop star version. I love Taylor but I hate that she express the idea of a woman having kids and becoming less relevant because of that. Taylor is not 20 years old anymore, she is almost 34 and it must be exhausting dating someone that does not act like an adult.

people thinking that she wrote 6 albums about him and that how could you break up with someone after writing something like I wanna run with you to the lakes, etc is really shocking to me because don't we know her already? her relationships reflect more about her than her muse. It has always been about the bitch! truly She's EVERYTHING , he's just ken.

Wow, this was a lot. Amazing analysis. It's obvious a lot of thought went into this. And it makes so much sense. I'm glad I tuned in.

i love your videos and podcast!

This was extremely fascinating and I was riveted the whole way through. 🤩

love your videos Zach! Huge fan, keep up the amazing work