Was Taylor's Midnights a Breakup Album This Whole Time? 

I made a followup about You’re Losing Me and the Til Dawn versions! Check it out if you want more Midnights analysis! Thank you! 💜

I just realized, midnight is when the spell is broken and the fairytale love story is over. The Bejewelled video was even Cinderella themed, and there's the allusion to Disney princesses in the line "like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss."

I think Midnights is incredible as a breakING up album - the slow burn of paranoia and uncertainty as you try to work out if you should still be with someone, returning to the truth of the love and trust you know you had and not knowing if its just a memory now or still there, if the future you were so certain of still exists. Especially as its a truly long term relationship, with no dramatic betrayals etc, there's no clarity, nothing to make the decision for you - just staying up past midnight trying to make sense of who you are and where you should be.

The interesting thing is that she indicated that she wanted the traditional roles in the past - she wanted to be a wife, a mother. "give you my wild, give you a child" - in peace; lover and the whole wedding speech; "I think he knows he'd better lock it down or I won't stick around; paper rings. And in midnights she talks about not wanting to be a bride or to stick with the traditional roles. It does sound like a break up album looking from other perspectives.

I feel like midnights was a reclaiming of her status. She’s showing the world she’s still bejeweled and can make a pop record again after lover. She’s admittedly chasing that fame and I’m all here for it. I think she explains that she was never ready to settle down and can still be a force. Look at all the records she broke. She is career driven and there is nothing wrong with that.

Their relationship was really going through a lot and "The Great War" portrays it beautifully.

I saw a comment on one of Taylor's Swift song wherein it said "Taylor wanted to name album "Lover" as "Daylight" and she referred to Joe as Daylight. He is sunshine. Then comes this album Midnights. She is midnight rain. Daylight's opposite is Midnights. So, it could be related. Still, I wouldn't call it breakup album. Though, I see the hidden theme. Sorry for my poor English.

Bejeweled makes sooo much sense now. I kinda saw it as a partner who is holding you back from achieving your full potential.

i truly believe her soulmate is her career. she has become the product she was always destined to be.

I just love how respectful you were to Taylor and Joe in this video. So many people have been weird af on the internet since they've broken up. I'm glad you're being so understanding and keeping speculation out of it.

After this breakup my interpretation of peace also changed. I believe she looked at Joe as this superior person( it's like I am wasting your honour)because he loved her at the lowest point. After success of red tv her priorities changed. Now she got more focused on her career.

Something to add about Maroon: in the lyric video, the lyrics in the bridge are "that's a real fucking legacy, to leave" (and in the booklet there's an ellipsis), meaning that the specific legacy that the person left on Taylor was leaving

Honestly, Midnights confused me until now. I kept having to shake Joe out of my head when envisioning the breakup songs. Even if they all were about former beau's, I would imagine a fair bit of discomfort hearing one's current love writing in a pining way about them. Like, ?, why are you "just asking" a question about what could have happened if things went differently with HS? Also, let's remember artists have subconscious themes they are not always aware of.

The idea of a Taylor Swift album "multiverse" is a proof that Taylor herself, is poetry...

hearing this album again after my girlfriend cheated on me and we broke up was so... theraputic. like yeah red is THE taylor swift breakup album the majority of us grew up too but midnights feels much more mature in how it handles its themes -- and looking at it from a breakup/relationship-ending lens makes that even clearer.

Midnights was and still is my favourite album so far. I was blown away by "You're on your own kid". It's just perfect: a breakup love song where she breakups with love itself, at least, the idea that it would be what was going to complete her. As a longterm swiftie and a grownup, an "oldie", I couldn't help but appreciating how mature and deep this whole album is, especially because of its complexity and the different sides of life it underlines. Sorry for my poor English

My favorite line in Bejeweled is definitely "I miss you but I miss sparkling" -- dang, it was there all along! This is indeed a breakup/breaking up album!

As she said in dear reader, “As I wander through these nights / I prefer hiding in plain sight”

This is so interesting. Regardless of anything tbh, when Midnights came out it gave me this.. feeling.. that I found pretty uncomfortable. I didn't know how to understand those songs. And now after these news or rumors or whatever the feeling really got even heavier. I think you mentioned this but the thing about midnights, is that if it is/if we look at it as a breakup album, it's definitely not a traditional one. It emphasizes all the ways a relationship and its end can be nuanced and complicated. It's definitely an interesting perspective to view this album..

Midnights makes so much sense now that they’ve broken up!

I always saw Mastermind like the pina colada song. That she thought she was being a mastermind, but in actuality, he saw through it, allowing it and was being a mastermind as well, cause he wanted her too.

She released the song anti hero because she knew she'd be breaking up with him and didn't want to deal with all the hate. She's one smart cookie

Lover was the ultimate love album which was originally supposed to be called ‘Daylight’ so Midnights does seem like a break up album. Because in a literal sense as well, Midnights is the complete opposite of Daylight (Lover). Taylor loves using symbolism very much.

I felt like Labyrinth was about the beginning and completion of a relationship, and the first time I heard it I thought “oh no, I hope her and Joe are ok”.

i didn't really get bejeweled before this, but when i think that it's about picking yourself up after a breakup/heartbreak (i can *still* make the whole place shimmer) i have a new appreciation for it. songs like maroon and midnight rain also change with this context.

I had a very similar thought the other day while listening to Lavender Haze. The acoustic version came up on shuffle and I had never heard it before (and I am almost skipped bc I was like RIP) but then I got sucked in by how different the instrumentation of the acoustic version sounds. It completely changed the vibe of the song compared to the original. Like I don’t know that much about music theory but I want to say the guitar is in a minor key or something? It sounds sad. And it got me thinking. The original production is so upbeat and dreamy that it made me feel like Taylor was talking about how she is currently in the lavender haze with her bf and she doesn’t want it to end, i.e., she wants to stay with Joe. But the sadder sounding vibe of the acoustic version made me have an entirely new interpretation of the song. Like maybe she’s saying she wants to stay in the lavender haze, and she’s no longer in it with Joe, so she’s going to leave. I likened lavender haze to the honeymoon phase when a relationship is just starting and you’re both so passionate and infatuated with each other. But once you’ve been in a relationship for a long time, you move past the honeymoon phase and into a more mature type of love. It’s not bad, just different. So yeah that kinda blew my mind to think of it in a totally new way.

I do think Midnights could be a "side B" of Lover, but I also think it's not necessarily a break up album. I think Lover is naif love, a form of love that doesn't question much and just believes, forgives, falls into it, sparks, and all that. But Midnights it's a deeper perspective, like you really sat there and thought about it all over again, maybe when you are a little older and more experienced in life. I think I can relate some songs as if they were another perspective of the same thing: Me! / Anti-Hero Soon you'll get better / bigger that the whole sky Cornelia Street / Maroon Afterglow / The great war Miss Americana / Lavender haze The archer/ You're on your own, kid Paper rings / Sweet nothing Daylight / Snow on the beach Some other songs, as Taylor said, are about other moments of her life. But I think the general idea is that she stayed up all those midnights overthinking and reliving situations, so she got a deeper view on things we heard before.

I don't know why but I always read Lavender Haze as a sad song. It gives me the feeling of the narrator being under pressure somehow. I loved your analysis of the album a lot by the way!

I'm so glad someone else is talking about this. I sensed a shift when I saw her release the Red remakes last year. She just looked like a woman getting ready to leave. Midnights also felt like a breakaway album, like she was finding herself again in the darkness. She is a powerful artist.

Oddly, I think Vigilante Shit and Karma can both fit in thematically as well. With Vigilante Shit, the narrator is kind of laying out her "mastermind" tendencies before the closing track, and exercising her agency with zero thought to her partner. If you think of it through that lens, it makes sense. Harkening back to "you're on your own kid," she mentions plotting as well, so there are tinges of conquest, narcissism and the idea of needing absolute control and autonomy over those in her life both kind and malevolent. With Karma, it's similar. The narrator puts herself on a pedestal, using luck and Karma as reasoning for all of these good things happening and continuing to happen for her while her enemies suffer. I look at it almost as a reassurance to herself-- regardless of if this breakup happens and it really is over, she had "the guy on the screen" come straight home to her right now, and good things will continue for her. I look at is as anxious in a way, saying KARMA is her boyfriend replaces the narrator's actual boyfriend, and the catchy chorus is her simply reassuring herself through her own insecurity. "Look at all of these great things I did and I am. I will be fine. I will be fine. Good things are coming." There are a ton more layers to this record now that the breakup happened, because all of these songs were theoretically written before the final breakup. It's very interesting to see Taylor peel back the layers of humanity and stardom, fame and love in such a complicated way.

Waittt this actually makes so much sense! I remember listening to Midnights and being frustrated/disappointed with how even the “love songs” all sounded so sad and moody for seemingly no good reason… but that all makes so much more sense from this perspective!

I think a very important information people are missing is there’s evidence on the songs that they broke up and got back together, that’s why there are break songs, songs about exes, and love songs.

i like this take, i think it really makes sense under this context. I also think the problem with Midnights as an album is that Taylor marketed it as a concept album, something darker and more vulnerable than anything before and it failed to deliver that with the pop production and fun songs., the aesthetic makes way more sense seeing it through the breakup lense

YESSS it makes so much more sense . I think they broke up in private and because it was private she needed to break the news. They felt like after a few good shows of the tour that it was a good time to tell the world Taylor’s single again. Every piece of Taylor’s art means something extremely important to her and she said that this album is really relevant to her life right now. She also said before the lover song last night that she has some songs she’ll be singing that we’re how she felt at one point in her life. 😞

I think 3 am version really hammers in the fact that it’s a breakup album. The Great War is about fights & lack of trust & promises or ultimatums that this won’t happen again. Paris, though romantic, is like Lavender Haze in that they had to be completely cut off from the world around them-and convince themselves of the truth of the pretend alleyways and champagne- to be in a loving place where she could freely express her emotions and he could be “brainwashed into loving her forever”. Glitch is about a relationship that the narrator never wanted, but ended up being love even so. She saw red flags (blood moon), but felt they were fake because of the good thing they had. But after years of being in solitude together, the system was breaking down. The extended album ends with the narrator being in a trap, a pen, alone with no love & no friends.

Kudos for Taylor on not using an ex for the marketing this time around. She was just honest with her feelings and respected Joe's privacy. Her maturity all over her writing just made this album timeless. The narrator is an imperfect human who is aware of her limitations. BEAUTIFUL.

It makes more sense now that she wore the cape and hood from Ready For It as she sings “I miss you. But I miss ✨ Sparkling ✨

If these rumors are true, then Swift is a true innovator for creating a "forecasted break-up album"

I forgot how good midnight rain was lol…I think it’s time to listen again to midnights

I Truly think joe wanted marriage and kids and Taylor was like "let's wait I'm focused on my career, i am the biggest Pop star in the world and i need to keep the momentum going" Their goals didn't allign, and I also think she's trying to recreate or have something similar to a previous relationship, probably Harry styles

when you said rubies i gave up was connected to king of my heart shocked me because i always felt like maroon’s production always reminded me of king of my heart’s

I started to appreciate this album now. It's amazing how her albums transform, depending on her real-life events. She wrote about things the public didn't know, but now that the full context has been revealed, it makes total sense. To me, this album felt like a b-sides album. But now, it feels full, deep, and complete.

Listening to the album this is all I was thinking about, that everything was said perfectly about where she’s at and how things have been going. “I made you my world don’t you know I can reclaim the land” is so beautiful and strong post breakup

Champagne Problems, Tolerate It, and Cowboy Like Me sounds so different to me right now after their breakup. 😭 It feels like Joe wanted to settle but Taylor isn't ready yet.

It’s crazy because midnights came out the day of my breakup, so I was destined to look at it through that lens of my personal life, and although I could see it being about love, I mostly saw themes of the breakdown of a relationship.

All I want to say is, amazing analysis, really changed my whole perspective on the album, thank you so much for sharing this! 🤩

I love how there are so many hidden hints and easter eggs in everything Taylor Swift does. I already liked the midnights lyrics before, but now that I kind of understand what she really meant this has a whole new meaning because I mostly connected them with my own life and that‘s why I had a different view of them. The things you mention really make sense and show me a lot more about how the lyrics are meant from Taylor‘s perspective.

For me, Midnights is lyrically cohesive album(kind of),and i think it could of easily been a visual record, has a cohesive story telling and themed very well, about reclaiming her albums, metaphorically saying that her albums are her jewels, and reclaiming her albums(jewels), about time and ageing like clockwork, also has a medieval imagery but also has a 70s aesthetic, using medieval themed words as lyrics,Fantasy like which themes very well with the concept of midnights, as like a dream where she fantasies and ables to build her castle, her career,ruling it and how she has made it all this time, going back to the past and re exploring, singularly making it after all this time. Starting the album with lavender haze, opening up by saying that she doesn’t want people scrutinising her, and all she wants is to be in her love bubble, starting off with lyrics like staring at the ceiling with you(in bed), entering into midnights, in a dream as this is all in her head, wanting to stay in this dream(love), the production i found really interesting is how the the vocal also spirals, making it more present, and that she is falling in love.moving on to Maroon ,Maroon has a sonically nightmarish sound, sounding more haunting and aged, using the colour maroon to solidify how red(this love) has aged, having flashbacks to the past with all the colours of red, reminding her of past failed relationships, waking her up from the dream, the nightmare,the love. Visually could show her running away but unable to escape with a marooned sky, clips of past relationships flashes in front of her then Going straight to anti hero, having thoughts about maybe she is the problem and exploring her anxiety,(I’ll continue writing but busy rn)

I agree with you and I have respect for how you framed it. The best part of songwriting is using your own experience as a guide, and making it relatable to others going through the same things. As an older TS fan, I just hear the songs, I don’t speculate much. Her writing is like Paul Simon. When I listen to “America” I don’t consider who Kathy is. Just the idea of telling a sleeping partner that you’re empty and aching, and you don’t know why.

i’m not gonna say this is definitively what happened but it’s pretty common for an artist to make art that reflects what they’re currently going through without even realizing it

I think categorizing this as a break up album doesn't do it justice. If I had to pick a theme it's a personal growth. She revisits 13 sleepless nights throughout her life and reevaluates these situations and reflect how they shaped her current 'me'. From dear John where she thought she should have known better to would've,could've, should've where she realized she couldn't have done anything nor should she have. She acknowledes that it left her with trauma of trust and insecurity causing her issues in her current relation ship. Personally I even think in bigger than the whole sky she mournes the loss of the woman she should have become since the titel of would've , could've should've directly mirrored in bigger than the whole sky. Maroon feels like a conglomerate of all past relationship she categorized as red which are now just maroon and lost the vibrancy they once had. With questions and high infidelity she ties up these lose ends of unfinished buisnesses. From get away car where the whole theme was just escaping to high infidality where she more so give her reasoning why. I agree there also is a reoccuring theme of social expectations like in lavender haze regarding marriage and the selling of this fairy tail. But in bejeweled she lived that dream yet something was missing. Something like selffullfillment which she found in her 'sparkling' / career/craft. Mastermind in my opinion has nothing to do with Joe but all with her fans neatly packaged in the allegorie a relation ship. We know Glitch is about Joe. But a glitch in the matrix is unexpected and not planned for at the point of design. So is a blackout. With her and Joe it's like woops that wasn't my Plan yet here we are. Just like in invisible string. It all happend for a reason even tho they weren't aware of it at the time yet in the end it all fell into place. And at that time she needed him to work through things (great war) but also as safe space and ancor to be her true self (sweet nothing). All those sleepless nights shaped the person she is today for various reasons. Even with vigilante shit all those non sensical things that happend to her were in the end for a greater good. What brings me to karma. It's accepting that shit happens, letting things Run their course and being faithful that as long as you're able to still look in the mirror afterwards things will fall into place. I truly feel this album reflects a realisation of why she is what she is, how that manifested itself during her life and that that's ok. But also I think she came to find out what she truly wants in life (bejewled) and that it's ok because she worked hard for it.Even if she's on her own as she made this happen all along by herself. For me that's a lot of personal growth even tho she warns the reader not take an unstable persons advice but to me it looks like she has her shit figured out.

Honestly, mastermind never made a lot of sense to me in the album, but I've recently heard this theory and started to think of this song in two different ways: first, is Taylor telling us about how she planned and schemed this whole relationship she's in (even though the whole rest of the album points to uncertainty and potential breakup); and the second way being that Taylor Swift put out a song called "MASTERMIND" and it's the 13th song on the album Midnights (also the first said to be biographical album since she began re-recordings) and it might not be about her relationship. The theory basically says Taylor is singing about the whole process of getting her MASTERS back. Because she is a business mastermind. The theory goes on to connect everything we know about her masters being stolen to the lyrics of the video, and the creator that came up with this actually thinks that Taylor already owns her masters, but can't tell just yet. Not sure if that could be true, but it's a VERY interesting and intriguing theory!

I have this theory (I don't know why but it feels this way) that Joe must have taken this album to hurt.. it's an album she made while he was away in shooting..so it's a letter about her state of mind.. deep thoughts of midnight to him.. and definitely break of communication..

In Labyrinth, Taylor first talks about hurting. Then she said uh oh, she's falling in love again. That Joe turned it around. So they got back together.

As always I want to be absolutely respectful and not speculate too too much. My analysis is about Midnights, the album as a persona. The closest I get to tackling the break up is Sweet Nothing. Thank you. EDIT: a huge apology to anyone who was spoiled by the Succession joke... I really had not realized it wasn't public knowledge yet. I live on Twitter 24/7 and didn't account for the fact that people consume media differently than I do. I will NOT be making any spoiler jokes or references in future works unless it's something like Darth Vader being Luke's dad-level known.

It makes a lot of sense that this was my favorite album when it came out, and I was listening to it in repeat. I have been going through a rough patch with my husband for the past few months, and I connected with the songs in the way you outline here as more of a pending demise of a breakup.

wonder if they broke up a long time ago.... and that's why taylor has decided to go on tour now that there is no man to come home to :/

honestly, I listened to this album since release, and slowly seen my relationship fall apart with my ex around December, and now it's connected with me more than ever, and I see why... Dear Reader deserves to be analyzed into this... it's like her foreshadowing to the reader, to get away while you can...

Honestly it makes the album feel so much more cohesive through this lens. Thank you!

After I've listened to TTPD (which is sad but the narrator has accepted her fate)... I think Midnights sure was a hearbreak album.. the confusion, the pain, the fear, the struggle to hold on and the delusion of the narrator all makes sense now... Wow

As someone in their early/mid 30s, there were "break-up red flags" everywhere, starting with lavender and going through. The story I heard as I first listened was not that of someone in a relationship that's going somewhere. The "calling traditional marriage notions in to question" theme was a huge red flag, as we're at the age where you get married, or you don't. Purely spec, but, if one of them wanted marriage and a family and the other wasn't ready yet, that could easily produce the arc we hear in the album. Thank you for the respect with which you went through this, I've seen a lot of anger and blame-throwing the last few weeks and I appreciate you putting this out without going there.

Just listened to the whole Album again, she is genius. This is a genius breakup album! It kind of reminded me of the movie midsommar, while watching it you think the movie is just something, and then once you change the narrative of the movie being about the phases of a breakup it is a different movie in a way! I am having that same exact thing with this right now! 😂 all excited

Hits Different NEEDS to be on streaming!!!!

i always thought anti-hero was an odd title(/promoted) track for the album before the breakup but now it makes much more sense

This makes so much sense as I cried soo much, thinking about my breakup, when I listened to the album on the first day

I agree with all of your analysis except with Mastermind bc I think that’s about her relationship w her fans 🥰

I wouldn't dismiss Snow on The Beach. Snow on a beach never lasts. It's impermanent and melts away. It's only temporary

I don't think it's necessarily a *break up* album but an album about conflicts, both internal and in a relationship. What you said about impending doom makes a lot of sense, I feel like Taylor might have processed some conflicting emotions in this album without really knowing where it would go. I always viewed maroon as being about Joe rather than a past breakup and assumed it was about a long past conflict rather than a long gone break up. (Maybe part of that is because initially I misheard "the rust that grew between telephones" as "the rose that grew between telephones" and that made me think that the couple in the song would be fine again)

I so love your thoughts on your intro! Simply deconstructing the album under the lens of breakup narrative. I love this. Very respectful way of appreciating art.

Wow, this is amazing work, thank you so much!! I was amazed and touched by the layers of this album, even before I really understood the deeper meaning. But with this analysis?! Nice! Guess she really is a genius 🤩

This is a really good video. Plus, apart from being the past tense, Maroon constantly says 'I chose you' meaning that taylor was the one who CHOSE joe, but we don't hear 'You chose me' as in joe chose taylor. This could hint that the relationship was becoming one sided, with taylor CHOOSING joe, but joe not doing the same.

Viewing this album through a breakup lens ( or as another commenter mentioned, a personal growth lens ) actually makes a lot of sense!!! I immediately like this album way more lol. Though initially I found the personal growth idea a bit weird, since so much of this album is about love and breakups, on reflection it makes more sense to me than a breakup theme. Taylor based her whole career on love, wanting love and feeling hurt from it. It won’t be a stretch to say her life goals often had love on a high pedestal as well. I guess this album is a culmination of her realising that actually, love isn’t as important to her as she thought it was, and it’s definitely less important than her career is, not equally. She mentions traditional relationship expectations a lot, and I think that feeds into this theory. Society teaches women to prioritise love, and it becomes so ingrained into your mind ( love being a heady , and almost universally wanted feeling doesn’t help this ) that it’s kind of hard to break free from that expectation, and it does require a LOT of reflection on past relationships and experiences with love. I recently had a breakup and the experience was….disillusioning, and it taught me that I value agency, independence, and ambition way more than I thought I did. I didn’t feel for him as strongly as he did for me, and he wanted a future with me way before I even considered it. In the wake of our breakup, I found myself thinking a lot about my past experiences with love, even wanting to write creatively about them or the lessons they taught me. It’s almost like I dealt with my present by looking deeply into the past. Only now I’m starting to want to write creatively about my ex and reflect on my relationship with him. It sounds pretty damn similar to midnights as an experience Edit: on a personal note, ‘does it feel like everything’s just second best after that meteor strike?’ Is downright one of the most relatable lyrics she’s ever written for me. I fell for someone a few years ago who didn’t feel the same for me, and everybody since has really felt second best. I could never put that feeling into works before question

Love your analysis as always!! Context is everything. I don't think Midnights is quite a full breakup album, especially taking into account what TS said about its concept, which to me indicates it's more reflective of a broader story (her life, career, relationship history in general, etc.) that includes the events & emotions leading up to her split w/ Joe. Red is still the only album that I would consider a true breakup album in the way it portrays such a spectrum of emotions and feelings after the end of a relationship. But I have to say I do appreciate Midnights & its moodiness much more in this new light. Sidenote, I think it's so strange to see the online reaction referencing TS11 upon hearing news of the breakup -- there's definitely something to be said about the whole culture surrounding tortured artists, the belief that artists make better work when they're going through pain or trauma, and what it means to make music that is confessional and diaristic in nature when it comes to the expectations of fans and critics, especially in the kind of commercial landscape music exists in. But that's definitely a completely different video/discussion! Can't wait for the next one :)

This is such a great analysis! You discussed so many perspectives that I would have never thought of! Love thisss

I don't usually watch these kinds of videos, but I really enjoyed your thoughts on everything. I'm glad I watched. 💕

you expressed a lot that I felt during midnights. thank you, great video!

Yesss I definitely had this weird feeling when the album was released and now it definitely makes sense, it's not fully a break up album but the theme is there and i love it!!

The release of Midnights caught me in the middle of an emotionally messy situation and it really resonated with me at that time. I found it comforting, it felt like home. For some reason that I couldn't really pinpoint. Now that people are seeing it as a heartbreak album in the light of the recent events, it suddenly makes so much more sense to me why it clicked with me in fall and it sort of validates my initial feelings about the album

Thank you. for a very good analysis of the poetry including the musical comments - isn't it interesting how much the Poet's context interacts with the poetry's impact, relatability, and the reader's experience of the art? And, along with multiple millions of others, I'm still rooting for Taylor Swift.

Agreed. One more thing that i noticed for being a break up album is that it starts with the clock from Groundhog day. The movie about one day keep happening over and over the same. So she has fed up with the routine.

We need to bring up the Bonus Tracks tho. Paris. It's a reflection of where they were, but no longer. High Infidelity. Revisiting the breakup with Calvin/Tom/ and into Joe's relationship.

I've always understood Midnights as someone still wanting to pursue more in their own life, hence gradually detaching from the relationship while the other wants to settle down and start a family. I thought it was pretty obvious in Midnight Rain.

Exactly what I was thinking about yesterday and now this video comes up!! Very detailed & good

Midnights, like the stroke of midnight when the magic ends and you're left with the memories and remnants of a perfect moment in time.

I really like your voice! It’s like listening to a friend

loved this analysis of midnights even though I don't necessarily agree with you on almost any of it lol. you certainly made me see how some verses could be interpreted differently in hindsight. although I completely disagree that midnights had a lack of thematic cohesion. imo midnights is her MOST cohesive album after folklore. midnights to me is almost like a memoir? like someone sitting down with you and telling you their life story in the 13 moments they feel define them the most as a person. although I agree that hits different…hits different after april 8th and if you are reading midnights as a breakup album it fits in perfectly as a bittersweet conclusion.

Definitely need to listen to it again from this perspective. I couldn't figure out a theme to this album. Maroon + Bejeweled + labyrinth made me think of breaks up immediately, but as I listened to more songs, I thought mastermind + you're on your own kid + karma talked about her career as opposed to a love life/ break up. This combination together just makes something add up for me in a way i can't articulate. Must listen again (for the billionth time)

Watching this and reading through the thoughtful insights from the comments definitely made me appreciate this record more. My god. This needs a second part- a deep dive with the 3 AM tracks and Hits Different!

That part! I saw it that way when on my first listens. Thanks for reading my mind.

you've opened my third eye

Well, I'm devastated!😭 Now, I need to go listen to the whole album again.

Why i couldnt have seen this coming 😭😪the breakup caught me off guard hard also the theory that midnights is a breakup album is so fascinating

It only hurts this much Right Now, is what I was thinking, The Whole Time. 💗

I definitely see this album differently now hearing the news and you did a great job analyzing it. I like that you made midnights into a persona cause fan analysis videos can get very weirdly parasocial at times. Oddly enough tho I think bejeweled might actually be one of the few songs that could give us some insight on their situation (if the alleged rumors are true) according to "sources" they were suppose to be on a break for her tour which could explain "when I meet the band they ask do you have a man I can still say I don't remember" and "I miss you but I miss sparkling" we will never know though and honestly? Good. I hate that the success of the eras tour is being out shadowed by relationship drama

If we're being real, she gave so many signs...as far as Lover(Cornelia Street, Afterglow etc etc), folklore(hoax, peace)....sorry but people who think that the albums shouldn't be looked at retrospectively with the breakup news are delulu.

It’s her ‘coming to the realization that I have to break up album.’ The fallout from the breakup album’ is yet to come and I’m sure it will be great

"I just wanna stay in that lavender haze" a relationship can fizzle out. I think of Bejeweled... and I'm reminded how she showed up alone at the awards without Joe and was really letting lose, and enjoying herself. I was happy for her.

Snow on the beach i found a comment bring this up that snow melts and isn't forever.

This was recommended and I am so glad about that, I really love your eloquence! So I didn't know about her personal life but when I first listened to the album I was sure it's a sad melancholic album. Sure stars write songs and often publish them years after the fact that inspired it, but it seems she is writing and publishing in a short period? Thank you for this very respectful analysis! will now explore your channel

Midnights is rather relationship crisis album, when it came out they were in the middle of planning future together (like buying a mansion in London together). They broke up months after release, songs were created months before release, so it's around one year difference. It's black swan effect that now we say "midnights is totally a breakup album". No one said that when the album had been released. So it wasn't really indicating a breakup.