#midnights legacy: lavender haze

[angelgnomesimblrisdeadrip]

my lil guitar girli <3

[f1letters]

lavender haze | mv1

"I been under scrutiny, you handle it beautifully"

summary: after winning his second championship in another controversial way, max needed her by his side more than ever as the media tried to tear him apart

warning: a little bit of angst for Max, but overall fluff for the couple, swearing, suggestive language, mentions of the championship-deciding races of Abu Dhabi GP 2021 and Japan GP 2022 from Max's point of view, mentions of scrutiny from the media, Jos Verstappen lol

pairing: max verstappen x reader

word count: 2.8k

note: everything in bold are song references and in italic are thoughts, which includes memories from the past. also, I would like to point out that I didn't write this as a personal opinion/critique of Ted or anyone involved in the whole Sky Sports scandal (which is why I didn't use his name or his exact words in the story and why I only used the controversy as a reference/inspiration very loosely), but rather wrote about what I imagine were the thoughts/feelings of people on Max's side (himself, the Red Bull team, Jos, etc), regarding this matter.

dutch words used: schatje = baby; liefje = honey

and we are back! once again, thank you all for being so understanding about me skipping last weekend 💜 I hope you enjoy this little story, as always!

masterlist

Meet me at midnight

Ever since he was just a little boy, all Max dreamed of was being a Formula 1 champion.

To have his name written in the history books. To have his legacy immortalized in the records for eternity.

From then, Max spent all of his hours, days, weeks, months and years preparing for it. He gave all of his blood, sweat and tears for it.

For that exact moment: when he stood right there in Japan, tall and proud, with his trophy in hand, after being announced World Champion for the 2nd time.

Lying in bed that night, staring at the ceiling next to his girlfriend, the driver could still feel the euphoria coursing through his veins.

He couldn't believe how lucky he was to be in that position. 

He had everything he could ever want: his biggest dream came true twice, he had a successful career that so many envied, and most of all, he had the best person in the world by his side.

At the end of the day, it didn't matter all the money, the victories, the parties, the luxury if he couldn't have her there in his arms.

Y/N was everything to him, and he knew that the championship victory was as much hers as his.

Max let his hand run through the shiny strands of his partner's hair, the warm skin of their bodies pressed together, while Y/N drew random figures with her soft fingers across the man's toned chest.

The couple remained in each other's arms, not saying too much, both still over the moon and completely in awe from the unforgettable day they just had.

"I'm so proud of you, my love." Y/N broke the silence installed in the hotel room, whispering her words. "You can't imagine how happy I am for you."

Staring at the ceiling with you

Oh, you don't ever say too much

And you don't really read into

My melancholia

Max half smirked with his eyes half closed as sleep began to creep in.

With his eyes locked on the girl before him, the boy tucked the hair that covered her face behind her ear and stayed like that for a few minutes. Just living in the moment, letting her words sink in, appreciating what life had given him.

"Thanks, schatje. For everything." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. "I'm completely crazy about you, you know that?"

Y/N laughed shyly, moving her body even closer to her boyfriend's, laying down on his chest. "Stop, Max! You know I get all embarrassed when you start saying stuff like that."

"You stop! I'm just telling the truth!" Their laughter filled the room in pure harmony. Max stopped, returning to his moment of gratitude. "I just love you. So much, Y/N. This is all thanks to you."

"This is all thanks to your talent, baby." The young woman rested her cheek against the driver's bare shoulder. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Y/N knew that Max would immediately understand what she was trying to say.

The girl couldn't help but fear that the Dutchman would let all the scrutiny behind yet another championship win bring him down.

Max had a whole facade around him. Max appeared to be confident, poised, collected, unfazed by all adversity, and sometimes even self-centred and arrogant because of his posture on the track. 

But deep down, Max was nothing but a fragile little boy, still trying to seek his father's approval.

Max was obsessed with perfection. Everything he had to do had to be absolutely spot on: every corner had to be perfectly executed, his car had to be at its best at all times, any position other than the first one was simply not good enough.

Knowing him better than anyone, Y/N knew how to handle him beautifully and knew that in the back of Max's mind, the fact that this was yet another victory tainted by controversy was tormenting him, even if he tried to hide it.

I've been under scrutiny

You handle it beautifully

All this shit is new to me

Both of them could only imagine all the headlines, the comments, the criticism. All because of a loophole that was never under the driver's control.

"Don't worry about me." Max answered the unspoken question the girl posed. "I don't give a damn what people say."

The harsh words that came out of his mouth seemed to be an attempt to convince himself more than her. They both knew that.

It had been almost a year since the boy had been named champion for the first time and yet to that day he still suffered attacks due to something that (once again) was not in his power to change.

Y/N didn't push, knowing the argument was going nowhere, and instead chose to joke with her boyfriend to lighten the mood. "Well, I don't know if you know this... but you look so much hotter as a two-time world champion."

Happiness filled Max's chest as he chuckled, turning their position so that his body was on top of hers. His lips roamed over her neck, leaving soft kisses and nibbles along the way, until he strayed away to deposit an intense and passionate kiss on her mouth.

His head lifted slightly, creating enough distance between them for him to speak, though their lips were still touching. "What if I showed again how it feels like to fuck a two-time world champion, hmm?"

I feel a lavender haze creeping up on me

So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say

No deal, the 1950s shit they want for me

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

Two weeks passed until the next race, the couple trapped in their lavender haze.

The Texas sun cut through the clouds in the sky and reflected warmly on the girl's skin as she entered the circuit, side by side with Carola.

Both friends over the last few years since they met in the Red Bull garage through their partners, the young women understood each other perfectly: both were reserved, with no great desire for attention on them, just there to support their lovers.

As always, a peaceful and relaxed conversation was taking place between the two, as they strolled around the paddock with smiles on their faces. 

Carola told Y/N all about the latest incident at the Perez house, with the small sibling clashes between Checo Jr. and Carlota, and the other girl just laughed. She knew how happy those children made her friend and she couldn't wish anything else for Carola.

Suddenly the mood around them seemed to change. 

The environment that before was serene, relaxed, and enthusiastic now gave off a heavy, tense, nervous energy.

Y/N started looking into the faces of the people they passed for answers, aware that they were looking at her. What the fuck is going on, she thought to herself.

Carola sensed the discomfort on her friend, placing a concerned hand on the girl's shoulder. "Y/N, are you okay?"

"Well, I'd like to know the answer to that question too," Y/N confessed without too much thought. "I don't know, honestly. I have a feeling something is wrong."

"Maybe it's nothing," The Mexican tried to calm her down, running her hand up and down along her friend's forearm, although she was aware of the gazes in their direction too. "We're almost at the garage and we'll clear everything up."

Walking through the navy blue walls, the tension only intensified in the air. 

The faces of the team members showed worry and nervousness, and the PR team rushing back and forth relentlessly was a sign that something had gone wrong during the drivers' media duties following their practice session.

Knowing Max like the back of her hand... Y/N knew it was him.

All they keep asking me

Is if I'm gonna be your bride

The only kind of girl they see

Is a one-night or a wife

"Hey, where's Max?" Y/N asked her father-in-law, Jos, who wore an angry look on his face. Although their relationship was distant, she knew that if anyone was aware of everything that was going on in her boyfriend's career, it was his father.

"Would also like to know." The man replied dryly, running a hand impatiently through his hair. "He just walked out of here like a fucking coward, and left the others here to sort out his shit."

Y/N swallowed hard, knowing it wasn't worth wasting time trying to defend Max as all the words she would say would go in one ear and out the other. "What happened?"

"That shitty reporter, that's what happened." The older Verstappen replied, raising his tone. "That bastard had the nerve to say on live TV that Max didn't deserve any of his titles, and he panicked like a pussy. I didn't raise him like that - I raised him to be a man, not a little boy."

Without a second thought, Y/N turned her back on the man and grabbed her phone, trying to call her partner, only for her call to go to voicemail.

Unconsciously, the girl opened her Instagram and immediately came across the reporter's now-viral video.

"He doesn't seem to be capable of winning a championship without some sort of scandal. First, Hamilton was obviously ripped off in Abu Dhabi; now, they award full points in a race that wasn't even half finished because of some apparent 'loophole'?! Favouritism at its best."

All of a sudden, the air seemed to have difficulty getting into the girl's lungs, the temperature seemed to have risen dramatically, and Y/N started to feel dizzy as the media started to bring up Max's history.

Max, where are you, she asked herself, begging for a sign of his presence.

I find it dizzying

They're bringing up my history

But you aren't even listening

Y/N looked everywhere: in the garage, in his driver's room, in all the different rooms in the motorhome, in the back of the building, in the cafeteria, everywhere. 

She was starting to run out of options, but she knew he had to be around somewhere since his exit from the circuit would not be discreet at all, quite the contrary.

If I were Max where would I hide from the world, she reflected, desperate to be reunited with her boyfriend. Of course! In the place where everyone least expected to find him.

With a hurried step and depositing complete confidence in this last and risky idea, Y/N set off on her way until she came face to face with the red walls, embellished with the Prancing Horse symbol.

Deviating towards the back of the Ferrari building, Y/N felt her heart return to its normal rhythm when she set her eyes on the image of his lover.

There he was, sitting on the grass, with his vision pointed to the sky, so small and so fragile that no one else would be able to see him hiding there.

The girl slowly approached the driver, almost afraid to startle him, until he eventually noticed her presence when she was only a few inches away from him. His shoulders visibly relaxed at the sight of his girlfriend, and a small, forced smile appeared on his face.

"Of course you found me," Max whispered, placing his hand on the girl's thigh, who was now sitting on the grass next to him. "I guess you already know what happened."

Y/N laid her head on his shoulder, hugging his strong arm. "Yeah, I saw it... I'm sorry Max, you don't deserve this."

I feel a lavender haze creeping up on me

So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say

No deal, the 1950s shit they want for me

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

That lavender haze

"I don't really care," Max spoke, shaking his head. "Let them say what they want. It doesn't matter to me."

"Baby…" The young woman knew that he was doing what he always did: bottling it up inside, hiding his feelings, just like he was taught to do his whole life.

"Liefje, don't worry. I'm fine, I promise."

"Max, stop doing this." Y/N touched his face, forcing him to look at her with his noticeably teary eyes.

"Y/N-"

"Max, please." The girl begged. "You don't have to pretend to be strong with me. You can be honest; you can scream, cry, freak out, you name it, and I'll always be here to listen."

The Dutchman took a deep breath in acceptance, leaning his head back against the red wall. "I'm just tired, you know? I try and try to do my best at all times and it's never enough. Not for the media, not for my dad, or-"

"For me, it's more than enough." The girlfriend interrupted. "And it should be enough for you too. You shouldn't care what others say… Especially your father." She teased, forcing a laugh out of Max's mouth.

The boy contemplated her words for a few seconds, placing a kiss on her temple. "I love you, you're the best."

"I know," She replied, bumping his shoulder playfully. "But I'm serious, Max. No one should have enough power over you that they can make you feel inferior, or less than you are. You are Max fucking Verstappen, two-time Formula 1 world champion. And so much more to come, I don't doubt it for a second."

Talk your talk and go viral

I just need this love spiral

Get it off your chest

Get it off my desk

Talk your talk and go viral

I just need this love spiral

Get it off your chest

Get it off my desk

The girl jumped to her feet, waking the driver from his own thoughts, and reached out to him with both her hands to help him get up on his feet too. "Come on, champ! Enough sulking here and let's face the world with our heads held high, shall we?"

Much calmer after getting it off his chest, Max looked at her with eyes shining with pride and, accepting her help, he got up. Instantly, his arms found their place around her waist, as did his lips on hers.

The couple shared a calm kiss, enjoying their moment of peace in the midst of such a chaotic situation.

"Thanks, schatje." Max said, returning his mouth to hers seconds later. "I can never thank you enough for everything you've done and do for me every day."

"I would do anything for you, baby." Y/N smiled wide, the dimples in her cheeks becoming noticeable. "Anything."

I feel a lavender haze creeping up on me

So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say

No deal, the 1950s shit they want for me

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

On their way to the Red Bull garage, the two reappeared in the paddock, hand in hand, eyes only on each other.

With them, dozens of photographers and journalists emerged from the shadows, hunting the Dutchman for his comments and trying to get controversial headlines for their next articles.

But from Max, they only managed to take away the magical smile he had stamped on his face while talking to his girlfriend.

It was almost as if nothing had happened to him, such was the confident and determined posture the driver now assumed.

There was nothing like a good dose of love to make someone feel on top of the world, and Max was living proof of that in front of all those prying eyes.

Get it off your chest

Get it off my desk

That lavender haze

I just wanna stay

The world could crumble around them and they would still manage to stay on their feet.

They were a team. They had the perfect balance between them, the strength to face any obstacle together. Like two separate souls born to be reunited, in this life and all lives to come. Born to be on their lavender haze forever.

"Just you and me, liefje." Max whispered so only she could hear over the screams and camera flashes.

Y/N pulled him by the arm closer to her body in search of the comfort he conveyed to her every time, and smiled discreetly at him.

"You and me against the world, my love."

I just wanna stay

In that lavender haze

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[petruchio]

PLEASE share your midnights Matty softlaunch theory, it’s such an odd and (to me at least lol) fascinating album

ok so. im going to go into insane detail track by track, but i think midnights makes sense (almost) if we read it as a journey through deciding to leave joe and we read mastermind as being a matty song — so the album is mostly her wondering if this thing she feels with matty is real or in her head, and then wondering, if it is real, if it’s worth it to make the jump. and i think she was ready to do it, and midnights would’ve been basically the matty “announcement,” but then she and joe made up and the 3am tracks are kind of damage control to confuse the narrative and make it less obvious. but we have to do a bit of digging. so let’s dive in.

(obvi we don’t know what happened for real. but it’s just fun to speculate!!!)

we open with lavender haze. and here we see taylor desperate to stay in the happy, peaceful relationship she’s in — she doesn’t WANT to get married, she doesn’t WANT to be talked about, she doesn’t WANT anything more. she just wants this. it’s enough for her. …or is it?

because immediately, we move to maroon. we go from a pastel purple color to various shades of red, changing the image and flipping back through memories. and these memories call back to a lot of 1989 era imagery — we get the wine stain from clean, the rosy cheeks from wildest dreams, new york… that’s a real fucking legacy to leave. something triggered this little trip down memory lane. maybe they hung out, or someone said something, who knows. but i think this is where the cracks in the lavender haze begin.

and so after all that she takes us to anti-hero. it’s me, hi, i’m the problem. i think this is probably the precursor to guilty as sin? — it’s saying, oh no. i’m the problem, fantasizing about my ex again (i dream of cracking locks, throwing my life to the wolves/i wake up screaming from dreaming) and acknowledges that joe is going to leave her when he finds out (one day i‘ll watch as you’re leaving)

but she can’t stop. the fantasy continues to grow in snow on the beach. this song is filled a bunch of space/sky imagery — “a few moons ago,” “stars by the pocketful,” “your eyes are flying saucers from another planet.” let’s keep track of that imagery. (we’ll return to the all space stuff in a big way in down bad, but don’t worry, it’ll reappear on midnights.)

and then there’s the realization of you’re on your own kid. that’s right — you’re on your own, and you always have been. i think this is her deciding to separate her sense of identity from joe. and the first verse brings up a lot of images we see come back on ttpd: “summer went away, still the yearning stays” -> “another summer/rolling thunder/he don’t understand me” and “it’s okay we’re the best of friends” -> “but tell me who else is gonna know you?” and “you’re smoking with your boys” -> “you needed drugs more.” it’s tempting to interpret the first verse as a retrospective on her teenage years, but it could just as easily be about falling for matty while they were “just friends” and she was still with joe. but i think in yoyok she’s still trying to convince herself it’s not real: “just to learn that you never cared.” matty doesn’t want her, she thinks. but she has her songs. maybe that’s all she ever needed?

this triggers an even larger dive into the past: midnight rain. now she’s wondering if the reason she’s so resistant to marry joe is just a repeat of old patterns, so she dives into the past looking for answers. i maintain that midnight rain is about the muse of debut and i think it’s her looking over her own past and trying to make sense of what’s happening now. am i the problem? was i always the problem? am i incapable of marriage or is it just with this guy?

so now she has to know. she has to get answers. is this fantasy about matty her just replaying old patterns of leaving when things get serious? or is this thing she feels with matty something real? basically, can i ask you a question…? we don’t even need to dive any deeper into the 1989 era of it all. this song is pretty obvious. note that we return to the space imagery though: “does it feel like everything is just like second best after that meteor strike?”

i don’t feel like talking about vigilante shit because it’s a bad song but suffice to say i think it’s just her being admitting she’s okay sometimes being the villain. other than that it’s not really relevant to the matty narrative.

so then we get bejeweled. which was strange when it came out and hasn’t gotten less strange, but it’s kind of another step in deciding to leave joe behind. she can’t marry him, because she’s not sure matty isn’t actually the one for her. “when i meet the band, they ask do you have a man, i can still say i don’t.” is the band… perhaps… the 1975? and this is when she leaves. “what’s a girl gonna do? a diamond’s gotta shine.” she sets herself free. you can try to change her mind, but you can’t. she polished up real nice.

and then we get labyrinth. which to me only makes sense as a post-joe song. “it only hurts this much right now.” “i’ll be getting over you my whole life.” “break up break free break through break down.” but what saves her? the person who comes in right at the last second: matty. he turns the plane around. remember all the space imagery? my flight was awful thanks for asking? well, here he is. uh oh, i’m falling in love again.

and actually… she loves it. it feels like karma. (or maybe destiny.) for all her work, all her struggle, all her pain, she gets the guy in the end: the years of pining and coded songs all add up to this.

but she can’t hate joe. she could never hate him. she might have wanted to leave, but it wasn’t because he treated her badly. he never wanted anything from her. just sweet nothing. i don’t think sweet nothing is a breakup song; it was probably even written as a love song. but its placement on the tracklist makes it feel like a goodbye. “they said the end is coming,” she says. but she needed someone who saw her that way. it’s an i will always love you song. it’s a thank you.

and so we close: mastermind. the planets and all the stars aligned from snow on the beach and question. we’re up in space now. she’s been planting these seeds since back in 2014… and now she has him. matty. she did it. all the wisest women had to do it this way. doesn’t that sound like fucking politics and gender roles? the liquor in the cocktails that she’s always drunk on when she’s around him? but he knew the entire time. she’s a mastermind.

okay so that’s the standard edition. the bonus track being hits different makes sense if it’s the joe breakup — “it hits different this time.” she’s left people before, but never like this. she’s SAD! she’s waiting for his key in the door but it never comes. she might have been the one that left, but it still hurt like never before.

but the 3am tracks are the last bit of the puzzle. and here’s where i think we can take taylor’s word for them as sort of “vault tracks” because they don’t fit in the narrative of midnights, but they tell a story in themselves. and that story is of her and joe getting back together after all this.

the first one she tacks on is the great war, a song about making up after a fight. so she puts that one to first, to reassure that they actually made it through. then i think we get the “cutting room floor” tracks — that is, they’re out of order but all part of the larger story. we get another heartwrenching goodbye in bigger than the whole sky, a return to the delusional lavender haze and staring at the ceiling in paris, a song about cheating in high infidelity. all thematically relevant, but not perfectly fitting into the narrative of the original record.

then we get glitch, which imo is also a matty song. “depending on what kind of situationship im in” read: if joe and i are off or on. “2190 days of our love blackout” read: six years since the 1989 era where they dated originally. “nights are so starry” brings us back to the space imagery, the glitch video on spotify glitching to the 1989 tv of wildest dreams… “it must be counterfeit” will come back too, in loml when she says “something counterfeit is dead.” but here… it’s only getting started.

would’ve could’ve should’ve again sees her examining her patterns with toxic men, and begins a lot of the religious theming we’ll see return on ttpd. and then we close with dear reader, a song about self-loathing, and begging the listener not to take her advice because she’s not really a good person. she admits it: she cheats, she lies, joe has left her alone in the house (not a home, cause nobody’s there.) “you should find another guiding light,” she tells us. but she shines so bright…

anyway yeah. that’s my extended theory. i think it was supposed to be the goodbye to joe and mastermind was introducing matty, but then when they patched it up, the narrative changed and 3am tracks got added on and changed the direction. (it makes sense if those tracks were added on late, since they weren’t available physically for a long time after the record was released. hits different, the song about breaking up with a long term partner… was.) we could deep dive into every song and analyze the lyrical parallels with 1989, folkmore, and ttpd too (don’t get me started on the 1 and cardigan) but we’ll save that for another time.

and of course, we all know what happened next. but we wouldn’t be here without the chaos that was midnights. without it, we might never have gotten an answer to that one, burning question…?

now we have the answer. the only thing that’s left… is the manuscript.

[myfanwymusings]

TAYLOR SWIFT - MIDNIGHTS (COMPLETE COLLECTION)

These lyrics come from Taylor Swift’s 2022 album, Midnights. It is her tenth studio album, and the fifth that she has owned fully. Lyrics may be modified to better fit roleplay situation, please feel free to adjust to your needs. Additionally, two solo tracks that were released in this era. This meme includes all standard tracks, Three A.M. tracks, The Late Night Edition vault track, the Til' Dawn Remixes, and any lyric changes in remixes. "Snow on the Beach (Feat. More Lana Del Rey)" was excluded due to no new lyrics.

LAVENDER HAZE

Meet me at midnight

You don't ever say too much

You don't really read into my melancholia

I find it dizzying

They're bringing up my history

All that shit is new to me

I feel that lavender haze creeping up on me

I'm damned if i do give a damn what people say

No deal

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

All they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride

The only kind of girl they see is a "one night" or a bride

You weren't even listening

Talk your talk

I just want this love spiral

Get it off my chest

Get it off my desk

MAROON

We lost track of time again

You were my closest friend

How'd we end up on the floor anyway?

Your roommates cheap-ass screw-top rose, that's how.

I see you every day now

I chose you

You were the one i was dancing with in New York

It was maroon

How the hell did we lose sight of us again?

How the hell did we lose sight?

Ain't that the way shit always ends?

I feel you no matter what

I lost you

I wake with your memory

I wake with your memory over me

That's a real fucking legacy

ANTI-HERO

I have this thing where i get older but just never wiser

Midnights have become my afternoons

My depression works the graveyard shift

I should not be left to my own devices

I wake up screaming from dreaming

wake up screaming from dreaming one day, I'll watch as your leaving

I wake up screaming from dreaming one day. I'll watch as you're leaving cause you got tired of my scheming

You got tired of my scheming

It's me, hi

I'm the problem, it's me

It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero

Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby

Did you hear my covert narcissism might disguise as altruism?

Did you hear my covert narcissism might disguise as altruism, like some kind of congressman?

Life would lose all it's meaning for the last time

I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money she thinks I've left them in the will

She's laughing up at us from hell

SNOW ON THE BEACH (FEAT. LANA DEL REY)

One night, a few moons ago, I saw flecks of what could've been lights but it might just have been you passing by unbeknownst to me

Life is emotionally abusive

Time can't stop me quite like you did

My flight was awful

Thanks for asking

My flight was awful, thanks for asking

I'm unglued, thanks to you

It's like snow on the beach - weird, but fucking beautiful

You wanting me tonight feels impossible

It's coming down

It's all around

This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen

I searched "aurora borealis green"

I've never seen someone lit from within

Your smile feels like I've won a contest

To hide that would be so dishonest

It's fine to fake it til you make it

I can't speak, afraid to jinx it

I don't dare to even wish it

Can this be the real thing, can it?

YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN, KID

Summer went away, still, the yearning stays

It's okay, we're the best of friends

I hear it in your voice, you're smoking with your boys

I didn't choose this town, I dream of getting out

There's just one who could make me stay here for all my days

I waited ages to see you there

I search the party of better bodies, just to learn that you never cared

You're on your own, kid

You always have been

You're on your own, kid. You always have been

I see the great escape

I picked the petals, he loves me not

I'll run away

I called a taxi to take me there

I search the party of better bodies, just to learn that my dreams aren't rare

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

The jokes weren't funny,

I took the money

My friends from home don't know what to say

I saw something they can't take away

Everything you lose is a step you take

So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it

You've got no reason to be afraid

You're on your own, kid. Yeah, you can face this

MIDNIGHT RAIN

He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain

He wanted a bride, I was making my own name

He stayed the same

All of me changed like midnight rain

My town was a wasteland, full of cages and full of fences but for some it was paradise

For some, it was paradise

My boy was a montage in slow-motion, of love potions and jumping off things into the ocean

I broke his heart cause he was nice

He was sunshine, I was midnight rain

He was sunshine

I was midnight rain

He wanted comfortable

I wanted that pain

He wanted a bride

I was making my own name, chasing the fame

It was the life I gave away

I guess sometimes we all get just what we wanted

He never thinks of me, except for when I'm on TV

He never thinks of me

I guess sometimes we all get some kind of haunted

I never think of him

I never think of him except on Midnights like this

QUESTION ...?

I remember

We had one thing going on and I swear that it was something

I don't remember who I was before you painted all my nights a colour I have searched for since

It's one thing after another

I have to say, by the way, that I just may like some explanations

Can I ask you a question?

Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?

Then what did you do?

Did you leave her house in the middle of the night?

Did you wish you'd put up more of a fight?

When she said it was too much, did you wish you could still touch her?

It's just a question?

Did you realize out of time?

You're not sure and I don't know

I just may like to have a conversation

Does it feel like everything is just like second best after that meteor strike?

What's that, that I heard? That your still with her?

That's nice, I'm sure that's what suitable and right

BEJEWELED

Baby love, I think I've been a little too kind

I think I've been a little too kind

I didn't notice you walking all over my peace of mind in the shoes I gave you as a present

Putting someone first only works when you're in their top five

By the way, I'm going out tonight

You best believe I'm still bejeweled

When I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place shimmer

Do you have a man?

I don't remember

Familiarity breeds contempt

Don't put mе in the basement, whеn I want the penthouse of your heart

I polish up real nice

Baby boy, I think I've been too good of a girl

I did all the extra credit, then got graded on a curve

I think it's time to teach some lessons

I made you my world, but have you heard that I can reclaim the land

I miss you but I miss sparkling

I miss you

I miss sparkling

Sadness became my whole sky

Some guy said my aura's moonstone, just 'cause he was high

You can try to change my mind but you might have to wait in line

What's a girl gonna do?

A diamond's gotta shine

VIGILANTE SHIT

Draw the cat eye sharp enough to kill a man

You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie

They say that 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

I don't start shit but I can tell you how it ends

Don't get sad, get even

On the weekends, I don't dress for friends

She needed cold, hard proof, so I gave her some

She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?

Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride

Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife

She looks so pretty driving in your Benz

Lately, she's been dressing for revenge

She don't start shit, but she can tell you how it ends

So on the weekends, she don't dress for friends

Ladies always rise above

Ladies know that people want someone sweet and kind and fun

The lady simply had enough

While he was doing lines, and crossing all of mine, someone told his white collar crimes to the FBI

Someone told his white collar crimes to the FBI

I don't dress for villains or for innocents

I'm on my vigilante shit again

LABYRINTH

It only hurts this much right now

Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out

I'll be getting over you my whole life

You know how scared I am of elevators, never trust it if it rises fast

It can't last

Uh-oh, I'm falling in love

Oh no, I'm falling in love again

Oh, I'm falling in love

I thought the plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around?

It only feels this raw right now

I'm lost in the labyrinth of my mind

You would break your back to make me break a smile

You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back.

Just like that

KARMA

You're talking shit for the hell of it

Addicted to betrayal, but you're relevant

You're terrified to look down cause if you dare, you'll see the glare of everyone you burned just to get there

It's coming back around

I keep my side of the street clean, you wouldn't know what I mean

Karma is my boyfriend

Karma is a god

Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend

Karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?

Karma is a cat purring in my lap, cause it loves me

Me and karma vibe like that

My pennies made your crown

Don't you know that cash ain't the only price?

It's coming back around

Ask me what I've learned from all those years

Ask me what I've earned from all those tears

Ask me why so many fade but I'm still here

Karma is the thunder rattling the ground

Karma's on your scent like a bounty hunter

Karma's gonna track you down, step by step from town to town

Karma is queen

Karma takes all my friends to the summit

Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me

SWEET NOTHING

I spy with my little tired eye, as tiny as a firefly, a pebble that we picked up last July down deep inside your pocket

We almost forgot it

Do they ever miss Wicklow sometimes?

They say the end is coming

Everyone's up to something

I come home running to your sweet nothings

All that you've ever wanted from me was sweet nothing

On the way home, I wrote a poem

What a mind!

This happens all the time

Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors and smooth talking hucksters are glad handing each other

All the voices all implore that I should be doing more

I'm just too soft for all of it

MASTERMIND

Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned so that you and I would end up in the same room at the same time

The touch of your hand lit the fuse for a chain reaction of counter moves to assess the equation of you

Checkmate, I couldn't lose

What if I told you none of it was accidental?

The first time that you saw me, I knew that nothing was gonna stop me

I laid the groundwork

Just like clockwork, the domino's cascaded in a line

What if I told you I'm a mastermind?

Now you're mine

It was all by design

I'm a mastermind

All the wisest women had to do it this way

All the wisest women had to do it this way cause we were born to be the pawn in every lovers game

We were born to be the pawn in every lovers game

If you fail to plan then you plan to fail

I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails and the liquor in our cocktails

No one wanted to play with me as a little kid, so I've been scheming like a criminal ever since to make them love me and make it seem effortless

No one wanted to play with me as a little kid

I've been scheming like a criminal ever since

This is the first time that I feel the need to confess

I swear that I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian cause I care

I told you none of it was accidental

The first time that you saw me I knew i wanted your body

You knew the entire time!?

You knew that I'm a mastermind

I'm a mastermind and now you're mine

THE GREAT WAR

My knuckles were bruised like violets from sucker punching walls,

I cursed you as I sleep-talked

I was spineless in my tomb of silence

I tore the banners down, and took the battle underground

Maybe it was the egos swinging

Maybe it was her

The flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur

All that bloodshed in crimson clover

The sweet dream was over

My hand was the one you reached for all throughout the Great War

We'll always remember

I vow not to cry anymore if we survived the Great War

You drew up some good faith treaties

I drew curtains closed and drank my poison all alone

You said I have to trust more freely

Diesel is desire, you were playing with fire

Maybe it's the past that's talking, screaming from the crypt, telling me to punish you for things you never did

I justified it

The bombs were closer

My hand was the one you reached for

All throughout the Great War

I'll always remember the burning embers

I vowed not to fight anymore if we survived the Great War

It turned into something bigger

Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed

But you looked up at me with honor and truth

I called off the troops

That was the night I nearly lost you

I really thought I'd lost you

We can plant a memory garden

Say a solemn prayer

I'll place a poppy in my hair

There's no morning glory, it was war, it wasn't fair

We will never go back

BIGGER THAN THE WHOLE SKY

No words appear before me in the aftermath

Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness

It's all over now, all out to sea

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

You were bigger than the whole sky

You were more than just a short time

I've got a lot to pine about

I've got a lot to live without

I'm never gonna meet what could've been, would've been, what should've been you

Did some force take you because I didn't pray?

Every single thing to come has turned into ashes

It's all over, it's not meant to be

I'll say words I don't believe

PARIS

Your ex-friend's sister met someone at a club and he kissed her. Turns out, it was that guy you hooked up with ages ago. Some wannabe Z-lister. And all the outfits were terrible. 2003 unbearable. Did you see the photos?

Your ex-friend's sister, met someone at a club and he kissed her.

It was that guy you hooked up with ages ago

All the outfits were terrible

Did you see the photos?

No, I didn't, but thanks, though

I'm so in love that I might stop breathing

No, I didn't see the news

We were somewhere else

I was taken by the view

We were in Paris

The privacy sign's on the door

Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours

Sit quiet by my side in the shade.

I wanna brainwash you into loving me forever

I wanna transport you to somewhere the culture's clever

I want to confess my truth in swooping, sloping, cursive letters

HIGH INFIDELITY

You said I was freeloading

I didn't know you were keeping count

Put on your records and regret me

I bent the truth too far tonight and I was dancing around it

Put on your headphones and burn my city

Your picket fence is sharp as knives

Do you really wanna know where I was April 29th?

Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?

Storm coming, good husband

I dragged my feet right down the aisle

I'd pay if you'd just know me

It seemed like the right thing at the time

You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough

You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love

Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

It's never enough

GLITCH

We were supposed to be just friends

You don't live in my part of town, but maybe I'll see you out some weekend depending on what kind of mood and situationship I'm in and what's in my system

You don't live in my part of town

Maybe I'll see you out some weekend depending on what kind of mood and situationship

What's in my system?

I think there's been a glitch.

I'm not even sorry

It must be counterfeit

I was supposed to sweat you out

In search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else's playground

It's been two-thousand one-hundred ninety days of our love blackout

Our love is blacking out

The system's breaking down

I'll go back to wanting dudes who give nothing

I thought we had no chance

That's romance.

Let's dance

WOULD'VE COULD'VE SHOULD'VE

If you would've blinked, then I would've looked away at the first glance

If you tasted poison, you could've spit me out at the first chance

And if I was some paint, did it splatter on a promising grown man?

If I was a child, did it matter, if you got to wash your hands?

All I used to do was pray: would've, could've, should've

If you'd never looked my way, I would've stayed on my knees

I damn sure never would've danced with the devil a5 nineteen

The God's honest truth is that the pain was heaven

Now that I'm grown, I'm scared of ghosts

Memories feel like weapons

Now that I know, I wish you'd left me wondering

If you never touched me, I would've gone along with the righteous

If I never blushed, then they could've never whispered about this

If you never saved me from boredom I could've gone on as I was

Lord, you made me feel important until you tried to erase us

You're a crisis of my faith

If I'd only played it safe

I would've stayed on my knees and I damn sure never would've danced with the devil at nineteen

God rest my soul

I miss who I used to be

The tomb won't close

I regret you all the time

I can't let this go

I fight with you in my sleep

The wound won't close

I keep on waiting for a sign

I regret you all the time

If clarity's in death, then why won't this die?

Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts

Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first

DEAR READER

If it feels like a trap, you're already in one

Get out your map. Pick somewhere and just run

Burn all the files

Desert all your past lives. If you don't recognize yourself that means you did it right

Never take advice from someone who's falling apart

You should find another

Bend when you can, snap when you have to

You don't have to answer just cause they asked you

The greatest of luxuries is your secrets

When you aim at the devil make sure you don't miss

I wander through these nights

I prefer hiding in plain sight

These are desperate prayers of a cursed man, spilling out to you for free

Darling, darling, please

You wouldn't take my word for it if you knew who was talking

I'm walking to a house, not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there

I pace in my pen and my friends found friends who care

No one sees when you lose when you're playing solitaire

You should find another guiding light, but I shine so bright

HITS DIFFERENT

I washed my hands of us at the club

You made a mess of me

I pictured you with other girls in love, then threw up on the street

They say that if it's right, you know

Each bar plays our song and nothing has ever felt so wrong

Oh my, love is a lie

It hits different

It hits different this time

Moving on was always easy for me to do

It hits different 'cause it's you

I used to switch out these Kens and just ghost

Just rip the Band-Aid off and skip town like an asshole outlaw

Freedom felt like summer then on the coast but now the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings

I never don't cry at the bar

My sadness is contagious

I slurred your name 'til someone puts me in a car

I stopped receiving invitations

I found the artifacts

I cried over a hat

Curse the space that I needed

I'll trace the evidence to make it make some sense

Why's the wound is still bleeding?

You were the one that I loved

You don't need another metaphor, it's simple enough

This is why they shouldn't kill off the main guy

In the good in the world, you once believed in me

I felt you and I held you for a while

I could still melt your world

I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway

Is that your key in the door?

Is it okay?

Is it you?

Have they come to take me away?

KARMA (FEAT. ICE SPICE)

Karma is that girl

Karma is your chеck about to bounce

Karma is a fire in your house

She's about to pop up unannounced

She is never leaving you alone

Now your switching up your behavior

It's okay, baby, you ain't gotta worry

Karma never gets lazy

Keep your head up

I won't let up

Karma is a beauty winning that pageant

YOU'RE LOSING ME

I don't understand

I know you don't

We thought a cure would come through in time, now, I fear it won't

I remember looking at this room, and loving it cause of the light

I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time

Do I throw out everything we built or keep it?

I'm getting tired even for a phoenix that's always rising from the ashes and mending all my gashes

You might just have dealt the final blow

Stop, you're losing me

I can't find a pulse

My heart won't start anymore for you

You're losing me

Every morning, I glared at you with storms in my eyes

How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dying?

I sent you signals

My face was gray, but you wouldn't admit that we were sick

The air is thick with loss and indecision

I know my pain is such an imposition

You know what they all say

You don't know what you got until it's gone

How long could we be a sad song?

We were too far gone to bring back to life

I gave you all my best me's and my endless empathy

All I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier fighting in only your army

Don't you ignore me

I'm the best thing at this party

I wouldn't marry me either

I'm a pathological people pleaser who only wanted you to see her

I'm fading

Do something, babe, say something

Lose something, babe, risk something

"Choose something, babe,

I got nothing to believe, unless you're choosing me

My heart won't start anymore

ANTI-HERO (FEAT. BLEACHERS)

Sometimes, I feel like everybody is an art bro lately

I just judge them on the hill

Maybe I'm the problem, it's me

____, you'll be fine

[my-castles-crumbling]

HEYYY! What are your fav lines from each song of midnight

Ahhh fun! I'll probably skip the songs I don't listen to as much, just so you know.

Okay:

Lavender Haze: The only kind of girl they see is a one night or a wife Maroon: That's a real fucking legacy, to leave Anti-Hero: I wake up screaming from dreaming one day I'll watch as you're leaving cause you got tired of my scheming. You're On Your Own, Kid: the entire second half of the song. Don't make me pick. Midnight Rain: I broke his heart cause he was nice Bejeweled: Putting someone first only works when you're in their top five Mastermind: No one wanted to play with me as a little kid, so I've been scheming like a criminal ever since Paris: I want to brainwash you into loving me forever Would've, Could've, Should've: Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first. Hits Different: I used to switch out these Kens, I'd just ghost. You're Losing Me: I gave you all my best me's

[spacejams]

midnights (3 am) ask prompts

this masterlist of prompts was created as part of the rph server's 2022 gift exchange for @caffeinatedresources / @elitemikaelsonheiressqueen !

lavender haze

"meet me at midnight."

"all this shit is new to me."

"the only kind of girl they see is a one night or a wife."

maroon

"how'd we end up on the floor, anyway?"

"and i chose you."

"how the hell did we lose sight of us again?"

"that's a real fucking legacy to leave."

anti-hero

"i get older, but just never wiser."

"i should not be left to my own devices."

"tale as old as time."

"you got tired of my scheming."

"it's me, hi."

"i'm the problem."

"it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero."

"sometimes, i feel like everybody is a sexy baby."

"i have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money."

"she thinks i left them in the will."

"she's laughing up at us from hell."

snow on the beach

"i saw flecks of what could've been lights."

"it might just have been you, passing by."

"life is emotionally abusive."

"and my flight was awful, thanks for asking."

"i'm unglued, thanks to you."

"weird, but fuckin' beautiful."

"tonight feels impossible."

"to hide that would be so dishonest."

"it's fine to fake it 'til you make it."

"i don't even dare to wish it."

"can this be a real thing?"

you're on your own, kid

"i play it cool with the best of them."

"he's gonna notice me."

"it's okay, we're the best of friends."

"i hear it in your voice."

"i didn't choose this town."

"i waited ages to see you there."

"you're on your own, kid. you always have been."

"i gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this."

"you've got no reason to be afraid."

question

"big city, wrong choices."

"fuckin' situations, circumstances, miscommunications."

"can i ask you a question?"

"do you wish you could still touch her?"

"it's just a question."

"what's that that i heard? that you're still with her?"

"that's nice, i'm sure that's what's suitable."

bejeweled

"i think i've been a little too kind."

"putting someone first only works when you're in their top five."

"by the way, i'm going out tonight."

"familiarity breeds contempt."

"baby boy, i think i've been too good of a girl."

"i think it's time to teach some lessons."

labyrinth

"it only hurts this much right now."

"i'll be getting over you my whole life."

"you know how scared i am of elevators."

"you know how much i hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back."

karma

"you're talking shit for the hell of it"

"karma's a relaxing thought."

"ask me what I learned from all those years."

"ask me why so many fade, but i'm still here."

sweet nothing

"they said the end is coming."

"everyone's up to something."

"i found myself running home to your sweet nothings."

"all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing."

"on the way home, i wrote a poem."

"i'm just too soft for all of it."

mastermind

"what if i told you none of it was accidental?"

"what if i told you i'm a mastermind?"

"all the wisest women had to do it this way."

"if you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

"no one wanted to play with me as a little kid."

"this this the first time i've felt the need to confess."

"i'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause I care."

"you knew that i'm a mastermind."

bigger than the whole sky

"'cause it's all over now, all out to sea."

"you were more than just a short time."

"i've got a lot to pine about."

"i've got a lot to live without."

paris

"your ex-friend's sister met someone at a club, and he kissed her."

"turns out it was that guy you hooked up with ages ago."

"all the outfits were terrible."

"did you see the photos?"

"i'm so in love that i might stop breathing."

high infidelity

"i didn't know you were keeping count."

"do you really want to know where I was april 29th?"

"seemed like the right thing at the time."

glitch

"we were supposed to be just friends."

"you don't live in my part of town, but maybe i'll see you out some weekend."

would've, could've, should've

"if you would've blinked then i would've looked away at the first glance."

"and i damn sure never would've danced with the devil."

"now that i'm grown, i'm scared of ghosts."

"now that i know, i wish you'd left me wondering."

"but, lord, you made me feel important."

"you tried to erase us."

"you're a crisis of my faith."

"i miss who i used to be."

"i regret you all the time."

"i keep on waiting for a sign."

"I can't let this go, I fight with you in my sleep."

[bi-disaster-kit-herondale]

The Last Hours as Midnights

it’s long overdue. been in my notes for a while

lavender haze : cordelia and james

“And you don’t really read into my melancholia. I’ve been under scrutiny. You handle it beautifully. All this shit is new to me. I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me.”

maroon : anna and ariadne

“And I wake with your memory, over me. That’s a real fuckin’ legacy, to leave. The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine into me. And how the blush rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet it was (maroon).”

anti-hero : matthew

“I should not be left to my own devices. They come with prices and vices. I end up in crises, tale as old as time. I wake up screaming from dreaming. One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving, ‘cause you got tired of my scheming.”

snow on the beach : lucie and jesse

“I can’t speak, afraid to jinx it. I don’t even dare to wish it. But your eyes are flying saucers from another planet. Now I’m all for you like Janet. Can this be a real thing, can it?”

you’re on your own kid : alastair

“I’ll run away. From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes. I called a taxi to take me there. I searched the party of better bodies, just to learn that my dreams aren’t rare. You’re on your own, kid. You always have been.”

midnight rain : grace

“My town was a wasteland. Full of cages, full of fences, pageant queens and big pretenders. But for some, it was paradise. My boy was a montage. A slow-motion, love potion, jumping off things in the ocean. I broke his heart ‘cause he was nice.”

question…? : matthew and cordelia

“Good girl, sad boy, big city, wrong choices. We had one thing goin’ on. I swear that it was somethin’. ‘Cause I don’t remember who I was before you painted all my nights, a color I’ve searched for since.”

vigilante shit : cordelia

“You did some bad things, but I’m the worst of them. Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie. 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.”

bejeweled : anna (& ariadne)

“And we’re dancing all night. And you can try, to change my mind, but you might have to wait in line. What’s a girl gonna do? A diamond’s gotta shine. Best believe I’m still bejeweled.”

labyrinth : alastair (& thomas)

“Lost in the labyrinth of my mind. Break up, break free, break through, break down. You would break your back to make me break a smile. You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back.”

karma : lucie

“Sweet like justice, karma is a queen. Karma takes all my friends to the summit. Karma is the guy on the screen, coming straight home to me. ‘Cause karma is my boyfriend, karma is a god. Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.”

sweet nothing : matthew and james

“I wrote a poem. You say, ‘what a mind’, this happens all the time. Ooh… ‘Cause they said the end is coming. Everyone’s up to something. I find myself running home to your sweet nothings.”

mastermind : grace

“What if I told you none of it was accidental, and the first night that you saw me nothing was gonna stop me. I laid the groundwork, and then just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line.”

characters from @cassandraclare

lyrics by @taylorswift

stay tuned for 3am edition ;)

[90363462]

80 Best Lyrics From Taylor Swift’s Midnights For Your Instagram Captions

Oct. 21, 2022

Name one Swiftie who’s never used a Taylor Swift lyric as an Instagram caption. I’ll wait. During Swift’s 16-year career, she has delivered countless turns of phrases and relatable one-liners that fans have used as captions to encapsulate their photos and videos. On Midnights — and the album’s seven bonus tracks — Swift once again blessed us with Instagram-worthy lyrics, at one point fittingly asking on bonus track “Paris” this important question: “Did you see the photos?” 

In the 11-time Grammy winner’s 20 songs on Midnights (3 a.m. edition), you’ll notice several themes — like drinking, loving, dancing, traveling, and polishing up real nice — that are prime Instagram fodder. For frequent travelers and romantic dancers, turn to “Snow on the Beach” (“My flight was awful, thanks for asking”) and “Glitch” (“That’s romance, let’s dance”). 

For the partiers or solo drinkers, you can take advantage of lyrics on “Dear Reader” (“My fourth drink in my hand”); “The Great War” (“I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone”); “Question...?” (“It was one drink after another”); “Maroon” (“Your roommate’s cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that’s how”); and “Paris”(“Cheap wine, make believe it’s champagne”). 

Longtime listener Zainub Amir, who runs the popular Swift-centric Twitter account @SwiftNYC, told Bustle why people gravitate toward Swift’s music when crafting their own social content: “Taylor’s words and lyrical prowess are perfect for captions because she constructs her lyrics very concisely and strategically so there are a ton of relatable, witty phrases for fans to latch onto.”

For the lovers, you can use these poetic lines from “Labyrinth” (“Uh-oh, I’m falling in love”); “Lavender Haze” (“I just need this love spiral”); “Question...?” (“Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?”); “Paris” (“I’m so in love that I might stop breathing”); and “Midnight Rain” (“My boy was a montage / A slow-motion, love potion”).

So, when you’re ready to “plant a memory garden,” as Swift puts it on “The Great War,” come back to this list of the 80 best Midnightslyrics to use for your Instagram captions. 

1. “Lavender Haze”

Meet me at midnight

I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

Talk your talk and go viral / I just need this love spiral

2. “Maroon”

That’s a real f*cking legacy to leave

Your roommate’s cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that’s how

I chose you / The one I was dancing with / In New York, no shoes

The lips I used to call home / So scarlet, it was maroon

3. “Anti-Hero”

It’s me, hi I’m the problem, it’s me

I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror

When my depression works the graveyard shift / All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room

I should not be left to my own devices / They come with prices and vices / I end up in crisis

4. “Snow on the Beach” 

My flight was awful, thanks for asking

Time can’t stop me quite like you did

It’s like snow at the beach / Weird, but f*cking beautiful

My smile is like I won a contest / And to hide that would be so dishonest

5. “You’re on Your Own, Kid”

I touch my phone as if it’s your face

You’re on your own, kid / You always have been

I didn’t choose this town / I dream of getting out

I search the party of better bodies / Just to learn that you never cared

6. “Midnight Rain”

He was sunshine, I was midnight rain

My boy was a montage / A slow-motion, love potion

I never think of him / Except on midnights like this

It came like a postcard / Picture perfect shiny family / Holiday peppermint candy

7. “Question...?”

Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?

15 seconds later, they were clapping too?

It was one drink after another

Does it feel like everything’s just like / Second best after that meteor strike?

8. “Vigilante Shit”

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man

Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge

Ladies always rise above / Ladies know what people want

On my vigilante shit again

9. “Bejeweled”

I polish up real nice

I miss you, but I miss sparkling

By the way, I’m going out tonight

Best believe I’m still bejeweled / When I walk in the room / I can still make the whole place shimmer

10. “Labyrinth”

Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out

I thought the plane was going down / How’d you turn it right around?

Break up, break free, break through, break down

Uh-oh, I’m falling in love / Oh no, I’m falling in love again / Oh, I’m falling in love

11. “Karma”

Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend

Karma is a cat purring in my lap ’cause it loves me

Karma is the guy on the screen / Coming straight home to me

Flexing like a goddamn acrobat / Me and karma vibe like that

12. “Sweet Nothing”

You’re in the kitchen humming

I found myself a-running home to your sweet nothings

I spy with my little tired eye / Tiny as a firefly, a pebble

Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors / And smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other

13. “Mastermind”

You and I ended up in the same room at the same time

The touch of a hand lit the fuse / Of a chain reaction of countermoves / To assess the equation of you / Checkmate, I couldn’t lose

What if I told you I’m a mastermind? / And now you’re minе / It was all by design / ’Cause I’m a mastermind

I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ’cause I care

14. “The Great War”

We can plant a memory garden

It turned into something bigger

I vowed I would always be yours

I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone

15. “Bigger Than The Whole Sky”

Salt streams out my eyes and into my ears

You were bigger than the whole sky / You were more than just a short time

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

I’m never gonna meet / What could’ve been, would’ve been / What should’ve been you

16. “Paris”

Did you see the photos?

I’m so in love that I might stop breathing

Cheap wine, make believe it’s champagne

Sip quiet by my side in the shade / And not the kind that’s thrown

17. “High Infidelity”

Rain soaking, blind hoping

Put on your records and regret me

You know there’s many different ways that you can kill the one you love / The slowest way is never loving them enough

Do you really wanna know where I was April 29th?

18. “Glitch”

That’s romance, let’s dance

I was supposed to sweat you out

We were supposed to be just friends

I’m not even sorry, nights are so starry / Blood moonlit / It must be counterfeit / I think there’s been a glitch

19. “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”

I miss who I used to be

If I was some paint, did it splatter

Stained glass windows in my mind

If you never saved me from boredom I could’ve gone on as I was

20. “Dear Reader”

My fourth drink in my hand

Pick somewhere and just run

Never take advice from someone who’s falling apart

If you don’t recognize yourself / That means you did it right

[tilynation]

The Connection Between the “Lavender Haze”Music Video (Released on Lily’s Birthday) and “Maroon”

“When the morning came we were cleaning incense off your vinyl shelf”

These lyrics are from “Maroon.” To me, Lily could easily be the muse for “Maroon.” Analysis here.

This is how the “Lavender Haze” music video begins . . .

The vinyl shelf . . . with a “Mastermind” vinyl on it. The cover has Taylor and Joe’s astrology signs. “Mastermind” could be about Taylor’s plan to meet Joe in 2016. Another blonde haired, blue eyed person from London, just like Lily.

The vinyl playing . . .

The incense burning . . . until it burns out.

Is “Maroon” about Joe?

I don’t think so. “Maroon” is about a relationship that’s over, “the lips I used to call home,” “the one I was dancing with in New York,” “ain’t that the way shit always ends,” “and I lost you.”

“And I wake with your memory over me, that’s a real fucking legacy to leave.”

The classic line from “Maroon.” In the “Lavender Haze” mv, as the incense burns out on the vinyl shelf, Taylor is waking up in the middle of the night . . . at midnight.

Happy “Lavender Haze” music video release day and birthday, Lily Donaldson!

[angelgnomesimblrisdeadrip]

and the legacy begins besties <33

[grandtheftaristotle]

The Hidden Narrative of Midnights

Heyyyyyyy

So in honour of the TS11 announcement (!!!!!) and Midnights winning AOTY (!!!!!!!!) I'm posting this essay I accidentally wrote months ago after relistening to You're Losing Me and finally figuring out how Midnights works as an album

I was SUPER thrown by this album when it first came out and how different it was from the way it was marketed, but after Joever and YLM I think I get it now.

So, below the cut, here's how I make sense of Midnights, the order of the songs, and how it was presented to us.

Enjoy, and I'm sorry.

Okay so I finally listened to You’re Losing Me again and now I’m thinking about it in the wider context of the album

Cause we agree that it kinda redefines the whole thing right? Reframes the album not just as her reminiscing on nights she was up late and for what reasons, but reminiscing specifically about memories that could help her decide whether to stay or move on. She described this love as being golden like daylight on Lover; it makes sense that nighttime is when she has to grapple with the notion of ending it.

So we start with Lavender Haze, which as a title track genuinely makes me insane when I think about the amount of parallels it has to You’re Losing Me. The way it reframes her SO’s quiet demeanour as something positive (“you don’t ever say too much / and you don’t really read into my melancholia”), rather than the nail in the coffin it ultimately was (“do something babe, say something / choose something babe, risk something”), the references to marriage and how inconsequential it is (“I wouldn’t marry me either”), “you don’t really read into my melancholia” vs “how can you say you love someone you can’t tell is dying”, “I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say” vs “a pathological people pleaser”. I could go on.

Next we go to Maroon, which has her thinking back on another breakup that had a significant emotional impact on her (“and I wake with your memory over me / that’s a real fucking legacy to leave”) (I’m also thinking about that in two different ways; their memory as a legacy they left behind [“a real fucking legacy to leave”] and leaving AS a legacy [“a real fucking legacy, to leave”] - the last one could tie into the central conflict). The way the song trails off at the end is kinda like her thoughts trailing off; she doesn’t really come to a conclusion about the whole thing, it’s just a memory. A real fucking legacy to leave, to leave.

Her next thought is “it’s me! Hi! I’m the problem! It’s me!” Anti Hero’s pretty self explanatory; she’s thinking that maybe she’s the problem here; overreacting about the whole thing, trying to get ahead of him leaving her, up late and stressed now that her depression’s taking over. I interpret ‘all the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room’ as referring to the people in the memories she sings about; people she’s broken up with, old friends, even old versions of herself. Did she leave them, or did they leave her? Either way it was probably her fault, she decides.

From there she looks back on when she first fell for her partner; they both fell at the same time, and it was magical, like snow on the beach. Not only was it magical and beautiful, like it was destined to happen, but it shows they were both on the same page. So why can’t they be now?

You’re On Your Own, Kid. This might be one of her heaviest songs, with one of the most stark revelations - “like I’d be saved by a perfect kiss”. This whole time she was hoping that the right love, the right person, would save her and make her feel complete. She thought she found that person, but they haven’t made her feel complete, and now she’s thinking of ending it. Just like the person at the beginning of the song - “I wait patiently, he’s gonna notice me”. But they didn’t, and now her current partner doesn’t seem to either. “You’re on your own, kid / you always have been” - that line ends up being comforting. You’ve always been on your own, and you’ve made it here anyway. There’s no reason why you can’t still go far.

Speaking of going far, Midnight Rain kinda plays off the ideas set up in YOYOK in how it refers to a relationship from her youth; before she became famous. She talks about how “he wanted a bride, I was making my own name”; paralleling her reluctance to get married in Lavender Haze and the ultimate revelation that her current partner doesn’t seem to want it. This is kinda where we start to question if she really doesn’t want to get married, or if she’s trying to convince herself she doesn’t. Personally I think it’s a mix of both; around the time Lavender Haze takes place, she was perfectly content to be unmarried and just stay ‘in that lavender haze’, as it were. In the honeymoon phase. I also think that, whether she wanted it or not, the constant speculation was grating on her and made the topic unpleasant. That said, at some point she likely wanted to take things that extra step, but her SO was either very reluctant or very nonchalant about it, leading us here. She looks back on when someone did want to marry her (eventually), but she backed out on them to focus on her career. This might be a case of thinking ‘I chose my career over a relationship; am I simply doing it again?’

Question is similar to Maroon in that it’s looking back on a past relationship for some hint of what to do here. All the questions she wanted to ask her ex (or maybe did), some of which she wants to ask her current partner (“did you wish you put up more of a fight?”) Also thinking of “does it feel like everything’s just second best after that meteor strike”. Very “I promise that you’ll never find another like me” coded. Convincing herself that if the break up did happen, her partner would never find someone better. I will defend ME! with my dying breath.

Now for Vigilante Shit. This one is significantly harder to nail down than all the others; it feels a bit out of place within the narrative and more like a tease for Rep TV. That said I do want to touch on two things: “I don’t start shit but I can tell you how it ends” aka “I am a confident badass and I will ultimately do what is best for me” and “picture my thick as thieves with your ex wife”. Marriage themes once again, this time with a divorce. Interesting. 

With newfound confidence, she lets herself bejewelled. Once again, this is pretty self explanatory. She can still make the whole place shimmer, even if she doesn’t have a man. But that said, she still wants him in her life. “Familiarity breeds contempt / don’t put me in the basement when I want the penthouse of your heart”. This song isn’t just saying ‘I’m incredible’, it’s saying ‘I’m incredible and I want others to notice, especially this one person’.

(I will take this moment to acknowledge that, yes, Taylor has said this song is about her return to pop music rather than a relationship. However, since I’m looking at these songs through the specific lens of her making a decision about her relationship, I’m reinterpreting it. I realize that this wasn’t the original intention of the song, but I’m setting that aside for the sake of the narrative.)

These last several songs have clearly showed Taylor leaning more toward ‘break up’, with Bejewelled having more of a middle ground perspective. That song now acts as a bridge into the last four songs of the standard edition, which all have her thinking more about the positive aspects of the relationship, all the reasons she wants to save it. We start with Labyrinth, which details the anxiety she felt at the beginning of the relationship and how this person helped her through it (“you would break your back to make me break a smile”). All the effort they put in then, something they clearly aren’t doing now. Another notable line is “I’ll be getting over you my whole life” which connects to “you might just have dealt the final blow” in You’re Losing Me; she feels she may never recover from the potential break up.

Next up we have Karma, which has similar mixed messages to Bejewelled. On one hand, we have the assertion that karma is her boyfriend, a god, the breeze in her hair on the weekend, a relaxing thought, a cat purring in her lap cause it loves her, and she and karma vibe like that. It suggests that if she has karma, she doesn’t need anything else, because it does everything that others can’t. Karma will always be there for her and act in her favour because she always does the right thing, so no matter what decision she makes it will be on her side. But then in the bridge we have her saying “karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me”. A quick reminder that karma brought this person into her life, so perhaps they were the right thing all along. If her partner came along at just the right time and has been there for her since, then ending it might not be the right decision.

And now, Sweet Nothing. Ohhhhhhhh dear god Sweet Nothing. First of all, within the narrative. Throughout the album there has been talk of people wanting things from Taylor, be it career related or life related. “I have this dream my daughter in law kills me for the money” “all they keep asking me if if I’m gonna be your bride” “life is emotionally abusive” “I hosted parties and starved my body” (the entirety of YOYOK actually) “he wanted a bride, I was making my own name” “you know how much I hate that everyone expects me to bounce back just like that” and so on. But this song details a relationship where the person doesn’t necessarily want anything from her. It’s all nice and quiet and completely peaceful. And then you remember what she said earlier in Midnight Rain - “he wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain” and the themes in both YOYOK and Bejewelled about wanting to be noticed, and then when you hear You’re Losing Me you’re hit with “do something babe, say something”. And you realize ‘oh shit, maybe that quiet life isn’t entirely what she wants here’. And our hypothetical version of Taylor, who’s thinking about all this in the middle of the night while deciding whether or not to end the relationship, realizes ‘oh shit maybe that quiet life isn’t entirely what I want here’. But she doesn’t come to that conclusion til later, cause right now she’s just caught up in the thrill of being with someone who, for once, doesn’t want anything from her. Only later on will she discover that she might want him to want something from her. 

We finish off the standard edition with Mastermind, which has similar themes to Snow on the Beach, with these two people being on the exact same page at the start of their relationship. Taylor thought she was manipulating everything behind the scenes, because she’s always in control of the situation. And as far as the media’s concerned, she tricks men into dating her just so she can write songs about it later, so she might as well lean into that, right? Except, turns out her partner knew what she was doing the entire time and was totally fine with it. So not only can he read her like a book, but he wants the same thing she does. There’s no need to be concerned about their relationship, cause they’ve always been on the same page. Additionally, there’s a theme of control at play here that leads into the next song; she felt fully in control at the start of their relationship, since she thought she was masterminding the whole thing. But now, she’s losing that control.

Which leads us into Hits Different, the first bonus track. I was debating for a while whether I wanted this before or after the 3am tracks, but I think it fits best here, mainly because of how it aligns with Mastermind. While that song was about her being in control, this song is about her spiralling out of control. I heard someone say it sounds like the Blank Space girl fell in love for the first time and I CANNOT stop thinking about that because it’s SO accurate. Especially with the lines about “switching out these Kens” and “skipping town like an asshole outlaw”. Much like with Mastermind, it seems to lean more into that satirical ‘man-eater’ image she toyed with in Blank Space, in that it sounds like someone who has never had their heart broken before and is having a full blown CRISIS about it. And while that’s not the kind of person Taylor is, it does show just how much this is affecting her; that the prospect of this breakup is hitting her harder than any she’s previously had. 

Now onto the 3am tracks. The Great War is pretty self explanatory; same vibe as Snow on the Beach and Labyrinth of “we did it then, why can’t we do it now?” The one thing I will touch on is the lines at the end of the bridge - “that was the night I nearly lost you / I really thought I lost you”. Calls back to Maroon (“and I lost you”), and parallels You’re Losing Me. She was able to step back and examine the situation and realize she was losing him, but he’s unable to do the same while he’s losing her.

Bigger Than The Whole Sky as a song has a couple of popular interpretations; one that it’s about a miscarriage, and one that’s it’s about the loss of who Taylor was before JM. I’m partial to the first reading, but the second one works best with this narrative (and was more likely Taylor’s intent in my opinion). The idea that this relationship fucked her up so bad that she’s actively mourning who she was before it is honestly devastating, and it makes sense that she would worry about the same thing happening if she leaves her current partner, since they’ve been together for so long. It’s possible that this song is also mourning the life she will never have with him if they ultimately break up, which I could go further with but I think it’s best if I leave it there. 

Paris is another song that becomes a lot sadder when you view it from this angle. Specifically, the line “I want to brainwash you into loving me forever”; when you consider just how much she wants for the relationship to work and the degree to which she’s trying to convince herself it’ll be okay, the desperation in this line becomes exceedingly obvious. I also really love how it just trails off at the end. Given how energetic most of this song is, a traditional pop ‘quiet chorus LOUD CHORUS’ ending would make the most sense. And we do get that quiet chorus, but no loud one to follow it up. The way she carefully improvs and repeats the lines at the end makes it sound like she’s biding time waiting for the music to jump back in again, but it never does. She’s waiting for that spark of magic to return, but it doesn’t. Instead the mid tempo vibe continues into…

High Infidelity! Finally after all these years we get some answers about the Calcium situation! With the end of Paris, it’s like she was actively trying to avoid revisiting this memory, but it came back all the same. And if I can be real for a second here, this is, in my opinion, one of the best songs she’s ever written. But anyway, this song tells us about the last time she was in a relationship headed for marriage, but in this case she very much did not want it to happen. She also explains how she cheated on her partner, either literally or emotionally, and how this new person ‘brought her back to life’. This song does two things; it describes a relationship where leaving was the best option because her partner didn’t take the time to notice or know her (“I’d pay if you’d just know me” is VERY You’re Losing Me coded), and explains how another person made her feel special and alive again while she was being stifled. If we assume her current partner was ‘the other person’, then this song also holds the mixed messages of Bejewelled and Karma. He brought her out of this stifling relationship; there’s no way he brought her into another one. He knew what that was like for her, he’d never act that way even accidentally, right?

It’s official: there’s been a glitch. This song is fascinating to me because a glitch is typically a negative thing, but here it’s being framed as a positive. Very ‘I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this’ coded. But at the same time, some glitches only exist for a short time before getting resolved, like a blip. So this song can be viewed in a few ways; their relationship started because of a glitch, their current problems are because of a glitch (the way he’s acting now conflicting with how their relationship started), or their relationship IS the glitch, and it’s slowly getting resolved, meaning it will be ending soon. While the first one is definitively what the song is about, the last two could show the headspace she’s in while looking back on it. That’s what I mean with all the songs really; what they’re about doesn’t change, but by examining their order we can eke out a thought process that caused her to look back on these memories.

And now we get to Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve. Easily one of the most harrowing songs in Taylor’s discography, with its anger, desperation, and overwhelming aura of regret. Oddly enough, I have a hard time placing this relative to the other songs; I feel like it’s where my ‘thought process’ theory gets a little shaky. Unlike the other songs, where I could work certain parts into the current situation, it’s very hard to do that with this song because I feel like it almost downplays what it’s really about. The closest I came to this issue previously was with Bigger Than The Whole Sky; because I hear that song and think of a miscarriage, it was hard to separate it from that interpretation in my mind. But I’d argue it’s more difficult with WCS, because we know definitively what it’s about, while we don’t know for sure what BTTWS is about. These two songs are already connected; the alternative theory for BTTWS is that it’s her saying goodbye to the person she was before the relationship. But even then, it’s still a theory. 

My only real idea for how WCS connects to the timeline is that it’s her thinking back on a relationship that fundamentally changed her. The things she says in the song makes it clear that this relationship has haunted her for years after it happened, and that maybe it affects her perception of love now. It’s a memory she felt she had to go back to in order to make a decision about her current one, but she doesn’t come away with any real conclusions about it, except for the fact that it still bothers her to this day. Unlike her current one, she didn’t get anything good out of that relationship, nothing that makes her glad she went through it. I’m thinking about an interview she gave during the 1989 era, about how she came to realize that just because a relationship wasn’t built to last doesn’t mean it wasn’t special while it was there. It’s something I think she’s come to embrace in recent years and songs; the idea that you can appreciate the good times you had with a person even if it didn’t end well. But in WCS, there’s none of that. There was nothing good, no good memories, nothing salvageable in that relationship. Just a wound that won’t close, lost girlhood, stained glass windows in her mind.

…well that was a bit of a ramble.

So we’ll assume that WCS is her looking back on a relationship that deeply affected her, and that it’s more a byproduct of looking back on all these memories. She was bound to end up there eventually the deeper she went into her thought process; at the very bottom, she found the cathedral where it all went wrong.

And now, the last track before our grand finale. Dear Reader.

You know, I try really hard to not read too far into Taylor’s songs. Especially since folkmore, I do my best not to assume everything she writes matches up exactly with what’s going on in her life. But man, the first time I heard Dear Reader, I got this sinking feeling that everything with Joe wasn’t what it seemed.

Just that bridge. It breaks my heart a little every time I hear it, and it really drives home the point that we truly never really know what’s going on in her life. “You wouldn’t take my word for it if you knew who was talking / if you knew where I was walking / to a house not a home all alone cause nobody’s there”. Listening to all the love songs on this album, we never would’ve known something was wrong. She’s built a career off of being so open about her life in her music, but there are some things she’s just not ready to share She seems to think no one would listen to her thoughts on love if we knew her relationship was on the rocks. “You should find another guiding light / but I shine so bright”. Despite all this, she’ll never stop writing music and sharing certain parts of her life with us. Not her whole life, but what she’s ready for us to hear.

That’s why You’re Losing Me didn’t come out right away. She wasn’t ready for us to hear it in 2022, but she was in 2023, after the news broke. I find it interesting how Dear Reader is kinda saying ‘you don’t really know my life and you don’t know everything I’m going through’ and You’re Losing Me follows it up by showing us why. 

You’re Losing Me parallels nearly every song on Midnights. Some of them are admittedly stretches, and I don’t have time to list them all here, but here are some examples:

“You say I don’t understand and I say I know you don’t” / “Saw the wide smirk on your face, you knew the entire time”

“I’m getting tired even for a phoenix, always rising from the ashes” / “Ask me why so many fade but I’m still here”

“Stop, you’re losing me” / “Oh no, I’m falling in love”

“How can you say you love someone you can’t tell has died?” / “There’s many different ways that you can kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough”

“All I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier” / “Soldier down on that icy ground looked up at me with honour and truth”

“I’m the best thing at this party” / “When I walk in the room I can still make the whole place shimmer”

“A pathological people pleaser” / “Argumentative antithetical dream girl”

“Who only wanted you to see her” / “I wait patiently, he’s gonna notice me”

“Do something babe, say something” / “I find myself running home to your sweet nothing”

“Lose something babe, risk something” / “He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain”

“I can’t find a pulse, my heart won’t start anymore.” It’s the culmination of the whole night. The moment she looks at the clock and sees it’s 7am. Time to face the reality and make the decision she’s been building to all this time.

I feel kinda bad making this analysis, because it feels like I’m trying to make the album sad so I’ll care about it more. But the fact is that this becomes a stronger body of work (at least for me) with this throughline. It makes the boppier songs make more sense for an album that’s supposed to be so melancholic. I was so confused when I heard songs like Bejewelled and Karma for the first time cause the way she presented the album to us made it sound a LOT darker than some of these songs. But when you look at it like this, that she’s grappling with such a big decision and that’s her reason for revisiting these more upbeat memories, it all starts to come together, and the darker presentation makes more sense.

Not all these songs need to be sad. Taylor isn’t always sad. Her music doesn’t need to be sad for me to like it. It’s just the vibes of the album compared to the sound that threw me off. But when I view it through this lens, I kinda get it now. Midnights is still at the bottom of my album ranking; probably will be for a while. But I have a greater appreciation for it after puzzling out this narrative.

[danthropologie]

So conspiracy theory that Taylor write midnights about f1 drama this year. Look at it this way- Daniel’s obviously mastermind because his ass is half in that seat and also you’re on your own kid cause I saw this gorgeous edit of Daniel to it and it just makes sense, Max is vigilante shit because he’s deadass scheming to get rid of checo because he wants his boyfriend back and also anti hero because he’s brought it upon himself to carry on fernando’s legacy of being the problem but we love him anyways iconic king, I have to give karma to McLaren because they will pay, bigger than the whole sky because we’re going to fucking miss seb so much :(, and lavender haze for dando cause we all know that next year lando is just going to take one look at Oscar and be like, ‘but you’re not Daniel’. If you read this entire thing, I am so sorry you had to tolerate my 4 am brain

oh my god you're a visionary. i do think that there's equal case to be made for mastermind being max OR daniel tho, just because the whole conversation of daniel moving into checo's seat literally wouldn't even be happening in the first place without max refusing to let checo through.

and you're so right that karma is daniel and mclaren, but i think maybe there's also a lewis element to it as well, especially in the bridge with the "ask me what i learned from all those years / ask me what i earned from all those tears / ask me why so many fade, but i'm still here"

i saw a midnight rain edit for carlando that absolutely fucked (link here), but as i have a hard time fucking with carlando in general, i prefer to read it as maxiel. especially since daniel literally spending the year dying on the floor while max was having one of the most successful seasons of all time 😭

the joke's been made a million times but how could question...? be about anything other than ferrari's fabulous fuck ups this year.

and on a similar note, bejeweled is charles @ ferrari in a 'you better figure out your shit before you lose me' type way (aka the direct precursor to mattia getting fired)

labyrinth is daniel having the soul sucked out of him for 18 months straight, then being thrown a lifeline in the form of a red bull polo. also "you know how much i hate that everyone expects me to bounce back just like that" i mean!!!

i know that the album technically came out before they went to brazil, but the great war is literally about interlagos 2022. just the whole fucking thing.

paris is brief but beautiful yukierre affair, rip in peace 🤧

i feel like high infidelity could be a lot of different things, but the funniest and most unhinged is whatever the fuck is going on with nando and esteban and nando's shock jump to aston martin

glitch and maroon both give the constant push and pull of charlos

would've could've should've is from the perspective of the twinks caught in the zak brown twink farm bullshit 😔

and as the daniel brain rot runs deep for me, obviously dear reader feels very daniel to me, but i think it could apply to mick, lewis, etc. basically anyone that spent the majority of the year Suffering(TM) yk

[turnertable]

midnights cuz Taylor said all of the songs are from over her career and life so Alex eras (am ones, sorry TLSP) as Midnights

Lavender Haze: TBHC, "the 1950s shit they want from me" post AM bliss on the moon

Maroon: FWN, "that's a real fucking legacy to leave" glasto after two albums

Anti-Hero: TBHC, "I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror" Moon hotel for one, the sun y'know also reflections of oneself and admission

Snow At The Beach: Humbug, "it's weird but fucking beautiful" Humbug is an experimental record but we wouldn't have the rest of this discography without it

You're On Your Kid: TBHC talking to WPSIATWIN, "something different bloomed, writing in my room. I play my songs in the parking lot" Self Explanatory, thanks Taylor for your version of Star Treatment.

Midnight Rain: SIAS, "he wanted a bride, I was making my own name" Alexa breakup, AM predecessor

Question...?: WPSIATWIN, "she was on your mind with some dickhead guy" No explanation, he would try this as a pick up line and someone would ask him the questions

Vigilante Shit: AM, "Lately I've been dressing for revenge" reputation-esque songs are the cocky bastard. also ladies repeating in the bridge is so him coded.

Bejeweled: AM, "and what I meet the band, they ask do you have a man? I can still say I don't remember." Glasto Jacket, Post Breakup Alexander.

Labyrinth: The Car, "uh oh I'm falling in love again" Sappy Bastard Alexander ™

Karma: TBHC or AM, "ask me why so many fade but I'm still here" Either reflective man on the moon about his career or spiteful playboy no in between

Sweet Nothing: FWN, "on the way home, I wrote a poem, you say what a mind" The famous poem to Alexa is just the only thought

Mastermind: TBHC, "the planets and the fates and all the stars" Alex reflecting on getting a certain two people the fandom loves....

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

'#it especially makes the tracklist order make more sense to me tbh' I'm sure this is a dumb question, but what do you mean by this? Because the tracklist order still feels a little random to me so I'd love to hear your thoughts

Not a dumb question at all. Like until I listened to the album in full after making the realisation of it being the equivalent of calling your exes and asking why it didn't work, I felt the tracklist order was all over the place and felt off, but it just clicked to me upon that specific listen through. I'm going to go through it track by track below, but yeah I'm gonna put it under a read more because it'll be long lmao.

So in short, while I don't want to go as far as to call the tracklist the equivalent of a mental breakdown because that's dramatic, I do think it highlights the ebbs and flows of what goes through a person's mind when they're in a relationship that they're uncertain about the future for and unsure if they should stay in or not. Like to me the flow between one topic and another just feels more natural in a stream of that kind of mindset. My thoughts on how each track fits this is below.

Lavender Haze: The starting point of the thought process. I've always felt this song was about 2016 (first verse) and 2021 (second verse) with the bridge being a general comment and now I'm more sure than ever of that. By having both, it sets up not only how Taylor perceives fame as the main issue in her life but also why she wants to fight so badly for this relationship. I'm unsure if it's intentional but it's also interesting to have 'haze' be a part of the first song, indicating that she's not seeing clearly, but would rather be in love and not seeing clearly than consider other people's concerns in a moment where the relationship isn't working (tying in The Great War where she felt she was being betrayed by analysing someone else's [the other woman's] disregard to the relationship). With the truth now coming out that Joe was not 'handling [the scrutiny] beautifully', this song acts as somewhat of a mix of Taylor reminding herself of a time where he did and trying to convince herself that he still does and that's worth fighting for.

Maroon: Coming from a place of 'looking back at past relationships to see what didn't work when your current one isn't working', Maroon makes sense to be next because Joe and Jake are the most alike of Taylor's exes. And I mean this personally, both of them could not handle her fame/not being on her level with that being a big reason for the split and both of them being the biggest loves of her life so far. While I'm not going to talk about the order of the 3am tracks here because I don't think there's much to say past the last 3 tracks being deliberate with Dear Reader being a great closer and Glitch clearly being a sequel to High Infidelity, I also have always felt like the lyrical similarities between Maroon and The Great War (including The Great War being later on, making Maroon 'the past', like part of Jake's legacy is how Taylor interacts with lovers sadly) and to a lesser degree Maroon with Lavender Haze stick out to me whenever I listen to this album, making the similarities between the two men all the more noticeable. So yeah, the jump from what happened with Joe to what happened with Jake is the smallest and flows well when considering this angle.

Anti Hero: The spiralling moment of "god maybe I'm the problem" (no pun intended). Like especially with the "Taylor Swift is the problem" movement being at its height at the time Taylor was on again/off again with Jake, again it makes sense for this to be the next step.

Snow On The Beach: The moment of clarity of "yet despite being the problem, Joe still wanted me at my worst and things were good at the beginning when it was just the two of us".

You're On Your Own Kid + Midnight Rain: As an aside note, I've always seen YOYOK as a purely sad song, not bittersweet/happy at the end and I think this is highlighted more here. But yeah these two both acknowledge how multifaceted her feelings of fame are. Because yeah she worked her ass off and achieved all she wanted without anyone's help. No one coming into her life or leaving it can take that away from her. But it also came at a cost and has caused her a lot of pain and has been the downfall of most of her relationships (making it clear that's the fault of the guy for not being able to handle it, but she's still at the stage of blaming the fame itself). It feels natural that something like this would come after Snow On The Beach, a song about someone wanting her despite her being at her worst/things being good when fame wasn't as much of a factor.

Question: Tbh kinda a sense of "Do you know what else fame fucking ruined for me? Any chance I had with Harry", a dude who should have been able to handle it because he was at the same fame level as her. Again, with that being one of the heights of fame interfering with her love life, it makes sense to be in this section and flows well as a "it's not just that Joe isn't as famous, it's that fame is the issue" connector.

Vigilante Shit: What better time than when bitter about all the ways fame fucked you over is there to include a song about the main dude who facilitated the bad press about you and has benefited from it the whole way through? Like this song isn't just about her masters, it's about how he facilitated snakegate, how he has been alleged to have paid for every bad story about her (and Selena) to be written and more. So having Question, a song about one of the periods where the press was at its worse, flow into this makes sense.

Bejeweled, Labyrinth + Karma: The 2016 + consequences/rewards trio. It's not hard to imagine how talking about Scooter would be a small jump to Bejeweled (what was going on while he was orchestrating snakegate) and then Labyrinth was the direct sequel with Karma being the ultimate recognition that without those fallouts, she wouldn't be where she is. Like the chorus and bridge of Karma is in many ways, the song version of "without your past you could never have arrived so wondrously and brutally by design or some violent, exquisite happenstance here." from her Why She Disappeared poem. It's also the turning/decision point that yes, what her and Joe have is worth fighting for and she does want to stay (even if it is in that Lavender Haze). I do wonder/find it interesting how much of this was her convincing herself though considering that while I do 100% believe Bejeweled is purely about Calvin, it's clear that Taylor was feeling cast out at that point with Joe. Like the latter two songs almost feel like a reminder to/convincing herself that Joe is not Calvin and this is different.

Sweet Nothing: This song is not only the embodiment of the good parts of Joe and Taylor's relationship but also living proof of what they can achieve when they work together considering he cowrote for it. I know a lot of people say that they believe in the double meaning (that he didn't need anything from her professionally but also wanted someone less famous/more dependent on him) and I can definitely see that, but I would say that this song goes back to Lavender Haze in the way that it's a "well I don't like fame and would rather be home with him anyway", which again, makes him different from Calvin (at least in the moment, ultimately it sounds like it wasn't), who, we later find out in High Infidelity, Taylor felt suffocated by when put in the same position. The contrast to Calvin/2016 in general also makes it make sense why her mind would flow from Labyrinth to Karma rather than having the two Scooter songs together.

Mastermind: The counter song to YOYOK. This is the "Hell yeah I worked my ass off and played the game and look where it got us. I got to have love and fame". Very classic Taylor to finish on a high note that encompasses the main themes (her need to be loved + understood, fate vs her own actions, why this love/pain hits different [pun intended] for her etc).

3am tracks/Hits Different + other thoughts: Like I said, I don't have much to say about the non standard tracks because outside of the pairing of High Infidelity + Glitch and Dear Reader being last, I don't really think there was much of a narrative purpose for the order. If anything, all I could really add is that it makes sense that WCS (and BTTWS if it's about her growing up too fast like some think it is) makes sense to be on the deluxe because while it does fit the theme of going back and considering what went wrong with your exes, there's no direct tie in what happened with John and fame or how it led her to Joe like there is with the standard songs. Likewise the rest of them just don't really sonically/narratively fit in with the standard in my opinion, so she made the right choice having them be seperate.

What I do want to mention is that I think Aaron recently mentioning that some of his songs being written when they were at the 2021 grammys (so months before the standard tracks with Jack) is extremely interesting and may lend some insight into how long Taylor felt cast aside for as well as how this album came to be. Like I don't think it's a coincidence that the John and Calvin songs came on not only a night where she had to see John (which she has noted that she actively avoids where possible because it upsets her that much), but on a night where she once again was receiving the top award for her field without her partner being present (call back to what she said on Miss Americana about winning the 2016 AOTY grammy). Also just in general, I'd argue that out of her exes John and Calvin are more alike to each other than they are to any of the others. And before anyone says it, yes, while it's possible Joe didn't show due to Covid restrictions, given how many other things he's missed over the years and that seemingly being a main if not the reason they ultimately broke up, I'm not so sure of that anymore. Like I don't want to speculate, but I imagine the mix of those things alongside the potential issues with her and Joe's then current relationship made his absence all the more noticeable.

Likewise, I don't think it's a coincidence that the songs about Jake, Harry and fame came at a time where not only was Taylor releasing her rerecorded album from 2012, but where Joe was once again not available, this time definitely due to his own fame/career. Like it sounds harsh, but the tie between the standard and deluxe tracks seems to be Joe reminding her of her exes by not showing up.

Anyway, it's almost 2am here so hopefully this makes sense and please feel free to send more asks if it doesn't, but yeah, like this album and it's tracklist order just make a lot more sense and flows better to me since realising that it's the equivalent of calling your exes to ask where things went wrong to try and figure out what's going wrong in your current relationship in album form.

[themoon-saturn]

Genshin Impact men as Taylor Swift's Midnights 3 am edition

psa- I am going on vibes only. I don't have all these characters and this is mostly headcanon. Can be interpreted as about them or from their pov. I also didn't include minor characters. This is just for fun :) ps- trying to pick for high infidelity was extremely hard help More under the cut

Lavender Haze- "Talk your talk and go viral, I just need this love spiral"

(Venti, Albedo, Gorou, Itto)

Maroon- "And I wake with your memory over me. That's a real f*cking legacy"

(Diluc, Kazuha, Kaeya)

Anti-Hero- "I should not be left to my own devices They come with prices and vices, I end up in crisis"

(Scara, Childe, Xiao)

Snow on the Beach-"But your eyes are flying saucers from another planet. Now I'm All For You like Janet, Can this be a real thing? Can it?”

(Albedo, Kaeya, Tighnari)

You’re on your own kid-"Take the moment and taste it, You've got no reason to be afraid"

(Venti, Xiao, Scara, Childe, Kaeya, Diluc, Itto)

Midnight Rain-"A slow-motion love potion, Jumping off things in the ocean. I broke his heart 'cause he was nice"

(Xiao, Childe, Cyno, Zhongli, Gorou)

Question…?- "Does it feel like everything's just like second-best after that meteor strike?"

(Ayato, Kaeya, Heizou)

Vigilante Shit-"I don't dress for women. I don't dress for men. Lately, I've been dressing for revenge"

(Diluc, Scara, Cyno, Ayato)

Bejeweled-"What's a girl gonna do? A diamond's gotta shine"

(Itto, Childe, Ayato, Venti)

Labyrinth-"Uh-oh, I'm falling in love. Oh no, I'm falling in love again. Oh, I'm falling in love. I thought the plane was going down, How'd you turn it right around?"

(Kazuha, Xiao, Zhongli, Albedo) 

Karma-"Ask me what I've learned from all those years. Ask me what I earned from all those tears. Ask me why so many fade when I'm still here"

(Scara, Thoma, Cyno, Heizou, Itto)

Sweet Nothing- "On the way home I wrote a poem, you say, "What a mind" This happens all the time"

(Thoma, Kazuha, Tighnari, Zhongli)

Mastermind- "No one wanted to play with me as a little kid, So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since. To make them love me and make it seem effortless. This this the first time I've felt the need to confess"

(Heizou, Tighnari, Cyno, Xiao, Albedo, Ayato)

The Great War-"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"

(Gorou, Xiao, Venti, Zhongli, Kazuha)

Bigger than the whole sky-"I've got a lot to live without, I'm never gonna meet what could've been, would've been, what should've been you"

(Kazuha, Xiao, Zhongli, Venti)

Paris-"We drew a map on your bedroom ceiling. No, I didn't see the news 'cause we were somewhere else in an alleyway, drinking champagne"

(Childe, Kaeya, Ayato, Heizou)

High Infidelity-" You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love. The slowest way is never loving them enough"

(Kaeya, Zhongli, Albedo)

Glitch- "Five seconds later, I'm fastenin' myself to you with a stitch, ah-yeah. And I'm not even sorry, nights are so starry, blood moon lit It must be counterfeit"

(Xiao, Kazuha, Ayato, Thoma)

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve-"God rest my soul, I miss who I used to be the tomb won't close, stained glass windows in my mind. I regret you all the time"

(Xiao, Childe, Scara, Albedo)

Dear Reader-"Desert all your past lives, and if you don't recognize yourself that means you did it right. Never take advice from someone who's falling apart"

(Xiao, Kazuha, Venti, Albedo, Kayea, Diluc, Scara)