Ranking Each Song From Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter known for her narrative and personal lyricism, critical acclaim, record breaking, a wide range of discography of various genres, and a profoundly expansive career.

Her most recent studio album, Midnights, was released on October 22, 2022. The original album was released at midnight and the 3am Edition was released three hours later. The 3am Edition features seven additional tracks, including one of my all-time favorites, Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve. I’ll be ranking and breaking down each of the twenty songs on the album, based on my personal taste. I adore Taylor and all of her music and I enjoyed this album overall. I’ll be ranking the twenty songs in order of my least favorite to my favorite.

20. Midnight Rain

Midnight Rain is the sixth track on the album. It’s personally not my style, although it’s fitting for the album. I enjoy the storytelling, the imagery, and the figurative language used.

19. Labyrinth

Labyrinth is the tenth track on the album. It’s mainly about her media scrutiny and how it affects her personal life. I like the song, but it’s not my favorite. The random keyboard sounds are just weird to me, but the lyrics are deep and visceral. “You know I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back, just like that” is among my favorite lyrics from the song.

18. Glitch

Glitch is the eighteenth track on the 3am Edition. It’s a song about her current relationship and how she never expected it to last. I appreciate the storytelling and the narrative lyricism, like usual.

17. Question…?

Question…? is the seventh track on Midnights. It’s about Taylor’s relationship with her boyfriend Joe, and a reflection of and comparison to her previous relationship. Again, masterful storytelling, but the music just isn’t my favorite style.

16. Bejeweled

Bejeweled is the ninth track on the album. This song has a catchy hook and empowering lyrics, with an accompanying music video featuring Taylor, her producer Jack Antonoff, and her friends, the three sisters of the band Haim. Taylor directed the music video as well.

15. Bigger Than The Whole Sky

Bigger Than The Whole Sky is the fifteenth track on the album. This slow ballad expresses heartwrenching emotions of grief and loss. The song’s simplicity and emotion is moving, but it’s heavy, so there’s a certain mood to be in to listen to the song.

14. Dear Reader

Dear Reader is the twentieth and final track on the 3am Edition. Taylor directs this song toward the audience by using her personal experiences to teach lessons in a poetic way. It’s a great closing track to the 3am Edition of the album.

13. Karma

Karma is the eleventh track on Midnights. Karma is about…karma. Allegedly about her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, she uses with metaphors for karma to eloquently express her belief of it.

12. Vigilante Shit

Vigilante Shit is the eighth track on her latest album. This is an EDM-type revenge track with poetic lyrics and references to more mature topics than her past music. It’s allegedly about her feud with Scooter Braun and the debacle over the masters of her first six albums, which Scooter Braun wound up selling to Shamrock Holdings in 2020 and Taylor lost the rights to them.

11. Maroon

Maroon is the second track on the album. It gives pop, serene, content vibes. She uses shades of red to depict a visual representation of a reflection on her relationship.

10. Lavender Haze

Lavender Haze is the opening track to the album. It gives similar vibes to Maroon, with the pop, breezy vibes. It’s a great opening track and has an accompanying music video, directed by Taylor Swift.

9. Paris

Paris is sixteenth track on Midnights (3am Edition). This song is about her current relationship and its intimacy. She compares the relationship to being in Paris, ignoring gossip and remaining present in the relationship.

8. Snow On The Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey)

Snow On The Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey) is the fourth track on her newest album. It’s the only track on the album with a featured artist. It’s a very delicate, ethereal song. It describes the beauty and convolution of a healthy relationship, comparing it to “snow at the beach, weird but f**king beautiful”.

7. Sweet Nothing

Sweet Nothing is the twelfth track on the album. It serves as incredibly intimate insight into her relationship with Joe, and how happy he makes her. She basically describes how much he loves her and praises her, despite any of her flaws, as well as never expecting things in return.

6. Mastermind

Mastermind is the thirteenth track and final track of the original album. It essentially describes how she plans mostly everything but her boyfriend saw through her and it threw her plans off. Her use of vocabulary, the power of the performance, and the acknowledgment of Taylor’s constant planning far in advance, makes this a great closing track for the original album.

5. High Infidelity

High Infidelity is the seventeenth track of the album. This track is featured on the 3am Edition, and it allegedly describes her relationship with British DJ Calvin Harris. She admits to cheating on him with (allegedly, but not really) Tom Hiddleston. This track is an emotional confessional and suits the narrative tone of the album.

4. The Great War

The Great War is the fourteenth track overall and the first bonus track on the 3am Edition. This song’s metaphorical lyricism about managing to persist in a relationship through obstacles is incredible. The lyrics compare her personal barriers within her relationship to a war and how her and Joe managed and got through it. It’s a beautiful, poetic, and visual song.

3. Anti-Hero

Anti-Hero is the third track of the album. It was the album’s first single, and was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for an extensive length. This song describes Taylor’s insecurities in a powerful, lyrical, visceral manner. She depicts her personal issues by referring to herself as an “anti-hero” and the song feels like a personal reflection. It has an accompanying music video, directed by Taylor Swift.

2. You’re On Your Own, Kid

You’re On Your Own, Kid is the fifth track of the album. It follows her typical Track 5 format with an incredibly emotional tone. It discusses the loneliest moments of her life, it acknowledges the eating disorder that she mentioned in Miss Americana (2020), and it describes her darkest moments of being let down. The bridge of this song made me sob the first few times that I listened to this one.

1. Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve is the nineteenth track of the 3am Edition. The nineteen was most definitely intentional, as she references being nineteen in the song. This scathing track is an alleged sequel to her 2010 track Dear John, about her relationship with John Mayer, who dated when she was 19 and he was 32. Its intense and figurative lyricism, accompanied with the catchy beat and Taylor’s emotional vocals make this track one of her best. I predict this will be one of her most beloved songs by fans because of how personal it is and how powerful she sounds in it.

This album is her first personal album since Lover from 2019. folklore and evermore were storytelling albums with hints of her personal life, and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) were rereleases of two of her previously released albums. This album broke multiple streaming records, recent vinyl and CD sale records, and has been met with critical acclaim. Despite the ebbs and flows of her personal life and media scrutiny, she’s always written intelligent, insightful, articulate, visual songs and she’s an excellent storyteller. She’s a promising film director, she’s a 12-time Grammy Winner, and she’s overcome a plethora of challenges. Her fans have kept her going and I’m proud to be a Swiftie. Thanks for reading! What are your favorite songs from Midnights? Let me know in the comments!