Taylor Swift Says ‘Midnights’ Song Inspired by Her Relationship Is About Protecting the ‘Real Stuff’
“Track one is called ‘Lavender Haze,’ ” Swift shared early Friday morning, adding that the song is “about the act of ignoring” what others say to “protect the real stuff”
It feels like the perfect night to… learn the titles of not one, but multiple Midnights tracks.
In the wee hours of Friday morning, Taylor Swift put a little extra “mayhem” in “Midnights Mayhem with Me,” the TikTok series in which she reveals the names of each of the songs on her upcoming album Midnights one at a time.
In each episode, Swift lets a bingo cage decide which of the remaining titles to announce.
On Thursday night — at the stroke of midnight — the Red songstress shared the title of yet another track on the album, which is set to drop Oct. 21.
“The tension is palpable,” the 32-year-old singer said, spinning the cage of numbered ping-pong balls until one — which she revealed to be the album’s first track — pops out.
“Track one is called ‘Lavender Haze,’ ” the singer announced — but the mayhem didn’t stop there.
Following this announcement, the “Bad Blood” singer took to Instagram, where she shared a reel explaining the inspiration behind Midnights’ opening song.
“I happened upon the phrase ‘Lavender Haze’ when I was watching Mad Men, and I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool,” Swift said in the post. “And it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ’50s, where they would just describe being in love.”
She then explained, “If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant that you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful.”
“I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures,’ because we live in the era of social media,” she explained. “And if the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re gonna weigh in on it.”
The “All Too Well” singer got a little more specific, hinting that “Lavender Haze” is specifically inspired by her relationship with longtime boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn.
“Like my relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it,” Swift said. “And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
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Swift hinted that there would be more to come, writing in her Instagram caption, “Tonight we mayhem til the morning. AND release vinyls with pics I signed in them on my site! Gonna be a wild ride ????.”
The singer surprised her unsuspecting fans with Midnights, her tenth studio album, during her acceptance speech for video of the year at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards in August.
“I wouldn’t be able to re-record my albums if it weren’t for you. You embolden me to do that, and I had sort of made up my mind that if you were going to be this generous and give us this, I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out Oct. 21,” she told the crowd.
Later that night, Swift shared more Midnights details on social media, calling the album a “collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.”
The “Love Story” singer revealed on Sept. 16 that her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff is featured on the album by sharing a video on social media set to newcomer Niceboy Ed’s song “Life You Lead.”
Swift’s first post on Friday followed the eighth round of “Midnights Mayhem,” when the singer-songwriter revealed that the title of track 11 is called “Karma.” Due to a longtime fan theory that Swift is sitting on an unreleased album named “Karma,” this news sent Swifties everywhere into a frenzy.
Similarly to her “Lavender Haze” reveal, Swift took to Instagram following the “Midnights Mayhem” episode for track three — “Anti-Hero” — on Sunday, describing it as “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.”
“I really don’t think I’ve delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before,” she said in the clip. “You know, I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized, and that I, you know… not to sound too dark, but, like, I struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person.”
She then clarified, “But don’t feel bad for me. You don’t need to.”
“This song is a real guided tour throughout all the things that I tend to hate about myself,” continued the 11-time Grammy winner. “We all hate things about ourselves, and it’s all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we’re going to be this person. So, yeah, I like ‘Anti-Hero’ a lot because I think it’s really honest.”
In addition to “Lavender Haze,” Swift has also revealed the following Midnights titles: “Anti-Hero,” “Karma,” “Maroon,” “Midnight Rain,” “Question…?,” “Vigilante S—,” “Bejeweled” and “Mastermind.”
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