Frenzied Taylor Swift fans share theories and Easter eggs as pop icon announces new album
Taylor Swift has announced her new album “Midnights” as she landed the video of the year award the 2022 MTV VMAs.
The global popstar stunned on the MTV red carpet with her glitzy jewel-encrusted dress, and that wasn’t the only surprise she dropped during the evening.
During her acceptance speech for All Too Well: The Short Film, she said: “I 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 my new album comes out 21 October and I will tell you more at midnight.”
In a midnight post on social media Swift dropped the name of the album, the cover art and the meaning behind the midnight theme.
Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at midnight.
Pre-order now: https://t.co/jjqUNkphuG pic.twitter.com/Fh96zK8vro
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 29, 2022
“We lie awake in love and in fear, in turmoil and in tears. We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t right this minute – about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.
“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face.
“For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching – hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes 12… we’ll meet ourselves,” she wrote.
She explained the tracks are “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scatter[ed] throughout [her] life” and ended the message by saying: “Meet me at midnight.”
Unlike the surprise drop of her pandemic albums, folklore and evermore, the forewarning for her 10th studio album has given fans plenty of time to fly into a frenzy, and start putting together the Easter eggs.
The first keen-eyed fans have spotted that the accompanying videos on her all her songs on Spotify highlight lyrics with the word “night” in them.
Taylor Swift highlights past lyrics featuring the word ‘night’ on all of her owned albums on Spotify. pic.twitter.com/HgjBdPY11o— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 29, 2022
Some are even saying all her albums were leading up to this moment, by referencing the several times “midnight” is mentioned in her songs including “Style”, “The Last Great American Dynasty”, “New Year’s Day” and “Happiness”.
taylor swift didn’t write “it’s 2 am feeling like i just lost a friend” and “lit through the darkness at 1:58” and “the lingering question kept me up, 2AM who do you love?” and “i want your midnights” for this to not become one of her greatest albums— Hannah Azerang (@clockwork_reads) August 29, 2022
https://twitter.com/ALNL/status/1564108379915788289?s=20&t=-AjRnB1pgckcA4LjbsJI9g
taylor swift gave us so many signs but we’re just too blind to see them pic.twitter.com/D1GpGaxvtr
— miguel (@cowboyinwoods13) August 29, 2022
Other fans have pointed out her coordinated VMAs afterparty outfit, which shows a deep blue night sky with silver stars, has marked the heralding in of her “Midnights” era.
TAYLOR SWIFT WEARING A BLUE DRESS WITH STARS TO MAKE REFERENCE TO HER UPCOMING ALBUM MIDNIGHTS pic.twitter.com/8QR0gtnugs— melina (@hotsumernight) August 29, 2022
The aesthetic for this era is already iconic… Midnights is about to be taylor swift’s best album to date pic.twitter.com/JMRohXRLm3— Short n' Sweet Tour (@ShortnSweetTour) August 29, 2022
While people have already started guessing who she might have worked with on the new album, with Lana Del Ray liking her album announcement post catching people’s attention.
Of course, it’s not Taylor Swift without some callback to famous poetry, and this time fans have spotted the parallel between “keep the lanterns lit and go searching… we’ll meet ourselves” and Emily Dickinson’s “I am out with lanterns, looking for myself”.
And others have noticed some nifty use of numbers by the singer-songwriter such as announcing the album 13 years after that Kanye incident, and releasing her 10th album in the 10th month.
TAYLOR SWIFT KNOW WHAT SHE IS DOING pic.twitter.com/MTIENSvb4T— beppe (@REPTHEESTALLION) August 28, 2022
So just to recap:@taylorswift13, born on the 13th, 13 years after the Kanye incident at the @vmas, accepts the VMA for her 10 minute version of a song and announces her 10th studio album, coming in the 10th month of the year. It will have – naturally – 13 tracks.— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) August 29, 2022
2+0+2+2+1+0+2+1=10
Midnight is @taylorswift13's 10th studio album
Her mind 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯😵😵😵😵😵😵— Xinyang (Taylor's Version) (@ExileEpiphany13) August 29, 2022
But mostly, Swifties are just really, really excited.
https://twitter.com/swiftantics/status/1564121335541923841?s=20&t=-AjRnB1pgckcA4LjbsJI9g
miss taylor alison swift would you care to elaborate on “self-made cages” and praying you won’t make a “life-altering mistake” involving them?— noah! (@P0ETICIAN) August 29, 2022
The way Taylor Swift subtly entered her concept album era and we never saw it coming.— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) August 29, 2022
Midnights isn’t just an album, it’s a cultural reset, a reason to breathe, an escape from this cruel world filled with thieves. It’s art, the first gift you open on xmas, a hug from a loved one, everything you’ve ever wanted, everything you need.
Thank You, Taylor Swift. pic.twitter.com/kf9v1VNO47— Taylor Swift News (@blessedswifty) August 29, 2022
THANK YOU TAYLOR SWIFT pic.twitter.com/clN4fjF7l6— . (@foIkrav) August 29, 2022
i literally spend all my nights overthinking and creating fake scenarios, crying and thinking about what i could do better in the past, midnights by taylor swift is for me— melina (@hotsumernight) August 29, 2022
THE MOST OBVIOUS EASTER EGG EVER pic.twitter.com/Qp2uFfmWug— Taylor Throwbacks (@ThrowbackTaylor) August 28, 2022
how am I supposed to sleep when Taylor Swift could do anything at any moment
— irene anna (@enerianna) August 29, 2022
i just know taylor swift’s new album is going to save me pic.twitter.com/383WqvapHc
— kadriye (@tayspetsch) August 29, 2022
Announcing a new album was not the only iconic moment for Taylor Swift, as she became the first artist in history to win the video of the year award for a self-directed video, and the only person to win the same award three times.