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for A&E
On November 17, Ticketmaster released a statement canceling the general sale for Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour, set to begin in March 2023. Ticketmaster’s statement on Twitter claimed that the cancellation was “due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.” Ticketmaster had experienced unprecedented traffic on its site during the presale and Capital One sale. It blamed the record-breaking number of users—fourteen million as reported by Forbes—attempting to purchase tickets as the source of the chaos.
Via Instagram, Swift responded by stating, “It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”
The high demand for tickets followed the release of Swift’s newest album, Midnights, which is 2022’s most successful album by far. The New York Times reported Midnights’ sales to be around 1,578,000 copies in a week, making Swift the first artist in history to have five albums sell one million copies in its first week.
Swift announced her 10th studio album at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, when she accepted an award for Video of the Year. In her acceptance speech, Swift said “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. And I will tell you more at midnight.” True to form, her post at midnight announced the name of the album, Midnights, and revealed the album would consist of thirteen songs, the singer’s lucky number. Swift described the songs on her social media accounts as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”
So, was Midnights worth the mayhem?
Midnights is in many ways a mix of Swift’s previous albums, from songs featuring her signature pop sound, along with the reflective lyrics of her most recent albums. As of Thanksgiving 2022, the most popular song on the album, “Anti-Hero,” had held onto Billboard’s No. 1 spot for three weeks. In it, Swift contemplates how her own mind keeps her trapped in a cycle of her insecurities. Throughout the song, Swift repeatedly sings “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me…It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero.”
Swift acknowledges that her sleepless nights are the fault of her own mind, and that her paranoia is rooted in what she herself has made up in her head. Both “Anti-Hero” and “Lavender Haze” skillfully place cynical lyrics against a high energy sound. In “Lavender Haze,” Swift bemoans the societal pressures that she, and many women, face in their relationships. Swift sings of the joy of a new relationship, while expressing frustration towards those who want her to prove that her relationship is genuine: “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.” Swift uses both these songs to describe outside and internal pressures she has to balance daily.
Swift also doesn't hesitate to sing her own praises with satisfaction. In “Bejeweled,” she sings with cheerful indifference towards those who try to convince her she needs to change aspects of herself. Praising her capability to change a room by walking into it, she sings “Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the room/I can still make the whole place shimmer.” Swift uses a high energy melody to display her nonchalant attitude towards people’s disapproval, even expressing joy in their attempts to stop her from changing. This theme can be found again in her song “Karma,” in which Swift gleefully watches the downfall of those responsible for the anxiety expressed in “Anti-Hero” earlier. She makes no attempt to hide her true feelings, as her unsympathetic attitude comes through in the lines “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.” Swift doesn't just sing of wrongs being righted, but also of some of her happiest memories, making her reflective songs on the album just as compelling lyrically and emotionally as her catchier hits.
Three hours after the release of Midnights, Swift announced that she had recorded seven more songs, available in the release of Midnights (3am Edition). The standout songs from this bonus track are full of regret, caused by situations both in and out of Swift’s control. These songs describe the situations that send her into the spiral described in “Anti-Hero.” Swift is warning against situations and people that lead to self-hatred.
In “Sweet Nothing”, Swift reflects on her joy in having someone who knows her well, and the solace she finds in the small confirmations of being understood. The good memories she is making now help her forget the pressures she describes earlier in the album. “Sweet Nothing” talks of how understanding a person’s mind is a sign of a relationship that will last; Swift realizes that learning to love and be amused by her mind is one of the benefits of a healthy relationship: “On the way home/I wrote a poem/You say, ‘What a mind’/This happens all the time.”
Swift faces pressure to both respond to public disputes and to break all her previous records each time she creates a work of art. In Miss Americana, a Netflix documentary about the singer, Swift describes the pressure of releasing new music, saying, “If I don’t beat everything else I’ve done prior, it will be deemed a colossal failure.” However, in “Sweet Nothing”, Swift’s attitude is different; she has learned that simply creating is enough, without the input of the people who don’t know her.
While Swift has provided a sense of understanding for her listeners through her witty cynicism and heartbreaking lyrics, she also offers advice. The album was largely marketed as songs resulting from dissatisfaction with one’s life. However, Swift offers hope that once you find a real relationship, your relationship with life will improve. For Swift, the more you feel content with your thoughts and actions, the better the relationship.
On November 17, Ticketmaster released a statement canceling the general sale for Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour, set to begin in March 2023. Ticketmaster’s statement on Twitter claimed that the cancellation was “due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.” Ticketmaster had experienced unprecedented traffic on its site during the presale and Capital One sale. It blamed the record-breaking number of users—fourteen million as reported by Forbes—attempting to purchase tickets as the source of the chaos.
Via Instagram, Swift responded by stating, “It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”
The high demand for tickets followed the release of Swift’s newest album, Midnights, which is 2022’s most successful album by far. The New York Times reported Midnights’ sales to be around 1,578,000 copies in a week, making Swift the first artist in history to have five albums sell one million copies in its first week.
Swift announced her 10th studio album at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, when she accepted an award for Video of the Year. In her acceptance speech, Swift said “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. And I will tell you more at midnight.” True to form, her post at midnight announced the name of the album, Midnights, and revealed the album would consist of thirteen songs, the singer’s lucky number. Swift described the songs on her social media accounts as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”
So, was Midnights worth the mayhem?
Midnights is in many ways a mix of Swift’s previous albums, from songs featuring her signature pop sound, along with the reflective lyrics of her most recent albums. As of Thanksgiving 2022, the most popular song on the album, “Anti-Hero,” had held onto Billboard’s No. 1 spot for three weeks. In it, Swift contemplates how her own mind keeps her trapped in a cycle of her insecurities. Throughout the song, Swift repeatedly sings “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me…It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero.”
Swift acknowledges that her sleepless nights are the fault of her own mind, and that her paranoia is rooted in what she herself has made up in her head. Both “Anti-Hero” and “Lavender Haze” skillfully place cynical lyrics against a high energy sound. In “Lavender Haze,” Swift bemoans the societal pressures that she, and many women, face in their relationships. Swift sings of the joy of a new relationship, while expressing frustration towards those who want her to prove that her relationship is genuine: “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.” Swift uses both these songs to describe outside and internal pressures she has to balance daily.
Swift also doesn't hesitate to sing her own praises with satisfaction. In “Bejeweled,” she sings with cheerful indifference towards those who try to convince her she needs to change aspects of herself. Praising her capability to change a room by walking into it, she sings “Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the room/I can still make the whole place shimmer.” Swift uses a high energy melody to display her nonchalant attitude towards people’s disapproval, even expressing joy in their attempts to stop her from changing. This theme can be found again in her song “Karma,” in which Swift gleefully watches the downfall of those responsible for the anxiety expressed in “Anti-Hero” earlier. She makes no attempt to hide her true feelings, as her unsympathetic attitude comes through in the lines “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.” Swift doesn't just sing of wrongs being righted, but also of some of her happiest memories, making her reflective songs on the album just as compelling lyrically and emotionally as her catchier hits.
Three hours after the release of Midnights, Swift announced that she had recorded seven more songs, available in the release of Midnights (3am Edition). The standout songs from this bonus track are full of regret, caused by situations both in and out of Swift’s control. These songs describe the situations that send her into the spiral described in “Anti-Hero.” Swift is warning against situations and people that lead to self-hatred.
In “Sweet Nothing”, Swift reflects on her joy in having someone who knows her well, and the solace she finds in the small confirmations of being understood. The good memories she is making now help her forget the pressures she describes earlier in the album. “Sweet Nothing” talks of how understanding a person’s mind is a sign of a relationship that will last; Swift realizes that learning to love and be amused by her mind is one of the benefits of a healthy relationship: “On the way home/I wrote a poem/You say, ‘What a mind’/This happens all the time.”
Swift faces pressure to both respond to public disputes and to break all her previous records each time she creates a work of art. In Miss Americana, a Netflix documentary about the singer, Swift describes the pressure of releasing new music, saying, “If I don’t beat everything else I’ve done prior, it will be deemed a colossal failure.” However, in “Sweet Nothing”, Swift’s attitude is different; she has learned that simply creating is enough, without the input of the people who don’t know her.
While Swift has provided a sense of understanding for her listeners through her witty cynicism and heartbreaking lyrics, she also offers advice. The album was largely marketed as songs resulting from dissatisfaction with one’s life. However, Swift offers hope that once you find a real relationship, your relationship with life will improve. For Swift, the more you feel content with your thoughts and actions, the better the relationship.