Here's My Ranking Of Taylor Swift's "Midnights," From "Eh" To "NEVER A SKIP"

    I love being a Swiftie...so please forgive me for any unpopular opinions ahead.

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    21. "Dear Reader"

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    I’ll start with saying that this era is a very cohesive era, with songs being extremely close in quality overall. That being said, there is actually nothing wrong with this song at all. It pulls very heavily from old-fashioned and classic poetic tones, which appeals greatly to many people, but isn’t my favorite form of writing. It also suffers from being on the end of the album. It follows one of my top favorite songs on the album and simply stands in the way of me starting the album over again. When the song begins, I skip it every time.

    20. "Glitch"

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    The first several times I heard this song, I couldn’t stand it. And truly, I tried. Over time, it has grown on me. I appreciate the lyrics of the song more than I enjoy the production and tune of the song. It also reminds me a lot of The Matrix, which I could never really get into either.

    19. "Question…?"

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    The more I listen to this song, the further down on the list it gets pushed. And mostly, I think it is because it is one of her most ambiguous songs. Having read some reviews for this album, I don’t know if my thinking aligns with many others on this subject, but when I listen to this one, I think, “What the hell are you talking about?” I enjoy the tune of the song pretty well, but since I’m so used to Taylor’s songs being more straightforward, being so baffled about who the song could be about is unsettling in a way.

    18. "The Great War"

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    I enjoy the message of this song. The music is beautiful and the lyrics tell a vivid story. This one ranks so low for two reasons. 1) This sounds like the same blowup that Taylor has already written about a couple different times before in her songs, and 2) having had a blowup like this with my own spouse is triggering to me personally. While the fight seems to have made Taylor’s relationship stronger, my similar fights seem to go largely unresolved and pop back up as bad memories rather than as a turning point.

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    17. "Sweet Nothing"

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    This is a cute song that was almost certainly written more as a journal entry or an exercise of creativity for Taylor and Joe to enjoy together, since they do seem to enjoy writing together on occasion. It is a nice description of a beautifully depicted love story, and Swifties definitely enjoy the rare intimate look at her personal relationship. At this stage in her career, Taylor can record and release anything she feels like and knows that Swifties will eat it all up. She probably does release everything she’s satisfied with. This is one that most likely wouldn’t have been released on a previous album from early on in her career, but it’s great to have it on her album now.

    16. "Lavender Haze"

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    This song is my least favorite opening track from all her albums. I wanted to like it, especially since Taylor had posted a video explaining the origins of the song. I don’t love how little story there is to it compared to her other music and the airy, breathiness utilized in the singing of the whole song wasn’t my personal favorite, even though I know this is an unpopular opinion. I went into my first listen very hyped up, and I was a little let down and not too excited about what was to come on the rest of the album because of it. I really do enjoy the bridge of this song, which is why over time it has moved up from my original rank as my least favorite on the original 13 track list.

    15. "Paris"

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    I don’t know why this song is so far down on the list. I have no problem with it. It’s just not among my favorites, and there are so many better ones to be considered. If this song was on the original 13 track list, it probably would’ve ranked higher simply because I don’t get to listen to the deep cuts as often since they are so far down on the album’s track list.

    14. "High Infidelity"

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    This is another song that has moved up in ranking the more I listen. It reminds me a lot of “I Did Something Bad” and “I Forgot That You Existed” which are believed to all be about Calvin Harris. Every time I hear them, I think, “You go girl.”

    13. "Labyrinth"

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    This song is middle of the road for me, mostly because I love the chorus. It frequently gets stuck in my head and I’m like “awwww” when I think about it. But the verses are not cohesive and they just don't hit quite right.

    12. "Bejeweled"

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    I don’t think I actually like this song. I think the single is played and played and it gets stuck in my head. I didn’t really enjoy the music video all that much either, even with all of the blatant Speak Now (TV) clues. Yet, it’s rumored to be about Calvin and him trying to hide her away and the empowerment she took back, so that earns some points. Also, one of my favorite lines of the whole album is “When I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place SHIMMER.” It’s hard not to get that stuck in your head.

    11. "Hits Different"

    This song is hard to rank. I suspect that if I got to hear it as it was intended, I would rank it higher. As it is, I didn’t buy the Target album. I have heard this song on YouTube in the only manner it exists without being taken down for copyright; sped up and in chipmunk voice. I enjoy the lyrics and the tune, but it’s really hard to fully absorb it in such a distorted way. So I rank it at a conservatively low number.

    10. "Mastermind"

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    This seems to be overall one of the less popular closers on a standard-length T-Swift album. But that isn’t much of a dig in my opinion. Her closers are very phenomenal. Actually, I would say this probably is in my bottom three of closers. But it is still pretty great and I think underrated on this album. I enjoy hearing so much confidence and self-esteem from a girl who was so unconfident and out of control for much of her career.

    9. "Karma"

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    This was the very first song I listened to at midnight on October 21st (the album's release date). I was convinced that there was going to be a clue to the rumored secret album Karma and I wasn’t going to wait to hear it. In the end, it was Taylor's fans toying with me again. No wonder there was such a big giggle when she announced the title in Midnights Mayhem with Me. Even so, I enjoyed the middle fingers she threw up in this song. Also, because this song was largely written by the same people responsible for "Lavender Haze," listening to "Karma" before "Lavender Haze" is probably the biggest reason why "Lavender Haze" is so low on my list. I usually like less popular movie sequels more than the originals if I happened to see them first (examples: Jurassic Park III, Home Alone III, Grease 2, etc).

    8. "Vigilante Shit"

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    I actually really like this song. My husband despises it and it’s the one song he simply won’t listen to all the way through. I think it was also a well-received song at the time of release. While it made a splash in the beginning (I saw so, so many memes about it) the chatter around this one has largely died out. And honestly, it has gone down a couple spots in my ranking over time just because I have to be in a certain mood for this song. Sometimes it is a skip for me, which is why it is so low.

    7. "Anti-Hero"

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    Hear me out. I have a personal philosophy that lead singles are not allowed to be favorites. I think I just enjoy music that isn’t overly commercial. I love the lyrics and music for this song, but I don’t enjoy listening to it on repeat. I also think that there are still a handful of other songs that I would listen to more. In fact, there were times I skipped over this just to get to "Snow on the Beach."

    6. "Bigger Than the Whole Sky"

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    This probably would’ve been lower on my list if I hadn’t experienced a similar tragic experience myself. It is a beautiful song and amazingly summarizes every emotion and thought a would-be parent feels after such a loss. It made me feel like I wasn’t alone, which was really comforting even after working through it all already.

    5. "You’re on Your Own, Kid"

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    I love the message of this song, as well as the music. It starts with a personal relationship story, continues with a career analogy, and ends with a fantastic bridge of hope and encouragement; and it’s an extra-long bridge, which lets us enjoy what she’s best at.

    4. "Snow on the Beach"

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    This was originally my second favorite song on the album. After listening to the album on repeat for a few months, I learned that there are some times where I’m not as in the mood for a dreamy and surrealistic tune. But that doesn’t take away from the amazingness that is this song. Between Taylor’s exercises in folkloric and dreamy musicianship with her eighth and ninth albums, as well as how much more delicate she’s made her rerecorded songs on the Taylor’s Version albums, she was very prepared to execute this song perfectly.

    3. "Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve"

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    If it hasn’t already been made clear in this article, I love a Taylor slay. In her words, “living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurt." I just love her empowerment and no-give-a-shit attitude about the things she’s moved past. I think it definitely deserved to be on the original 13 track list, but I suspect that it was relegated to the 3 A.M. Version, because she’s probably about to tear John Mayer apart on Speak Now (TV) and didn’t want to add too much insult to injury. 

    2. "Midnight Rain"

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    A near perfect song. Amazing lyrics, awesome, and catchy tune. I wouldn’t have used quite as much autotune, and that reminded me a lot of Miley Cyrus’s "We Can’t Stop." But otherwise, it's a song that’s hard to get out of your head.

    1. "Maroon"

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    SO MUCH IMAGERY! I have never felt so much like I was there, even though I have no idea what incidents she is actually referring to. And I think that’s the point. Also, I feel like this could be about a couple different exes, or Joe, or no one. This one was hard to crack, but still so wonderful, it doesn’t matter. And that bridge…forget it!

    What are your thoughts? Do you agree with my ranking? What are your favorite and least favorite track from Midnights? Let me know in the comments!

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