“Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift, Friday, November 4, 2022

Remember what I said about Taylor Swift steering away from narcissism in folklore and evermore? Well that version of Taylor can’t come to the phone right now, at least not at Midnights, particularly the album’s lead single “Anti-Hero.” Two weeks ago Taylor Swift released her tenth studio album, Midnights to unprecedented chart and sales success. And this week, tracks from Midnights populate every spot on Billboard’s Top 10 of the Hot 100.  

I’M THE PROBLEM, IT’S ME. I still have yet to spend a meaningful amount of time with Midnights. The little time I have spent with it made me feel a little underwhelmed after spending so much time with the lush instrumentation and lyrics on folklore. Midnights is a return to form for Taylor Swift the pop star, but as I read more about the record and spend a little more time with it, it seems to be a return to form with a new richness absent of pre-folklore  Swift. I think my initial impression is wrong, but I haven’t been listening to music enough these days to make an informed critique of Midnights. Switched on Pop’s episode on the record helped to give me a new perspective on the record, examining Taylor’s songwriting craft. Swift has talked about writing songs with different pens: a fountain pen, a quill, and a glitter gel pen. Each pen represents a different mood in which Swift writes. She says fountain pen songs are “modern, personal stories written like poetry about those moments you remember all too well where you can see, hear, and feel everything in screaming detail” and examples include “exile” and “All Too Well.” Her “quill pen songs are songs with lyrics that make you feel old fashioned,” and include songs like “my tears ricochet” and “Red.” Finally, Swift’s glitter gel pen songs “remind you not to take yourself too seriously, which is something we all need to hear these days.” Some examples include “You Belong with Me” and “You Need to Calm Down.”

IT MUST BE EXHAUSTING ALWAYS ROOTING FOR THE ANTI-HERO. The hosts of Switched on Pop explore the idea that Swift mixes her pens on Midnights, which is a theory I’ll explore more when I get more time with music and Midnights. I can see some glitter when I listen to “Anti-Hero.” Whereas songs on folklore and evermore called on various narrators, the “Anti-Hero” in the song is Taylor Swift, being hard on herself, asking “did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism / Like some kind of politician?” Swift demonstrates self-awareness in this song that is about her celebrity status. The indulgent music video, directed by Swift, portrays the singer as both the victim in a horror film and a “monster on the hill” terrorizing all the “sexy bab[ies].” It seems that Taylor Swift is back to her old self with a bit more profanity. She’s back to Jack Antonoff ‘80s-sounding production. It’s a return to form, but I wonder what’s next for Swift. I’m going to spend a little more time with Midnights and get back to my readers.

Read the lyrics on Genius.

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