There’s no denying that Taylor Swift is a songwriter extraordinaire, known for drawing from personal experiences yet transforming them into relatable narratives for listeners. Many of her songs feature dreamy imagery, whether it’s about middle-of-the-night escapades or her frequent mentions of 2 a.m. moments. Her new album — aptly titled Midnights — is expected to give Swifties more of these nighttime feelings. “We lie awake in love and fear, in turmoil and in tears,” she said when announcing the album, due out Oct. 21. Swift also revealed that the album consists of 13 songs about “sleepless nights scattered” throughout her life.
“We stare at walls and drink until they speak back,” Swift wrote. “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 twelve ... we’ll meet ourselves.”
Here are all the instances that the 11-time Grammy winner has written lyrics about midnight and middle-of-the-night moments from 2006 to 2022, including her Midnights album.
Taylor Swift (2006)
“Mary’s Song (Oh My, My, My)”
“Take me back to the creek beds we turned up / 2 a.m. riding in your truck / And all I need is you next to me”
Tony R. Phipps/WireImage/Getty Images
Fearless (2008)
“Fifteen”
“And you’re mama’s waiting up / And you’re thinking he’s the one / And you’re dancing around the room when the night ends / When the night ends”
“You Belong With Me”
“Oh, I remember you driving to my house / In the middle of the night / I’m the one who makes you laugh / When you know you’re ’bout to cry”
“Breathe”
“It’s 2 a.m., feeling like I just lost a friend / Hope you know it’s not easy, easy for me"
“The Way I Loved You”
“But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain / And it’s 2 a.m. and I’m cursing your name”
“Untouchable”
“In the middle of the night when I’m in this dream / It’s like a million little stars spelling out your name”
“Come In With The Rain”
“I’ll leave my window open / ’Cause I’m too tired tonight to call your name, oh / Just know I’m right here hoping / That you’ll come in with the rain"
Speak Now (2010)
“Mine”
“And I remember that fight, 2:30 a.m. / As everything was slipping right out of our hands”
“Back To December”
“So this is me swallowin’ my pride / Standin’ in front of you sayin’ I’m sorry for that night”
“And how you held me in your arms that September night / The first time you ever saw me cry”
“Dear John”
“Long were the nights when my days once revolved around you”
“Enchanted”
“The lingering question kept me up / 2 a.m., who do you love? / I wonder ’til I’m wide awake"
“Innocent”
“Wasn’t it beautiful runnin’ wild ’til you fell asleep / Before the monsters caught up to you?”
“Last Kiss”
“I still remember the look on your face / Lit through the darkness at 1:58”
Hunger Games Soundtrack (2012)
“Eyes Open”
“Keep your aim locked / The night goes dark / Keep your eyes open"
Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Red (2012)
“Treacherous”
“Two headlights shine through the sleepless night / And I will get you, get you alone”
“All Too Well”
“’Cause there we are again in the middle of the night / We’re dancing ’round the kitchen in the refrigerator light”
“22”
“It feels like a perfect night / For breakfast at midnight / To fall in love with strangers”
“I Almost Do”
“I bet this time of night, you’re still up / I bet you’re tired from a long hard week”
“Come Back...Be Here”
“You said it in a simple way / 4 a.m., the second day / How strange that I don’t know you at all”
“Starlight”
"Don’t you see the starlight, starlight / Don’t you dream impossible things”
1989 (2014)
“Style”
“Midnight / You come and pick me up, no headlights”
“I Wish You Would”
“It’s 2 a.m. in your car / Windows down, you pass my street, the memories start”
“Wildest Dreams”
“You’ll see me in hindsight / Tangled up with you all night”
“Say you'll see me again / Even if it’s just in your wildest dreams, ah-ah, ha”
“You Are In Love”
“Small talk, he drives / Coffee at midnight"
Fifty Shades Darker Soundtrack (2016)
“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever”
“Baby, baby, I feel crazy, up all night, all night and every day / I gave you something, but you gave me nothing / What is happening to me?”
Reputation (2017)
“Ready For It”
“In the middle of the night, in my dreams / You should see the things we do, baby”
“Delicate”
“Long night with your hands up in my hair”
“New Year’s Day”
“I want your midnights / But I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year’s Day”
Lover (2019)
“The Archer”
“I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost / The room is on fire, invisible smoke”
“Daylight”
“I wanna be defined by the things that I love. Not the things I hate, not the things I’m afraid of, or the things that haunt me in the middle of the night”
Cats Soundtrack (2019)
“Beautiful Ghosts”
“Perilous night, their voices calling / A flicker of light, before the dawning”
Folklore (2020)
“The Last Great American Dynasty”
“They say she was seen on occasion / Pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea”
“My Tears Ricochet”
“And when you can’t sleep at night / You hear my stolen lullabies”
“Hoax”
“My twisted knife / My sleepless night / Mywinlessfight / This has frozenmy ground”
Evermore (2020)
“Willow”
“I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night”
“Champagne Problems”
“You booked the night train for a reason / So you could sit there in this hurt”
“Happiness”
“In our history, across our great divide / There is a glorious sunrise / Dappled with the flickers of light / From the dress I wore at midnight, leave it all behind”
“Long Story Short”
“Misery / Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep”
Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021)
“Better Man”
“Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I can feel you again/ But I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man”
“Nothing New”
“I’ve had too much to drink tonight / And I know it’s sad but this is what I think about / And I wake up in the middle of the night / It’s like I can feel time moving”
“I Bet You Think About Me”
“3 a.m. and I’m still awake, I’ll bet you’re just fine / Fast asleep in your city that’s better than mine”
“Forever Winter”
“I call, just checking up on him / He’s up, 3 a.m., pacing / He says, ‘It’s not just a phase I’m in’”
“The Very First Night”
“But don't forget about the night out in L.A. / Danced in the kitchen, chased me down through the hallway”
Midnights (3 a.m. Edition)
“Lavender Haze”
“Meet me at midnight”
“Maroon”
“And I wake with your memory over me / That's a real fucking legacy, legacy (It was maroon)”
“Antihero”
“Midnights become my afternoons / When my depression works the graveyard shift, all of the people / I've ghosted stand there in the room”
“Snow on the Beach”
“Now it's like snow at the beach / Weird, but fucking beautiful / Flying in a dream / Stars by the pocketful / You wanting me / Tonight feels impossible / But it's coming down / No sound, it's all around”
“Midnight Rain”
“All of me changed like midnight”
“Question…?”
“Half-moon eyes, bad surprise / Did you realize out of time?
“Bejeweled”
“And by the way, I'm goin' out tonight”
“But some guy said my aura's moonstone / Just 'cause he was high / And we danced all night”
“Mastermind”
“Once upon a time, the planets and the fates / And all the stars aligned / You and I ended up in the same room / At the same time”
“And the first night that you saw me / I knew I wanted your body / I laid the groundwork, and then / Just like clockwork / The dominoes cascaded in a line”
“The Great War”
“Sucker punching walls, cursed you as I sleep talked / Spineless in my tomb of silence”
“High Infidelity”
“Put on your records and regret me / I bent the truth too far tonight”
“Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?”
“Glitch”
“And I'm not even sorry, nights are so starry, blood moonlit / It must be counterfeit”
“Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”
“I regret you all the time / I can't let this go, I fight with you in my sleep / The wound won't close”
“Dear Reader”
“So I wander through these nights / I prefer hiding in plain sight / My fourth drink in my hand / These desperate prayers are the cursed man”
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This article was originally published on Oct. 19, 2022
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