Taylor Swift Thinks That ‘Art and Suffering’ Don’t Have To Be ‘Holding Hands’ All the Time
Taylor Swift says she loves to write about shame and self-loathing. Even if some of her Midnights songs explore dark themes, the artist explained that she had “a blast” creating the 2022 release.
Taylor Swift released ‘Midnights’ and ‘Midnights: 3am Edition’
Fans met her at midnight. After plenty of hints from the cryptic songwriter, Swift released her album Midnights in October 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,” Swift wrote in a statement before Midnights debuted.
Since its premiere, Midnights has earned praise from fans, breaking several Spotify records in the process. The artist surprised fans with a Midnights: 3am Edition that same night, including songs “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” “Dear Reader,” and “Glitch.”
Taylor Swift ‘had a blast’ making some of her most harrowing songs
Even if Midnights explores dark themes, Swift said she had “more fun” making this album “than any album [she’s] ever made” because her friends were involved. The artist elaborated on the connection between “art and suffering” while on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“I don’t think that art and suffering have to be holding hands all the time,” Swift explained. “I think you can write songs about pain or grief or suffering or loss or hand things that you go through in life. Shame, you know, I love to write about that one. Self-loathing, I could go on.”
“I think with time and with the more albums I put out… writing things feels like a way to sort of suck the poison out of a snakebite,” she continued. “You’re putting it in the music… it could be the most harrowing song you’ve ever heard, but we had a blast making it.”
In the same interview, Swift discussed that thanks to a wine night, she looped in Dylan O’Brien to play drums on “Snow on the Beach.” In another song, O’Brien’s clapping can be heard in the background.
“Sometimes it just happens like that,” she said. Of course, “Snow on the Beach” lists Lana Del Rey as a collaborating artist, with Swift mentioning the “genius” artist during the same Fallon interview.
Some ‘Midnights’ songs were co-written by Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner
The Midnights songwriter featured some celebrity friends in the “Bejeweled” video. That includes songwriter Jack Antonoff as the prince and the HAIM sisters as the evil step-sisters. Lauren Dern also appeared in the production, with Swift sharing behind-the-scenes pictures on social media.
Most songs on the collection were created in part by Jack Antonoff, who also had a role in creating Folklore and other Swift albums. Some songs on the “3am Edition” of Midnights were co-produced and co-written by Aaron Dessner.
