October 21. Midnight sharp.

On the night of August 28, Taylor Swift sent her fandom into madness when she announced that her new album, Midnights, would be released on October 21, which is almost here.

I’ve been obsessed with Taylor Swift since second grade and I can admit that since Midnights was publicized, it’s been all I can think about. 

Taylor Swift has been leaving easter eggs for Midnights since May 5, which, based on her history of inserting hints, isn’t exactly surprising. In a tweet about “This Love,” Taylor spaces out the letters in the last word, “m i d n i g h t,” emphasizing it. Now, we all probably overlooked this little easter egg, but it was actually foreshadowing the release of Midnights. 

Additionally, a theory arose that Taylor’s new album would be similar to Look What You Made Me Do, which was inspired by the wrath she felt because of the drama between her and Kanye West thirteen years ago (woah!) at the Video Music Awards (VMAs). She wore silver dresses on that stage, in the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video and during the Midnights announcement. All these dresses were similar, which led fans to believe that the “thirteen sleepless nights” she revealed to be the topic of her album were right after the VMAs. There’s a gaping hole in this theory—these nights were scattered throughout her life. That’s enough evidence to most likely rule this one out. 

This leads right into the next theory: the sleepless nights the album is about? They’re all songs from different albums and eras she went through. On TikTok, @amystateofgrace pointed out that on the merch sight, there’s a clock that has  all the colors representing Taylor’s albums. Starting at 1 o’clock, the clock runs through all of the main colors, chronologically, of her albums. It starts at her debut album and before midnight, ends at Fearless (Taylor’s Version). So what if… these sleepless nights… were songs throughout her life that she woke up at midnight to write? It gives me chills thinking about it. 

Taylor has already released the titles of three songs from her new album. Track 13 is called “Mastermind”, Track 8 is called “Vigilante S***” and Track 7 is called “Question…?”. 

There’s so much we don’t know about this album, and all we can do right now is listen to what Taylor Swift has to say.