Oh don't worry, we're back to that again.
51
7.5872
11 x 1
@Ashling92
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 14 (
@Sanctuary,
@AllGagaLike,
@fatyoshi,
@Dangerous Maknae,
@Serg.,
@Jersey,
@Andy Frech,
@Daniel_O,
@Jonathan27,
@Slice of Life,
@DinahLee,
@Music Is Life & Death,
@Petty Mayonnaise,
@heavymetalgaga)
LOWEST SCORE: 3 x 1 (
@Verandi)
MY SCORE: 9
With this elimination,
Midnights only has nine songs left in the rate.
"Midnight Rain" is, quite possibly, the biggest grower for me from
Midnights. During the
reputation era, Taylor found an affinity with vocoders and vocal manipulation. It was an interesting move and she began using this in a lot of songs throughout that album. They didn't quite make the cut in
Lover and then were ditched during the alternative albums detour. On
Midnights, vocal manipulation returns which "Midnight Rain" being the most obvious example. Here, the intro and some parts of the song, are sung by Taylor but slowed and deepened, making it sound nothing like Taylor. I can see why it's bizarre for some, but it works so damn well with this song, specially with its subject matter.
This is a love song about a breakup. It had a question and answer structure in its chorus (and the intro) which really nails the crux of why this relationship failed. In terms of production, it's a Jack Antonoff affair. And while that might make some of us shudder, I think it really works here and I can't complain! As much as I wish for some variety in her producers, I can't deny that these two really make some magic together. It's completely understandable why they continue making music together when the results are so solid sometimes.
I wish I had given this a 10 now - not that it would've changed anything - but its grown heavily in my
Midnights ranking. I'm glad it's the 9th, but it still doesn't feel correct at that spot. It's such a delicious song, the production just makes me want to fall backwards into its soundscape and live in it. It bops, but softly. It's just weirdly comforting, in the same way her vocals sound in those moments. In time, this will be remembered as a great deep cut in Taylor's extensive discography.
She hasn't performed this song live yet, so here's a remix that makes it sound like it was on 1989.