The Taylor Seminars

Join us this episode and come dressed for revenge as we're discussing "Vigilante Shit" from Taylor Swift's Midnights. We discuss the connections between this song and "No Body, No Crime," as well as other songs where Taylor has been provoked into action.

And so join Exquisite and Hannah on this fun episode where we get to see how Taylor's self-written song is filled with zingers and amazing storytelling.

From Taylor's Midnights prologue: "Why are you still up at this hour? Because you're cosplaying vengeance fantasies, where the bad bad man is hauled away in handcuffs and you get to watch it happen. You laugh into the mirror with a red wine snarl. You look positively deranged."

Enjoy the episode? ⁠Support The Taylor Seminars onKo-fi! ❤️

And don’t forget to join the conversation with#MidnightsSeminars on X/Twitter

Follow us on Twitter:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠taylorseminars⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠sippingaugust ⁠⁠⁠⁠(Hannah)

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠exquisitewill⁠ ⁠⁠⁠(Exquisite)

Cover Art by Alef Vernon:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠alefvernonart⁠ ⁠⁠⁠on Instagram

- ⁠@alefvernon⁠ on Twitter

⁠⁠⁠Follow Alef on ⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Hannah and Exquisite as they connect "Question...?" from the album Midnights to other songs in the 1989-verse. Of course there is "Out of the Woods," but also "Is It Over Now?," "Now That We Don't Talk," "Slut!" and more!

• Enjoy the episode? ⁠Support The Taylor Seminars onKo-fi! ❤️

• And don’t forget to join the conversation with #MidnightsSeminars on X/Twitter

Follow us on Twitter:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠taylorseminars⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠sippingaugust ⁠⁠⁠⁠(Hannah)

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠exquisitewill⁠ ⁠⁠⁠(Exquisite)

Cover Art by Alef Vernon:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠alefvernonart⁠ ⁠⁠⁠on Instagram

- ⁠@alefvernon⁠ on Twitter

⁠⁠⁠Follow Alef on ⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠

What happens when Taylor Swift looks into the windows of the people in her past? She falls deep into a portal that exposes the cracks in her current life, where she has reached fame and yet realizes there are unfulfilled "what ifs."

Follow Exquisite & Hannah as they unravel Track 6 of "Midnights", finding references to other songs like "Dorothea" and "Tis the Damn Season."

Enjoy the episode? Support The Taylor Seminars on Ko-fi! ❤️

Follow us on Twitter:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠taylorseminars⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠sippingaugust⁠⁠⁠⁠(Hannah)

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠exquisitewill⁠⁠⁠⁠(Exquisite)

Cover Art by Alef Vernon:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠alefvernonart⁠⁠⁠⁠on Instagram

- ⁠@alefvernon⁠on Twitter

⁠⁠⁠Follow Alef on ⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠

On this episode, Hannah and Exquisite visit one of Taylor Swift's signature Track Fives: "You're On Your Own, Kid." Listen in as they trace how the song follows Taylor's growth from a young (precocious) child to her life in NYC to finally realizing that she's got something that no one can take away.

Follow us on Twitter:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠taylorseminars⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠sippingaugust ⁠⁠⁠⁠(Hannah)

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠exquisitewill⁠ ⁠⁠⁠(Exquisite)

Cover Art by Alef Vernon:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠alefvernonart⁠ ⁠⁠⁠on Instagram

- ⁠@alefvernon⁠ on Twitter

⁠⁠⁠Follow Alef on ⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠

There's something so magical about Track 4 of Midnights, "Snow on the Beach." It harkens back to so many of Taylor Swift's beautiful love songs such as "Call It What You Want" and "You are in Love." With beautiful detail and ethereal vocals, she truly captures a moment in which the speaker is not in control--rather they are caught completely unaware and now they are falling like snow on the beach.

Follow us on Twitter:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠taylorseminars⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠sippingaugust⁠⁠⁠⁠(Hannah)

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠exquisitewill⁠⁠⁠⁠(Exquisite)

Cover Art by Alef Vernon:

- ⁠@⁠⁠⁠alefvernonart⁠⁠⁠⁠on Instagram

- ⁠@alefvernon⁠on Twitter

⁠⁠⁠Follow Alef on ⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠ too!

Join us as we dive into one of Taylor Swift's most vulnerable tracks--and it was a single? Yes, "Anti-Hero" was one of Taylor Swift's most successful singles, going #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 8 weeks. And despite its synth beat and earworm chorus, it contains some of her most sad lyrics that are filled with self-loathing.

Join Exquisite and Hannah as they talk about how Taylor internalizes the criticisms that she herself is the problem (whether in her personal life or in the public eye) and creates a banger that's actually sick with sadness. (And can you guess what other lead single carries a similar theme that also makes you want to dance?)

Enjoy the podcast?⁠⁠⁠⁠Send us a tip on Ko-Fi! ⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join in on our conversation on Twitter/X with the hashtag #MidnightsSeminars

Follow us on Twitter:

-@⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠taylorseminars⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-@⁠⁠⁠sippingaugust ⁠⁠⁠(Hannah)

-@⁠⁠⁠exquisitewill ⁠⁠⁠(Exquisite)

Cover Art by Alef Vernon:

-@⁠⁠⁠alefvernonart ⁠⁠⁠on Instagram

-@alefvernon on Twitter

⁠⁠⁠Follow Alef onPatreon⁠⁠⁠

We dive into the next sleepless night, and we are transported into the Red era. But everything has changed as Taylor reexamines that "passionate as sin" relationship from new angles in Track 2 of Midnights, "Maroon."

This tumultuous love affair was chronicled throughout Taylor's fourth studio album, Red, especially in songs like "Red" and "All Too Well," which we definitely reference in this week's episode. Hannah and Exquisite discuss how Taylor dissects the "burning red" color and exposes its many different shades, before she eventually (and perhaps inevitably) identifies a richer, darker, more complex color: maroon.

The two also discuss how this song demonstrates how Taylor is a master storyteller and wordsmith. She crafts parallel stories in each verse that have radically different conclusions. We also see how Taylor revisits themes of the power of memory and legacy in the chorus and bridge that she has in so many of her songs.

And Hannah and Exquisite discuss how, at midnight, we can finally have an epiphany about the changes we need to make--because we see the connections between our past selves and our present--and so we need to run.

BONUS: We also read some "Maroon" analysis from the new book Stars Around My Scars by friend of the podcast, Dr. Elly McCausland. Check out her book here, You can also follow her on Instagram!

Enjoy the podcast? ⁠⁠⁠Send us a tip on Ko-Fi! ⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Twitter:

Cover Art by Alef Vernon

We met Taylor at midnight, and we were in for an album filled with questions, regrets, self-loathing, hope, fear, anger, and everything in between. Exquisite & Hannah dive into the Midnight's prologue, searching for clues to why she wrote the album--and how it even impacted The Tortured Poets Department.

We also delve into the first track, "Lavender Haze," where they talk about analyzing the song as it was written AND how hindsight can change the way we look at songs--but BOTH are valid and important.

Enjoying the podcast? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Send us a tip!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join in on our conversation on Twitter/X with the hashtag #MidnightsSeminars!

We're also trying to update an Instagram: ⁠@thetaylorseminars⁠

Cover art by Alef Vernon:

What if we told you we're going back to the Midnights era? For this season of The Taylor Seminars, we're going to examine the tracks of the 2024 Album of the Year Midnights by Taylor Swift.

But before we dive into the album, we need to do some context. That's why for this pre-Midnights episode, Exquisite and Hannah discuss two songs that have not been released on a Taylor Swift album: "Renegade," in which Taylor collaborates with Big Red Machine and "You're Losing Me," which was released during the Eras tour, was written in 2021 (!!!), and released as a separate Midnights vault track (but not on any of the deluxe albums).

Listen in so you can see why these two songs are crucial for understanding Midnights--and why they're both amazing songs and standouts in Taylor's discography.

Enjoying the podcast? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Send us a tip!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join in on our conversation on Twitter/X with the hashtag #MidnightsSeminars!

Follow us on Twitter:

Cover Art by Alef Vernon:

It's been an amazing 9-month journey we've been on with The Tortured Poets Department. We're off to one more trip to those shores with our recap episode, "The Aftermath." Listen in as Hannah and Exquisite share their final thoughts on the album (yes we include extra time on "So Long, London"), including what we would consider the "thesis statement" of the album.

We'll be back next week... meet us at midnight?

Enjoy the podcast? ⁠⁠⁠Send us a tip on Ko-Fi! ⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Twitter:

Cover Art by Alef Vernon: