Taylor Swift Shares How Joe Alwyn Inspired 'Midnights' Opening Song, 'Lavender Haze'
The artist also revealed her full track list, which features a collaboration with Lana Del Rey.
Taylor Swift is counting down to Midnights on a promotional blitz, revealing her forthcoming album's complete track list, a high-profile collaboration, and a tease about how boyfriend Joe Alwyn inspired what is sure to be one of her sweetest new songs.
In the middle-of-the-night hours between Thursday and Friday, Swift kept her fans up with hourly-updates on her Midnights Mayhem with Me TikTok series that revealed her new song titles one-by-one. The big finale was with track No. 4, "Snow on the Beach," featuring Lana Del Rey.
But her most exciting disclosure came after announcing the album's opening track, "Lavender Haze," when Swift hopped over to Instagram with a video detailing the song's catalyst.
"I happened upon the phrase 'Lavender Haze' when I was watching Mad Men and I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool, and it turns out that it was a common phrase that was used in the '50s where they would just describe being in love," she explains. "Like, If you were in the 'Lavender Haze,' that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful."
She continues, "and I guess theoretically when you're in the 'Lavender Haze,' you'll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud. And I think a lot of people have to deal with this now -- not just, like, quote-unquote public figures -- because we live in the era of social media and if the world finds out that you're in love with somebody, they're gonna weigh in on it."
Unsurprisingly, Swift says she has plenty of experience in this lane -- specifically when it comes to her longtime love, Alwyn.
"My relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it," she shares. "And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff. I hope you guys like it."
Midnights, Swift's 10th studio album, is due out on Oct. 21. It is said to be "a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams."
In addressing the former, Swift got candid earlier this week about the raw inspiration behind track No. 3, "Anti-Hero."
"'Anti-Hero' is one of my favorite songs I've ever written," she gushed. "I really don't think I've dealt this far into my insecurities in this detail before. I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized. And that I, you know, not to sound too dark, but I just struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person."
She was quick to add, "Don't feel bad for me, you don't need to."
"But, you know, this song really is a real guided tour throughout all the things I tend hate about myself, we all hate things about ourselves," she continued. "And it's all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we're gonna, like, be this person. So, yeah, I like 'Anti-Hero' a lot because I think it's really honest."
For more on Midnights, follow ET's latest Swift coverage here.
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