"Midnight Rain" is a song by the American singer-songwriterTaylor Swift from her tenth original studio album,Midnights (2022). She wrote and produced the track withJack Antonoff. Driven by a distortedMoog synthesizer, the production of "Midnight Rain" incorporates adubstep-influenced bass,trap andhouse beats, and Swift's pitched-down vocals. The song iselectropop with elements ofR&B,hip-hop, andindietronica. In the lyrics, the narrator contemplates on a lost love back in her hometown: although the ex-lover wanted a comfortable domestic life, she chose to pursue her career and fame.
Several critics who picked "Midnight Rain" as a highlight onMidnights deemed its production and vocal manipulation interesting and captivating. A few reviews found the vocal production otherwise off-putting or derivative. "Midnight Rain" peaked at number five on both theBillboard Hot 100 andGlobal 200, and it reached the top 10 on charts in Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, and Vietnam. The song receivedcertifications in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Swift included the song on the set list ofthe Eras Tour (2023–2024).
Taylor Swift announced her tenth original studio album,Midnights, at the2022 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28;[1] its title and cover artwork were released shortly after via social media.[2] She conceivedMidnights as a collection of songs about her nocturnal ruminations, detailing a wide range of emotions such as regret, lust, nostalgia, contentment, and self-loathing.[3] The standard album was produced by Swift andJack Antonoff, as a result of the two experimenting with music while their partners were both shooting for a film inPanama.[3]
The album's track listing was revealed via a thirteen-episode video series calledMidnights Mayhem with Me on the platformTikTok, where each video contained the title of one track at a time.[4] The title of "Midnight Rain" was revealed in the episode posted on September 28, 2022.[5]Republic Records releasedMidnights on October 21, 2022; "Midnight Rain" is sixth on the standard album's track listing.[6][7] Swift performed "Midnight Rain" as part of theMidnights act on her sixth concert tour,the Eras Tour (2023–2024).[8] Midway through the performance, Swift changed costume and appeared in a rhinestone bodysuit, as dancers performed a choreography using umbrellas.[9][10]
"Midnight Rain" debuted and peaked at number five on theBillboard Global 200; the track and four otherMidnights songs made Swift the first artist to chart the entire top five the same week.[11][12] In the United States, the track debuted and peaked at number five on theBillboard Hot 100. It was one of theMidnights tracks that made Swift the first artist to occupy the top 10 of the Hot 100 the same week and the woman with the most top 10 entries (40), exceedingMadonna (38).[13][14] It reached the top five of charts in Australia,[15] Canada,[16] the Philippines,[17] Malaysia,[18] and Singapore;[19] top 10 Vietnam[20] and Portugal;[21] and the 20 in South Africa[22] and in Iceland.[23] The track wascertified gold in Spain and the United Kingdom,[24][25] platinum in Brazil and Canada,[26][27] and double platinum in Australia.[28]
In the lyrics, Swift's narrator contemplates on a lost love back in her hometown[29] and how she chose her career and fame over a domestic life. Therefrain goes: "He wanted it comfortable/ I wanted that pain/ He wanted a bride/ I was making my own name."[30][31] She reflects how the ex-boyfriend "stays the same" and she was "chasing that fame": "All of me changed like midnight rain."[32] In theverses, the narrator reflects on how her hometown was a "wasteland" full of pretentious people and ruminates on the possibilities of the domestic life she "gave away".[33] Towards the conclusion, the narrator reflects on this past with regret, "I guess sometimes we all get some kind of haunted/ And I never think of him except on midnights like this."[31] Some critics consider "Midnight Rain" the album's emotional centerpiece;[a] Elise Ryan of theAssociated Press deemed it the thesis statement of the "13 sleepless nights" that Swift designated forMidnights.[32]
There were interpretations that related "Midnight Rain" to Swift's previous songs. According toThe A.V. Club's Saloni Gajjar andVox's Rebecca Jennings, the theme of leaving a small-town lover behind resembles many of the tracks of Swift's 2020 album, such as "Champagne Problems", "'Tis the Damn Season", and "Dorothea".[36][37]Maura Johnston, in her review forThe Boston Globe, argued that while the track employs a "diaristic" songwriting that had been familiar in Swift's works, it also hints at some elements that are not necessarily so, particularly in the refrain that sees Swift exploring her past and its murky memories.[38]
Some analyses factored in the influence of Swift's fame.[39] ForEsquire'sAlan Light, her songwriting embodies the narrative-based approach that she used in her 2020 albumsEvermore andFolklore. He wrote that the track demonstrates her mature perspective on her own career path, "the determination, ambition, and sacrifices that got her to such rarefied altitude".[40] InThe New York Times, Lindsay Zoladz contended that the track represented Swift's shifted attitude towards romance: whereas her 2008 single "Love Story" depicted marriage as the ideal romantic ending with starry-eyedfairy tale imagery, "Midnight Rain" expresses ambivalence towards not only marriage but also the societal expectations and "traditional timelines of adulthood".[41] Writing for theAlternative Press, Ilana Kaplan considered "Midnight Rain" one of the album tracks where Swift grappled with the "good-girl" image that she had constrained herself to, a notion that she had explained in the 2019 documentaryMiss Americana.[42]
Driven by aMoog synthesizer, "Midnight Rain" featurestrap,house, andR&B influences in its beats and production. This sample displays Swift's pitched-down vocals in the finalrefrain.
At 2 minutes and 54 seconds long,[43] "Midnight Rain" has a sparse production[44] driven by a distorted Moog synthesizer throughout.[42][45] Itsbass displays influences ofdubstep, and its beats feature elements ofhouse,trap,[46] andindie pop.[32] The track begins with Swift's vocals that are manipulated to a lowerpitch resembling a male singing voice,[46][47][48] constituting itshook.[49] To achieve this sound, Antonoffmodulated her singing voice using synth plugins including Soundtoys and iZotope Vocalsynth; he said that it was the first time he used such devices in music production.[50] The overall sound iselectropop[51][52] with elements ofR&B,[42][53]electronica,[54]hip-hop,[55] andelectro-hip-hop.[56] The atmosphere and pacing were described as slow-burning and "woozy" by several critics.[57][58][38]
Music critics discussed the significance of the vocal manipulation. Mackenzie Wadsworth of theTallahassee Democrat considered it a "mature sister" to the styles of Swift's 2017 albumReputation, bringing forth analternative pop feel.[59] According to Ellen Johnson ofPaste, the effect aligns "Midnight Rain" with the subgenreindietronica and the beats evoke the styles ofStrfkr.[60]Billboard's Jason Lipshutz described the shift between Swift's pitched-down voice and normal singing as acall and response between the song's narrator and the ex-lover in question.[47] Several reviews compared the production, particularly the vocal parts, to Antonoff's work onLorde's 2017 albumMelodrama.[b]Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone said that the "butch/femme duet" where Swift experiments with her singing was akin to the styles ofPrince,[29] whileJon Caramanica ofThe New York Times wrote that the "overcast mood" of the production and vocals were influenced byDrake andthe Weeknd.[63]
Several critics who picked "Midnight Rain" as a highlight onMidnights considered its production experimental, interesting, and captivating.[32][36][49][59] Spencer Kornhaber ofThe Atlantic appreciated how the "oozing and panning noises" evoke a "feeling of suspended time".[58] Wadsworth considered the sound an amalgamation of Swift's past styles,[59] and Craig Jenkins fromVulture deemed it one of the R&B-tinged album tracks that showcased her abilities to create "a mannered genre reset constantly threatening to cut in an alluring new direction".[53] Commenting on the vocal modulation,Spin's Bobby Olivier regarded it as "well executed, [...] landing an uncharacteristically soulful smolder".[62] Lipshutz ranked "Midnight Rain" fifth on his ranking of all 13Midnights tracks; he described the shifted-vocal hook as "rock-solid", giving Swift's real singing voice more clarity and power in the final refrain.[47] Some critics were also fond of the storytelling lyrics.[40][57]The Times'Will Hodgkinson regarded "Midnight Rain" as an album track that summarized Swift's midnight paranoia to "extreme heights",[39] and Ryan particularly highlighted the refrain for displaying Swift's talents of writing lyrics that evoke universal emotions.[32]
There were not as welcoming comments regarding the vocal effects.Spin's Al Shipley said that they sounded "like an embarrassing relic of 2010sSoundCloud production trends".[64] Paul Attard fromSlant Magazine felt that they were burdened by excessivereverb and turned out redundant,[65] and Mary Siroky fromConsequence said that they were overwhelming and distracting.[66]NPR'sAnn Powers appreciated how the shifts between Swift's modulated and real vocals symbolized the storytelling perspectives of the subject and the narrator, but she contended that this production style somewhat diminished the impact of Swift's songwriting.[48] Mark Richardson ofThe Wall Street Journal deemed "Midnight Rain" a solid song that displayed a high level of songcraft, but he commented that it was "unexceptional" and not groundbreaking.[67]
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