Anti-Hero

Album

Midnights

Label

Republic Records

Genre

Synthpop

Composer(s)

Taylor Swift;Jack Antonoff

Entered Chart

Nov 5, 2022

Peak Date

Nov 5, 2022

Released

October 21, 2022

Recorded

Electric Lady (New York City) Rough Customer (Brooklyn) Sound House (Lakeland, Florida)[1] Genre Po

"Anti-Hero" is the lead single from Midnights. Swift said that "self-loathing" partially inspired the album, and this scathing self-examination finds the singer digging into her own paranoia and need for control. "'Anti-Hero,' is one of my favorite songs I've ever written," Swift said during an episode of her TikTok series Midnights Mayhem. "I really don't think I've delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before." "I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized," she continued in the video. "Not to sound too dark, but I just struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person - don't feel bad for me, you don't need to. But this song really is a real guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself; we all hate things about ourselves." Swift starts the song by blaming herself for not getting enough sleep. She's at her lowest ebb at night and this is when she's feeling most low. I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser Midnights become my afternoons When my depression works the graveyard shift, all of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room On the pre-chorus, she dives into her fear of rejection because of her need for control. I wake up screaming from dreaming One day, I'll watch as you're leaving 'Cause you got tired of my scheming On the hook, Swift acknowledges that she has only herself to blame. It's me Hi I'm the problem, it's me She's unable to confront those issues head-on. I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror Those people who stick up for her must get tired of her shortcomings. It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero Swift continues to divulge her insecurities in the second verse. Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby And I'm a monster on the hill And on the bridge. I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money She thinks I left them in the will Swift wrote and recorded "Anti-Hero" with her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff. The pair laid down much of Midnights at Antonoff's home studio in Brooklyn and at Electric Lady Studio in Greenwich Village. Both of them were dating actors (Swift - Joe Alwyn, Antonoff -Margaret Qualley). The album, said the pop star, "really coalesced and flowed out of us when our partners did a film together in Panama. Jack and I found ourselves back in New York, alone, recording every night, staying up late and exploring old memories and midnights past." Jack Antonoff sang the backing vocals and played acoustic guitar, bass, Wurlitzer, Mellotron, drums, and synthesizer on the track. The only other instrument is violin played by Bobby Hawk, a touring musician with Antonoff's band Bleachers and with Swift. He played violin on four Folklore tracks and three Evermore tracks. Written and directed by Swift, the video comically depicts Swift's anxieties and insecurities using three different incarnations of her. One scene dramatizes the nightmare Swift depicts on the bridge where her future family fight over her will after her daughter-in-law kills her. It stars standup Mike Birbiglia and comedian John Early as Swift's sons and Mary Elizabeth Ellis from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as her daughter-in-law. Swift launched the #TSAntiHeroChallenge on YouTube Shorts on October 21, 2022. She asked fans to show their anti-heroic traits to the world as part of the internet challenge. Midnights has a concept of nocturnal contemplation inspired by "13 sleepless nights" throughout Swift's life. "One of the themes about Midnights is how you're feeling in the middle of the night, and that can be intense self-hatred," Swift told Apple Music. "You go through these very polarizing emotions when you're up late at night and your brain just spirals – it can spiral downward or it can spiral way up and you can just be really feeling yourself." "Anti-Hero" debuted at #1 in the UK, becoming Taylor Swift's second chart-topper, following "Look What You Made Me Do." Midnights also soared straight to the top of the UK albums chart, making Swift the first female artist in nine years to debut atop both tallies simultaneously. Miley Cyrus previously achieved the feat when Bangerz and "Wrecking Ball" both landed at #1 in August 2013.

I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift
All of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room

I should not be left to my own devices
They come with prices and vices
I end up in crisis (I've realized all this time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I'll watch as you're leaving
'Cause you got tired of my scheming
For the last time

It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
At tea time, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero

Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby
And I'm a monster on the hill
Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city
Pierced through the heart, but never killed

Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism
Like some kind of congressman? (I've realized all this time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I'll watch as you're leaving
And life will lose all of its meaning
For the last time

It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me (I'm the problem, it's me)
At tea time, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero

I have this dream my daughter in-law kills me for the money
She thinks I left them in the will
The family gathers around and reads it and someone screams out
"She's laughing up at us from hell"

It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
It's me, hi, everybody agrees, everybody agrees

It's me, hi (hi), I'm the problem, it's me (I'm the problem, it's me)
At tea (tea) time (time), everybody agrees (everybody agrees)
I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero