Lavender Haze

Album

Midnights

Label

Republic Records

Genre

Dream pop

Composer(s)

Taylor Swift;Jack Antonoff;Zoë Kravitz;Mark Spears;Jahaan Sweet;Sam Dew

Entered Chart

Nov 5, 2022

Peak Date

Nov 5, 2022

Released

November 29, 2022

Recorded

tudio Rough Customer, New York City Electric Lady, New York City Henson, Hollywood

B-Side

N/A

Taylor Swift opens her Midnights album with this upbeat R&B song where she sings about protecting her relationship with Joe Alwyn from unsolicited scrutiny. "My relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it," Swift explained in an Instagram video. "So this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff." I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me Surreal The song title comes from a phrase used in the 1950s to describe being in love. Swift heard it while watching AMC's show Mad Men. "If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant that you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful," she explained on Instagram. "I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like 'public figures,' because we live in the era of social media," she added. "And if the world finds out that you're in love with somebody, they're gonna weigh in on it." All they keep asking me Is if I'm gonna be your bride Swift doesn't go along with the 1950s stereotype that two people in love will inevitably get married and have children. Swift wrote "Lavender Haze" with: Her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff. Her friend Zoe Kravitz. The daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz, singer and actress Zoe Kravitz fronts the R&B and electro-pop duo Lolawolf alongside Jimmy Giannopoulos. Kravitz was working on an album with Antonoff when she contributed to "Lavender Haze." Longtime Kendrick Lamar beatmaker Mark Anthony Spears (aka the producer Sounwave). Julliard-trained producer Jahaan Sweet (Eminem's "Lucky You," A Boogie Wit Da Hoodies's "Drowning (Water)," Post Malone's "Saint-Tropez"). Chicago singer-songwriter Sam Dew. He co-wrote 12 tracks on Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers album and also sang on the record. Sounwave and Sam Dew are members of Antonoff's musical project Red Hearse. They released their self-titled debut studio album in August 2019. Antonoff, Sounwave and Jahaan Sweet also produced the track. Swift first announced Midnights at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. She described the album as a "journey through terrors and sweet dreams," inspired by "13 sleepless nights" of her life. Before Antonoff started on Midnights, he was working on tracks with Sounwave, Dew, and Zoë Kravitz. During one session, they cooked up a track that would eventually become "Lavender Haze." "It was not specifically meant for anything," Sounwave recalled to Rolling Stone. "That one was me going through sounds for 15 minutes and eventually hitting one button by accident. Jack's eyes lit up and was like, 'What was that?' It just happened to be this small little loop that my guy Jahaan sent me a while back." Sounwave edited the loop and added some effects to make it sound the way it does now. Dew wrote some melodies to the loop with Zoë Kravitz. "Zoë is actually a creative genius," he said. "She's not just a phenomenal actor. Her ability to create different sonics and find different melodies is next level." A few months later, Antonoff pitched the song to Swift, who wrote the lyrics.

Meet me at midnight
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, woah woah woah woah woah)

Staring at the ceiling with you
Oh, you don't ever say too much
And you don't really read into
My melancholia

I've been under scrutiny (yeah, oh yeah)
You handle it beautifully (yeah, oh yeah)
All of this is new to me (yeah, oh yeah)

I feel a lavender haze creeping up on me
So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say
No deal, the 1950s sh- they want for me
I just wanna stay in that lavender haze
(Ooh, ooh, woah woah woah woah woah)

All they keep asking me (all they keep asking me)
Is if I'm gonna be your bride
The only kind of girl they see (the only kind of girl they see)
Is a one night or a wife

I find it dizzying (yeah, oh yeah)
They're bringing up my history (yeah, oh yeah)
But you aren't even listening (yeah, oh yeah)

I feel a lavender haze creeping up on me
So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say
No deal, the 1950s sh- they want for me
I just wanna stay in that lavender haze (ooh, ooh, woah woah woah woah woah)
That lavender haze

Talk your talk and go viral
I just need this love spiral
Get it off your chest
Get it off my desk (get it off my desk)
Talk your talk and go viral
I just need this love spiral
Get it off your chest
Get it off my desk

I feel (I feel) a lavender haze creeping up on me
So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say
No deal (no deal), the 1950s sh- they want for me
I just wanna stay in that lavender haze
(Ooh, ooh, woah woah woah woah woah)

Get it off your chest
Get it off my desk
That lavender haze
I just wanna stay
I just wanna stay
In that lavender haze