Taylor Swift Teased These Newly Revealed Midnights Lyrics Months Ago In Her NYU Speech

Taylor Swift is a pro at laying easter eggs with clues about upcoming projects, and her 10th studio album Midnights is no exception. At the stroke of midnight on Oct. 17, Swift revealed the first new lyrics from Midnights on a giant Spotify billboard in New York City’s Times Square. “I should not be left to my own devices,” the billboard read, as revealed by Spotify in a TikTok video. “Where to next?” they captioned the post, indicating that more lyrics will be revealed on billboards around the world — likely at midnight — before Midnights is officially released on Oct. 21.

As promised, at midnight on Oct. 18, another new lyric was revealed in London: “I polish up real nice.” Fans in Sao Paolo, Brazil also got their own unveiling that night. “Just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line,” their sign read. The next night, a billboard in Swift’s adopted home of Nashville revealed the lyric, “Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?” Last but not least, fans in Mexico City saw the final lyric reveal: “Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out.” Swifties quickly realized the line was also a quote from Swift’s NYU commencement speech in May 2022, proving just how good she is at planting easter eggs in plain sight.

The billboards did not reveal which songs each lyric came from, but that didn’t stop Swifties from guessing. Some fans predicted that the first new line was from “Vigilante Shit,” and Swift’s official Taylor Nation fan page didn’t exactly deny the speculation. “Maybe,” they replied to a fan on Twitter. “Vigilante sh*t does tend to happen when we’re left to our own devices.”

“Through life’s triumphs, celebrations, and hardships, Taylor’s music, and lyrics have always been a source of comfort when the clock strikes 12 and beyond,” Spotify said in a statement. “This is why Spotify has teamed up with Taylor to exclusively reveal lyrics from her new album Midnights around the world leading into the album’s release.”

The lyric reveal comes at the same time that Swift unveiled the Midnights release week schedule, which she calls the “Midnights Manifest.” The fun will begin the night before Midnights comes out when a teaser trailer will air during the 3rd quarter of Thursday Night Football on Prime Video. The itinerary also includes the premieres of two new music videos for “Anti-Hero” and an unknown track, appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Graham Norton Show, and a “special very chaotic surprise” that will be revealed just after the release of Midnights at 3 a.m. ET.

Previously, Swift teased Midnights by revealing the tracklist one song at a time in her TikTok series “Midnights Mayhem With Me.” The album consists of 13 tracks, which is Swift’s famous lucky number, and coincidentally, she began the series by unveiling the name of Track 13: “Mastermind.” The rollout continued in random order until she revealed the fourth track, “Snow on the Beach,” which features Lana Del Rey. “The fact that I get to exist at the same time as her is an honor and a privilege,” Swift said in an Instagram video, “and the fact that she would be so generous as to collaborate with us on this song is something I’m gonna be grateful for life.”