Home » Albums » Midnights » Songs on Midnights » Hits Different

Hits Different

Bonus Track | Midnights (2022)

“Hits Different” is a song on Taylor’s tenth studio album, Midnights (2022). Released on October 21, 2022, through Republic Records, it is track fourteen on the Lavender Marbled Deluxe Edition and track eighteen on The Til Dawn Edition respectively. Written and produced by Taylor, Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, the lyrics describe feeling lovesick after a breakup.

Background and Release

On August 28, 2022, Taylor announced her tenth studio album, Midnights, set for release on October 21, 2022. On October 13, Target, which is the exclusive retailer of the album’s deluxe edition in the US, announced the three bonus tracks included on the Lavender Marbled deluxe edition of the album, one of them being “Hits Different.”

«'Hits Different' really hits different, plus it’s got one of my fav bridges. It’s only available on the Target CD so feel free to scamper over to the nearest store!»

Taylor Swift

“Hits Different” was released on streaming services on May 26, 2023, as part of the Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition).

Lyrical Theme

“Hits Different,” sonically, is a breezy departure from the rest of the Midnights album. But in a classic “Taylor twist,” the lyrics aren’t as cheery as the music sounds. In the song, a heartbroken Taylor is trying to move on from a devastating breakup. While she has been through similar experiences before, this time, it feels different.

Production

This song holds the distinction of being the only one on Midnights to be written and produced by the trio of Taylor, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. Aaron told the podcast Broken Record in April 2023 that he had started working on certain songs that ended up on Midnights in March 2021. His collaboration with Taylor and Jack continued afterwards, even as the album started becoming something different than what they had initially thought:

«Eventually she obviously made most of Midnights with Jack and it became something different, but we made 'Would've, Could've, Should've, 'High Infidelity', 'The Great War' and 'Hits Different' together. And it was great to be a part of that record in that way. It was really special.»

Aaron Dessner

Live Performances

Taylor first performed “Hits Different” during her sixth headlining concert tour, “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). It was the first surprise song during her show on June 4, 2023, in Chicago. On June 21, 2024, she mashed it up with “Death By A Thousand Cuts” (2019) in London. While playing the songs, she said:

«So, I picked these songs because I don’t know if you’ve ever heard me say this, but my favorite thing to write in the whole song is the bridge. And I chose these songs because they are two of my favorite bridges I have ever written. So, I’m going to try to attempt to put together my two favorite bridges and create a mega-bridge.»

Taylor Swift

In New Orleans on October 26, 2024, Taylor paired “Hits Different” with “Welcome to New York” (2014) for a mashup on piano.

Critical Reception

Larocca opined that “Hits Different” sounds “unlike anything on Midnights” and dubbed its chorus as one of the “catchiest” on the album. They compared the song to “Death By A Thousand Cuts” from Lover (2019), due to similar “drunken display of heartbreak”, as well as to “New Romantics” from 1989 (2014), since both of them first appeared on the physical editions of their respective albums, whilst being one of the “best” tracks. Michele Mendez of Elite Daily described it as an “emotional breakup song perfect for anyone in need of some sonic comfort”. Rolling Stone‘s Larisha Paul wrote that in the song “heartbreak feels fresh” and its bridge depicts “wasteland of all the things that remind the singer of the relationship’s end”. Alex Hopper from American Songwriter dubbed the track as a “breakup anthem”.

Commercial Performance

During the week dated June 4, 2023, “Hits Different” debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, after it was finally released on streaming services. The same week, it also debuted at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I washed my hands of us
At the club
You made a mess of me
I pictured you with other girls
In love
Then threw up on the street
Like waiting for a bus
That never shows
You just start walking on
They say that if it’s right, you know
Each bar plays our song
Nothing has ever felt so wrong

[Chorus]
Oh my, love is a lie
Shit my friends say to get me by
It hits different
It hits different this time
Catastrophic blues
Moving on was always easy for me to do
It hits different, it hits different ’cause it’s you (‘Cause it’s you)

[Verse 2]
I used to switch out these Kens
I’d just ghost
Rip the band-aid off and skip town likе an asshole outlaw
Freedom felt like summеr then
On the coast
Now the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings
And I never don’t cry at the bar
Yeah, my sadness is contagious (My sadness is contagious)
I slur your name ’til someone puts me in a car
I stopped receiving invitations

[Bridge]
I find the artifacts
Cried over a hat
Cursed the space that I needed
I trace the evidence
Make it make some sense
Why the wound is still bleeding
You were the one that I loved
Don’t need another metaphor it’s simple enough
A wrinkle in time like the crease by your eyes
This is why they shouldn’t kill off the main guy,
Dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief
In the good in the world, you once believed in me
And I felt you and I held you for a while
Bet I could still melt your world
Argumentative, antithetical dream girl
I heard your key turn in the door, down the hallway
Is that your key in the door?
Is it okay?
Is it you?
Or have they come to take me away?
To take me away

[Chorus]
Oh my, love is a lie
Shit my friends say to get me by
It hits different (It hits different)
It hits different this time
Catastrophic blues
Moving on was always easy for me to do
It hits different (It hits different)
It hits different ’cause it’s you

[Final Chorus]
Oh my, love is a lie
Shit my friends say to get me by
‘Cause it’s you
Catastrophic blues
Moving on was always easy for me to do
It hits different, it hits different ’cause it’s you