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Labyrinth

Midnights (2022)

“Labyrinth” is the tenth track on Taylor’s tenth studio album, Midnights (2022). It was released on October 21, 2022, through Republic Records. Written and produced by Taylor and Jack Antonoff, the song was written about the anxious side of falling in love.
Table of Contents

Background and Release

On August 28, 2022, Taylor announced her tenth studio album, Midnights, set for release on October 21, 2022. One month later, she began unveiling the track-list in a randomized order through a video series on TikTok, called Midnights Mayhem With Me. It consisted of 13 episodes, with one song revealed in per episode. In the eleventh edition on October 7, 2022, Taylor announced the title of the tenth track as “Labyrinth.”

Lyrical Theme

On “Labyrinth,” Taylor finds herself falling in love with someone not long after a heartbreak. Initially convinced that she will never recover from her past pain, she marvels at how she finds comfort in a new person. In the prologue for Midnights, she wrote:

«Why can’t you sleep? Maybe you lie awake in the aftershock of falling headlong into a connection that feels like some surreal cataclysmic event. Like spontaneous combustion. [...] Maybe you were trying to mastermind matters of the heart again. You’ve gotten lost in the labyrinth of your head, where the fear wraps its claws around the fragile throat of true love. Will you be able to save it in time? Save it from who? Well, it obvious. From you.»

In the first pre-chorus, Taylor attributes her suspicion of elevators to their rapid ascent and compares this terror to her distrust of falling in love quickly.

In 2024, she included “Labyrinth” in her Apple Music playlist named “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” , which she introduced by saying:

«We finally find acceptance and can start moving forward from loss or heartbreak.»

Production

The highlight of “Labyrinth” is the painfully gorgeous melody, massive in its simplicity. Taylor spends most of the song repeating the line, “Uh oh, I’m falling in love,” over neon synths that flicker and splutter like the circuits are melting down. She doesn’t lean on poetics — the word “labyrinth” appears only once, when she sighs, “Lost in the labyrinth of my mind.” It’s also one of Jack Antonoff’s craftiest productions. Every “uh oh” and “oh no” hits hard because Taylor slides into each one from a different angle. If one were to forget about Taylor the songwriter and just savor her as one of pop’s most brilliant vocalists, “Labyrinth” is one to cherish.

Live Performances

Taylor first performed “Labyrinth” during her sixth headlining concert tour, “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). It was the second surprise song during her show on November 9, 2023, in Buenos Aires (Argentina). She sang it acoustically on piano. On July 18, 2024, she mashed it up with “this is me trying” (2020) in Gelsenkirchen. In Toronto on November 21, 2024, she paired it with “State of Grace” (2012).

Critical Reception

“Labyrinth” received acclaim from music critics. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone ranked it as Taylor’s seventeenth best song (out of 229), saying: “It takes some nerve for her to use this Borgesian title for such a deceptively minimal tune, but this is a lavender labyrinth you can get happily lost in. A stealth classic.”

Commercial Performance

In the United States, songs from Midnights occupied the entire Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100; a historic feat. “Labyrinth” debuted at No. 14 on the chart. Taylor became the first artist to simultaneously occupy the Top 10 spots of the Hot 100; the female artist with the most Top 10 songs (40); and the first act to occupy the entire Top 10 of the Hot 100, Streaming Songs, and Digital Songs charts simultaneously. Midnights also became the first album in history to contain ten Top 10 songs.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
It only hurts this much right now
Was what I was thinking the whole time
Breathe in, breathe through
Breathe deep, breathe out
I’ll be getting over you my whole life

[Pre-Chorus]
You know how scared I am of elevators
Never trusted it if it rises fast
It can’t last

[Chorus]
Uh oh, I’m falling in love
Oh no, I’m falling in love again
Oh, I’m falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How’d you turn it right around?

[Verse 2]
It only feels this raw right now
Lost in the labyrinth of my mind
Break out, break free, break through, break down
You would break your back to make me break a smile

[Pre-Chorus]
You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back
Just like that

[Chorus]
Uh oh, I’m falling in love
Oh no, I’m falling in love again
Oh, I’m falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How’d you turn it right around?

[Chorus Breakdown]
Uh oh, I’m falling in love
Oh no, I’m falling in love again
Oh, I’m falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How’d you turn it right around?

[Chorus]
Uh oh, I’m falling in love
Oh no, I’m falling in love again
Oh, I’m falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How’d you turn it right around?
Uh oh, I’m falling in love
Oh no, I’m falling in love again
Oh, I’m falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How’d you turn it right around?

[Final Chorus]
Uh oh, I’m falling in love
Oh no, I’m falling in love again
Oh, I’m falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How’d you turn it right around?

General Information
ArtistTaylor Swift
AlbumMidnights
ReleasedOctober 21, 2022
Recorded2021-2022
StudiosRough Customer (Brooklyn, NY)
Electric Lady (New York, NY)
GenreIndie Pop
Length4:08
LabelRepublic Records
SongwritersTaylor Swift
Jack Antonoff
ProducersJack Antonoff
Taylor Swift
MIDNIGHTS CHRONOLOGY
BejeweledLabyrinthKarma
Song Certification
"Gold" certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. Signifying 500,000 units sold in the United States of America.
Song Artwork
Announcement
Live Performance
Lyric Video
Official Audio