The 2022 Video Music Awards on August 28 was a blast off to space with the musically star-studded gala of the year. The event was one of the biggest award shows of the year. Many viewers from all over the world were ready to put their hobbies to one side, whether it was watching TV in the United Kingdom or playing at live casino sites in Canada, the world was watching and tuned in to catch the show.

Held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the VMAs saw the very backbone of the music industry grace the red carpet and bless the event with their presence.

Multi-talented, multi-award-winning singer and songwriter Taylor Swift won one of the biggest honors of the night for Best Video of the Year.  Swift revealed to fans that her tenth studio album will be out on October 21st. In her speech, she specifically thanked her fans for the award, “You guys, I’m just so proud of what we made, and I know that every second of this moment that we wouldn’t have been able to do this short film if it weren’t for you, the fans.”

The singer rerecorded and released her fourth studio album, Red, after a lengthy tussle for her masters from her previous label, Big Machine Records. The song ‘All Too Well’ from the 2012 album was expanded into a longer version with all the uncut lyrics included as a bonus for Swift’s fans. ‘All Too Well’  (10-minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) was a huge hit and won the VMA Longform and Video Awards of the year.

It was during her speech that Swift disclosed her surprise album whilst thanking her fans, “Because I wouldn’t be able to re-record my album [Red (Taylor’s Version), which included the winning song] if it weren’t for you. You emboldened me to do that. And I had sort of made up my mind that if you were going to be this generous and give us this, I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand-new album comes out October 21. And I will tell you more at midnight.“

All Game Allusions in TS Songs 

As of now, we’ve been able to glean from Taylor’s hints that Midnights is probably a rock album. With a time length of 44 minutes, each song has almost 3 minutes and 30 seconds of playtime. We know for sure that there are 13 tracks, but the singer-songwriter hasn’t released the names of the tracks yet. Swift has also hinted that the Lover house showcasing her entire discography until now from her music video for Lover is complete. Midnights is present as the backdrop of the snow globe.

Since fans are trying to guess whether the upcoming album has any relation to her previous albums, we have decided to mark out a very poignant theme in Swift’s lyrics. Before Midnights hits the market, we have compiled a list of game-related allusions Taylor Swift has made throughout her songwriting career.

1. Single (2020) – “Only The Young”: “The game was rigged, the ref got tricked…”
2. Evermore (2020) – “willow”: “And there was one prize I’d cheat to win…”
3. 1989 (2014) – “Blank Space”: “Love’s a game, wanna play?”
4. Folklore (2020) – “the last great American dynasty”: “…losing on card game bets with Dalí”
5. Speak Now (2010) – “Dear John”: “I lived in your chess game“
6. 1989 (2014) – “Wonderland”: “It’s all fun and games ’til somebody loses their mind”
7. Lover (2020) – “Cornelia Street”: “Back when we were card sharks, playing games…”
8. Lover (2020) – “Cruel Summer”: “Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes”
9. Lover (2020) – “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince”: “The whole school is rolling fake dice/ You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes”
10. Evermore (2020) – “​cowboy like me,”: “And you asked me to dance/ But I said, “Dancin’ is a dangerous game.”

Games act as an allusion to various themes in Swift’s songs – playing emotional tricks, taking a chance, becoming vulnerable, etc. That is the mark of mastery of Swift’s songwriting abilities.

Concluding Lines

No matter the subject content, we can’t wait for Midnights to stream. Swifties all around the world have marked their calendar so they can start streaming. Count us in, too!