Skip Town Like An Asshole Outlaw
This Song Hits Different
The biggest criminal of 2023 is that Taylor Swift has not put this song on streaming services yet. Hits Different was included as a bonus track on the Target special edition CDs of her latest album, Midnights. Historically, TS ends up releasing these on streaming a month or so after release of the album, but we have yet to see that in this case. I predict that she’ll release it sometime before tour starts in April. Until then, we have good Samaritans that have uploaded it onto YouTube, among other places. They keep getting taken down, so this link I’ve included above may not last, but they also keep getting reposted, so keep the faith.
This song makes me smile - and rivals New Romantics (1989) for my all-time favorite bonus track. I get why she didn’t include it on the album proper because it doesn’t really match the airy moodiness and introspection of the Midnights album overall. However, it’s so in the vein of the concept for the album - the tale of 13 sleepless nights in TS’s life. Who hasn’t had a night where they’ve over-consumed alcohol and wanted to call an ex? (Ahem…I’ll see myself out)
While it’s a breakup song where Swift does uses lyrics to make jabs at herself, the song is delightfully lighthearted. These are some of my favorite songs that TS writes, because they’re fun for the sake of being fun. It’s reminiscent of London Boy, Gorgeous, and Paper Rings. They’re delightfully feminine and evoke a feeling of calling your best friend and explaining how you’ve fallen for this new person. In the case of Hits Different, it reminds me of talking to my best friend about a breakup in an Uber on the way home from the bar. She’d love for me to shut up about my ex (love is a lie//shit my friends say to get me by) but the bouncy end-of-an-80’s movie vibe of the guitar reminds one of the high of dishing to your girls about the latest drama.
This song reminds me so much of 1989 and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was intentional, similar to Question…? where she clearly wants to bring listeners back to that era in her career. Like 1989, you’re kind of cringing at some moments where the narrator describes situations where they’re totally at fault. But also like 1989, you’re loving the rush of feeling and the quick pace of the beat. It’s easy to listen to this one on repeat.
The lyricism is also distinctly cute and clever - it’s rare when a songwriter can make the phrase “argumentative, antithetical dream girl” sound like it totally belongs in the song. The second verse contains the best highlight of the song with the phrase “asshole outlaw.” Swift likes to lean heavy on the bridge’s for emotional punch and this one is much longer than usual in her songwriting to allow her to build us up in suspense.
Whereas the Midnights album as a whole asks major questions of our own human insecurities, Hits Different allows us to revel in the magic of a moment, no matter how cringeworthy we will feel when we look back on it later. It’s a wholly satisfying song to end Act 1 of this character’s story with a lot of hope that she’ll get it together in Act 2. The songwriter who wrote breakup songs like Hits Different is the same songwriter who wrote songs like Lover, Daylight, and Sweet Nothing. Just like this song, we contain multitudes.