Taylor Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights, has already set records with its lead single, "Anti-Hero." In this song, Swift shares her darker self-perception, diving into personal failures and struggles. The song's title and track number were revealed on October 2nd, 2022, during the sixth video of her TikTok game, Midnight Mayhem With Me. In a "Behind The Song" video released the next day, Swift explained that the song was a "guided tour" of the things she hates about herself, particularly her struggles with managing her fame.
Here are the Anti-Hero Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift, all of the people
I've ghosted stand there in the room
[Pre-Chorus]
I should not be left to my own devices
They come with prices and vices
I end up in crisis
(Tale as old as time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day, I'll watch as you're leaving
'Cause you got tired of my scheming
(For the last time)
[Chorus]
It's me, hi
I'm the problem, it's me
At teatime, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
[Verse 2]
Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby
And I'm a monster on the hill
Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city
Pierced through the heart, but never killed
[Pre-Chorus]
Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism
Like some kind of congressman?
(A tale as old as time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day, I'll watch as you're leaving
And life will lose all its meaning
(For the last time)
[Chorus]
It's me, hi
I'm the problem, it's me (I'm the problem, it's me)
At teatime, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
[Bridge]
I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money
She thinks I left them in the will
The family gathers 'round and reads it and then someone screams out
"She's laughing up at us from Hell"
[Breakdown]
It's me, hi
I'm the problem, it's me
It's me, hi
I'm the problem, it's me
It's me, hi
Everybody agrees, everybody agrees
[Chorus]
It's me, hi (Hi)
I'm the problem, it's me (I'm the problem, it's me)
At teatime (Teatime), everybody agrees (Everybody agrees)
I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero