Taylor Swift's NYU Speech Earlier This Year Featured Lyrics From The ‘Midnights’ Album

Earlier this year, during her speech at New York University, Taylor Swift teased lyrics from her album 'Midnights’. Swift's tenth studio album was released today. Just hours after the album's debut, the singer-songwriter surprised her fans by releasing a deluxe version that included seven additional songs.

In collaboration with Spotify, Swift launched a weeklong series of lyric reveals at midnight. In Times Square in New York City, a huge screen displayed the lyrics "I should not be left to my own devices..."

Another lyric then popped up in London: “I polish up real nice.”

In São Paulo, Brazil, a billboard revealed the following line: “Just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line.” An advert in Swift’s hometown of Nashville, Tennessee displayed the lyrics: “Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?”

A screen in Mexico City then shared the words: “Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out.”

Fans recognised the lyrics after the final billboard in Mexico and discovered that Swift had used them in her NYU commencement speech.

Prior to giving the speech on 18th May at the Yankee Stadium, the pop star received an honorary doctorate. The speech was filled with references to her hit tracks, as well as jokes about her doctorate. At one point she addressed distant family members and friends of the graduates with, “Let me say to you now: Welcome to New York – it’s been waiting for you.”

Swift continued to share anecdotes with the crowd, saying: “As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe through, breathe deep and breathe out. And I am a doctor now, so I know how breathing works.”

The lyrics are from the ‘Midnights’ track ‘Labyrinth’, in which Swift sings: “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.”

Swift revealed earlier this week that a UK tour in promotion of ‘Midnights will be announced soon.

--Silviya.Y