No Sleep (Til Every Last Dollar Is Extracted): Taylor Swift Releases Midnights: The Til Dawn Edition—Oh, and Midnights: The Late Night Edition

For those who had gotten their rocks off on making various memes about Lana Del Rey’s barely detectable presence on what was supposed to be a “blockbuster” duet from Midnights called “Snow on the Beach,” the Til Dawn Edition of the album is sure to please. And yet, its addendum of three songs (one of which, “Hits Different,” was already released on an erstwhile “exclusive” Target version of the CD) hardly feels worth the fanfare of putting out yet another version of the record. Especially when Taylor Swift could have just released the new “Snow on the Beach” (featuring More Lana Del Rey) as a single. And yet, it seems the true purpose of unleashing another edition is for Swift to showcase her “cred” with a version of “Karma” featuring Ice Spice.

Being that “rap clout” is among the most viable of ways for white girls to prove their worth outside the pop sphere, Swift has only ever engaged with one other such musician on a remix of her song: Kendrick Lamar on “Bad Blood” (a major coup that still can’t be believed). Del Rey herself is no stranger to engaging in the “trend,” having collaborated with A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd more than once. Hence, her ill-advised, apropos-of-nothing humblebrag, “My best friends are rappers, my boyfriends have been rappers” (who? G-Eazy?) in early 2021 after announcing the release of Chemtrails Over the Country Club (ultimately, Lana’s folklore). Fortunately for Swift, the masses seem far less inclined to decry her for anything other than her romantic choices (and yes, Matty Healy is disgusting on manifold levels). Because oh, how quickly everyone was to forget about her obscene carbon footprint.

As for her barrage of re-releases in the name of good capitalist business (a.k.a. “ownership”), no one would ever besmirch that. Even if “Dear Reader” was the perfect way to end the truest version of Midnights, the 3am Edition. As for “Snow on the Beach,” Jack Antonoff—the producer neither pop chanteuse can get enough off—provides different production this time around (complete with more “divine”-sounding string arrangements) as Del Rey’s voice is “permitted” to have a higher-volumed presence. And yes, it’s still unclear why she wouldn’t do that in the first place, despite her claim to Billboard, “I had no idea I was the only feature [on that song]. Had I known, I would have sung the entire second verse like she wanted.”

But really, how could she not have known? Isn’t that pertinent information that both Swift and Antonoff would have mentioned to her? Furthermore, she could have sang at a normal decibel to begin with and awaited feedback about whether it was “too loud” or not. Nonetheless, Del Rey insisted her “job as a feature on a big artist’s album is to make sure I help add to the production of the song, so I was more focused on the production. She was very adamant that she wanted me to be on the album, and I really liked that song.” Even if Del Rey’s vocals and “persona” would be much more at home on “Vigilante Shit.” Indeed, “Snow on the Beach” is arguably the most flaccid song on Midnights, apart from “Lavender Haze” and “Question…?”

Regardless, per Taylor heeding her and Lana’s fans command, “You asked for it, we listened: Lana and I went back into the studio specifically to record more Lana on ‘Snow on the Beach.’ Love u Lana.” Thus, Del Rey is given a full verse formerly taken by Taylor—the one that goes, “This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen/I searched ‘aurora borealis green’/I’ve never seen someone lit from within/Blurring out my periphery.” The two then join in together to harmonize on the lines, “My smile is like I won a contest/And to hide that would be so dishonest/And it’s fine to fake it ’til you make it/‘Til you do, ’til it’s true.” Both women having plenty of experience with that in the early days of their career, only to reach their respective zeniths in the present.

For added flair, Del Rey layers on her own dreamy mmm-mmm-mmmm-mmms to the repetition of “like snow on the beach” (after the “contest” verse). Which, to be frank, isn’t all that anomalous in a climate change scenario. But we can pretend it still has “phenomenon” cachet for the sake of a jarring love metaphor. So, all in all, it features More Lana Del Rey for sure. Next, they’re going to have to obey a fan request for them to scissor on video for the Waking Up At Noon Edition.

While Del Rey and Swift theoretically “gel” from a collaborative standpoint—yet still don’t deliver something that special with “Snow on the Beach” (the better Lana feature is on “Don’t Call Me Angel” with Ari and Miley)—Ice Spice makes absolutely no sense with Swift. And that comes across on “Karma,” with Ice Spice faintly saying at the beginning, “Karma is that girl, like (grrah).” Her signature “grrah” noticeably muted. Perhaps not to “scare” the fragile Swift audience with her “aggressive” Blackness. In this sense, Ice Spice becomes the new Lana on the original version of “Snow on the Beach” (now transformed into what amounts to a duet), toning herself down to blend into “Taylor’s world.” Her lone verse is hardly anything to instill fear either (let’s just say Nicki Minaj would have gone much harder) as she promises, “Karma is your chеck’s ’boutta bounce (damn)/Karma is the fire in your house (grrah)/And she ’boutta pop up unannounced (like)/And she never leavin’ you alone (damn)/Watch her put ya opps on a throne (damn).”

Swift might have let her stop there, but instead, Ice Spice continues, “Got you wavin’ pretty white flags, feenin’ for that cash/Thinkin’ it’ll save ya, now you switchin’ up your behavior/It’s okay, baby, you ain’t gotta worry, karma never gets lazy/So, I keep my head up, my bread up, I won’t let up (never)/Promise that you’ll never endeavor with none lesser (ever, ever)/I be draggin’ that wagon, karma is a beauty winning that pageant, grrah.” Pageants and contests being the norm in Swift’s realm of white privilege.

Another norm is releasing oh so many versions of things. Ergo, as further proof that Swift inexplicably favors East Coastians (especially those near New York), she also milked Midnights of another version called the Late Night Edition that she was only selling in a CD format at her The Eras Tour shows in East Rutherford. This one also including the Lana and Ice Spice collabs on the Til Dawn Edition, but swapping out “Hits Different” for a “From the Vault” song called “You’re Losing Me” (ostensible shade-throwing at Joe Alwyn). And maybe some Swifties would like to believe Taylor fucked over Target on their “Hits Different” CD exclusivity as retaliation for pulling select Pride merch, but, if we’re being real with ourselves, Taylor is her own big business with capitalist machinations à la Target—and therefore knows that the more versions sold, the more money made.