Taylor Swift fans actively engage in the hunt for Easter eggs and subtle clues embedded in the singer’s work, regardless of how obscure those hints might look to people outside the Swiftie circle. Swift’s love for leaving cryptic clues within her body of work has even led to Swifties speculating about the singer’s use of capitalization on Twitter, believing even the most benign tweets to be part of an overarching conspiracy.
While it may sound silly, there’s good reason Swifties are hard-wired to search for these clues. Swift has been proven to purposefully leave these hints (even announcing the 3am Edition of Midnights via a calendar picture) to appeal to eagle-eyed fans. Sometimes these clues can be used to predict Swift’s next move, and fans are trying to do just that by figuring out the release order of the remaining (Taylor’s Version) albums.
According to Swifties, a viral video might hint at the future order
A video captured during Swift’s recent performance in Kansas City as part of The Eras Tour is gaining viral attention among observant (or delusional, depending on your perspective) Swifties who believe they’ve potentially discovered the next album Swift will release as part of her endeavor to re-record her previous albums released under her former label, Big Machine Records. In the short clip posted by @mellyrios on TikTok, Swift is performing “Look What You Made Me Do” as she walks among dancers representing different eras of her career. During the second verse, she points at her Speak Now dancer and then runs over to the 1989 dancer during the pre-chorus and specifically points her out.
With Swift having recently released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) just days before this tour stop, her fans speculate that her intentional showcasing of the two corresponding dancers hints at her next move. Swifties have been expecting 1989 (Taylor’s Version) for a long time now, and since a lawsuit likely preventing Swift from releasing the re-recorded album was recently dropped, she’s free to finally give us what we’ve been waiting for. It’s arguably the album that makes the most sense to come next.
The performance isn’t the only thing making fans think a new 1989 is next. In the music video for “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version),” a road sign with the number 1989 next to the initials “TV” is visible — coincidence? Swifties don’t think so. How the numbers are formatted has even led to some speculation that the re-recorded 1989 will come out on Sep 1.
Swift also posted photos from a recent Independence Day celebration on her Instagram, another potential hint that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is on the way. The pictures are reminiscent of similar photos from that era, and the second slide is entirely made up of Polaroids; any Swiftie will remember that Polaroids were a huge part of the 1989 promotional cycle. I know this probably sounds insane to anyone who’s not a part of the fandom, but given Swift’s history of leaving Easter eggs, it’s possible.
If this isn’t enough delusion for you, one fan thinks they’ve figured out the entire order of the remaining albums. TikTok user @allisonumler88 commented on the viral video, writing, “She gave us the whole order yall!! She pointed to 1989, walked to the rep, and then pointed at debut!!” Whether Taylor’s teasing us or Swifties really just cracked the code remains to be seen.