Does being a Taylor Swift fan feel like a full-time job sometimes because of all the clues, lore, and inside jokes? Are you a Swiftie who isn’t quite up to speed on all the backstory? Well, you’ve come to the right place, because here I’ll share all the theories and Easter eggs from her “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” music video.
Taylor Swift wrapped up the European leg of her record-breaking tour on Aug. 20 in London, U.K., after performing eight sold-out shows in the capital, three of them in June and five in August. The stop at the venue also beat the record of most Wembley Stadium shows during a single tour, with a mind-blowing 720,000 fans in attendance over the eight dates, surpassing big artists like Michael Jackson and Take That.
The single is track 13 of her latest studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and the music video is directed and produced by Swift herself, just like most of her most recent music videos since her 2019 album Lover. The meta song is about the beginning of her tour, when she was going through a difficult breakup with actor Joe Alwyn and was expected to be happy and carefree on stage while dealing with personal issues. Swift gets even more meta when she performs the song during the tour, as her whole performance includes snippets of moves from other songs throughout the night, but the new music video also includes clips from rehearsals and more behind-the-scenes footage.
The jacket from “You Need to Calm Down”
One shot shows her with a jacket similar to the one she wears in Lover‘s “You Need to Calm Down.” The jacket doesn’t appear on tour but, based on the ladder prop behind her, they might’ve rehearsed for “Karma.”
All the Reputation references
Taylor Swift announced in 2019 that she would be re-recording all her music after not being able to buy her masters for her first albums. She has two albums left to re-record, reputation, her last with Big Machine Records, and Taylor Swift, her debut album. Fans have been impatiently waiting for a Reputation (Taylor’s Version) announcement since last December, and have been debating clues in everything she does, from numerology, outfits, tweets, to meaningful dates. Every single prediction was wrong, but that doesn’t mean they won’t keep going.
Of course, Swift seems to have slithered in some references to the highly-anticipated re-recording. In one scene, she wears new boots with snakes, similar to the ones she wears in the Reputation era intro, but not the ones she actually wears on stage. Another reference might be the timing video showing 2:13, which some fans believe might indicate the release date for Feb. 13. The timing on the clip leads to her exiting the stage during the Reputation era.
The venue in the music video is linked to Reputation, as well. The beginning seems to be the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where she recorded the Reputation Stadium Tour concert film. It was also where rumors about her breakup with Alwyn arose, before the third show of The Eras Tour.
Swift’s arrival on stage
Since the beginning of the tour, it has been heavily speculated that Swift arrived on stage in a cleaning cart. While almost everyone took this at face value, the music video proves the claims, but it also reveals that Swift has a seat inside the cart, and doesn’t just crunch in a small space. Bonus, there are also some cat figures to keep her company.
How she travels under the stage in between eras
If you attended The Eras Tour or watched the grainy livestreams, you know the transitions between each era don’t take long. People were wondering how Swift got from one end of the stage to another so swiftly, and it turns out she had her own little personal train that slides under the stage.
Future outfits
For the performance of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” Swift changes on stage into high-waisted shorts, a crop top, and a jacket. She has several options ⏤ white, black, and gold, that she mixes and matches. However, during the music video, she dons a full gold outfit that she hasn’t worn yet, which might be an Easter egg for possible future outfits. At the same time, the behind-the-scenes look also features orange feathers that have never been used before, as well as the Reputation boots.
Is the “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” music video a trailer for The Eras Tour documentary?
Taylor Swift has previously released several music videos from her previous tours ⏤ “Sparks Fly,” “New Romantics,” and “Red” come to mind. However, they all featured footage from her performances on their respective tours. “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is different, as it features footage from behind the scenes.
The Eras Tour might’ve received a concert film but the intricate tour has fans asking many questions ⏤ how does Taylor come up with the surprise songs? How did she envision the scene? How did she choose the setlist? The music video answered many questions, including how Swift goes backstage in the cleaning cart, how she travels below the stage, and more, but there are still many details to explore. Fans thought that considering how much behind-the-scenes footage they had to use for the music video, there must be a documentary coming up. At the end of the video, the song’s name also appears copyrighted, hinting at something more to come.
Taylor Swift is the Queen of Easter eggs and it’s impossible to catch all of them, but, this time, the ones from the music video for “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” seem obvious enough.