We have a feeling the Midnights era is not yet over and that Taylor Swift could be releasing “Mastermind” as the album’s next and possibly last single. Hear us out.
Google uses “Mastermind” lyrics for its “Most Searched Songwriter” campaign
The first thing that got us wondering whether Taylor had big things planned for “Mastermind” was Google’s usage of lyrics from the song in its campaign for the singer’s year retrospect. The search engine began by dropping several hints titled “You’re a Mastermind” in their website “searchplayground,” which fans eventually decoded as the lyric “All the stars aligned” from the closing track of the standard edition of Taylor’s 10th studio album.
The lyrics then led to another website focused solely on Taylor Swift-related Google stats for the year 2023. To enter it you had to guess the password ā it was the singer’s star sign, Sagittarius, which leads us to our next possible clue.
Taylor carries a constellation purse
In keeping up with the “All the stars aligned” concept, Taylor was recently pictured sporting a golden purse with engraved star constellation designs. While this alone doesn’t tell us much, when paired with the Google website, it does feel like, for lack of a better expression, all the stars are aligning for “Mastermind” to be the next single from Midnights.
“Mastermind” Vinyl in the “Lavender Haze” music video
What once seemed simply like a sweet reference to the person we thought had inspired the song “Mastermind” (more on that in a bit) is now being framed as possibly being part of something bigger.
If Swiftdom has taught us anything, it’s that Taylor doesn’t just include references in her music videos if they’re not a clue to something. The fact that a vinyl case for “Mastermind” can be seen in the “Lavender Haze” music video (featuring constellations for both Taylor and her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn’s star signs) is suspicious at best. Sadly, Travis Kelce is a Libra, so this Easter egg is slightly outdated.
Return to Midnights layout on social media
Something else that has got us wondering whether we could possibly be returning to the Midnights era following the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is the fact that Taylor changed her social media layouts back to the cover art for her most recent studio album.
Taylor mentioned “Mastermind” in her Time‘s āPerson of the Yearā cover story
Do you know what would draw attention to a B-side song in your album that you’re planning on turning into a single? Mentioning it in one of the biggest stories of the year: Time‘s yearly Person of the Year issue.
This sneaky reference to how “Mastermind” came to be felt odd to all of the fans and listeners who had thought Taylor had been inspired by her love story with ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn (remember that nod in the Lavender Haze video?). As it turns out, the musician based the concept of the song on the fantastic ending of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread where Daniel Day Lewis’ character realizes his wife has been poisoning him to keep him submissive, and instead of being mad, he willingly goes along with her insane plan.
Other theories
In true Swiftie fashion, there are plenty of other theories out there about the reason for Google’s usage of both “Mastermind” lyrics and the word “Sagittarius.” Some fans think they are clues for TS11 (the singer’s next non-rerecording album), while others are convinced a collaboration with fellow famous Saggitarius Nicki Minaj could be on its way.
We’re leaning more toward the theory that “Mastermind” might become the fourth and final single off of Midnights, most likely with an accompanying video composed of footage from the Eras Tour concert film, which was released digitally on Taylor’s 34th birthday, Tuesday, Dec. 13. Still, anything could happen in Tay-land.