Taylor Swift’s history-making Eras Tour lies at the forefront of 2023’s biggest pop culture experiences. The singer performed her last show of the year in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Nov. 26, after an impressive 66-show run across the US and Latin America. Since Swift has a strong track record of ending each leg of her tours with a bang, as well as leaving Easter eggs to hint at future projects, social media has been filled to the brim with fan theories following the last Eras Tour stop.
Swifties showed up in large numbers — along with the Empire State Building and Auntie Anne’s, for some reason — as they tossed around theories on the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version). The majority was convinced that Swift would announce the re-recorded album during the final night of her tour.
ICYMI, Swift has been re-recording her first six studio albums in an effort to reclaim her masters. So far, she’s re-released Fearless, Red, Speak Now, and most recently 1989, distinguishing the new projects as (Taylor’s Version). Plenty of fans seem to think Reputation is coming next, but it looks like they’ll have to wait longer than they thought they would. Despite the myriad of evidence pointing to the date of Nov. 26, Swift didn’t mention the arrival of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) at all during her last Eras Tour show. At this point, some remain hopeful for a New Years’ Day surprise release, while others are predicting a full-fledged announcement in February 2024. Here’s a brief breakdown of the top two theories that remain!
NEW YEAR’S DAY SURPRISE RELEASE
The closing track of Reputation is “New Year’s Day,” which Swift performed as a surprise song on Aug. 9, after announcing 1989 (Taylor’s Version) during the concert. Additionally, Swift’s Netflix specials Miss Americana and the Reputation Stadium Tour — both of which feature songs from the original Reputation album — will be removed from Netflix on Dec. 30. Fans seem to think this is related to the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version).
FEBRUARY 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT
In one scene of the “Karma” music video, which Swift premiered at her East Rutherford, NJ concert on May 28, she holds a plate and coffee cup with a clock foam art design. Her left and right thumb nails, respectively painted blue and black, are positioned at the Roman numerals of 8 and 2. Swift has always associated a bright blue color scheme with 1989, and a black one with Reputation.
Fans thought this scene hinted at an August 2023 announcement of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and a February 2024 announcement of Reputation (Taylor’s Version). The first part of this theory came true when Swift announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at the last show of the first US leg of her Eras Tour on Aug. 9.
Eagle-eyed fans have noticed that the coffee cup is actually a piece of Swift’s merchandise, the “Begin Again” coffee cup. The song “Begin Again” contains the lyric “on a Wednesday in a cafe.” The Eras Tour is set to return on Feb. 7 in Tokyo, Japan, the same city where she closed her Reputation stadium tour. Both “Wednesday” and “Tokyo” were included in the Google vault scramble puzzles ahead of 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
Are you team New Years’ Day surprise release, like my impatient self, or team February 2024 announcement in Tokyo? If the clowning of Nov. 26 taught me anything, it’s that you can never predict Swift’s next move.
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST EASTER EGGS
On Nov. 28, Spotify crowned Swift the Most-Streamed Global Artist Of The Year. In light of this achievement, a playlist called “snow globe” appeared on the music streaming service. It begins with “Lover” and ends with “New Year’s Day,” the closing track of Reputation. The playlist’s description reads, “we can keep the christmas lights up til… february?,” which is a clear reference to “Lover.” However, Swifties think there’s more to this lyric than meets the eye as they’re convinced it includes a sneaky easter egg. Fans pointed out that the original lyric mentions “January” not “February” and believe the singer has something coming in February 2024.
Verified playlist curator DMusic seemed to confirm Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is on its way. Plus, a new billboard celebrating Swift’s Spotify achievement containing snakes and reddish-orange colors has been spotted, which also has fans thinking Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is the next project getting released.
Are you team New Year’s Day surprise release, like my impatient self, or team February 2024? If the clowning of Nov. 26 taught me anything, it’s that you can never predict Swift’s next move.