Taylor Swift is renowned for her secretive marketing strategies. The infamous snake video of 2017, following Swift’s five-year hiatus, caused a panic among fans around the world. When she uploaded a certain post in February- a photo of seven palm trees with a matching caption of seven palm tree emojis, fans speculated it was a hint towards the drop of her seventh studio album. The next time Swift posted, fans noticed that she was sitting on the sixth step (from the bottom) of the staircase pictured. This sparked theories of a countdown and the rumors were fueled by Swift’s subsequent post of her staring through a lattice fence, which had five holes showing.
However, the fan-detectives’ hopes were dashed when Swift mention at the end of her iHeart Radio Award speech “..I love your passion. I love your attention to detail. I love how much you care. I love seeing all the things you’re posting online, and I just wanted to let you know when there’s new music, you will be the first to know.” All was quiet on the @taylorswift Instagram page… until April 13. She started a countdown to April 26, 2019, and ominous billboards displaying its glittery and pastel anticipation popped up around the world. At midnight EST on 4/26, “ME!” (featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco) was released along with its accompanying music video. Fans basked in its serotonin-inducing, pop-y, technicolor goodness and momentarily took a collective breath, thinking they were done with their CIA-level investigations. That is until Taylor herself mentioned that there were plenty of easter eggs in the video- even going on to state that both the new album title and the second single’s name are included. The frenzy ensued (and apparently a few people guessed correctly!), here are some of the top theories:
1. Lover
Fans noted that the word “Lover” is shown in neon lights on the roof of a building, during the scene where Swift and Urie sit under a rainbow on a unicorn-shaped roof decoration. On top of that, when asked when she’d reveal the album title, Swift replied “SOON MY LOVE SOOOOOOON” with five heart emojis. It is evident that she put seven Os in “soon” and used the same number of heart emojis (connotated with love) as there are letters in “lover,” and obviously used the literal word “love” in her response.
2. Kaleidoscope
When Urie opens his coat, a literal kaleidoscope heart is revealed. This was confirmed to be a throwback reference to the “Welcome to New York” lyric “kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats undercoats.” Also, the snake at the beginning of the video lunges at the camera before bursting into butterflies, symbolizing the transition from Reputation into a new era of music. However, some people found that a group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope. On top of that, if you pay attention to the sky in the video, it appears as if it’s taking place inside of a kaleidoscope.
3. Home
Swift referenced multiple places she’s called home over the years; Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, and London. The palm trees visible in the windows are equivalent to Los Angeles, the Christmas tree to Pennsylvania and the London skyline is seen during the rooftop shot. Swift even posted a photo of her at her childhood home in Reading, Pennsylvania back in July, captioned “take me home.” Some speculate that the Dixie Chicks painting and cowboy boots connotate to Swift’s Nashville music roots.
We won’t find out until Swift announces it herself, but it will likely to have been cleverly hinted at!