As a Swiftie, I have been waiting on the edge of my seat for Taylor Swift’s last two re-records of reputation and Taylor Swift. And based on Swift’s many Easter eggs and typical schedule for album releases, I think that she will (hopefully) announce the albums pretty soon.
Taylor Swift is no stranger to the long game when it comes to hinting at future albums. During an interview with Jimmy Fallon a few years back, she mentioned her love of using Easter eggs to excite her fans and that she wanted to try to hint at things as far as even three years in advance. As said in the interview, she largely began doing this purposely in the music video for “Look What You Made Me Do,” a song from reputation. In the video, there are numerous symbolic callbacks to Swift’s previous eras, as well as nods to the way she’s been treated in the media.
These Easter eggs have played a huge role in figuring out the order of Swift’s re-records (ICYMI: Swift has been re-recording her first six albums in order to gain full ownership over them). In the music video for Lover’s “The Man,” there is a shot of Swift by a wall that has her album names (as of 2020) spraypainted on. The re-records followed the order on the wall, starting with Fearless, Red, and Speak Now on the right, followed by 1989 on the left. Underneath 1989 (the last re-record Swift has released) is reputation.
In my opinion, reputation (Taylor’s Version) is pretty likely to be announced before Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version). Aside from the music video Easter eggs, some of reputation (Taylor’s Version) has actually already been released. The teaser for Amazon Prime Video’s Wilderness featured “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version),” and an episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty (TSITP) included “Delicate (Taylor’s Version)” during a scene of Belly and Jeremiah.
This isn’t the first time Swift has released a song early for the iconic TSITP, either. The second season, which premiered episodes in July and August 2023, also features “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” from 1989 (Taylor’s Version) — an album that wasn’t released until October 2023. Although it’s been even longer than two months since the first snippets of reputation (Taylor’s Version) were heard, I believe that the simple fact that they are out there means that a new era of rep is well on its way.
While I’d love for Swift to announce reputation (Taylor’s Version) tomorrow, I think that we will likely have to wait a few more months. Swift has followed a pretty consistent schedule for releasing albums these past few years, and I don’t think there’s any reason for her to switch it up now—after all, clumping too many album releases together in one year might shorten the “eras” of her preceding music.
After releasing folklore and evermore in 2020, Swift began releasing her re-records on a two-per-every-other-year schedule, with a brand-new album in between. She released both Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) in 2021. In 2022, Swift released Midnights, a totally new album. We didn’t see any more re-record releases until 2023, when she released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Now in 2024, she has again released a new album, The Tortured Poet’s Department (TTPD).
Based on this schedule, I think it’s likely that both reputation (Taylor’s Version) and Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) will be released sometime in 2025. And then in 2026, we might see an entirely new album that marks the end of the re-records (possibly putting us in an era marked by sunset oranges, like in the newest of Swift’s Eras Tour Lover outfits).
As for the announcements of these albums, though? Those could technically come this year. Personally, I think that the last show of the Eras Tour will end with the reputation (Taylor’s Version) announcement popping up on the screen just as Swift exits the stage (after all, as Swift said herself, “there will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation.”)
Swift’s self-titled re-record could also be announced this year, but I think it’s pretty likely that she’ll wait until 2025 to announce it. No matter the date though, I’m plenty excited. Hearing Swift sing her old country songs will be amazing, and the possibility of getting to listen to her sing “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” and “Crazier” (two songs from Hannah Montana: The Movie, a personal favorite of mine) is already thrilling.
Until the official announcements and releases happen though, we’ll just have to keep relishing in the TTPD era (as if that will be difficult). But during my breaks from replaying “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” I’ll definitely be streaming “Our Song” and “Getaway Car” as the countdown to the final two re-records continues.