Gather round ladies and gents, because Taylor Swift just dropped her brand-new single, “Me”. It saved pop music, came with a Brendon Urie feature, and has a sparkly, pastel, rainbow-coloured video.
Obviously, the song and music video are nothing short of iconic, and because this is Taylor Swift, fans immediately went into a frenzy looking for hidden details and messages in the video that the average eye may not see.
Ms Swift herself even acknowledged her penchant for hiding clues in music videos during a YouTube live chat before the video dropped.
“Okay regarding Easter Eggs.. there are a lot of them in this video. Some you’ll find out right away and some will take a minute to reveal their meaning (omg why am I talking like a sorcerer.” – Taylor on the #ME music video via YouTube chat
I’m sure you know that Taylor’s Reputation era was full of snake imagery, and when she stepped out on the iHeartRadio Awards red carpet this year wearing butterfly wings on her shoes, fans began speculating this upcoming album would represent her metamorphosis from the snake of eras past.
Oh, and she also revealed the title of the new single yesterday afternoon with a custom-painted mural in the shape of a huge butterfly.
And yes, the mural also contains clues. In fact, fans noticed a couple of weeks ago that the famous #WhatLiftsYou mural in Nashville was being repainted with some very Swiftian imagery.
This could be a total coincidence but the black #WhatLiftsYou butterfly mural in Nashville (that has been around forever) started to get a new pastel paint job with cats, hearts and rainbows the day after Taylor posted her countdown… 🤔🦋🌈💗😻
The new mural contains 13 (Taylor’s lucky number) hearts, flowers, rainbows, and three cats — which we should’ve realised meant Taylor has a secret third cat, TBH.
There’s a Christmas tree in the background of the opening scene, which may be a reference to the fact that Taylor grew up on a Christmas tree farm.
You can also see palm trees out of the window behind Taylor — a nod to the photo of seven palm trees that originally sent fans crazy theorising about the possibility of a new album.
It’s also possible to spot the various hints Taylor has been posting on Instagram for the last 13 days throughout the video.
Yep, even the chickens in sunglasses finally make sense.
Speaking of cool chicks, you can also see a portrait of the Dixie Chicks on the wall. Taylor recently wrote in Elle magazine that their song “Cowboy Take Me Away” reminds her of learning how to play music when she was 12.
At one point, it’s possible to spot a clock set to 8:30, which some fans have theorised is a hint at a release date for the upcoming album.
When she sings the line “I know that I went psycho on the phone”, Taylor points to a phone that looks similar to the one she used in the “Look What You Made Me Do” video to say the iconic “’cause she’s dead!” line.
Then she’s almost devoured by huge snakes made out of (13) clouds — but she just walks through them, symbolising her strength throughout the Reputation era.
i’m super emotional? are these snakes like eating her? but she walks out and she’s just like a phoenix rising from the ashes? idk my brain is running all over the place at this entire video @taylornation13 @taylorswift13 please help me 😂 #MeOutNow #TaylorSwiftTONIGHT
At one point, you can see a neon sign that reads “Lover”. Fans are speculating that this is the title of a song on the album — after all, Taylor did hide lyrics and song titles from reputation in the video for “Ready for It”.
There seem to be a lot of references to movie musicals throughout the video, from Singin’ in the Rain to Mary Poppins to Hairspray.
It also looks like Taylor responded to recent engagement rumours, eschewing Brendon’s offer of a ring and instead accepting a brand-new kitten. Very big mood, TBH.
Taylor reblogged a post on Tumblr confirming that this particular shot was a reference to a lyric from “Welcome to New York”.
There are roses on Taylor’s outfit in this scene, and it looks like the flower will be showing up a lot this era — a lot of Taylor’s brand-new merch is covered in roses.
This could also be a reference to an old fan theory about 1989. People speculate that album was called Roses for… reasons we won’t go into here, because it’s still embarrassing how wrong we were.
She’s also wearing cowboy boots in this scene, which could be a hint that this album will see her going back to her country roots.
Eagle-eyed fans on Tumblr have noticed the entire video takes place inside what appears to be a giant chrysalis, emphasising the theory that TS7 will represent a metamorphosis for Taylor.
There are also references to old music videos throughout the video for “Me”, and they all come at the same timestamp as their older counterparts, because Taylor Swift is extra AF.
For example, at 3:32 she can be seen dancing in rainbow-coloured rain, which mirrors the same timestamp in the video for “Delicate”.
You can also see references to “Begin Again”, “Mine”, and “Love Story”, and probably more because like I said Taylor Swift is extra and there are definitely things we’re missing.
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