Taylor Swift took to Instagram live Thursday, June 13 (see what she did there) to reveal the name of her 7th studio album due out August 23, 2019! Swift preciously said the title of the album was in her music video for “ME!” and that it was the most obvious thing.
This lead fans to believe it was called “Lover” since it was literally the most obvious things and word in the music video.
Swift also revealed the album title was seen once (above) and heard twice.
The lyrics for me say
Baby doll, when it comes to a lover
Twice!
The album will feature 18 tracks! The most out of any album Swift has released thus far! It’s release date of August 23 converts to 8 + 2 +3 which of course = 13! Swift herself said an easy way to remmeber that is “August is the 8th month and then 23 is 2+3 which together adds up to 13.”
On her album, Swift had this to say:
“This album in tone is very romantic, and not just simply thematically like it’s all love songs or something. Because I think that the idea of something being romantic doesn’t have to be a happy song. I think that you can find romance in loneliness or sadness or going through a conflict or dealing with things in your life. It just kind of looks at those things with a very romantic gaze.”
Swift also revealed that the title of her next single was also in the “ME!” music video and mentioned that speaking in Frenchin the beginning was a clue!
Brendon Urie, Swift’s lover in the video literally says (in French) “you need to calm down” in the video to which Swift replies “I am calm!” Swift revelaed her next single is in fact called “You Need to Calm Down” and it is track 14 on the album! It comes out tonight at midnight!! The music video for it will premiere on Good Morning America on June 17!
Swift also revealed the album cover! You can pre-order the album here!
Swift said there will be a standard edition of the album and there will be 4 deluxe versions exclusively at Target and her website globally. She also showed each version so everyone could see what they would be getting! Each one has unique content inside.
There will also be two audio recordings on the deluxe versions. For the release of the album there will be a collaboration with Stella McCartney! Swift has been wearing some of her designs lately! Swift said she will be giving more details closer to the launch on the album about what exacrtly that collaboration will entail!
Lindsey Lohan tuned into the livestream as well! Along with Martha Hunt!
Swifties have finally learned what all the hype was leading up to Taylor Swift’s mysterious postings with the caption “4.26.” The date of course being April 26. New music was assumed but anything beyond that was speculation. Swift did not do a lot of promo for her last album release of reputation and instead chose to let her music speak for itself. She did not give interviews and she was rarely spotted in public.
Now that her music has come out into the world, all the clues she has been giving us are finally making sense. Her new single titled “ME!” features Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco. It’s not the first time we have seen the song title either. The earliest being on Swift’s birthday in 2017 when BFF Selena Gomez posted a caption saying “You write all the thoughts some aren’t able to articulate. (ME!)” Swift also posted the song title herself with the exclamation point a couple of months ago.
Although a song is usually out before the music video, Swift decided to release the two at the same time and even had a Q&A on YouTube before the official premiere. She revealed that yes, Gomez has heard most of the album and she is the best keeper of secrets and Queen of her heart! She also created so much buzz that the 24-hour YouTube viewer counter was broken and there were millions of views within the first two hours!
The first single of a new era does not usually tell us what the rest of the album will be like, however, the music video does! The song itself is usually one of the more catchy “ear-worm” type songs that often elicits strong reactions. There were many who did not like the sound of “Look What You Made Me Do” but it broke all kinds of records when it was released. It created a spectacle. That did not mean there were not songs on the album that weren’t heartfelt. Swift herself shared that “ME!”
“This album is a pretty big story. There’s a lot to say, there’s a lot that is said. It goes pretty in-depth in lyrics that I’m really proud of. And like I said, a lot of the time I’ll pick a first single because I like the feeling that it conveys knowing that there’s a lot more on the album that’s very different from this single. that’s something the fans have picked up on at this point, but it’s really about like, ‘What song did I want to pick that I’ll go out into the world we get to go perform it and have fun with it?’ With the album, I’m just really excited for more to get revealed about it and I want to be able to do that with the fans, to the fans, and explain to them where I was coming from with it.” – Taylor Swift
The video for “ME!”, the lead single off her still-untitled 7th album was full of whimsy, colors, references, all things happy and so many clues about what’s ahead this era. Although the official name of the album hasn’t been released, Swift took to twitter to say that the name of her album and the next single are in fact in the video and that no one has found it yet. We have broken down the video to provide as much insight as possible along with possible album names!
Swift has since said that there have been fans who have guessed the name correctly but she is still not going to reveal it just yet!
“Yeah definitely there are a few people who have gotten it. I can’t tell you who. I haven’t told them yet, but um, I mean I think they’ll know when I tell them what it is and they’ll be like ‘I was right, I knew it’” – Taylor Swift
Now further analysis of the music video! There’s a lot to unpack here so let’s take a deep breath and dive in.
“They like to play games with music, they like for it to be a scavenger hunt, or little easter eggs foreshadowing moments. So that makes it even more fun for me because I like for music to be much of an event as possible.” – Taylor Swift to HITS UK RADIO
“‘How can we make the best visual effects out of this?’ And every single choice was essentially to foreshadow something that will happen in the course of the album. So everything in that video is basically an Easter egg.” – Taylor Swift
The video opens with a pastel snake on a rainbow chalk road. The snake is similar to the one she used at the beginning of the reputation era but a pastel color instead of dark.
The chalk road also reminds us of her poem during the rep era “Why She Disappeared” that says “When she fell, she fell apart. Cracked her bones on the pavement she once decorated as a child with sidewalk chalk.” She is continuing her story and showing us what happened after she fell, how she went back to her home base to get re-centered and come back alive. Swift also posted a photo of her sidewalk chalk months ago with the caption “Take me home.” ‘Home’ is one of the possible album name theories!
The snake doesn’t stick around long, it bursts into colorful butterflies (also known as a kaleidoscope, another album name contender)! Swift has been hinting at butterflies in posts and the day of the premiere she surprised fans at a ME! butterfly mural.
She shed her snake skin and emerged into a beautiful butterfly! This isn’t the only note to her past eras, more on that to come as we dive deeper into the video.
The butterflies lead into Swift’s ‘apartment’ where she is in a very heated melodramatic argument with Urie, in French. The opening scene is reminiscent of Panic! At The Disco’s video for “Better If You Do” where he had a smiliar argument scene in the beginning of the video. The French language and Parisian architecture brings us back to her “Begin Again” video. An apt title for this era if there ever was one. It also reminds us of the melodramatics of the “Blank Space” music video and the way she was flinging her arms while saying “I am calm” in french.
The apartment solves a lot of the clues from Swifts mysterious Instagram posts:
The chickens in sunglasses? Well, they are some cool chicks that make up a fun wall collage. One of the cool chicks on the wall was actually a picture of The Dixie Chicks! Is a collab coming up on the album? Only time will tell. Swift did bring out the lead singer Natalie Maines during the 1989 tour. The Dixie Chicks also tweeted a picture of eyes to Swift, who replied that she will always be a stan! Swift did explain in a recent interview that she simply put their picture in there because she is a big fan, but who knows, maybe something will happen in the future!
Smallzy: There are some rumors about some collaborations on the album… Why are the Dixie Chicks on the wall? Can you say anything?
Taylor: I can ‘cuz that is really just sort of me loving the Dixie Chicks and having written the line There’s a lot of cool chicks out there. So I wanted to pay homage to the coolest chicks in the world which are the Dixie Chicks because I’m such a hardcore fan and I always will be.
There were also some new clues planted in the scene.
There’s a Christmas tree in the corner of the room that Swift herself said is a clue. As some of you may know, Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm. She visited her childhood home last year and posted about it on Instagram, perhaps another clue? Many believe the title of her album is ‘Home,’ a motif that appears again and again in the video. Or possibly just returning to her roots. There’s a lot of reminiscing about past music videos, inspirations and musicals. So this era could be just a celebration of everything she’s done.
After insisting she is calm by exclaiming “Je Suis Calm!”, Swift heads out of the apartment and sings the opening line. “I promise that you’ll never find another like me.” Her flirty inflection is a callback to her hit “Blank Space” but also combines a dress similar to the one she wore during “Treacherous” on the Red Tour.
Urie looks out the window and nearby is a clock. Now, the clock could just be there as part of the apartment décor, but with Swift, everything is usually a clue. The clock was set to 8:30 which might possibly be an album release date (but doesn’t match the calendar stamp theory date for August, which was the 13th.)
As Swift travels to the door she encounters 13 snake clouds and makes it through unscathed (despite one of them trying to swallow her whole), leaving her darkness behind. Also, behind her are shadows of her former selves fighting, an iconic scene from the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video. She doesn’t need to battle anymore, she knows her identity. To quote the song, “I’m the only one of me” and proud of it.
Next, we find Swift outside in a bright yellow suit, another Instagram reveal! She is also surrounded by 7 women, possibly relating to this being her 7th studio album. The number can’t be a coincidence!
She isn’t dancing on any street, it’s a rainbow road straight out of this post.
It looks like a frame from her music video “Begin Again” and the neon lights (which spell out ‘Lover’) have us thinking of the musical Moulin Rouge. Fans are also speculating it may be the title of a future song. Another title could be “Blue Eyed Lover.”
This scene shows us a view of London, which is a possible nod to where Swift has been spending a lot of her off time since her boyfriend of 2.5 years, Joe Alwyn lives there. We can also clearly see the backdrop, which some think is a chrysalis, and others a mosaic heart. We are leaning towards the mosaic heart since hearts seem to be a theme throughout the song.
Urie pleas to get Swift back with flowers and a ring, possibly in relation to all the news that she was getting engaged, which she brushes off. He finally wins her over with an adorable kitten, who became Swift’s real-life pet, Benjamin Button.
This might be the biggest real-life reveal in the music video. As Swift confirmed, the video shows something she’s been keeping a secret for months! She later introduced us to him!
Happy and in love, Urie exposes his heart and the camera zooms inside. The kaleidoscope heartbeat under his coat is literally a “Welcome To New York” lyric come to life! It’s also an image Swift has reblogged on tumblr, making others further think it’s a possible album name contender.
On the other side, Swift is looking like a 60’s queen, dancing with hearts and cupids. The backdrop of the stage might be another hint, it looks like it spells out home. or could they actually be 13s? The dancing is also similar to that of Hairspray, another musical!
The pair wave off to the next scene, in which Swift and Urie are in full marching band gear to perform the bridge. The lyrics are quirky but we can all agree spelling is fun, especially if you play Scrabble. Fans have also adopted this mantra as possibly being the “1, 2, 3 Let’s Go B*tch” they screamed out last tour during “Delicate.” When talking about that line, Swift said she added it so people would know the song wasn’t a serious love song.
“So the lyrics, that’s a tone decision that we mad in the studio. Like, we literally were like, “Okay, let’s say, ‘Hey kids, spelling is fun!'” Because we want everyone to know that this song is not really serious because it’s not, like, a serious love song. It’s about embracing and owning that you at times feel like, you know, you’re irreplaceable and I want those times to be more often when they hear this song and it gets stuck in their head. I think with a pop song you have the ability to get something stuck in people’s heads and I just want it to be a mantra that kind of is much more self-love than what we often times feel which is self-loathing and insecurity.” – Taylor Swift
The choreography and sheer happiness could be straight out of the video for “Shake It Off” as Swift is lifted up in a similar manner to her cheerleading move.
Urie and Swift then run off to the end of the road together, to a rainbow tower. The bright lights and outfits als make it look like Emerald City, another nod to Wizard of Oz, as Dorothy’s last stop before going home.
The pair wind up dancing in what can only be described as a glowing rainbow tunnel and they look infectiously happy. Swift is wearing her classic ‘old Taylor’ cowboy boots. We definitely missed this wardrobe staple! This is another nod to her roots and getting her start in Country Music.
The video ends with Swift and Urie dancing in the rain, not just any rain though, this is rainbow rain! Dancing in a blue dress in the rain is nothing new to Swift if you remember her “Delicate” music video. The umbrella choreography is a clear nod to Singin’ in the Rain, another classic musical.
There seems to be a lot of musicals in this video. Swift did get her start for singing and acting performing musical theater when she was younger. She starred in musicals like Bye, Bye Birdie, Annie, Grease, and The Sound of Music. She will also be starring in the movie version of the musical CATS that comes out in December. Fitting right?
This video was magical and will definitely be on repeat! Not just because of the catchy tune but to get a closer look at all the clues. Swift herself confirmed the next single and album title are hidden in the video, which fans have yet to discover, or has yet to be confirmed by Swift.
So… the new album title is actually revealed somewhere in the video AND so is the title of the second single, but I haven’t seen people finding them yet… 🕵️♂️🕵️♀️ #MEmusicvideohttps://t.co/cdxQ6dFiar
So far the theories of album names with strong connections seem to be Home, Kaleidoscope, Daisy (the flowers he gives, the flowers on her dress, the new merch she has put out), Metamorphosis, Heart (or variation like Heartbeat). Could 13, Angels, Daylight or Lover be contenders? Maybe the next single? Is the next single also the album title or are there two different clues?
Swift said she would tell us all when she tells us and she respects all the theories so much. She just needs us to calm down a little before she does.
WATCH: Taylor Swift ft Brendon Urie in the “ME!” Music video
The song may be called “Beautiful Tragedy” but for Josh Taerk it’s been a beautiful ride. “Beautiful Tragedy” is climbing the charts, the song is already #39 on the Mediabase Top 40 Pop Activator Chart and #41 on the BDS/Billboard Top 40 indicator chart. Taerk has “a really great feeling the song is going to keep climbing” and so do we! Variety Beat had the chance to catch up with him and see what he’s been up to since out last interview!
How has Taerk handled the new success?
“It’s been awesome and surreal at the same time…The fact that the song has connected with so many people, that it’s climbing up the Top 40 charts means the world to me!”
“Beautiful Tragedy” is all over YouTube in it’s clever music video that bring the words to life. A new video always brings along with it a new translation of a song, the lyric video for “Beautiful Tragedy” is a whole new “reality”. It’s a modern beautiful tragedy, one in which Taerk says;
“I came up with the idea while I was sitting at my computer thinking about my love/hate relationship with technology”.
Instead of traditional graphics, lyrics type across the screen on Facebook, Pop-up ads, Google and more! This was all brought to life with the help of Josh Lockhart. The two met through a friend in Nashville and immediately started brainstorming ways to put the lyrics on a computer screen with flawless transitions and a few hidden jokes for us to find.
“I loved Lockharts idea to write ‘I’m feeling tragic’ on our Google search engine…Putting all those little bits of my and Lockhart’s humor into this concept was hilarious. The other part I had a lot of fun doing was the Will Ferrell-esque cowbell and tambourine parts in the bridge. That was so much fun to record!!”
That last bit was filmed live in a park near Tarek’s parents’ house in Toronto and plays back in the video on a computer screen. You’re never taken out of the laptop experience and we have to hand it to Taerk and Lockhart for their ingenious platforms and seamless transitions. We hope to see more from these two soon and so does Taerk, who had a lot of fun working with him on it and could definitely see them working together again.
Image courtesy: Josh Taerk
If you want to catch a stripped-down live version of the song, Josh Taerk posted his time at D’Angelico Sessions in Colorado. We asked how this beautiful rendition came about and he said,
“I’ve become pretty close with the team of people behind the brand. We’ve done a couple of impromptu jam nights/shows together, and they were very cool about us doing some acoustic videos in the store (hint, more to come)!”
We don’t know about the rest of you but the last part of that statement has us super excited!
What’s next for Josh Taerk?
“I love being on the road and sharing my songs live with my fans! I’m actually about to head out for some Canadian tour dates this month and then we’re heading back to Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana in April…I’m always writing new songs, and love throwing new ones into our live shows.”
Gonna be real honest here and just say I am definitely lively through Liz Huett in her music video for her single “STFU & Hold Me.” The only thing I’ve actually done is jump in a bounce house so clearly, I am not truly living.
I’ve definitely been championing and cheering Huett on for years, ever since I was first introduced to her while she was performing with Taylor Swift. I’ve been to live shows and the girl really knows how to draw her own crowd and own a stage!
WATCH LIZ HUETT’S MUSIC VIDEO FOR “STFU & HOLD ME”
So proud of Liz and everything she is setting out to do on her own terms! She has been on all kinds of Spotify trending lists and receiving love from so many media outlets, including EW who premiered her Music Video!
Taylor Alison Swift just dropped a new song off her album Reputation and it’s safe to say we weren’t “…Ready For It?” Swift first posted a hint about the song, (that no one realized was a hint at the time) when she posted about “Look What You Made Me Do” being out! I MEAN IT WAS JUST SITTING RIGHT THERE, AS PLAIN AS THE NOSE ON MY FACE!
She captioned it “…ready for it?” New single #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo out now.”
LISTEN TO “…READY FOR IT?” NOW AND CHECK OUT THE LYRICS/ANALYSIS
“…Ready For It?” starts off with a loud booming bass sound…. you know that sound, when you’re standing front row at a concert and you can’t even really hear what the artist is singing because you just get the bass in your ears and then you can’t hear anything once the concert is over? Yeah, that sound!
After Swift clears her throat, she prepares for her Pop/Rap song. Let’s get into the lyrics, a song we believe to be about her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, whom she has been dating for over 10 months. <3
To watch this article in video format see video here:
Lyrics for “…Ready For It?” *Parts in bold are explanations*
[Verse 1]
Knew he was a killer
First time that I saw him
*Swift first saw Alwyn in 2016. The pair had at least previously met in October during a private concert for Kings of Leon. Alwyn was seen entering the same after party behind model Martha Hunt, BFF of Taylor Swift. Killer here could also just mean good looking. 🙂
Wonder how many girls he had loved and left haunted
But if he’s a ghost then I can be a phantom
Holdin’ him for ransom
*This line seems to be thoughts Swift had when she first saw him, as continuing on from her opening lines. She probably knew very little about him, so it’s natural to wonder if he is single, or taken, what his love history has been like. He is an actor after all, but Swift has also had her fair share of heart break and knows what the pain of that is like. Sometimes, when you go through really bad breakups, they take parts of you away. People can be left emotionless and it takes a very long time to break through that wall. So if he isn’t capable of much love at the moment, she would totally understand because she has also been through the ringer. (I can be a phantom). But she won’t let that get in the way, she’s going to be there no matter how long it takes to break through that wall he may have up (holdin’ him for ransom).
Some, some boys are tryin’ too hard
He don’t try at all though
Younger than my exes but he act like such a man, so
*These lines are everything. People may try to impress her, whether it be lavish gifts, jet-setting around the world, private planes. Alwyn is just himself, a boy standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him. <3 (Ok, we added that last part in). Although Alwyn isn’t the youngest ex (Conor Kennedy, Harry Styles and Taylor Lautner have him beat), he’s still younger than her past two, Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston. Even though he is younger than them, he acts like how a man should act. Not like a boy, not childish (cough Harris). Sometimes it takes men longer than women to grow up. A lot of times females can be ready for a committed relationship at a younger age, but it takes some males longer to get there. They need more time to mature.
I see nothing better, I keep him forever
Like a vendetta-ta
*Here, the meaning would appear to be that he is really the best man to have come along. Like when you think you’ve truly known what love is, when you’re in high school and you tell your parents you’re in love, but they really know better. During that time though, that’s all the love you’ve known, there isn’t much to compare it to, but as you age and you realize what’s important and how hard relationships can be when you don’t get to see the person every day out of convenience (like going to the same school) and how jobs and life just get in the way. Anyway, tangent over. She’s keeping him like a vendetta (which pretty much never ends since feuds/revenge will always continue).
[Pre-Chorus]
I-I-I see how this is gonna go
Touch me, and you’ll never be alone
*This line is particularly sad and disguised to the average person who doesn’t understand what is being said here. Swift knows all too well about the media attraction her dating life gets. In fact, after Harry Styles, she didn’t date anyone for two years. It’s hard to date her, it’s probably why most of her relationships have failed. So here, she is saying that as soon as they get together (touch me), he’ll never be left alone. There will be paparazzi following him, taking his pictures, interviewers asking about their relationship. He will be thrust into the limelight.
I-Island breeze and lights down low
No one has to know
*Islands are symbolic of a place that is generally more secluded and harder to get to. So here, although she could mean that they have been on vacations together, I think the more symbolic meaning is that they are going to be keeping their relationship on the down low. A little more secluded and out of the limelight (lights down low). In fact, the media didn’t know about their relationship for at least 6 months, and to this date they still don’t have any actual pictures of them together (minus one very grainy picture/or them hiding behind umbrellas).
[Chorus]
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I’m gonna be with you
So I take my time
*A lot of people think these lines are about sex, and although they can be, it could also just be about the way she is dreaming about their life together. The future, maybe a wedding, children, a life away from the media. She seems to be saying that she knows they are going to be together (I know I’m gonna be with you), so there is no need to rush the relationship (So I take my time).
(Are you ready for it?)
Then she asks the infamous question, “Are you ready for it?” Meaning, all the attention and new fame that comes with dating her. She goes on to explain in the next verse.
[Verse 2]
Me, I was a robber
First time that he saw me
Stealing hearts and running off and never saying sorry
*Here Swift switches gears and talks about how Alwyn must have perceived her the first time he saw her. Saying she was a robber is referring to hearts and past relationships. Basically, he only knew the media version of her, not the real version. In the media version of her, she just dates guys for a few months and then breaks up with them, after getting material for new music. That she doesn’t really care about these men (never saying sorry).
But if I’m a thief then
He can join the heist
*So here Swift is saying that if all the things the media says about her are true, and she’s just a robber of hearts (a thief) he can join in on it because the reward is their love.
And we’ll move to an island-and
He can be my jailer
*They are going to keep their relationship private (not actually move to an island, but who knows that could happen someday) and he’ll be the one to keep her (jailer) out of the limelight. She doesn’t care because she believes in their relationship.
Burton to this Taylor
*Richard Burton was married to Elizabeth Taylor so Alwyn can be the Burton to this Taylor (Swift). Elizabeth Taylor was married 8 times and Swift has 8 exes! But despite that, their love spans across a decade. Elizabeth had lost her youth in early fame (much like Swift) and when she got together with Burton, he also took off. He was talented and a success, but was taken to the next level of fame due to their union (It’s no doubt Alwyn is talented and successful on his own, but like Swift said earlier, now he’ll never be alone). Together they made it big and always loved each other.
Every love I’ve known in comparison is a failure
I forget their names now
*Can we take a moment to laugh at how great this line is?! Her past relationships, as great as they may seem don’t add up to what she has now. SO MUCH, THAT SHE DOESN’T EVEN GIVE THEM A SECOND THOUGHT, SHE HAS FORGOTTEN THEIR NAMES! lol
I’m so very tame now
Never be the same now, now
*Swift is not the boy crazy, dating machine the media makes her out to be. She’s ready to really give love a chance, to keep her private life private. She’s not the same person she was before him, and now that she has seen so much that has failed, she’s going to protect what she has. There’s no need for show boating, lavish expenses or anything even close. Like she said earlier, he doesn’t even have to try (to impress her).
[Pre-Chorus]
I-I-I see how this is gonna go
Touch me and you’ll never be alone
I-Island breeze and lights down low
No one has to know
(No one has to know)
[Chorus]
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby
In the middle of the night in my dreams
I know I’m gonna be with you
So I take my time
(Are you ready for it?)
(Ooh, are you ready for it?)
Post-Chorus]
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
*This is the only other lines that are new for the rest of the song. Let the games begin, let everything that comes with dating her come their way. Again, she is asking are you ready for it? We think he is. 🙂
[Bridge]
I-I-I see how this is gonna go
Touch me and you’ll never be alone
I-Island breeze and lights down low
No one has to know
[Chorus]
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I’m gonna be with you
So I take my time
In the middle of the night
[Post-Chorus]
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
(Are you ready for it?)
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
(Are you ready for it?)
This is only the second song off Reputation and we can’t wait for the rest!!
Fans are wondering if the next song will be called “A Second Glance” or now that we’ve caught on to Swift’s trickery is she trying to out play us?
