The old Taylor can't come to the phone...again. Taylor Swift's new song and music video, "ME!," may be a message of empowerment, but it's also an announcement: Reputation is over. A new chapter has begun for Swift and her Swifties, and all the clues are hidden in the music video.
Swift teased this new single for some time, at first dropping cryptic clues about April 26, and then an entire dang mural filled with all the motifs that make up the visuals. But rainbows and flowers and cats aren't the only ingredients in "ME!" Just like the lead-up to Reputation, Swift is dropping hints about upcoming songs and collabs in the background of her videos. In just the music video for "ME!" alone, fans are already pretty sure they know the name of the next song on the album, as well as the next musical icon(s) the singer is going to collaborate with. Plus, there are some other Easter eggs that are worth mentioning, including the answer to the secret Swift says she's been keeping for months.
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Ahead are all the clues about TS7 and beyond in Taylor Swift's new music video, "ME!"
Taylor Swift's Reputation era is over.
The very first shot of the music video is of a snake, which is a reference to the mascot that followed her all through Reputation. By championing the snake visual, Swift took the narrative placed on her by Kim Kardashian and made it her own. But in "ME!," the snake bursts into a butterfly, showing that TS7 will no longer be about grudges and negativity — it's about rebirth and growing into something better.
Taylor Swift might collaborate with the Dixie Chicks.
How else would you explain this portrait of the Dixie Chicks on the wall in the music video? Swift collaborated with Dixie Chicks member Natalie Maines for a rendition of “Goodbye Earl” during her 1989 Tour, so they already have a relationship. And the use of the word "chicks" over top of this visual is pretty clear, wouldn't you say?
Taylor Swift could work with Ariana Grande.
This one is less clear, but I'm holding out hope. Swift and Grande are now on the same record label, and Grande has been using cloud visuals pretty heavily this past year. Clouds appear during an early scene in "ME!," which could be a coincidence until you learn that Taylor Swift co-directed this music video with Dave Meyers, who directed Grande's "No Tears Left To Cry" and "God Is A Woman" music videos. That's a lot of crossover, and Meyers would know more than anyone what cloud visuals mean to music fans right now.
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A song on Taylor Swift's seventh album is called "Lover."
I mean, what — are we just supposed to ignore the big neon "Lover" sign in the background of this shot? That's, FYI, sitting below what appears to be the British houses of parliament and Big Ben? This is all the evidence I need that a song for Joe Alwyn called "Lover" will be on TS7.
Does Taylor Swift have a new kitten?
During her Q&A before the video was released, Swift teased that this video would reveal a secret that she had been keeping for months. Some people think it's that she and Joe Alwyn are engaged, but I think it's exactly what it looks like during a scene in the music video: Taylor Swift has a new kitten. Urie hands her a Grumpy Cat-looking furry baby, which Swift graciously accepts after turning down an engagement ring. Now, we just need to know the name.
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