Music

Taylor Swift Dropped A Bucketload Of Easter Eggs About Her ‘Red’ Re-Release

Sure enough, fans have already decoded every single detail.

by Joseph Earp  6 August 2021
taylor swift red photo

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Taylor Swift, mistress of Easter Eggs, has outdone herself with a cryptic new crossword designed to tease the forthcoming release of her re-recorded version of Red.

As any Swiftie worth their salt will know, the popstar has a long history of strewing clues like breadcrumbs. Her album releases are littered with references to her back catalogue and to her personal life, lines and images that build up an entire universe, rich for discovery. Remember, for instance, her album evermore, a veritable treasure trove of glittering threads? It took Music Junkee contributor Jemima Skelley an entire article to unpick some of the references, and she didn’t even exhaust the thing.

But now Swift has taken things to the next level, releasing a short video of an animated safe to tease the newest entry in her project of poring back over the back catalogue.

And Swift is fully aware of what she’s doing — the ways that she is testing and challenging her fanbase. The caption to the video makes that clear, with Swift “cackling maniacally” as she sets her followers some very tricky homework.

Watch the video first, and then we’ll decode it together (with the help of some particularly committed Swifties, of course.)

Got it? No worries if you don’t — this thing is designed to elude easy interpretation.

First things first: notice the background colour? Yep, that deep shade of maroon is the first sign that this is a teaser for Red, a subtle hat-tip to the colour that made the popstar’s name.

Then there’s that background music, a snippet of audio that when played backwards sounds suspiciously like ‘Better Man’.

Oh, and then there is the text that comes flying out of the safe. Swifties were quick to realise that, when arranged in a grid, the words come to resemble a crossword, and within moments, were busy trying to solve it.

The biggest takeaway? That Phoebe Bridgers guest spot, and the promise of a ten-minute version of ‘All Too Well’. Looks like Taylor Swift is stepping up her re-recording game to the next level.

Oh, and it looks like this game isn’t over yet either, with Swift dropping a new clue via her Twitter account.

Godspeed Swifties; let’s see if you can work out this next clue.