It's safe to say that Taylor Swift loves Easter eggs. If you're unfamiliar, Easter eggs in this context means hidden messages snuck into someone's work—in Swift's case, her writing and music videos, her clothes and jewelry, and more.
She's quite literally been doing this from the beginning. In an interview with The Washington Post, she said, "When I was 15 and putting together my first album...I decided to encode the lyrics with hidden messages using capital letters. That's how it started, and my fans and I have since descended into color coding, numerology, word searches, elaborate hints, and Easter eggs."
By now, her fans are expert at breaking apart the potential hidden meanings in her work. And honestly, it's an art form. Below, the most genius Taylor Swift Easter eggs of all time.
Spotify Showcase
Swift has had a long relationship with Spotify, as evidenced above. In April 2024, Spotify even hosted a pop-up exhibit that was designed to tease The Tortured Poets Department. It was a library-themed room laden with a whole bunch of Easter eggs. The room was updated every day and included lyrics, a clock set to 2 p.m., fake flowers and birds, and way more.
Teasing Album Names
Swift is constantly giving hints about the names of upcoming albums (more on that in a bit), from subtle to very obvious Easter eggs. One of the most exciting was her mid-pandemic Instagram post in 2020 with the caption, "Not a lot going on at the moment," followed by the release of Folklore mere months later. Fun!
Butterfly Mural
This butterfly mural in Nashville, TN, teased the song "ME!" with a bunch of little Easter eggs. The pastel color scheme is thematic (and was carried through in the music video, too); there are 13 hearts (her lucky number) and seven stars (for her 7th album). And probably a bunch more, let's be honest.
Braid Meanings
According to some fans, Taylor Swift's hair tells a story (no, literally). For the Instagram announcement of evermore, there's an image of Swift from the back with a French braid. For folklore, it was two low braided buns. And whenever she wears her hair like that, fans anticipate she's teasing a particular aspect of the album—or as a pattern to announce new music.
Pastel Hints
For every Swift era, there's a theme and a color scheme. Nothing is ever by accident, and colors can foreshadow future albums. For example! She told Entertainment Weekly she "foreshadowed" the pastels for her album Lover "ages ago in a Spotify vertical video for 'Delicate' by painting my nails those colors." Which occurred 18 months before the album's release.
A Friendship Bracelet
Friendship bracelets have come to be deeply associated with Taylor Swift and her fans; Swift's jewelry is often meaningful but this particular one (TNT, which could stand for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce or be indicative of the explosive power of their relationship) was one she wore to support Kelce at the Super Bowl.
Significant Sunglasses
Even the smallest of details can be meaningful for Swift and her fans. In the video for "You Need to Calm Down," she's modeling yellow heart sunglasses (as well as a sleep mask and cat mask elsewhere in the vid) that she dropped immediately after the video's release for fans to buy.
Birth Year References
If you look carefully, Swift references her birth year (1989) all over the place—including on her microphone, in this case! In many places it's not subtle at all (there's an entire album named 1989, after all), so the reference is a real gateway for other Easter eggs.
Best Friend Appearances
Taylor Swift has been friends with Abigail Anderson Berard since the two were 15. Berard even inspired Swift's song "Fifteen": “You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail / And soon enough you’re best friends / Laughing at the other girls / Who think they’re so cool / We’ll be out of here as soon as we can.” Berard was in the music video, too.
Balcony Callback
In April 2023, eagle-eyed fans noted that Swift seemed to be hinting she would be releasing Speak Now (Taylor's Version)—in her music video for "Bejeweled," she even recreates a balcony scene from the one she did during her Speak Now World Tour. And, in fact, the album was released that July.
Her Favorite Number(s)
Should you know anything about Swift, you'll know that there are some particularly special numbers in her life. There might be no number more important than 13: born on the 13th, turned 13 on Friday the 13th, went gold in 13 weeks for her first album. If you look close enough, 13 is everywhere throughout her work, including a 13 second intro on one of her songs.
'Robbers to the East / Clowns to the West'
When folklore was released, fans noted a particular lyric that perhaps referred to her enmity with rapper Kanye West. The full line from the song "Peace" is "But there's robbers to the east / Clowns to the West," which may be referring to her feud with Scooter Braun in the first half and West in the second half (note that the lyric capitalizes West but not east).
The Anagram Video
In 2021, Swift released a video from "the vault" (i.e., unreleased songs off one of her albums) that had a bunch of Easter egg anagrams. On the video, she wrote, "The vault door is about to be as unhinged as you'll think I am after you watch this video...Level Expert. Happy decoding!" Swifties managed to figure out six song titles and a collaborator (Keith Urban).
Her New Cat
Taylor Swift's cats are her children—that's what she's called them (I believe the one she's holding above is Olivia Benson). Her kitten Benjamin Button appeared in the music video "ME!" Swift fell in love instantly with him after he was brought to set, and he was available for adoption. There's a behind-the-scenes video that shows this exact moment.
Liner Note Secret Messages
This one's been around for a while: Swift used to leave Easter eggs in the liner notes of her albums. If she lowercased all her lyrics, for example, you could see a hidden messaged in the letters that were capitalized (and she would sometimes reverse it, with all but the special letters capitalized).
A Familiar Face in Her Movie
It's thought that "I Bet You Think About Me" and "All Too Well" are about Swift's relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal—and for All Too Well: The Short Film, there's even a guy who looks alarmingly like the actor (played by Dylan O'Brien with a beanie and scruffy beard).
References to New Music
Swift loves telling us when she's releasing new music, thanks to little clues you can spot if you look closely. The "Fortnight" video had the date of her upcoming album release (4/19/24) on a pill bottle, and she hinted at the timing of the release of 1989 (Taylor's Version) with a clock in the "Karma" music video.
A Pen Name for Joe Alwyn
"William Bowery" was credited on several songs on folklore and evermore. Swifties, never deterred by a puzzle, determined that this was actually Swift's boyfriend at the time, Joe Alwyn, because of his great-grandfather's name (William) and the place where the two first dated in 2016 (the Bowery Hotel). Wow.
'Mr. Perfectly Fine'
It is rumored that this song is some seriously direct criticism of Joe Jonas (one of Swift's exes). The lyrics kind of speak for themselves ("Hello Mr. ‘Perfectly fine’ / How's your heart after breaking mine?"), but fans are convinced that she uses the word "Mr." so many times in the song because it's a few more instances than the 25 seconds it took Jonas to break up with her over the phone.
Teasing 'Lover'
One of the more obvious of Swift's Easter eggs was the giant, blaring, neon sign with the word "Lover" in her "ME!" music video, which teased the name of her upcoming album. She likes to do that—give signs about future album and song names—it's just that this one was a literal sign!
Guitar Riffs on 'Dear John'
This one is alleged, but fans of Swift's noticed that on her song "Dear John," the very beginning guitar riffs sound just like a John Mayer song. Swift goes on to make references in the song (again allegedly) to her relationship to the singer, including, "Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?"
Adding Her Heartbeat
Swift pours herself into her songs—and, in the case of Wildest Dreams, she took her literal heartbeat and interpolated it (she's credited for vocals, writing, and heart sounds on the song). Go back and listen, and know that those "thump thump" sounds have special meaning.
The Harry Styles References
Swift has (allegedly!) referenced Harry Styles more than once in her music, including (apparently) his longer post-breakup hair and the fact that he was talking to multiple girls at once. In "Out of the Woods," she even rips off a paper airplane necklace (very similar to the necklace belonging to Styles that she wore during their relationship).
Bringing In Taylor Lautner
She isn't acrimonious with all her exes!! Taylor Lautner makes an appearance in Swift's music video for "I Can See You," and Lautner took to the stage during Swift's Kansas City, Missouri, Eras tour stop in 2023. When she introduced him, Swift said, "He was a very positive force in my life when I was making the Speak Now album...He and his wife have become some of my closest friends, and it’s very convenient because we all share the same first name.”
Putting Her Grandma on 'Marjorie'
In evermore's “Marjorie," Swift explained it was inspired by her late maternal grandmother, including her "backlogged dreams" being fulfilled by the singer now. For the backing vocals, Swift even used recordings of her grandmother—who was an opera singer—singing on the track.
Blue Dresses for '1989'
No detail is too small! The final show of Swift's U.S. Eras Tour had a bunch of blue dresses—and fans took note, naturally, thinking it might be a sign she was about to announce the release date of 1989 (Taylor's Version). And they were right! And she played "New Romantics"!
No Scooters
Taylor Swift has not exactly minced words when it came to Scooter Braun: namely, after his company acquired the label that owned her first several albums' master rights. In her song "The Man," which is about the inequality she faces as a woman, there's a pretty noticeable "No Scooters" sign.
The 2024 Grammys
Fans noted that, at the 2024 Grammys, Taylor Swift was dressed in black and white—kind of mimicking the color of an albatross. "The Albatross” is a bonus track on The Tortured Poets Department. Also, see the clock choker? It's set to Midnight (like her album!).
Blake and Ryan's Kids
"Betty," written by Swift and Joe Alwyn, features three characters in a love triangle: James, Inez, and Betty. Those are actually three of the names of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynold's four children (the pair is apparently pals with the singer). Also—Swift is their kids' godmother!
Katy Perry
"You Need to Calm Down" has a ton of Easter eggs you could choose from. But my favorite might be an actual person: Katy Perry. The two singers had (allegedly!) been in a feud and very publicly buried the hatchet...in a music video, dressed as a hamburger and fries. Very cute!
The Snakes
Taylor Swift has made the snake her symbol in ever-more impressive ways—and, much like her birth year and lucky number, you can find it everywhere you look. While the emoji was initially used in a derogatory way to imply she was deceitful, Swift turned it into a major method of empowerment.
The Graduation Speech
What do you do if you're Taylor Swift and you've been asked to give a graduation speech at New York University? You write a speech with a bunch of Easter eggs, naturally. She made reference to a few songs and even teased the upcoming Midnights: “Breathe in, breath through, breathe deep, breathe out.”
