Taylor Swift shocked the world when she released her new album, Folklore, completely out of the blue on July 24. Fans had been hoping for a new Swift album, but no one was expecting it so soon. Taylor Swift is known for dropping sneaky and mysterious hints before releasing new songs or albums, and this album is full of them. The album features 16 brand new songs and many hidden messages in the lyrics. Taylor Swift’s fanbase is no joke, and these are all the Easter eggs and hidden message fans have discovered:
“Cardigan” music video
“Cardigan” is the first full-length music video of the album and it includes many hidden messages, including a picture of her grandfather, references of her past music videos, and her lucky number 13.
“Epiphany” family references
Taylor Swift talked about the inspiration behind her songs on her Instagram and fans believe she shares stories about her family in the song “Epiphany”, specifically her grandfather.
Scooter Braun and “Mad Woman”
Many fans speculate that the song “Mad Woman” is calling out Scooter Braun and his conflict with Swift. One of the telling lyrics in the song says: “They say ‘move on,’ but you know I won’t / And women like hunting witches too / Doing your dirtiest work for you / It’s obvious that wanting me dead / Has really brought you two together,”.
The teenage love triangle
Taylor Swift directly told her fans that three of the songs in the album are about a “teenage love triangle”, but she didn’t say which three. However, Swift’s dedicated fans and their detective skills speculate that the three songs are “August”, “Betty”, and “Cardigan”.
“Invisible String” and relationships
Fans believe that Swift references her past relationships in “Invisible String”, including her past relationship with Joe Jonas with the lyrics “Cold was the steel of my axe to grind / For the boys who broke my heart / Now I send their babies presents.” Fans think this is about Joe Jonas because he and his wife, Sophie Turner, are expecting their first child soon.
The baby name in “Betty”
Blake Lively and Taylor Swift have been close friends for years, and fans came to believe that the song “Betty” is actually the name of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynold’s third child, who they had in September, but never revealed the name of. Fans thought this because Lively and Reynold’s other children, James and Inez, were also referenced in the song. It then was revealed on the same day of the album release that Betty is in fact the name of the couple’s daughter.
“The Last Great American Dynasty” and Swift’s house
Taylor Swift owns a house in Rhode Island and people think that “The Last Great American Dynasty” is about the previous owners of the house. The song tells the story about a woman named Rebekah and her life, but the story is actually real and tells the story of Rebekah Harkness, who owned the house before Swift.
William Bowery
Taylor Swift listed William Bowery as one of the co-writers of her album, but he doesn’t seem to actually exist. No one can find anything about him online and fans speculate that “William Bowery” is actually Swift’s brother, Austin or her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.
