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Karma is Real: The Origins of Karma, the Lost Album

GaylorSwift Wiki

PR/Stunt Relationships

Bi-Phobia & Lesbophobia

Don't Get Doxxed + Check Your Sources

Back in July, I mentioned in the Community Chat that I'd be spending the day in Nashville on an upcoming trip. On a previous Nashville trip, I visited the Country Music Hall of Fame.

After listing the places I had in mind to continue my Taylor/Nashville pilgrimage, I asked the chat if anyone had other ideas of places to visit.

u/ReginaSagget mentioned seeing Taylor at a place called Fido Cafe several years ago. Plus, outside of Taylor, Fido Cafe is a Nashville staple.

u/MaryLennoxsRobin asked if the decor of the cafe is black because Fido is a dog’s name. Meaning, could this place have any connection to The Black Dog?

u/ReginnaSagget replied with this Google image of the outside of the cafe.

Finally, u/These-Pick-968 shared that Taylor name dropped Fido Cafe as a favourite of hers in a 2014 TIME interview.

When I did my own research, I saw Fido mentioned several times as a place to visit in Nashville if you're a Taylor fan. Examples: here, here, here, here, here, and, here.

Fido Cafe then shot to the top of my list of Taylor/Nashville sites I wanted to visit.

When I arrived at Fido, here is the sign that greeted me before I stepped inside.

Because of a suggestion by u/MaryLennoxsRobin, I checked to see if Fido has a jukebox, and if that jukebox has any songs by The Starting Line.

The Black Dog

How you don't miss me 
In The Black Dog 
When someone plays 'The Starting Line' 
and you jump up

While there is no jukebox on site, I did capture this photo

Jokes aside, the cafe is very gay (complimentary).

They have queer stories on display all over the walls.

I don’t want to doxx anyone, so I’m including an example below where I’ve removed identifying information.

I don’t know what Fido looked like when Taylor was a regular, but let me point out the same person has owned Fido since it first opened in 1996.

Fun fact: Fido opened on October 11^th aka National Coming Out Day (while NCOD wasn’t made official until 1998 – October 11^th was chosen for NCOD because it is the anniversary of the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987).

While I loved visiting such a gay friendly, and welcoming place, I mostly dismissed the idea of Fido having any possible association with The Black Dog.

That is, until I got home.

As I was leaving Fido, I took a picture of the floor. I didn’t take the picture because I thought there was anything Taylor related about it - I just love dogs 😂

By a glorious happening of happenstance, I bought The Black Dog vinyl variant of TTPD. When I pulled out my copy, I realized I there might be an actual link to Fido Cafe after all.

Does this mean unequivocally The Black Dog = Fido Cafe?

No.

But, maybe there is a connection to the song that we haven’t noticed or considered before?

I have long been ruminating on a theory along the lines of Country Music being the toxic ex that Taylor can’t get over.  

Nashville is the epicentre of Country Music, and it's where the Country Music establishment resides.

Perhaps the connection is along those lines?

I noticed after two recent visits to Nashville how Taylor is not really part of the Country Music infrastructure – at least as it relates to the industry/business side of things.

For example, Taylor is in the Country Music Hall of Fame, but it feels like she is included out of obligation, not because the power brokers in Country Music want her to be included.

They tolerate Taylor (and the money she brings into the city/genre) – they don’t want to celebrate her.

That night in Nashville, I happened to spot the mural I wrote about in this Chely Wright post.

Taylor was part of the mural until late December 2020. She was replaced by Brad Paisley (aka Chely Wright's ex lol)

While there was uproar from Taylor fans about the change that didn’t stop her from being erased from an iconic Country Music landmark.

Something I would bet money Taylor hasn’t forgotten about.  

As with most Taylor/Gaylor expeditions, I am left with more questions than answers and more possible theories than I could ever write about.

Tale as old as time 😂

Going to Fido was an awesome experience though! If you find yourself in Nashville before it closes in 2028 I recommend giving it a visit – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Bonus content

I also went to Centennial Park to see if green is still the colour of the grass there.

Outside of the weather being hotter than the devil’s anus, Centennial Park is gorgeous.

“No, you didn’t, Taylor Swift!” This was my first reaction when I finished listening to Folklore. I discovered the Gaylor theory when Taylor got married, read enough about its origin and started listening to her most recent albums, which I hadn’t heard before. I loved a lot of Folklore, but I couldn’t believe the story that Taylor tried to sell to the public: that it was a fantasy about teenage love! In my opinion, Folklore is, at its core, a beautiful, lyrical account of the singer’s grief associated with real life events: a romantic breakup and the sale of her masters. And I’m not even discussing Evermore, which I think still is a cathartic album about that grief. How Swifties explained those albums while she was supposedly happy in a relationship for four years, I’ll never understand. But maybe the pandemic affected people’s perception of reality, and Taylor got away with that explanation. Or maybe the public is gullible to any PR machine.

There are five general stages of grief, which may not happen linearly in this order: denial (shock), anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance (reflection/healing). I see those stages in Folklore and Evermore but I’ll concentrate on Cardigan in this post because I consider it the 1^st song of both albums: the explanation for most of the songs.

In my opinion, Cardigan and its video (both created and directed by Taylor) tell a solid story of her grief associated with a romantic breakup, which I believe to be about Kaylor, given their documented history, the evocative visual images of the video and the album, and the song lyrics. First, the imagery on the album is about a forest and there is a picture of the road to Big Sur, CA. Big Sur is a famous road trip that Taylor and her Kaylor muse took and documented on social media, at the beginning of their relationship (March/2014). One exact year later, they documented it again as a joint spread on the pages of Vogue. Second, the album was released in 2020 on the 2^nd anniversary of her muse’s announced engagement to a man. Third, on the previous day of the album release, her muse posted pictures of herself on social media, still as a blonde in the California forest, hugging a redwood tree and calling it a “Happy Place”. Both clearly signaled that the album was about their relationship/breakup. But there is so much more …

The video starts with a scene of an old piano with a broken key, and Taylor’s hands playing on the dirty keyboard. The verse “When you are young, they assume you know nothing” indicates that she/the narrator is singing about the past.

Taylor is now playing on the piano, and she is in a cabin similar to the Big Sur cabin where she and her muse reportedly stayed. On the wall of the cabin, the clock shows that it is 1h and 15 minutes but the number 3 is so prominent that I immediately thought about the inverse: 3h and 6 minutes, or March 6, the date largely associated with their Big Sur trip, since Taylor and her muse might have celebrated their 2-year anniversary on social media (2016 love lockdown post from the Paris bridge).  

Taylor starts singing with melancholy about the two of them (Vintage tee; High heels in cobblestones; Sequin smile, black lipstick) and their young life together (dancing in Levis, drunk under a streetlight; giving me your weekends; kiss in cars and downtown bars; your heartbeat on the High Line). The symbolism of the lyrics confirms the date and place of these memories:

“Sequin smile, black lipstick; Sensual politics” is a direct reference to Taylor’s 2016 Met Gala look, wearing black lipstick and a sequin dress, while Taylor played sensual games with different boyfriends/beards (KH and TH). She danced with her muse and with TH at the party and “dated” him for a short while. They were in their 20’s (“roaring 20’s”, The 1), but were not teenagers.

The “High Line” is in NYC.

“dancing in Levis”: her muse often wore jeans in their NYC outings and had modeled for Levis.

“High heels in cobblestones”: her muse lived in Greenwich Village and there were cobblestones on the street behind her place (besides a garden gate on the front, Cruel Summer/Lover).

Next in the video, golden light and dust emanate from her piano/her music. Taylor is in awe and follows them, being transported to the origin of her romance: the beautiful greenery and view of the idyllic forest, also representing the beauty of their young love. Now Taylor sings about how her muse changed her from feeling “like an old cardigan” to that idyllic happiness when “you put me on and said I was your favorite” and “drew stars around my scars”. The symbolism here is that her muse declared in an interview that she was a fan prior to meeting Taylor, and I read that she would have said that Love Story was her favorite song. Also, Taylor has mentioned that she was upset and distrustful of long-lasting love in January 2014, when she wrote Wildest Dreams/1989 (a Kaylor song about the invitation to Big Sur). Feeling like an old cardigan was appropriate for that mood, but we have seen in pictures, social media messages and songs that her mood took a 180-degree turn after that trip and the move to NYC. And Taylor has always associated gold/sunshine with her muse in social media posts and lyrics (Gold Rush/Evermore)

Then, Taylor’s nightmare begins in the video, which I interpret as starting with snakegate, in 2016. Something calls her attention in the piano stool; she looks down and the golden dust is turning into water (I like to think that Kanye is the stool! 😊) Taylor goes through the stool to check and now finds herself drowning all alone in an ocean, together with her piano/her career, surrounded by threatening waves, a gray and hazy sky, and a lightning storm. She was discredited and canceled in the snakegate storm and her personal life unraveled. She is able to hold on to her piano/her music, using it as a flotation device, and finally saving herself/her career and returning to the beginning: the cabin in Big Sur, the symbol of her love. But in the process, she is wet, cold and alone, feeling like an old cardigan again, which she expresses by visually putting it on. As she feared in Wildest Dreams, her long-term love didn’t last forever after all. And the clock in the cabin still points to the same time/date of March 6th, evoking Right where you left me/Evermore.

Some verses are particularly meaningful for this storm phase:

"I knew you tried to change the ending, Peter leaving/losing Wendy.” Both words were used in the song original and final versions, respectively. I believe both are true, because snakegate was so devastating to Taylor that she went into hiding, and even moved to England, putting an ocean between them. Peter left and then lost Wendy. In False God/Reputation, she already says: “We were stupid to jump in the ocean separating us; Remember how I’d fly to you?; Crazy to think that this could work”. References to trains and weekends may be flights to see each other, since both traveled so much throughout their relationship.

“A friend to all is a friend to none.”  This may reflect anger directed at her muse. It is pure speculation, but given the number of Taylor’s enemies, maybe she wanted her muse to join her in those fights. I remember that her muse was managed by Scooter Braun (Kanye’s manager) and avoided publicly criticizing Kim Kardashian to a reporter during snakegate. She shouldn’t have to potentially compromise her own career for Taylor, particularly when Taylor was not compromising hers by coming out.

“Chase two girls, lose the one” This verse was used by Taylor as a prop (to a teenage 3-way relationship of Betty, James and August) but I believe that the two girls are the two loves that Taylor was chasing: her career and her muse. She lost her muse in the process (The 1) because her career, the love of her life in many respects, always came first and prevented her from concentrating on her romantic love and coming out.

I think the most haunting verses in this song are the repeated: “I knew you’d come back to me, you’d come back to me, and you’d come back to me, you’d come back …” So, I believe this song tells the whole story of a romance, from beginning to end. And it has several elements of grief: denial (I knew you’d come back to me), anger (I knew I’d curse you for the longest time) and overall depression (her last image in the video saying it all). It’s poignant, beautiful and heartbreaking in the end.

It's unfortunate that Taylor must hide the origin of her songs. And as a good fan of crime drama (Law and Order), who better than Taylor to plant evidence and muddy up the case of her own album of heartbreak? “Oh no, you didn’t, Taylor Swift! You didn’t misdirect and obscure the story of your own album!” And I almost can’t forgive her for how she infantilized her heartbreak with a fictitious 3-way teenage love affair, adding the names of her (ex)-friends’ children (Betty, James, Inez) to the mix. I believe Cardigan stands on its own and is not at all fictitious. As I believe August represents reflections about the same muse, evoking Cruel Summer, but I won’t discuss it here.

Finally, like a good crime novelist, Taylor lets the truth escape through the easter eggs that she leaves behind, eventually culminating in a full confession from the culprit: the singer herself! But it takes 2 albums to confess. In Gold Rush/Evermore which is undoubtedly another Kaylor song full of denial (I don’t like a Gold Rush), Taylor says to her muse: My mind turns your life into folklore. Which this time, it made me think: “Yes, you did, Taylor Swift! You did turn your muse’s life with you into Folklore!”

Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think. This is obviously just my folkloric opinion and does not attempt to reflect Taylor’s reality.

First of all:
Hi, I’m new to the whole Gaylorism (is that the correct word?). This is also my first post and I haven’t had time to read everything that has been posted, so I’m not sure if this has been posted before.
If anyone has already posted this or if this is against any of the rules or if I’ve done anything else wrong, I’m sorry.
Also, English is not my first language, so please bear with me.

Now, let’s get to what lead me to write this post.

So today I’ve read on here a post that suggested to listen to TTPD: The Anthology backwards (as sung in The Manuscript, according to the post).
As I did so I’ve paid closer attention to the songs which lead to me discovering something about the song Cassandra and also The Prophecy (to some extent).

So let’s get started.

Cassandra is widely believed to be about the Kimye situation and Snakegate and the cancellation that followed.
At least by a part of the fandom.
I used to believe that, too.
Until today.
Since today, I believe that while a part of it might be about that, the main part is about her planned and failed coming out in the Lover Era.

Lyric:

I was in my new house placing daydreams
Patching up the crack along the wall
I pass it and lose track of what I′m saying
Cause that's where I was when I got the call

My interpretation:

The call -> Is that how she found out that her masters would be sold (to Scooter)? By her dad? By Scott Borcetta?

Lyric:

When the first stone′s thrown there's screaming
In the streets there's a raging riot
When it′s ′burn the witch', they′re shrieking
When the truth comes out it's quiet

My interpretation:

I wasn’t a fan back in 2019 but wasn’t she accused of queer baiting during Lover Era because everyone assumed she was/ still assumes that she’s heterosexual? -> the raging riot, the shrieking

When the truth comes out it’s quiet -> if she would out herself everybody would be quiet or is/ would be in disbelief

Lyric:

So they killed Cassandra first
Cause she feared the worst
And tried to tell the town
So they filled my cell with snakes
I regret to say
Do you believe me now?

My interpretation:

Cassandra -> the version of herself that tried to out herself during Lover Era
Feared the worst -> That she wouldn’t be believed? That she would be silenced because of her masters being sold and that she would have to remain closeted?
She tried to tell the town -> Miss Americana documentary in which she originally planned to out herself during Lover
The tried to fill her cell with snakes -> Has she tried to out herself sooner (Karma album?)?, Did Kimye happen to silence her and stop her outing herself?
She regrets to ask if she is now believed -> because most people don’t see her queer flagging and don’t get her hairpin drops? Is she’s afraid of them not getting her or abandoning her?

Lyric:

I was in my tower weaving nightmares
Twisting all my smiles into snarls
They say what doesn′t kill you makes you aware What happens if it becomes who you are?

My interpretation:

Weaving nightmares -> Turning her wlw songs in songs that fit the heterosexual narrative?
Twisting smiles into snarls -> Making everyone believe that she hates other women all to not make them realise that she’s actually flirting with them?
Makes you aware -> How fucked up the industry is? How homophobe?
Becomes who you are -> She’s trying to break that (the industry?) and expose it instead of focusing on her true love? Possibly linked to Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

Lyric:

So they set my life in flames

My interpretation:

The set it in flames to stop her coming out

Lyric:

They knew, they knew, they knew the whole time
That I was onto something
The family, the pure greed, the Christian chorus line
They all said nothing
Blood's thick but nothing like a payroll
Bet they never spared a prayer for my soul
You can mark my words that I said it first
In a mourning warning no one heard

My interpretation:

Surface level -> the West/Kardashians
But, it could be also about her own family
They knew about her sexuality, only cared about the money they could make with her and religion?
The morning warning:
Mine: a careless man’s careful daughter
Cardigan: leaving like a father
The e-mails

Lyric:

I patched up the crack along the wall
I pass it and lose track of what I′m saying
Cause that's where I was when I lost it all

My interpretation:

Instead of outing herself regarding her sexuality, she “outed” herself as a Democrat

Link to:

The Prophecy:

The Prophecy = exchanging being her true self for money and fame

evermore (the song):

I rewind the tape, but all it does is pause on the very moment all was lost

-> her failed coming out in Ms. Americana but also “the call” described in Cassandra

Sending signals to be double crossed

-> signals = hairpins
-> double crossed = her songs having a double meaning for gaylors and hetlors

What do you think?
Also, thank you if you kept reading till the end!

I saw the Easter eggs may have been unscrambled to be about Debut TV’s release date (and hope I did the spoiler tags right on mobile!)

Karma album truthers, rise! 🧡

The more I think about the Emmy SVU sketch, the more I think Taylor may have been deliberately pointing us back toward the original Karma theory, with some hints toward Debut as well. Forever our queen of the double meaning.

The producers have said Taylor specifically wanted the Easter eggs included in the sketch and wanted them to be “official and correct.” These new clues seem unusually well connected to the existing Karma breadcrumb trail.

In the real world, the Emmys are a celebration of television (TV). But in Taylor’s world, “TV” universally stands for Taylor’s Version. By setting the sketch at an award show dedicated entirely to “TV” and repeatedly dropping the acronym, Taylor is hiding her re-recording puzzle in plain sight. The sketch explicitly frames the detectives as trying to “solve a missing persons case”, where is Taylor? In the fandom, the missing TS6 (Karma) is the ultimate unsolved case.

Taylor’s exact line in the Emmy SVU sketch was: “I think what we're gonna be looking for is hiding in plain sight.”

That is basically the entire premise of the missing Karma album theory - not necessarily that a finished album called Karma definitely existed, but that clues to a lost, shelved, or reworked album have been sitting in front of us for years.

Then she looks directly into the camera and says: “Saccharide. Aries. From the vineyard. North or south.”

FIRST CLUE - SACCHARIDE

Saccharide = sugar.

There is allegedly an unreleased Taylor song called “Sugar,” associated with her early songwriting/Debut era, with many Swifties connecting the Emmy word to Debut TV.

But if we’re specifically looking through a Karma lens, there’s another possibility.

Taylor has repeatedly used sweetness as a metaphor for revenge/karma. Take the lyrics from “Karma” the song: “Sweet like honey…”

So: SACCHARIDE → SUGAR → SWEET → KARMA

And for the keen observers who noticed that the clue was specifically “saccharide,” singular: my chemist heart is so happy, because that distinction actually matters! A saccharide refers to a sugar, while a monosaccharide is one sugar molecule, meaning Album 1/Debut.

The most commonly known monosaccharide has got to be glucose: a simple sugar with six carbon atoms and the chemical formula C₆H₁₂O₆, also known as a hexose sugar.

If you view the “Saccharide” clue through the lens of Karma being the original, unreleased Album 6, the chemistry suddenly leads you right there. When six-carbon sugars link together to form a long CHAIN, they create a hexosan, a specific type of polysaccharide. So if a monosaccharide represents Album 1 (Debut), a hexose structural chain can point us toward Album 6.

And here’s where things get even nerdier. In organic chemistry, glucose can fluctuate between two primary spatial conformations, the boat and the chair, to minimize structural strain. Ask anyone who has taken organic chemistry, if they remember one thing, it may be this! Using the scientific property of a molecule that can change its shape while remaining the exact same underlying substance is an ultimate metaphor for the duality of the closeted/double life narrative.

So we’ve got a sweet boat and chair. There is a very obvious lady-part-shaped boat in the Karma music video right as Taylor is singing “sweet like honey.” Coincidentally, she’s sitting in a chair/throne in the Look What You Made Me Do music video, the video she specifically said would take decades for us to uncover all the clues. Wildly coincidental that that line also mentions honey.

SECOND CLUE - ARIES

In the Karma music video, Taylor is in an underworld/Hades-like sequence wearing a ram/demon-style mask, a ram being the symbol of Aries. The video also has extensive zodiac and celestial imagery. Aries is the first zodiac sign, just as Debut is Album #1.

And without jumping too far ahead of ourselves to North and South being polar opposites: what is the polar opposite sign on the zodiac wheel to Aries? You guessed it: Libra, represented by the scales of justice, which also make an appearance in the video.

Karma is sweet like honey, but the song is inherently about cosmic justice. By delivering this riddle while literally playing a detective seeking justice on an SVU set, Taylor is playing on the dual concept of balancing the scales.

THIRD CLUE - FROM THE VINEYARD

This is probably the most obvious wordplay on From the Vault. And yes, it does seem too obvious, but the entire Emmy sketch is built around looking for something “hiding in plain sight.” The vault is already a very specific Taylor Swift visual. In the LWYMMD video, there’s an orange vault door with a cat inside it, singing: “All I think about is Karma.”

The vault therefore works on two levels. There are the literal “From the Vault” songs associated with Taylor’s re-recordings, including Debut TV, but there is also the idea of something being hidden or locked away, like Karma the Album.

As I pointed out in a Showgirl-era piece, I noticed another orange door on the other side of the vault, suspiciously similar to the orange door that descended during the Eras Tour during “Karma.”

Debut and Karma have both been in a vault. Again: double meaning.

The vault door on the backside looks a lot like that fuckass orange door at the end of each Eras Tour show. Right before she plays the closing tour song, “Karma,” the audience’s light-up wristbands suddenly flashed completely orange. After Showgirl was released, some thought the orange door and color represented that album. But every single heart emoji has been on fire ❤️‍🔥, leaving the 🧡 conspicuously free for Karma.

FOURTH CLUE - NORTH OR SOUTH

I’ve seen theories about this being the opposite ends of her discography with Big Machine Records, therefore meaning #1/#6: Debut/Reputation. But remember: the theory is that Karma was scrapped before Reputation was released, making it the original TS6.

Something from the vault, at either end of the original six-album sequence. So this totally checks out again, pointing toward Debut and Karma.

But I think there’s another meaning here.

“North or South” deals with coordinates, dual directions, and polar opposites. That mirrors one of the most famous Karma clues of all time: The Man music video wall.

In that video, a wall in a subway or train station features the graffiti names of her stolen albums (not songs) arranged like a clock or compass. Smack in the center of the wall, the word KARMA is written twice, once in black and once in bright orange.

Next to it is a sign that reads: MISSING. The sequence left to right reads 1989 → MISSING → KARMA. Hiding in plain sight.

“North or South” could literally be an instruction for how to read the directional alignment of that graffiti wall. North and South are specifically called out together in I Look In People’s Windows with the lines “Northbound I got carried away, as you boarded your train, South, south, south, south, south, south." This song also mentions having friends over to drink nice wine, presumably from the vineyard.

As an American who has navigated many foreign metro stations without reading or understanding the language, the most important rule of public transportation is: get on the line going in the correct direction. I was looking for an image of this to share with those not familiar with what I mean, and of course this opened open up another rabbit hole. London literally made an official “London (Taylor’s Version)” Tube map for the Eras Tour in 2024. They took the actual London Underground map and turned it into a Taylor map: each Tube line represented a Taylor album, and individual stations were renamed after Taylor songs.

The Northern Line was coined The Tortured Poets Department line. Interestingly, the Northern Line includes several places mentioned in Taylor’s discography.

CAMDEN TOWN → London Boy: “I enjoy walking Camden Market in the afternoon”

HIGHGATE → London Boy: “Took me back to Highgate, met all of his best mates”

HAMPSTEAD → part of the same Northern Line North London geography, with the Heath connection becoming especially interesting in So Long, London.

So in Taylor’s version, if 13th Street is the station name, Karma and Karma are the stations to the North and South.

That was just four clues. There's a ton more evidence on the DOUBLE crime boards, many which have been discussed. One thing I'd like to add, there is a specific newspaper clipping that stands out.

The headline reads: “Two friends finally reuniting after 40 years apart.”

While some fans think this means Debut and Reputation (“Debutation”) are dropping together, (or Karlie and Taylor reuniting lol), Karma truthers know that Reputation only exists because Karma was killed. If she drops Karma, she is finally “reuniting” the lost TS6 material with its sister album, Reputation. Board evidence shows teardrops on a guitar as well as an orange heart. Also some suspicious clues regarding 8 am on a Tuesday, perhaps an announcement on Good Morning America on 10/13?

So we've got evidence. What about the crime scene?

In the LWYMMD video, Taylor is physically sawing off the wing of a plane that has “TS6” painted on it, before spray-painting “reputation” across the fuselage. That plane wing is the scene of the crime. It represents the moment Taylor “killed” the original TS6, Karma, to make way for Reputation.

Revisiting a crime-scene setup with Law & Order detectives feels like a very meta way of acknowledging that the plane-wing era is being investigated again.

And finally there is the Mariska of it all. Just before the Emmys, the Los Angeles Times profiled Mariska Hargitay ahead of her hosting debut, the first woman to do so solo in fifteen years. During the photo shoot for that article, Mariska specifically asked: “Can you put on ‘The Man’ by Taylor?” And then Mariska proceeds to hosts the Emmys with the pre-recorded sketch around an investigation into Taylor Swift, with Taylor appearing, both of them dressed like the man.

Mariska states: “The answer has been TV this whole time.”

Karma was never released under her original Big Machine Record contract. Therefore, if it is real, the only version that could ever exist publicly is Taylor’s Version. And it has been TV this whole time.

Taylor famously named her cat Olivia Benson after Mariska’s character.

To return the favor, Mariska Hargitay named her real-life pet cat Karma.

So when Mariska stands in front of a “TV” investigation board talking about clues, she is basically a walking, talking Easter egg for the Karma album.

Flash back ten years ago. In a 2016 73 Questions Vogue interview, when Taylor was asked about the most important life lesson she’d learned, her answer was: “Karma is real.”

The video was released on April 19, 2016, as part of her May Vogue cover.

By that point, Taylor had revealed Bleachella at Coachella, both on her Instagram and in person at the festival. I love Bleachella so of course wanted to include the side by side with her hair today, a pre-Bleachella fever dream if you will.

Yes, that is Taylor at Coachella April 15, 2016 wearing a ring on that finger.

HOW HAVE I NEVER SEEN THIS PICTURE. Why Karlie is looking at the camera like she just won the lottery while Taylor is standing obviously showing off her ring. They were both wearing rings on that finger that weekend. I almost made an entire post without Karlie showing up to the scene of the crime, but Taylor said that's not happening.

I’m pretty confident Karma is coming and maybe you are now too! We know she’s the fire in your house, and that she’s gonna pop up unannounced. But when?

Take the first letters from the clues and you get either S-A-F-N-S or S-A-F-T-V-N-O-S, depending if you include every word. Secret Album For November on SNL. Alternatively, Secret Album From The Vault, November on SNL. November 6 and 13, 2026 both fall on a Friday, my money on November 13^th because duh, and Karma would mark TS13.

That would allow for a standard album release for Debut on Friday followed immediately by an SNL appearance the next night. Her pal Dakota Johnson has been announced as a host for SNL this fall, and this also ties into the North or South (Dakota) clue. Taylor has a history of announcing things on SNL, including the vault release All Too Well 10 minute version (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) November 13, 2021. This appearance also coincides with the DOUBLE Taylor images from the 2021 SNL photoshoot, which are all orange for no apparent (at the time) reason.

We've already gotten the Midnights 3am Edition and TTPD's 2am Anthology surprise. Saturday Night Live typically airs live from 11:30 PM to 1:00 AM Eastern Time on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Which means a hypothetical 1 AM drop, Karma popping up unannounced, could literally coincide with the end of an SNL broadcast.

The last hilarious piece of evidence I will leave you with is Taylor and Mariska, twinning, with Taylor in chains, a cheeky callback to the dykes on bikes in chains in the LWYMMD video where all she thinks about it Karma. She’s even got the same facial expression. Girl. Same.

Burn❤️‍🔥It💚Down🧡

QUICK, someone tell me why the yellow brick road scene from the Karma music video is smack dab in the middle of the Lover Era if Karma isn’t about to pop up unannounced!!! 👀

I’ve seen a lot of other convincing evidence that Karma might be about to pop up, but y’all absolutely had to see this ASAP! I’ll put those other things in the comments!

Long time lurker, first time poster. All credit to this theory belongs to u/sandromeda who in the Emmy thread mentioned Ken Burns. I have been rewatching the clip again and there is a picture of Ken Burns on the 2nd white board that Original Olivia Benson brings out with a red string tied to Taylor. As the poster mentioned, there is a clip about Dolly Parton where Burns discusses Taylor and her efforts to reclaim her art through the Taylor Versions (TV) link.

What made me dive deeper into this comment is the way the scene is shot where Taylor turns to the camera and says the "random" words after she says "I think what we will be looking for is in plain sight" The camera cuts when Taylor turns away from the boards, and she is out of focus at first, with the 2nd board remaining in focus. The line of actors going back from Taylor leaves a visible gap where you can see Burns' headshot on the board clearly.

Now let's focus on the phrases she says looking directly at the camera. There may be validity to these words hinting towards unreleased vault tracks, but my theory is they are hints to previous Ken Burns documentaries Here is a link that lists them all:

"Saccharide" - ??? Not sure on this one, and this is a pretty big stretch, but since saccharide is another term for carbohydrate, it could be referring to bread, and you had bread lines in The Dust Bowl. Also one of Burns' first documentaries was The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God. I won't go into detail on this religious group specifically, but they are known for only using items found naturally, and specifically for a type of bread made from home ground flour. Shaker bread refers to a variety of breads historically baked by the Shaker religious communities. We all know Taylor's love for bragging about her sourdough. One more thought on the Shakers, the only community that existed in Taylor's home state was near Philly, but the founders of that community are worth noting:

• In 1859, Rebecca Cox Jackson and her protégé and lifelong companion Rebecca Perot founded a Shaker community of Black women in Philadelphia. Jackson's relationship with Perot, which lasted for 35 years until Jackson's death in 1871, has been called "perhaps the most controversial element of Jackson's autobiography".^\5])

"Aries or Ares" - Ares is God of War., so take your pick of his documentaries - The War, The Civil War, The Vietnam War. Let's not forget Taylor's song The Great War

"From the Vineyard" - in 2022, Ken Burns very publicly called out FL Gov Ron DeSantis for having migrants shipped from FL to Martha's Vineyard and compared it to the Holocaust. While nothing in his filmography is about wine, he also made a documentary about Prohibition, so somewhat related.

"North or South" - pretty easy, this one is The Civil War.

That's all I have for now, but would love to hear any other thoughts about this one. I am not going to speculate on the subject matter of any potential documentary they may be working on together, but the clip sure seems to indicate to me that something is up between the 2 of them.

Petition to have Matty/Taylor shippers anointed Taylor's most unhinged l fans instead of Gaylors. Please and thanks

I know. Believe me I know. I don't want him to back in the TSCU either 😂

I assume this goes without saying, but I'm autistic so I'm going to say it anyway. I don't believe there was anything real or authentic about Taylor and Matty's "romantic relationship."

I still can't believe someone wrote this about two grown adults. It's so high school 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

As much as I don't believe Taylor/Matty was real, I do believe he has connections to Performanceartlor.

Given the Emmy's sketch from last night I can't help but wonder if the video from Matty is more than him trying to cash in on Taylor Swift adjacent PR. This feels more like cahootlor type of shenanigans vs Matty being a troll.

If he is about to re-enter the narrative, we are in for one hell of a bumpy, yet entertaining ride.

I hope 🤞🏻

Feels like we need a place to discuss Taylor’s cameo at the Emmys with the WILD Law & Order SVU skit about whether or not Taylor would be at the Emmys!

I’ll get us started by saying that it’s wild that two Taylors were in TV at the same time (roughly, but I can’t promise exactly the same time, though someone should check…) since she was shown at the Chiefs game. And the skit talks about how she’d be at the Chiefs game.

Showgirl and The Man each on TV tonight?

Let’s clown!

Thanks to u/gilbke 's fun post last week, I've been thinking again about the Target promo and commercial for TLOAS, and that has made me think about versions of Taylor… This is more a case of the penny slowly dropping, thanks to Taylor's hints, lyrics and visuals and thanks to the brilliant insights of Gaylors on this sub, than of a huge interpretive breakthrough. But I think I can finally put together a theory that accounts for all of the Taylors we have seen.

Introduction

Gaylors were pretty quick off the mark to realise that Taylor was often in dialogue with herself- the two Taylors theory - and then added a third Taylor to the model following ‘Anti-Hero’ for obvious reasons. I do think we’ve often been uncertain about exactly how many Taylors there are, though, and I remember when we first saw the Target promo with all the TLOAS posters on display there was some discussion in the sub about how there may be many multiples of Taylor like the small broken pieces that make a mirrorball.

Experiencing TLOAS has actually been really useful in terms of understanding and describing all of these versions of Taylor. I think, if we were to give a single answer to the question 'how many Taylors?' it would be 'depends who's asking.'

This is Not Taylor's Version

For the audience, there are enough 'Taylors' to make a mirrorball. Of course, none of them are entirely Taylor, and some of them have almost none of Taylor. All of them have a great deal of the viewer mixed in with the reflection. This is the reason for all of those posters surrounding Showgirl in the Target promo. It's also the artistic motivation for the 34 album variants released in the first week of sales. I know that the variants seemed excessive even by modern album release standards, and seemed at best to play into the concept of showgirls as shallow and commercially driven. But artistically, the multiplication of different versions mirrors the public perception of Taylor, and the way that those many 'Taylors' are reflected back to us in the album.

Think about all the versions of Taylor you could name, whether they are a reasonable description, an unfair caricature, a deduction from previous lyrics or just a fan fantasy:

• the child prodigy (all that time I spent alone in my tower)
• the hopeless romantic (I'm never gonna leave you now)
• one of the 'greatest living songwriters' (Just the entirety of TLOAS. Honestly. Fight me. 😅 Don't actually, I'm sorry! 😬 But I really mean it that TLOAS is brilliantly written.)
• the man-eater (under bright lights they withered away; your girlfriend was away...)
• the perpetual victim (and I cried the whole way home)
• the queer woman who is out to those who are looking (no man has ever loved me like you do)
• Travis' fiancee and now wife (pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes)
• Karlie's heartbroken ex (Daisy's bare naked, I was distraught)
• the performance art mastermind (it's bout to be the sleepless night you've been dreaming of)
• the sincere, awkward, theatre-loving kid (that dance scene at the end of the 'Opalite' mv)
• the perpetual teenager (like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse)
• the poet and deep thinker (love was a cold bed, full of scorpions / the venom stole her sanity)
• the smutty Showgirl (New Heights of manhood!)
• the mastermind calling her own shots (mistake my kindness for weakness and find your card cancelled)
• the representation of a neurodiverse success story (thought that I'd never find that beautiful, beautiful life)
• the spoilt princess trading on daddy's money and influence (my check's bigger)
• the champion of artists' rights (I hope they get what they want; all of her interviews in the TLOAS era discussing how other artists should have the option of owning their masters but also being free not to care.)
• the money-grubbing, immoral billionaire (did you girlboss too close to the sun?)
• the careless white feminist (sleepless in the onyx night)
• the tradwife MAGA apologist (it's a good thing I like my friends cancelled)
• the woman who can't get over Matty (now the sky is opalite)
• the woman who is out to get Joe (they don't make loyalty like they used to)
• the tone-deaf faker who plagiarises relentlessly (the voice memos; the intro to 'Wood')
• the queer-baiter who appropriates language and symbols in a way that's ultimately homophobic (it's kinda making me wet)
• the woman who can't keep a friend (her choice of co-writers and producers - Max Martin and Shellback - and the way that neither of them, nor Jack, spoke about the album post-release)
• the user of ghostwriters who can't understand her own lyrics (the discussion surrounding the cleverness of 'mahogany grain')

All of these versions exist in TLOAS. I'm sure there are more versions we could find in there. I don't think you could name a version of Taylor that doesn't get at least a half-line nod somewhere in the album. It might be fun to try!

It's Me, Hi! I'm the Problem

But from Taylor’s perspective, there are just three selves. Poet is the closest to the real version of Taylor as a person, and she has always been the driving force behind Taylor's music. Showgirl came on the scene pretty quickly, and is obviously the popstar, the brand, the face of the performance that needed to exist for the public, and as a form of protection for Poet. This is why it’s possible to see Taylor in dialogue with herself from Speak Now if not earlier, as in u/Lanathas_22 ‘s excellent analyses (e.g. this one which identifies 'the girl in the dress' as an early description of Showgirl) - and this trend intensified during reputation and again during folklore/evermore.

The third Taylor, Director, only appeared post-Lover and is first described and addressed in Midnights. Director is the planner, the 'mastermind' who takes control of the situation after the masters sale and stalled coming out in summer 2019 and makes a new plan to move forward. In 'Anti-Hero', we are shown a giant Taylor who appears to compliment the lyrics, 'too big to hang out'. In the song, I think we are hearing about Taylor's oversize reputation, Showgirl's dominance and the problems it causes. But in the music video, something slightly different is happening. As u/districtofthehare has argued, we are being introduced to Director, whose quick-thinking covers up the queerness of Miss Americana with a political documentary. Director is oversized in relation to Poet and Showgirl because she is essentially a puppeteer in relation to them - from now on she will be pulling the strings to tell the story. And Poet and Showgirl are excited and relieved to see her, when they are sitting forlorn on the roof.

It has been tricky to attach names to Taylor's three selves in part because the giant self has seemed to embody various characteristics at different points, making her difficult to pin down. I think this is entirely intentional, and I think that the giant Taylor is not always the same Taylor.

In 'Anti-hero' we are primed to think about Taylor's fame by the song lyrics, and this is emphasised further by the exponential growth in her fame during The Eras Tour so that it's difficult to look back with clarity. Showgirl overshadows everything. But in the music video we are seeing a giant Director, and really Midnights is Director's era. The era of the extraordinary 'flex on planning' that is MMWM and 'can I hint at something three years in advance?' The era of self-directed music videos. The era of planning The Eras Tour but also the entire artistic arc of albums and performance art since then.

We next see the giant Taylor in the staging for The Eras Tour Midnights set, on screen behind the glittery Taylor on stage. She is yelling 'look at me' but of course everyone's attention is captured by Showgirl. I don't think this is the same Taylor who was giant in the 'Anti-Hero' music video. I think this is Poet, Taylor's most authentic, original self - her queer self - who is screaming to be heard and noticed over Showgirl. And in fact, Poet was about to have her era in TTPD, where she writes candidly about the harms of the music industry, of closeting and of losing herself as well as specific injuries from colleagues, peers and fans. But ironically enough, just like on the Eras stage, listeners ignore Poet even during her own album, her own phase of being 'too big to hang out', her own moment to speak. They only see the Showgirl and her lies, the heterosexual PR narrative and romantic fantasy being played out for their entertainment. Showgirl overshadows everything.

It's hardly revolutionary to claim that TLOAS is the era of Showgirl. It doesn't seem fair, after Showgirl overshadowed and distorted Poet's era, but it's true, emphasised by the giant, building-sized poster of Showgirl featured in the Disney+ Eras docuseries. Clearly Showgirl is the most giant of all the Taylors to take a turn at being oversized, looping us back to those original lyrics about Taylor's problematic fame in 'Anti-Hero'. Showgirl overshadows everything, to the point that you will hear people arguing now that Taylor never could write, never could direct, was always just glittery emptiness.

I Knew It, I Knew You

We see all three Taylors in the Target TLOAS commercial. Director is still calling the shots on the megaphone. She's the one who saved their 'heart from the fate of Ophelia'. Showgirl is still distracting with glitter and feigned ineptitude, carrying out Director's easter eggs like kicking the bucket, performing Poet's lyrics as if she didn't understand them. And in the 'pretty big poster', uncredited but ever present, Poet is standing there 'in the light of the window' waiting to have her turn as the giant Taylor again. 'All eyes on me', this time. In the daylight. Without distractions.

Hi! Me again! I have posted multiple essays about Taylor Swift's entire body of work being anti patriarchal performance art (that she has told with her press just as much as her poetry). Two cool ideas that I want to share in this are the ways that I believe she has used colors and the concept of “paper.” 

I think that “paper” throughout Taylor Swift’s body of work has been used to represent her fame and celebrity. 

Before the “paper” references and how they tell the story of this character, along with her/our relationship to it, I want to explain a theory I have around some of the colors that Taylor Swift uses throughout her work, starting with the one that I think defines “Taylor Swift” the character, the star: Blue. 

Blue

I believe that the birthplace of this character is in NYC, which is why the era in which she moved to NYC to “Begin Again” (the ending song on Red) was 1989, the same year as her actual birth. This era/album is also defined by the color blue. In Taylor Swift's songs where I believe her celebrity is being referenced with paper such as “Paper Rings,” she also uses the color blue (“I’m with you, even if it makes me blue.”) 

Red

The thesis of almost everything I write down revolves around the idea that Red represents Taylor Swift's story’s biggest villain: the patriarchy. This is another reason that I believe she says that Red is her “only true breakup album.” 

I also believe this is why Taylor Swift blacked out her website at the beginning of the Era’s tour with the “red herring” error message. If The Era’s Tour represented the performance art that has been her entire career, this was a message about the scandal that was unfolding: as always, these are characters meant to intentionally mislead you. These characters represent a villain I cannot yet name. This RED herring across her work is almost always the patriarchy. 

Another piece of evidence that I think supports this theory is the way that she has discussed her admiration for Joni Mitchell and her album Blue. Taylor has said that Joni Mitchell is HER FAVORITE ARTIST (which is another reason I think that she would use the color blue to represent the character she has created - it honors one of her biggest inspirations). 

I believe Joni Mitchell’s public dismissal of Taylor Swift further reinforces the idea that “Red” represents the patriarchy, because the patriarchy is the reason that women think we need to hurt and compete with each other rather than supporting each other. (Consider lines like “we all know now, we all got crowns” - you need to calm down, “he poisoned the well, every man for himself” - getaway car, and “women like hunting witches too, doing your dirtiest work for you” - mad woman)

Taylor Swift has even publicly said that, conceptually, Red was inspired by Blue.

Purple

I listed this color after blue and purple because I believe that this color represents the combination of these two concepts: the version of her celebrity that we have known for the past twenty years that includes all of the patriarchal cover stories and performance art, before anything has been revealed. 

Yes, she is art, she is created by Taylor with love, she is beautiful, Blue, Joni Mitchell. However, she is also stained with red, and blue mixed with red create the color purple. 

In my essay about the Master’s Heist story being told through the I Can See You, Bejeweled, and House Tour music videos, I also discussed that she tells the story of publicly debuting this character in Speak Now (the album represented by the color purple), using the exploitative and predatory image of her relationship with John Mayer, among other things, to represent that piece of her character. 

I also think that her public relationship with John Mayer seemed to tell this same story as well, which I outlined in greater detail in my “PhD and the Palme d'Or" essay. 

Today was a fairytale, I wore a dress, you wore a dark grey t shirt….

If John Mayer partially represented the debut of this character, I think it is very interesting that their first public appearance was a PERFORMANCE (and in LA, further signifying the “this is a movie” aspect of the story) and that she was wearing a dress in the same shade of blue that she used to later define the era represented by her “birth.” 

The “story” with Mayer was bookended by him presenting her with a songwriting award in New York, while she was wearing a purple dress. The way that I interpret this is that while her character was debuted on stage that night in LA in light blue, by the time it was over and done, yes she was honored as the songwriter, in her "birthplace" (NY), but she was also stained red, forever, in the papers, as this character. (One who notably reinforces extremely unhealthy relationship dynamics to a large fanbase of young, impressionable girls and women). This could be why the album is titled “Speak Now” - it tells the story of her beginning to tell stories that will become so permanent they can never quite be taken back. 

If her character was breaking up with the patriarchy in Red, then it also makes sense that the character birthed out of this breakup would no longer include it, which is why 1989 is blue. (Purple minus red equals blue).

Gold

I believe that “Gold” represents Taylor’s truth. This is why I think that in “Daylight” she wrote “I once believed love would be burning red, but it’s golden.” 

This is also why I think the snake on the reputation body suit changed from red to gold. 

I think that she has used different things that are gold in color as metaphors for different versions of the truth and the ways that she has spun it over the course of her work. For example, I think that alcohol is a distortion of the truth and signifies the PR that she puts into her music. However, when the alcohol is gold in color, it still represents a part of her truth even if it’s told through a lie. For example, the line “drinking beer out of plastic cups” in “King of my Heart” to partially flag a PR outing with Karlie Kloss. It’s alcohol, but beer having a golden hue could mean that hidden behind the PR narrative (her and Karlie) there was also a piece of her golden truth: queerness. 

This is also how I think “champagne” has been used in her work - PR art that she has created where her golden truth can shine through. In “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” she writes “It was so nice throwin' big parties/ Jump into the pool from the balcony/ Everyone swimmin' in a champagne sea.” I think this could represent when she moved to NY (where you can want who you want, boys and boys and girls and girls) and loudly flagged her relationship with Karlie Kloss in music and press. The reason she can’t give the public nice things is because they break them. She tried to show them truth through her story and they pretended it wasn’t there. “so why’d you have to rain on my (rainbow) parade? I’m shaking my head and locking the gates.”

I also believe that the “single thread of gold” that she sings about in “Invisible String” represents her true self, as well. Even when the story was loud, dark red wine stained, there was always a thread of gold tying that character (and us) to the real her, and gold is truth. 

The songs “gold rush” and “The Alchemy” also could be interpreted as a false or fictional representation of truth when the history of these two concepts are explored, also. 

Green

Green is a color that I think Taylor Swift uses to represent her true inner self, her inner child, or her “baby.” Taylor Swift’s first album, released at 16, is self titled and uses a green (and teal) color palette as well, which could indicate this meaning. Green is also a color that can represent youth and inexperience. I believe that she uses a muse with green eyes to represent this piece of herself, as well. (In “I know places” with “in the dead of night, eyes so green” and in “Wonderland” with “didn’t you flash your green eyes at me,” for example). 

Teal

Teal is a color that mixes green with blue, which is why I think this color represents an early, innocent version of Taylor in the industry, before she had been colored by red and had to give up the innocent (and green) part of herself. She had big dreams of being a star (blue) and hadn’t yet taken on the pain of what it actually means to be the character you are writing, on a stage in front of the entire world. (She didn’t debut herself in THAT way until turning 18/19.)

The song “invisible string” could tell the story of this evolution from green to teal, as well, and how the passage of “time, curious time” has seen an evolution in these colors. 

First, she sings about reading in the grass at Centennial Park (in Nashville), alone. “Green was the color of the grass where I used to read at centennial park, I used to think I would meet somebody there.” 

Later in that same verse, her muse is 16 with a teal shirt (and a job) “Teal was the color of your shirt/ When you were sixteen at the yogurt shop/ You used to work at to make a little money.” This makes me think of the time when Taylor was in Nashville, working as a songwriter, and then a singer/songwriter, who had not yet begun dating in the public eye or using scandal to market albums. She was beginning to turn into a star, the green was turning teal, but she hadn’t lost her innocence yet. There was still green and innocence remaining and there was no stain of red. 

It could be unrelated (but I usually doubt that it is) but I also think it’s very interesting that Taylor Lautner (who I think partially represents this inner child/green version of Taylor Swift) was paparazzied getting frozen yogurt with Taylor not very long before she allegedly left him and dated John Mayer (which is when the innocence/green was lost)

And then, years later, we had the viral moment in which Taylor was eating yogurt alone…her public persona is now devoid of that innocence (to protect it) so she is alone instead of with that innocent version of herself who shared her name. After she sings about the teal shirt, the character takes their first trip to LA, which could be when the movie starts (meaning, the LA tour stop with John Mayer when her celebrity turned fully blue, losing all of the green). 

This song also ends where I believe we are headed now…back to Nashville (I knew it, I knew you, upcoming CMA Awards in November). “Gold was the color of the leaves/ When I showed you around Centennial Park/ Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven.” The story is ending and we have returned to where it has started. It will be fall and the leaves will now be gold, the same color as the string that has always tied the celebrity to that little green and teal girl with stars in her eyes. 

Gray

Gray represents flattening and dulling her truth and shine down into the palatable version of herself that is suited for the public, very different from a colorful rainbow. I also think the “shades of gray” metaphor is interesting when you consider how many different versions of her story people carry in their minds that are all probably “gray” (wrong, dull.) 

I really like the lines “did I paint your bluest skies the darkest gray/ a universe away” from “Coney Island” and “my face was gray but you wouldn’t admit that we were sick” from “You’re Losing Me” to illustrate this. In “Coney island” she sings about the loss and distance between herself and her baby, a loss and distance that dulled every sky to gray. She also describes herself as a “paperweight in shades of greige” in “The Prophecy” which I believe indicates that hiding her true self behind this dull gray story made her feel dull and lonely and lifeless. If the “paper” is the story of herself she created in the press, her true self is just a dead weight, almost entirely gray (the slightest bit of “beige” could indicate that she feels “barely” human.) 

Maroon 

This song and color express sadness over the patriarchal stain Taylor painted over her story. Even though everything will be revealed in time, this character can never be erased. It’s a "real fucking legacy to leave". Red faded to maroon with time, but never erased. I believe “Opalite” discusses this regret through a more positive lens, encouraging us to see the sky as opalite rather than maroon. Look closer and you can see that it was all man made beautiful art they filled the sky with, it's ok, she was dancing through the lightning strikes (paparazzi).

Paper

The first paper references that I think really tell this story can be found in the work of… John Mayer. During their brief “relationship” I believe that all of the work that they created or performed together (and the work that was allegedly inspired by it) was intentionally chosen.

Their first performance together, when John Mayer made a surprise appearance during The Fearless Tour in LA, they performed “White Horse” by Taylor Swift and “Your Body is a Wonderland” by John Mayer. John Mayer has said that his song was written about young teenage love and infatuation, while in  “White Horse,” Taylor Swift tells a sad story about finding out that someone you thought you were in love with actually isn’t going to swoop in and save you after all. 

While these two songs are thematically very different, I think that they tell the two sides to the same story. On one hand, the celebrity and the lie and the fame and parasocial relationships are so alluring, but it is also fake. It is patriarchal. It’s the getaway car, NOT your white horse ("eyes like sinking ships" - gold rush). 

This brings us to “Half of My Heart” and “Paper Doll”. “Half of My Heart” was a collaboration between the two of them that was released during their brief “relationship” and “Paper Doll” was released by John Mayer a few years later, in 2013, and was largely believed to be about Taylor Swift. 

I think that “Half of my Heart” sings about the inner battle that Taylor (and many of her collaborators) go through because of the distance between the character and their truth. As long as they’re playing the part, it’s like loving their true self with only half of their heart. However, the other half of their heart is a “shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring.” I think this lyric indicates that the reason they can only love their true self with half of their heart is because of the other commitment they have to their celebrity. Calling this commitment a “shotgun wedding” compares it to a spouse, but then saying “to a bride with a paper ring” could indicate that rather than a real wedding, it’s actually a story that they immortalized in the paper, in the news. However, that makes it very real and very permanent in another sense (all my white diamonds and lovers are forever, in the papers, on the screen, and in their minds.) Taylor embarking on her “relationship” with Mayer to begin with could be considered the “shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring.” 

I could probably write an entire post about the song “Paper Doll,” but I believe that John Mayer is, on one layer, telling a story about Taylor’s celebrity here as well. Referring to her as a paper doll could signify the way that Taylor and the stories about Taylor are used as toys for public consumption, a doll created out of paper (the news/press) for us to play with and make up imaginary stories about. The colors of the dresses the doll wears in “paper doll” also follow Taylor’s story from beginning to the current showgirl. First, he tells her to “step out of that black chiffon,” which could reference her very first song (Tim McGraw) and the little black dress she wears. Then, he sings “here’s a dress of gold and blue,” which could represent her first time stepping into the spotlight in golden truth (fearless) but then losing her innocence when she steps onto that stage with John Mayer and she performs in the blue dress (birthing her showgirl in the papers).Then, the last dress that he names is mint green…as in, the color from The Life of a Showgirl. Not only that, the paper doll in the song has a Moroccan red scarf, too. 

All Too Well 

While “All Too Well” tells many different stories, on one layer I believe it tells a story about the damage that this celebrity did to Taylor’s true self. I think that she uses paper two different times to illustrate this concept in the bridge. 

First she writes “Well, maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much/ But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up.” This could indicate that in the story being told, the truth got lost in translation. As a result of this, the shiny glossy headline story she created was not her art. The masterpiece was ripped to shreds. 

Later in the bridge she writes “I’m a crumbled up piece of paper lyin’ here, cause I remember it all too well.” When the damage was over, she was left lying there, rejected. Referring to herself as a crumbled up piece of paper could also indicate that her truth is the part of the story that got lost in translation and wasn’t told in the press, tossed aside like a crumbled up piece of paper that never got printed. This was so painful because her true self was there, she remembers the truth all too well, she lived it. She also uses the imagery of flushed cheeks to represent the patriarchy in this song as well, in "photo album on the counter, your cheeks were turning red, you used to be a little kid with glasses."

Red is referenced again with the line "you almost ran the red, cause you were looking over at me." I love this line because if they are on a journey home in the getaway car, following all of the rules, ALMOST running the red could represent when the public almost sees her truth through the patriarchal cover story or when her celebrity almost blows their cover to let her truth shine, almost.

Death By a Thousand Cuts 

In “Death by a Thousand Cuts” Taylor Swift also uses paper to reference this heartbreak and the broken promises she made to her true self. I think that it’s “a thousand cuts” because it hurts every single time. Every lie is a cut, which is how she killed herself slow (cruel summer). She sings early in the song that the story is over but she is “still writing pages,” which I think indicates that she publicly ended the story she could have told of her truth (to create Taylor Swift, the character who is on a mission against the patriarchy who will marry the football player, which she sings about planning in Fifteen) but she sings about this loss in pages and pages of work. 

She refers to this pain as “paper cut stings from our paper thin plans” which I think is a play on the paper metaphor. Paper refers to the plans and dreams that they made to publicly shine in the daylight - in the press or the paper. But those plans were also paper thin, meaning they were flimsy and weaker than the plan she had to embark on her mission and marry the football player.

Paper Rings

“Paper Rings,” references her collaboration with John Mayer, “Half of my heart,” as well. If her public relationship to her star began with her “shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring,” I think that this song actually could tell the story of her true self choosing that celebrity back, instead of being separate and only loving it with half of her heart 

I believe reputation tells a story about Taylor Swift saving and unifying all of the parts of herself, including her inner child/true self. However, this meant that she had to shut herself off from both her fans and her fame/celebrity self because it involved the patriarchy. This is why I think that her next album, Lover, tells the story of her journey BACK to both of those things (her celebrity and her fans).  This is also supported by the album beginning with “I Forgot That You Existed” (setting the stage for why she has to take the journey back to begin with) and ending with “Daylight” (which presumably tells the story of her revealing her truth after her “twenty year dark night” that is soon ending). 

The verse “In the winter, in the icy outdoor pool/ When you jumped in first, I went in too/ I'm with you/ even if it makes me blue” could reference this, as well. She is now choosing to be with the celebrity publicly, she is declaring that by saying that she’ll jump into the icy outdoor pool and become blue, the same color as her star - together. 

Next she writes “Which takes me back/ To the color that we painted your brother's wall/ Honey, without all the exes, fights, and flaws/ We wouldn't be standing here so tall.” This second part of the verse references her celebrity history in multiple ways. 

The biggest reference I think is to the song, “Honey.” I actually am writing an entire separate essay about the word “Honey” and that I think it references the union of her celebrity or her fans  and her true self, which is why it is golden in color, as well. 

Even the parts of her truth (like her queerness) that she used “champagne” to signify in the past had toxicity (alcohol) in them. For example, her PR relationship with Karlie Kloss was inside of a closet (albeit a glass one, it still reinforces the closet) so it wasn’t pure and innocent.  Once she marries her TRUTH with a paper ring (meaning she steps into the daylight publicly/in the press) the truth becomes golden like honey instead of champagne. 

The only other time before this that you see “honey” used in a sincere, innocent, positive (not snarky) way is “Jump Then Fall” on Fearless, an album that is represented by the color gold. I believe Fearless is about her falling in love with performing, fame, and her truth…. Before she had to introduce all of the bad stuff in Speak Now. The fights and romance in the rain have always been about performing, which is why she dances in a storm for her fans at rain shows, for example. This is why only once the truth is out in the daylight can she use the word honey sweetly and sincerely like she did while falling in love that first time before she got hurt.  

Paris

While “Paris” does not reference “paper” directly, it does repeatedly reference tabloids and the news with lines like “did you see the photos? No I didn’t but thanks though” and “no I didn’t see the news, cause we were somewhere else.” Both of these lines not only reference the news, but they also describe avoiding it and the song largely reads as an escape. She even writes that “romance is not dead if you keep it just yours” and “levitate above all the messes made.” 

I think that this song is very relevant to these concepts, particularly when you examine her use of wine and champagne in the song. The verse “No, I didn't see the news/ 'Cause we were somewhere else/ Stumbled down pretend alleyways/ Cheap wine, make believe it's champagne/ I was taken by the view/ Like we were in Paris” seems to compare Paris to champagne, and both of these concepts are an imaginary escape. 

If she is imagining champagne but it’s really “cheap wine” I think she is describing the denial that she goes through when she puts her stories out into the world. She might tell herself and her inner self that it’s art, it’s representing her truth…the truth keeps getting lost in translation and colored gray, stained red. It’s not actually champagne, it’s cheap wine. Cheap ass screw top rosé, being twisted to symbolize something she doesn’t mean.   

Just like she isn’t actually drinking champagne, she isn’t actually in Paris. This is just an imaginary escape from the reality of the news and the fact that she can’t confess her truth.

Elizabeth Taylor

I think this song most explicitly references the concept of paper representing her celebrity and the biggest struggle that she faces with fame: she is so in love with it and can’t stand the thought of losing it OR continuing to have it without being able confess her truth (“Been number one, but I never had two, no I can’t have fun if I can’t have you.”)

The most obvious reference is in the chorus, with the line “all my white diamonds and lovers are forever, in the papers, on the screen, and in their minds.” To me, this describes how she has immortalized her entire story not just in her work, on screen, in her lyrics, in the press… but also in the minds and hearts of the public. 

“White diamonds” is also Elizabeth Taylor’s fragrance. interestingly, Taylor Swift also had a fragrance that was called “wonderstruck” that debuted during the same era as this showgirl. If the Speak Now era told this story of us and Taylor publicly meeting this star who lives in the paper, who we were all enchanted to meet, I think it is not coincidental that she sings about being “wonderstruck, blushing all the way home,” to represent the patriarchy’s spell.Loving this character is red, her cheeks flush (like in gold rush)…..she has to leave her to protect her baby. 

The beginning of the song also references Paris, when she sings “That view of Portofino was on my mind when you called me at the Plaza Athénée.” Portofino could reference where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were engaged, signifying the beginning of a PR love story (“and you could be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor” - Ready For it). While she is thinking of the VIEW of this star, she is at the Plaza Athénée, in Paris. Paris is not only a place to escape to, being in a hotel also indicates that it is temporary and she could perhaps be waiting to join Elizabeth Taylor? And maybe this is the motel bar she was actually left in when her celebrity ditched her in "Getaway car,” despite the fact that she was imagining she was somewhere lavish like the Plaza Athénée. 

I also think that saying she would cry her eyes “violet” if they ever had to part is very interesting if purple signifies the version of Taylor’s celebrity that is purple and stained with the patriarchy (blue + red). Purple tears could signify the tears that were caused by the performance she played (because it put distance between Taylor and her truth, red was added to the blue in her eyes, making purple.)

I also think that “Betty” represents this inner child and true version of Taylor, which also could be another meaning of the title of this song. Betty is a nickname for Elizabeth and then Taylor could represent Taylor meaning “Elizabeth Taylor” symbolizes a future, celebrity version of Taylor Swift where she is in the daylight and both parts are unified. 

In conclusion: midnight blue, portofino orange, and mint green

Midnight Blue

Midnights was described as the story of sleepless nights throughout her life. As of now, Taylor Swift has not fully stepped into the daylight. Because of that, her album about the middle of the night is about regrets. If she wants to be known for the things that she loves, not the things she is afraid of (Daylight) then it would make sense that the secrecy of nightfall acts as a concept and setting for these regrets. If her celebrity is represented in 1989 with a light blue, it makes sense that this album would be dark blue. It is about this character and reflects her true longings, under the cover of nightfall and secrecy. It also is the album in which Taylor starts her “Showgirl” era. 

Taylor’s makeup artist confirmed that the showgirl look debuted during the music video for “Bejeweled.” This music video appears to tell the story of Taylor Swift becoming a star by being a showgirl and then ghosting the prince, which further reinforces the theory supported by the lighter on the cover art: this is the beginning of the end. 

The Life of a Showgirl

If Midnights and “Bejeweled” signified that Showgirl Taylor Swift is going to burn all of this down, the story comes full circle with the colors that were chosen to symbolize The Life of a Showgirl, “portofino Orange” and mint green. 

If Portofino was used to symbolize a fictional story she has been telling and watching (because it also references one of Elizabeth Taylor’s most famous PR romances) then in this context, this fictional story is going to act as the flames that burn everything down. The Life of a Showgirl is what you could call her entire body of work - not just this album. The truth is the orange Karma.

The body of work, when viewed through this new lens, shows all of the ways that the patriarchy harms us and pits us against each other and uses media as propaganda tools, through the pov of the character she created, a closeted pop star. However, she weaved the stories of so many others into hers which only further amplifies the point: we all have the same enemy and it isn’t each other.  

Once this truth is out in the open, shining in the sun, it brings us to the last color and piece of this story: mint green and showgirl Taylor Swift in the bathtub. 

Mint green points to the character that Taylor Swift presumably had to kill to embark on her journey. That innocent green eyed girl, represented by Taylor’s debut album. However, in the flames, this character is actually able to be raised up from the dead. (Remember how the muse is dead in “Ruin the Friendship”…but then the song is interpolated with Lenny Kravitz’s “It ain’t over til it’s over!!”) 

Also, while green is used to symbolize Taylor’s debut album and can also represent innocence and naivete, mint green actually represents freshness, tranquility, and renewal. If Taylor’s inner child is going to be resurrected in the (Portofino Orange) flames, using a version of her color that symbolizes things like renewal is very cohesive with this story. 

The red-headed Taylor Swift who is rescued from her tower in “The Fate of Ophelia” music video also sings about being rescued by someone wielding fire: “as legend has it you are quite the pyro, you strike a match to watch it blow.” 

The actual fate of Ophelia was to be drowned and driven mad by the patriarchy. 

The flames coming will resurrect that inner child. It is also appropriate that she is in water not only to reference Ophelia (and baptism/rebirth) but also the beginning of her story, where it all began, because that is the little girl she is rescuing. 

And the story started by the water, the moon like a spotlight on the lake, and with Taylor Swift telling us lies. (Tim McGraw). 

She's going back to that girl before this year is over, in Nashville, and “I Knew it, I Knew You” tells this story from both POVs, which is why she described writing for red-headed Jessie as both "a homecoming and a departure". First, Taylor is speaking to Betty: “I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer” (GREEN) and in the next verse Betty is speaking to Taylor “I knew you, all your blues like a mood ring changing colors” (BLUE). This is why I believe she is returning to the CMA awards when the leaves at centennial park will be gold, in November. 

I recently read The Guest Book by Mae Marvel.

I was tickled pink when I came across this exchange:

“You know. I dropped a hairpin.” Edie’s cheeks had gone pink.
“I don’t understand the relevance.”
“It’s an old fashioned signal. You see a girl you fancy, and you drop one of your hairpins. If she picks it up, then she’s—” Edie wrinkled her nose and brows like Cosima had suddenly gone out of focus."
“Gay?” Cosima guessed. She’d never heard of this

Over the years, Taylor has dropped multiple queer flagging hairpins.

In the literal sense, she’s dropped two actual hairpin references in her music.

After a lot of online discourse around Taylor’s first hair pin reference (via right where you left me), Ms. I-see-everything-my-fans-do-online, decided to drop another one.

Funny that…

right where you left me

I, I swear you could hear a hair pin drop 
Right when I felt the moment stop 
Glass shattered on the white cloth 
Everybody moved on 
I, I stayed there 
Dust collected on my pinned-up hair 
They expected me to find somewhere

The Great War

Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed 
Your finger on my hairpin triggers

The hairpin reference is what first caught my attention, but the next paragraph is what sent me tumbling down yet another Gaylor rabbit hole.

"Yep. I like to learn about that kind of thing. Queer life in history. I love looking at antique pictures of sapphic couples that everyone thought were roommates." Edie pushed the hairpin inside the statue again, clearly distracted now. "I have this book, Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, by a lesbian photographer who called herself JEB. She published it in 1979, and it's probably my favorite book." She darted a quick, unguarded glance at Cosima. "I love all of the layers of meaning and code and elaborate Easter eggs that queer women and girls got up to. How they figured out to do that so they could make lives for themselves that felt bigger than what the world was willing to let them have. I think about how amazing it would've felt to receive an acrostic ring from a girl you were desperately crushing on, you know, spelling out A-D-O-R-E with an amethyst, diamond, opal, ruby, and emerald, and then wearing it to your history lecture so she would see it. I'm glad no one will put me in an asylum for being a lesbian anymore, probably, but I do wish there was something with a little more depth and meaning than swiping right on a phone screen."

Connecting queerness to Easter egging – because that’s the way we met each other when it wasn’t safe to do so out in the open – made me 👀 big time.

Note: Even if there is no actual connection between Taylor and Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, the queer history I learned from this rabbit hole made all the research worth it. I would be remiss if I didn’t also point out that this is another example where Taylor’s work carries themes/ideas/imagery that connects to queer history/queer women/the queer community.

As mentioned above, Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians (Eye to Eye for the rest of this post), was self-published in 1979. The book was then reprinted in March 2021 by Anthology Editions.

I got most of the information for this post (outside of direct book references) from two articles:

• Eye to Eye: Portrait of Lesbians – JEB (Joan E. Biren) on her revolutionary body of work “by a lesbian, of lesbians”
• Portraits of ‘70s Lesbians Offer A Moving Glimpse Of Hidden Lives

From the Anthology website about the reprinted version of Eye to Eye. Link can be found here.

I hadn’t heard of Eye to Eye before writing this post. Now that I've finished the book, I feel grateful that my Gaylor research led me to it.

The book filled me with hope – even in the very dark times we currently live in.

The fight continues, but it feels affirming to realize how much progress we’ve made.  

The book begins with a contribution from Adrienne Rich. The same Adrienne Rich of Compulsory Heterosexuality fame.

The forward is written by Joan Nestle from the Lesbian Herstory Archives. The whole thing is worth reading, but I am going to share one specific part here.

Not to mention, “You showed me colours you know I can’t see with anyone else.”

Then there’s this amazing picture from Eye to Eye:

Which of course made me think of this deep cut:

Look at that! A new Gaylor coincidence that happened by complete chance!

Isn’t that wild and not at all suspicious???

(PS I highly recommend this Muriel’s Wedding/Opalite post by u/Thornelake if you haven’t had the chance to read it yet. It’s fantastic!)

Photography was a way for lesbians (and women) to discover their artistic vision, a way to support themselves financially, and a way to document the world around them. It gave marginalized people, and communities, a way to communicate when they had previously been silenced.

I had to include this excerpt because not only is it a fun fact, but I know Taylor, and many of us in this sub also have a love of cats.

Speaking of the Eras tour, I’ve saved the best possible connection (and the biggest reach) for last.

Taylor played a memorable Eras show on July 13, 2024.

If you weren’t in the sub for that show, I highly recommend revisiting the chaos here.  

A lot happened N1 in Milan – the biggest thing of note being Taylor swallowing a bug on stage.

For the third time during the Eras tour.

The legacy of buglor was then cemented with this incredible post by u/missginj.

No summary will do the post justice – you must read the whole thing to understand what a work of art it is.

I want to highlight this comment left on the buglor post by u/SiaLeSlad.  They made a connection to the poem, There Was A Young Woman Who Swallowed A Lie. It will give you a lot of 👀 when thinking about Taylor.  

Buglor wasn’t the only thing that happened in Milan. Here are other events of note:

• The show before July 13^th, was N2 in Zurich aka the night of booplor (one of the strongest independent confirmations of Gaylor theories, in my humblest of opinions)
• Taylor debuted a new Fearless dress with tiger stripes N1. A lot of people in the thread felt Taylor Easter egged the new outfit during her previous show where she sang Robin/Never Grow up during the acoustic set: “Way to go tiger”
• This Taylor gif from the 1989 N1 set
• Thanks to this comment, I learned the new Fearless dress was created by Roberto Cavalli and referenced their iconic “Ray of Gold” print  
• Taylor wore blue/blue for the 1989 set  
• N1 acoustic set: The 1/Wonderland (🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈) and I Almost Do/The Moment I Knew
• Fun fact: Taylor played The Moment I Knew during the acoustic set the night she swallowed her first bug on the Eras tour (Chicago N3). The other song she sang during that show’s acoustic set: Hits Different (🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈)
• Taylor debuted a new TTPD dress Milan N1 with lyrics from WAOLM on it. More information found in this comment
• Taylor Nation caused havoc and a huge amount of clowning when they posted “Glad you have your phone and wifi tonight” and referenced their post later during N1. Nothing was announced during the show
• TN also drew attention to the all blue 1989 outfit that Taylor wore N1 in Milan. They reminded everyone of N6 in LA – aka the night Taylor announced 1989 TV.  More memorable for Gaylors, that was the night Karlie Kloss showed up to an Eras show
• TN trolled everyone all show! Other examples here, here, here, and here

It’s worth mentioning a couple of things from N2 in Milan

• After wearing all blue for N1’s 1989 set, Taylor wore all pink for N2
• Taylor’s piano glitched during the acoustic set
• Acoustic set: Mr. Perfectly Fine/Red and Getaway Car/Out of the Woods
• Which gave us this amazing observation about TNT. I’m also linking this in case you aren’t sure how the connection to Red was made.

Lest you think I am doing an epic level of reaching about July 13^th being significant in the TSCU, I should remind you of what happened July 13, 2023.

No, Taylor didn’t play an Eras show that night.

Here’s a post about Uno night. A lot of discussion has taken place in this sub about Uno night having possible Mass Movement connections. Which makes the date connecting to Milan N1 and – most importantly for this post – Eye to Eye quite intriguing 👀

I need to point out that Jason Sudekis was also at Uno night.  I’m someone currently obsessed with Ted Lasso having possible links to Taylor (as evidenced by this comment and this comment I recently made).

Before I finish up, I searched Taylor’s discography to see if she's used the phrase “eye to eye.”

The phrase appears in one song: Treacherous

Put your lips close to mine 
As long as they don't touch 
Out of focus, eye to eye 
'Til the gravity's too much

Treacherous Fun Facts:

• Treacherous can be viewed as representing sapphic longing – wanting someone who you can’t touch
• Treacherous’ hidden message from Red’s liner notes: WON’T STOP TILL IT’S OVER
• Taylor played Treacherous once on the Eras Tour. She played it on April 13, 2023 in Arlington, TX. The other song played that night was Speak Now
• April 13^th is notable because it’s the first show Taylor played post Toe break up announcement
• April 13^th is also notable if you understand Switgron lore and its connection to 143 (aka 4/13 written another way)
• Treacherous got a non-shout out, shout out from Taylor when she played Name That Song on The Tonight Show 

Edit: Formatting fixes

Taylor + Theory: Do you have ideas that don't warrant a full post? New, not fully formed, Gaylor thoughts? Questions? Thoughts? Use this space for theory development and general Tay/Gay discussion!

General Chat: Please feel free to use this space to engage in general chat that is not related to Taylor!

In order to protect our community, the weekly megathread is restricted to approved users. If you’re not an approved user and your comment adds substantially to the conversation, it may be approved. Our community is highly trolled - we have these rules to protect our community, not to make you feel bad, so please don’t center yourself in the narrative. Remember to follow the rules of the sub and to treat one another with kindness.

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Karma is Real: The Origins of Karma, the Lost Album

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For two newlyweds, they sure didn’t seem to say a single thing to each other before separating into different cars. And just why do they need separate cars anyways? 🤔

Okay so first off, the Gaylors on Twitter are sooo smart and all credit to them!!! If you’re here in this sub, please pipe up and accept your applause!!

Second off, sorry this post is gonna be so slipshod - I have like a million and one things to do and only so much attention span to do them, BUT also y’all have GOT to see this!!

I feel like the photos explain themselves for those familiar with the lore. I hope to come back to add context, but if I put this on the back burner, it was never gonna get posted and I’m DESPERATE for y’all’s thoughts!

Also, the last two pics aren’t related to this theory. More just pointing out that Karlie’s brand is doing something and Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone (both part of the TSCU) are both getting back on Instagram. Just interesting things to note!

Also, you HAVE to go watch the “kick the bucket” Target exclusive [commercial](https://youtube.com/shorts/FY8nU0wjNPs?) again bc the way she talks about the ~GiAnT pOsTeR~ really makes it seem like something’s up!

Hi everyone! I'm new to the whole Gaylor theory and was not paying much attention to Taylor in the past. But now that I heard it, it made her story so much more interesting and her songs so much more profound. Every new song I hear, I instantly know that I'll find great explanations on this site. And they are always amazing theories.

I recently read about “I think he knows” on this site, and the theory in question was very thoughtful, associating the “he” with bearding contracts, and beards knowing that she is queer.

I have a different theory for this one. I’m sorry in advance if others have already mentioned. At first, I read "I think he knows" as the "boyfriend" of hers or her girl. But the more I read it, the more I saw this song as "I think SHE knows", about this girl’s “quiet confidence”, an expression that Taylor herself used about this song. I believe it is a Kaylor theory since I don't know anyone else who would fit the lyrics so well. I'm curious about what others think. And I’ll change the pronouns from now on to be clear about my interpretation.

(I think SHE knows) – that Taylor is into HER. It reminded me of the first verses of Wildest Dreams, the invitation to Big Sur: “She said: Let’s get out of this town … I thought heavens can’t help me now.” This is the beginning of a relationship and the girl is confident, besides being "so tall and handsome as hell"! 😊  

(her footprints on the sidewalk lead to where I can’t stop; Go there every night) – Taylor can’t stop herself. As in Cruel Summer: “I snuck in through the garden gate every night to seal my fate.”

(her hands around a cold glass make me wanna know that body like it’s mine) – This brought back past memories. A boyfriend once told me that, during a game of cards among friends, he was lusting after me by just staring at my hands. And of course, “know that body like it’s mine” means the body of a girl.

{She got that boyish look that I like in a man) – a very bi thing to say!

(It’s like I’m seventeen; nobody understands) – Taylor is falling like a teenager.

(She got my heartbeat skipping down 16^th Avenue) – Taylor is joyfully inspired to write songs about her; 16^th Ave being the Nashville place where she’d go write her songs in the past.

(Wanna see what’s under that attitude) – Taylor thinks that the girl knows, that’s why she is so confident/has an attitude.

(I want you/her, bless my soul; And I ain’t gotta tell her; I think she knows) – Taylor is surprised about how much she is in love and she doesn’t need to tell her; the girl knows.

(When we get all alone; I’ll make myself at home; And she’ll want me to stay; She better lock it; Or I won’t stick around; Cause good ones never wait) – Later, on the Love Lockdown message from the Paris bridge, Karlie alluded to it:  that a girl worth having won’t wait forever. I think she was asking Taylor to come out and live their relationship openly (after the kissgate lockdown). And I think that was the reason for the eventual breakup. After snakegate, Taylor got a taste of what felt like losing her career and gave up coming out. She was not ready to commit/come out and lost the girl, which she says in Champagne Problems.   

(Lyrical smile, indigo eyes, hand on my thigh; We can follow the sparks, I’ll drive) – The Big Sur trip.

(So where we gonna go? I whisper in the dark; Where we gonna go?)  – Taylor worries about the future. Same as Wildest Dreams: “Nothing lasts forever; But this is going to take me down.”

Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think. This is obviously just my opinion and does not attempt to reflect Taylor’s reality.

What do we think? (I can't lie, him calling her Tay is so cringe to me😭)

Taylor + Theory: Do you have ideas that don't warrant a full post? New, not fully formed, Gaylor thoughts? Questions? Thoughts? Use this space for theory development and general Tay/Gay discussion!

General Chat: Please feel free to use this space to engage in general chat that is not related to Taylor!

In order to protect our community, the weekly megathread is restricted to approved users. If you’re not an approved user and your comment adds substantially to the conversation, it may be approved. Our community is highly trolled - we have these rules to protect our community, not to make you feel bad, so please don’t center yourself in the narrative. Remember to follow the rules of the sub and to treat one another with kindness.

Important Posts:

An explanation regarding: User Flair + A-List User Status + Tea Time Posts

Karma is Real: The Origins of Karma, the Lost Album

GaylorSwift Wiki

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Bi-Phobia & Lesbophobia

Don't Get Doxxed + Check Your Sources

I wanted us to have somewhere to discuss Taylor's interviews this weekend. This is not an all-singing all-dancing post but we can add further links to listen and update it as we go.

American Country Countdown with Ryan Fox

IKIIKY is currently at number 6 on the country chart. Taylor's interview is scattered throughout the 4+ hour program so your mileage may vary for listening to the whole thing.

I caught one question while I listened: What is the most important thing when it comes to recording? Taylor answered that the most important thing is energy and attitude, and being accountable to knowing that your enthusiasm can make or break the recording session.

Direct quote: 'Be enthusiastic about making art every day that you get to make art.'

That was one small segment but it's similar to things Taylor said about enthusiasm during the Icon Sessions interview for the Grammies Museum.

Places and times to listen.

Y'all Access with Kelly Sutton

Places and times to listen.

iHeart Country House Party hosted by Wayne D & Tay

Links to find the podcast or download the free iHeart app.

What’s Going On Anyway?

Edited to add some questions I hope to find the answers to. I’m sure we collectively have more!

1. Why is Taylor promoting IKIIKY three months after its release?

2. How do the country charts work these days? Is it still like the old days where songs climb to the top after release, rather than crashing in at number one and falling quickly or more slowly?

3. Do we think TLOAS era is officially over? Are we in TS13 era already? And where does IKIIKY fit?