"1989 (Taylor's Version)" was released on Oct. 27. The release date came after the "Shake It Off" singer dropped a lot of clues about it.
In June 2022, Swift seemingly dropped Easter eggs about its release at the Las Culturistas Culture Awards, hosted by "Saturday Night Live" star Bowen Yang and comedian Matt Rogers. She recorded two acceptance speeches for the show, and in those videos, her home is full of items that seem to reference the original "1989" era, per Vulture.
Then, this May, Swift surprise-released the music video for "Karma," and fans thought it includes even more Easter eggs pointing to an upcoming drop. In the video, Swift plays a vinyl copy of "Midnights," but the album is light blue, which fans associate with "1989." In another shot, Swift is the Greek goddess Nemesis and her pedestal has "MCMLXXXIX" carved into it; that's 1989 in Roman numerals.
Fans have also found meaning in a scene where Swift appears as three then five lightbulbs. "Speak Now" is Swift's third album; "1989" is her fifth.
One of the video's last shots was also interpreted as a clue. Swift holds a coffee cup; inside, her latte has art that looks like a clock. A finger with light-blue nail polish is by the eight on the clock, while a finger with black polish is by the two. Many fans thought that meant a "1989 (Taylor's Version)" announcement would come in August and "Reputation (Taylor's Version)" would come in February 2024.
The video for the "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" song "I Can See You" also has a "1989 (Taylor's Version)" clue — at the end of the video, a sign over a bridge reads, "1'-9" 8.9 tv."
