Looks Like Taylor Swift Is Releasing ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) This Year And We’re Speechless

The self-confessed ‘mastermind’ is handing out Easter eggs, left, right and centre.

Apr 03, 2023 1:06am

Taylor Swift fans are now almost certain that the beloved singer is due to release Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) imminently. They pieced the tip-off together after the star wore a series of sequined shirts with certain letters highlighted in red. It is believed the red letters will spell out Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

It is expected to be the third album she’s re-recorded, after releasing Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in April 2021 and Red TV (Taylor’s Version) in November 2021. Could her third one be due exactly a year after Fearless, in April 2022? Or will we have to wait until the Eras Tour has come to an end? Here’s what we’ve found in our research.

Fans Have Been Hoping For ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) For A WhileSpeculation began that Speak Now would be Swift’s next album, after a series of Easter eggs were released in the music video for ‘Bejeweled’, a song on her most recent album Midnights.

However, there were a few mixed messages in that video that made fans question if 1989 would come next.

It makes sense that Swift would use her iconic Eras Tour as the perfect opportunity to clear muddy waters and offer an obvious (albeit sequined) Easter egg, telling super fans which album will be next.Why Do Fans Think ‘Speak Now TV’ Is Next?

The initial buzz around Speak Now getting the ‘Taylor’s Version’ treatment began after Swift released the music video for her song ‘Bejeweled’. It’s a song many fans have said is about getting her music back, with the ‘jewels’ a metaphor for her albums. Best believe she’s still bejeweled, Scooter Braun.

There were so many Easter eggs in the music video that lead to Speak Now.

Firstly, actress Laura Dern played the evil stepmother to Swift’s Cinderella, saying “Speak not, tired tacky wench,” to Taylor. Some fans felt this was an allusion to both Speak Now and the fact that Taylor’s way of speaking, her music, had been taken away from her when the masters were sold.

However, the main hint was the elevator used in the ‘Bejeweled’ video, which had 13 floors, each dedicated to one of her albums through colour coding (for example, the second floor was yellow for Fearless, the fourth floor was red for Red and the third floor was purple for Speak Now).

She went to the ‘third’ floor first, suggesting that her third studio album Speak Now would be re-recorded first. After visiting the third floor Taylor got back into the lift and went to the fifth floor, themed light blue for 1989, her fifth studio album.

This suggests that we will likely get Speak Now, followed by 1989 in her re-recording schedule.

This assumption was confirmed when fans realised the ’13th’ floor, corresponded to the next (as yet unreleased) album after Midnights, and was coloured ‘purple’ for Speak Now.

There were the other elements in the clip, that suggested Speak Now would be next. For example, Swift donned two hair clips, one an ‘S’ and the other an ‘N’ for Speak Now. She also included dragons flying over a kingdom at the end of the video, likely reference to the lines from ‘Long Live’ on the Speak Now album, “How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you” and “I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you.”

Swift has openly admitted that ‘Long Live’ is a love song to her fans and her band. It’s only taken on greater meaning over the years, as her fans have literally “fought the pretenders” and “moved mountains” with Swift.

It appears to be a reference to Taylor losing her music and getting it back because the fans are willing to support her re-recording. We’re not crying, you are.

What Was The Final ‘Speak Now’ Confirmation?

If the ‘Bejeweled’ video clip wasn’t enough for you to be sure that Speak Now would be next, then her recent outfit choices on the Eras Tour should be official sign to order yourself a purple ballgown.

During the Red section of her Eras Tour, Swift has been seen wearing various renditions of the famous ‘Not A Lot Going On At The Moment’ t-shirt she wore in the ’22’ video clip.

On the first night of the tour, she came out in a shirt, designed exactly the same, that read, ‘A Lot Going On At The Moment’. At first, fans thought it was just a tongue in cheek comment about all the music she’s releasing and her sold-out tour, but then she came out in another shirt, that read, ‘Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway. Ew’.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed that some of the letters on the shirt were coloured red, but not sure why.

When she came out in a third shirt, reading, ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together, Like Ever’, fans started to connect the dots. They realised that the letters in red pulled together to look something very much like Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

It’s important to note there’s some double-ups on letters. Fans think that maybe the letters create an alphabet which can be used to spell the album name. If so, it currently reads _E A NOW (TA LOR’ VER _ _ON), when unscrambled.

Yes, Taylor appears to be playing a tour-led version of anagrams with her fans, and we’re totally here for it.

What Album Will Be Released After ‘Speak Now’?

We do not know what Taylor’s plans are for re-records after Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) but, if the ‘Bejeweled’ video clip is anything to go by, our assumption is that it would be 1989.

That would leave only Debut and Reputation left to record, her first and final album that were lost in the Scooter Braun takeover. Arguably, a very fitting ending to the whole saga.

Why Isn’t Taylor Singing Speak Now Songs At The Eras Tour?

It’s been noted that in the Taylor Swift Eras Tour tracklist, there is only one song from the Speak Now album, ‘Enchanted’.

It’s a fan favourite that went viral last year on TikTok, and was a natural addition from the album to the setlist. However, mega-fans did wonder why there weren’t more songs from this album included.

Some have suggested that it is because the re-recording of Speak Now is not yet released, and that Taylor may even change the track list once she releases the re-record.

Others think that maybe she’s holding back on Speak Now and Debut to tour them separately.

“She is def releasing speak now next and then debut which is why she’s playing those the least because if she drops a new album she can tour those two albums,” one user commented on Twitter.

At this stage, Swift has not given a reason for why Speak Now (and Debut) have so little representation on the Eras Tour, especially as Speak Now is an entirely self-written album and would make sense to be included. We will have to watch this space for when Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is released.

Why Is Taylor Swift Re-Recording Her Old Albums?

For context on why she’s undertaking this process, Taylor Swift is re-recording her old masters so that she owns the rights to them.

This is because the masters of her first six studio albums (Taylor Swift (Debut), Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation) passed to record executive Scooter Braun (who Swift perceives as a bully) when he acquired the previous owner of the masters, Big Machine Records. Swift alleges that she had made a prior offer to purchase the masters.

So far Taylor Swift has re-recorded Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version). We can’t wait to see what’s next.

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