Swiftie’s are positively shaking today as we approach the release of Swift’s long awaited album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. And in true Swiftie fashion, people are starting to notice some subtle clues, or ‘Easter Eggs’, in the lead up to the big drop. Here’s what we’ve found so far:
A few things in the Midnights room:
1. In the videoclip for “Timetable”, the clock in the Midnights room is set to 2:00am. “Two a.m.” is mentioned in several songs throughout Taylor’s career.
2. Additionally, in the Midnights room, we can see some daylight peaking in which some say could be linked to “Daylight” from Lover.
3. In the Midnights room, there are a few pieces of paper lying on the floor all crumpled up, reminiscent of “All Too Well” from her album Red.
4. In Swift’s NSAI’s Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award speech, she said, “I’ve never talked about this publicly before, because, well, it’s dorky. But I also have, in my mind, secretly, established genre categories for lyrics I write. Three of them, to be exact. They are affectionately titled Quill Lyrics, Fountain Pen Lyrics, and Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics.” And why’s that relevant? She left her glitter gel pens in the Midnights room!!!
5. Some of Swift’s Insta pics from behind the scenes of Midnights are seen on the walls.. What could this mean?
6. Ok, this one is not so subtle – in the video you see the camera make its way from the Midnights room and enter The Tortured Poets Department, perhaps suggesting she’s entering a new era?
7. The Tortured Poets Department door is upside down?!?!
8. And a calendar on the bulletin boards has a new music video scheduled for release on Friday! Theres a calendar on the bulletin board, showing a new music video is scheduled for release for Friday.. the same day TTPD drops!
9. Fans in NYC spotted new lyrics on a digital billboard. It says, “One less temptress. One less dagger to sharpen.”
10. There’s a giant QR code in Chicago, taking you to a 13 second YouTube clip of type writer style text on screen spelling out ‘Error 321’.
11. Taylor previously mentioned the area of Chicago where the QR code was spotted, during a comedy bit on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2021.
12. Fans have spotted the same QR code all over the world.
13. For the past few days, Taylor has revealed new words of a secret phrase hidden in the lyrics of old songs on Apple Music. So far, the message is “We hereby conduct this post.”
14. The dried flowers on display relate to “Lavender Haze” from Midnights and “Cornelia Street” from Lover.
15. The number 2 is popping up a lot.. and now there is a peace sign statue in TTPD, which mimics a hand gesture Taylor made during her 2024 Grammys acceptance speech.
16. In TTPD there are books with titles matching the TTPD track list.. “Guilty as Sin?” is the biggest one.
17. In TTPD one of the books has the word “Us” on it, hinting to “The Story of Us'” from Speak Now.
18. There are two books titled The Tortured Poets Department. Anytime Taylor releases a new album lately, there’s a double album theory.
19. Another book in TTPD reveals some lyrics.. “Even statues crumble if they’re made to wait.”
20. The book pages were turned, revealing new lyrics.. “Lost the game of chance, what are the chances?”
21. There’s a card catalogue with 72 drawers, and some are speculating this could represent the 72 months (or 6 years) Swift spent with Joe Alwyn.
22. An hourglass in TTPD really resembles the one in the “Karma” music video.
23. Some fans compared the card catalogue to a morgue. On the first night of the Eras Tour, Taylor, allegedly, said, “You know, my albums have characteristically been, sort of, excruciatingly autobiographical where, like, when I put out an album, it just feels like getting some sort of live-streamed, public autopsy.”
24. Like the clock in the Midnights room, there’s a clock in the library set to 2 a.m. Fans also linked it to Taylor’s pocket watch in the “Bejeweled” music video, where the countdown to exile stops at two.
25. There’s a puzzle in a jar. It may be “The Lines” by Bgraamiens Puzzle.
26. We also spy a globe, with a little pin or nail in Florida. On the new album, track number 8 is “Florida!!!”, which is ALSO where Taylor apparently was when news of her and Joe Alwyn’s breakup started to circulate.
27. Fans have identified a bust of Diana of Ephesus (aka Artemis) in TTPD. Her name is linked to the Latin word for daylight, dius.
28. In artworks from ancient Rome and Greece, Diana typically hunts with a bow and arrow (a possible reference to “The Archer”) and sometimes a hound (a possible link to “The Black Dog”).
29. The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world — just like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which Taylor mentioned in “cowboy like me.”
30. In TTPD there’s a desktop calendar with the date Friday, Dec. 13 — which is actually happening this year.
31. We also see a rose in a glass case, reminiscent of the one in Beauty and the Beast.
32. And finally, we see birdcages similar to the one in the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video.
