In the world of Taylor Swift, nothing is ever just a number, a colour, or a caption… Or is it?
For fans who live for decoding her secret messages, every movement is a breadcrumb, every outfit a prophecy. But in the maze of clues, teases, and timelines, one truth remains: sometimes it's just a coincidence...
Taylor Swift’s history has conditioned fans to look deeper. And deeper. And sometimes... maybe too deep. Yes, there may have been 5 holes in the fence. The 2s pointed in the direction of a double album.
And now it’s the hints leading us down the road of May 26, 2025. The date of the AMAS.
On Taylor’s website Apparel, Music, Accessories, and Sale, spell out AMAs. There were 12 items that were 26% off.
This has to be it, right?
There’s also 35 items that are 13% off. But there’s no obvious clue in that. 13 is Taylor’s favourite number. 35 is Taylor’s age. Or maybe it’s because if add 3+5+1+3 you get 12!
Let’s look at those 12 items that are 26% off.
The first, if sorting by featured, is an Eras Tour t-shirt.
This is Speak Now Eras Taylor. There’s 3 stars. Stars and celestial themes are more motifs people have seen Taylor make over the years.
Next shirt is a Long Live, Speak Now shirt. There’s also stars on this one (5 to be exact).
Notice a theme here? More Speak Now merch AND more stars. I counted 14.
There’s no stars here, but Speak Now again…
Could it just be discounting the older merch? Let’s continue on…
Speak Now and stars!
We’re breaking the pattern now with an Eras Tour shirt that shows an image of Taylor during the evermore set (pre-TTPD)
Speak Now and stars- again!
But then we get something like this…
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? You Should Be.
You Don’t Get To Tell Me About Sad (lyrics from Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?). Also the title of a Taylor curated playlist that has 26 songs.
But. WAOLOM is track 10. The song length is 5:34. Is that anything? 1+5+3+4= 13.
10 for October? 12? October 12th is a Sunday so probably not. But see? It’s easy to make connections if you want to make them.
Fortnight lyrics.
A Lover era shirt. Cruel Summer lyrics. And stars.
And finally.
1989 TV picture frame. The odd ball in this merch selection. With a reference to Out of the Woods (Last December).
So let’s recap.
6 Speak Now themed shirts. 1 evermore. 3 Tortured Poets Department. 1 Lover. 1 1989.
6/6? That’s been a speculated date for a release. It’s a Friday (which seems to be the default now for charting purposes). And we’ve seen other announcements on days like this.
It would be a very short turn around time, and doesn’t leave long for pre-orders. But is everything so formulaic now? If we keep looking for the same results, we’ll never have fun.
What else could we take away from this? Speak Now (TV) was announced on tour on 5/5. Released 7/9.
evermore was a surprise drop on 12/11.
TTPD was announced at the Grammys and was a surprise double album. 4/19.
Lover was released 8/23. It’s the first album post- Big Machine Records. There was no real surprise with this album drop. But the 5 holes in the fence countdown theory is tied to the Lover era. The Lover era was cut short due to COVID. Perhaps there is something about that era she wants to reclaim now.
And finally, 1989 TV. Which was announced during the Eras tour on 8/9.
Part of what makes the fandom culture so rich is that it doesn’t always matter if an Easter egg “pays off.” Sometimes it’s about what we bring to it. Maybe it is about US. Swifties. And the way we connect, create, and hope.
Sometimes our theories and speculations end up better than the real thing.
“Track 5” symbolism is real. You can’t spells cats without ts. But maybe Taylor wore green because it looked good. Maybe the date is just a date. Maybe she won’t even show up to the AMAS. But in a world where not much feels certain, the possibility of Taymagic is something to hold onto.
Because sometimes, a dress is just a dress.
Or maybe TS12 is coming.
Reputation TV.
Debut (self-titled) TV
A documentary?
You just never know. And maybe… Just maybe… that’s the fun of it.