Taylor Swift’s new music video for “I Can See You” is filled with Easter eggs that could hint at her next rerecording.
On July 7, the singer released her anticipated album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) — a rerecorded version of her 2010 release — including six new never-before-heard vault tracks.
During her Eras Tour, Swift kept the surprises coming as she announced that she was debuting a brand-new music video for one of those vault tracks, “I Can See You,” with the help of three people from her Speak Now era.
The singer was joined on the stage by Joey King and Presley Cash, who previously starred in her “Mean” music video, and Taylor Lautner, who inspired Speak Now’s “Back to December.”
Swift said of her ex before introducing him onstage, “He was a very positive force in my life when I was making the Speak Now album, and I want to say he did every single stunt that you saw in that music video. He and his wife have become some of my closest friends, and it’s very convenient because we all share the same first name.”
Filmed in Liverpool in April, the music video features King, Cash and Lautner as they pull off a heist to break out “Speak Now Taylor” from the vault.
“I wrote this video treatment over a year ago and really wanted to play out symbolically how it’s felt for me to have the fans helping me reclaim my music,” Swift said about the music video on Instagram.
Not only does the music video feature countless nods to her Speak Now era, but it also includes some Easter eggs that seem to point at her 1989 era, which have fans speculating about what could be coming next.
Here’s a complete rundown of all the Easter eggs in the music video.
“Last Kiss” lyric reference
The beginning of the music video is dated July 9 at 1:58, which are lyrics found in the song “Last Kiss” on her Speak Now album.
“Electric Touch” lyric reference
As King types a passcode, she receives a shock via a flash of purple light. Fans think this could be a reference to another Speak Now vault song, “Electric Touch,” which features Fall Out Boy.
“Long Live” lyric on her arm
When we first see Swift, she’s wearing her iconic gold fringe dress from her Speak Now tour. In another nod to the era, she also has lyrics from “Long Live” (a song she wrote for her fans) written on her arm: “I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you.”
Undercover mission
King dodging purple lasers to enter the vault has fans drawing parallels to the opening of the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival, where Swift had to do something similar to make her way to stage. Seeing as this was during Swift’s 1989 era, Swifties think this could be an Easter egg that her fifth album is her next rerecording.
13 on her hand
In addition to donning her Speak Now Tour outfit, Swift also has her lucky number 13 painted on her hand, a hallmark of her tour days at that time.
Her past frozen behind glass
As the museum lights up, King and Lautner notice that the entire building is filled with costumes from Swift’s Speak Now era. The glass cases seem to be a reference to Swift’s Evermore song “It’s Time to Go” in which she sings about her original recordings being sold to Scooter Braun’s company: “He’s got my past frozen behind glass / But I’ve got me.”
Counting down the days until Speak Now’s release
In the room Swift is in, we see tallies written all over the wall, seemingly making reference to how Swift was counting down the days until she could reclaim her work by releasing Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Joey King’s “Mean” music video outfit
In addition to featuring Swift’s Speak Now outfits, one of the glass cases also includes the outfit King wore in the “Mean” music video. Beside it, we see a throwback photo of Swift and King when they were younger, which makes the Kissing Booth actress emotional.
The vault
Later in the video, it becomes clear that “Speak Now Taylor” is actually locked inside a vault. Not only is this a reference to Swift’s “vault tracks” but fans have also noted that Swift used similar imagery in her “Look What You Made Me Do” music video from her Reputation album.
Five security guards
As King and Lautner roam around the museum, they’re met by five different security guards, which fans think could be a reference to Swift’s fifth album, 1989. The fight scene also draws a lot of parallels to Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video, which was also from that album.
Joey King using Taylor Swift’s “Mean” banjo
Fans have taken note that King’s weapon of choice during the fight scene was fittingly the banjo Swift used to play during her “Mean” performance during her Speak Now Tour.
Taylor Lautner in front of Taylor Swift’s “Back to December” piano
Lautner’s fight sequence is almost exactly the same as the fight sequence during his Saturday Night Live monologue in which he talked about how he should have defended Swift when Kanye West infamously stormed the stage at the MTV VMAs.
Fittingly, his big fight sequence occurs in front of the blue dress Swift wore and the piano she played during “Back to December,” a song penned about Lautner, during the Speak Now Tour.
Purple lights
Throughout the music video, there are various purple lights, seemingly a reference to Swift’s Speak Now album, which has been associated with the color over the years. In particular, when Lautner breaks Swift out of the vault, he uses three purple explosives, a reference to Speak Now being Swift’s third album.
Recreating the Midnights album cover
As King lights a torch before breaking Swift out of the vault, she appears to recreate Swift’s Midnights album cover as she holds the flame close to her face.
Blue lights
While most of the music video features purple lighting, a color associated with Speak Now, fans have pointed out that the lights immediately change as soon as Swift is broken out of the vault, switching to a greenish-blue hue reminiscent of her 1989 album. Could this indicate that Swift is about to break 1989 (Taylor’s Version) out of the vault next?
Taylor Swift leaving her past behind
After Swift successfully takes back Speak Now, she looks back at the museum collapsing behind her, which fans have interpreted as Swift being emotional about leaving behind her original Speak Now album in an effort to reclaim her work.
Swift seemingly confirmed this theory as she liked a fan tweet about the scene, which reads: “her face watching everything blow up makes me so sad it’s like she knows she’s reclaiming her work to be her own but she’s also giving away the original ???? i’m so glad she stole speak now tho ITS WHAT WE DESERVED.”
Van heading towards 1989 TV
The music video ends with Swift, Lautner, King and Cash hopping into a van and driving away. As they head down the street, right above them is a sign that reads “1989 TV,” insinuating that Swift is set to release her version of 1989 next. Swift previously teased the order of her remaining three rerecordings during her “Karma” music video as she included Easter eggs for 1989, Reputation and her debut album in a clockwise order.
[via]
