Why Taylor Swift Fans Think “1989 (Taylor's Version)” Is Coming

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Nearly every Thursday for the past several weeks, Taylor Swift fans have been anticipating some kind of surprise drop from the singer-songwriter. It’s not a completely unfounded hope; after all, Taylor has popped up with a handful of unexpected announcements this year (I’m personally still recovering from the evermore drop), and we know that she’s busy working on all of her album re-releases.

For a while now, Swifties have been theorizing that Taylor is planning on releasing 1989 (Taylor’s Version) next, which would follow this spring’s re-release of Fearless. That theory took flight even further this week when Taylor dropped a brand-new line of merch, which many fans are scrutinizing for 1989 easter eggs. Have we all gone over the edge? Or might there be something to these clues? Let’s investigate!

One of the biggest reasons fans are latching onto the new merch collection — which is titled “Just a Summer Thing” — is because of the colors. The whimsy combination of tan, lavender, and faded turquoise is reminding fans of the shirt Taylor wears on the 1989 cover, along with the overall vibes from the pop-influenced 2014 album.

Then there’s also the fact that 1989 is literally on the merch. Yes, yes, we know Taylor was born that year, and so writing “Est. 1989” can’t be read into too much as a clue — but we also know that nearly everything Taylor does has purpose to it. She also sometimes hides clues in plain sight — remember the LOVER sign from the "ME!" music video? I rest my case.

This is where things get a little more interesting. The merch collection’s name is a line from the folklore song “Betty,” which follows with the lyric, “I’m only 17, I don’t know anything.” As many fans have pointed out, June 17 is around the corner…and is also a Thursday, AKA the day of the week Taylor is known to make her surprise announcements. Other fans noticed that the merch itself will be released on August 6, which is a Friday — perhaps the day that the album will drop? And one Swiftie went even deeper than that, straight into the meta-data of the background image for the merch collection. “The file name of the background image is ‘WoodsBackground.png’ [Out Of The Woods]. I can feel it in my bones that #1989TaylorsVersion is coming!” they wrote.

Listen, as a Swiftie myself, I honestly don’t even know what to think. Is this another “five holes in the fence” situation, or are we onto something here? Are we ready for the CIA or have we collectively and officially lost our minds? Unclear. But two things are for certain — one of these Thursdays, we’re going to be right, and whenever Taylor does decide to drop 1989 (Taylor’s Version), it’s going to be absolutely everything and more.

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue