On May 27, Taylor Swift debuted her newest collaboration on her song “Karma,” now featuring rapper Ice Spice. Simultaneously, Ice Spice came on stage to perform Karma with Swift for the first time yet on tour. The music video, however, is what stood out to fans, even more than seeing Ice Spice and Taylor perform together live. The video takes us through many of Taylor’s eras, and is truly a stunning video all in all. Swifties are trying to unpack the references and meanings of the video… including a clue for Swift’s next re-record.
Taylor Swift is known for her infamous Easter Eggs, so what’s lurking in her most current video? If you’re trying to put together the pieces, don’t worry — here’s the breakdown of some of the most interesting Easter Eggs in the “Karma” music video.
- Taylor’s Painting may allude to her breakup with Joe Alwin.
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Within the first 10 seconds of the video, we spotted a painting on the wall, which appears to be a Taylor original painting, and it features a house that looks quite unapproachable and has an eerie vibe to it. It happens to look similar to the House on the Coast painting which is shown in the “Cardigan” music video. The reason we are peeling the layers to this painting is that it might be a reference to how her home life has changed since the time “Cardigan” was released. When the painting made its appearance in that video, Swift and Joe were obviously together and spending a lot of time at home together. Something about the haunted vibe of this painting and the painting in the “Cardigan” video seems like they have to be related to one another.
- There’s a nod to Greek Mythology (which points to a very specific album).
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We see Taylor for the first time in the video dressed as the Greek goddess of revenge, Nemesis, surrounded by lots of 1989 references. The first and most important clue we see is the numerals on the pedestal which are “MCMLXXXIX,” which translates to 1989. There is also an Empire State Building shown in the distance behind Taylor. Taylor dressed as Nemesis could also signify that she might see herself as her own worst enemy during this time in her life: 1989 preceded her public downfall after all of the Kimye drama, her then year of hibernating, and then her debut of Reputation.
- The three grim reapers may be a reference to her public feuds.
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From Taylor skipping around LaLa land, to her looking over to her world being disrupted by the darkest time of her life, there are three Grim Reapers. There are many guesses as to what and who they might represent, but Kanye West, Scooter Braun, and Scott Borchetta are some of the most popular theories. In the video, Taylor blows the Reapers a kiss that is full of magical purple dust. Purple is, of course, the color of Speak Now which was the first album Swift released after Kanye infamously interrupted Taylor’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs, and features “Innocent,” her song about her feud with him.
- The lightbulbs could point to a re-record order.
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Toward the last part of the music video, Swift appears inside three lightbulbs. Then, two more appear. Speak Now was Taylor’s third album, so when five bulbs show up, since 1989 was her fifth album, this could allude to a 1989 re-record.
- Taylor’s nails may be the secret to her next re-record, too.
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In the last scene, we see Taylor holding coffee where her left thumb is painted blue (1989) and her right thumb is painted black (Reputation). Fans def think this is a clue that 1989 will be the next re-record followed by Reputation. Some are also speculating that the placement of her thumbs and the clock have to do with when each re-record will come out, as her left thumb is placed by the 8, signifying 1989 coming out in August, and her right thumb is placed by the 2, signifying that Reputation will be out in February. But who’s keeping track anyways? The video finally ends with the latte art striking midnight which seems to hint at the Midnights Era ending with the “Karma” video and that from now we will be seeing everything else.
This video truly took us through so many of Taylor’s eras and had many hints and references to re-records and info about Taylor’s love life. Hopefully, we will be seeing more soon… stay tuned!