As we all know, Taylor Swift is constantly dropping little hints and previews for her upcoming albums. The most obvious and most anticipated album right now is Red (Taylor’s Version), dropping November 12, 2021. Weirdly enough, Swift has been hinting at 1989 (Taylor’s Version) for a few months now. Some are speculation, but some to be so clear that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is in the works.
The first significant indication that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was coming was the merch collection that dropped in June called “Just a Summer Thing” in which the phrase “EST. 1989” was on most if not all of the collection, including cups, shirts, koozies, scrunchies, towels, etc. This phrase was used almost exclusively during the original 1989 era since it was the year Swift was born. Since this was the first indication of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) being recorded in the works, naturally, everyone was excited and started snooping for more clues.
The next big hint was her release of “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version).” The actual release didn’t come until after the Red (Taylor’s Version) announcement, but it was featured in a trailer for Spirit Untamed. Fans were excited to see that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was seemingly being confirmed once more. Red (Taylor’s Version) was then announced, which threw many people off since 1989 (Taylor’s Version) seemed like the next choice, but Swift loves confusing everyone.
The next clear hint that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was coming is when she sold her Fearless (Taylor’s Version) signed CDs for $19.89. Why she sold the CDs for that price with no hint of a release date from Swift is beyond what any of the fans can guess. Especially since it would make way more sense to promote Red (Taylor’s Version) at this point rather than 1989 (Taylor’s Version), but Swift works in wondrous and mysterious ways, so who knows when 1989 (Taylor’s Version) will be released. To go along with this hint, Swift mentioned in a tweet that while signing the CDs, her hand froze up into the shape of a claw. She was referencing a Friends episode where Chandler said that line for a specific bit. The episode aired on September 20, 2002 (the same day that she tweeted), which is 13 years after the year 1989. All Swifties know that 13 is one of the most important numbers within the hints that Swift gives for her albums, so of course, this was a big deal for them to figure out.
Speaking of social media posts, there has been speculation surrounding a few other posts that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) may be coming, but it’s less obvious and a bit more of a stretch than the other concrete hints Swift has told everyone. In one TikTok, Swift talks about when someone mentions 1989 and winks at the camera, which is a stretch of a hint that she may be taking a photo for the cover of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in that video, as she did when she winked during the Red (Taylor’s Version) photoshoot in an earlier video. The other possible hint here is the glitch in the video. Fans have been speculating that her clothes and the style of the video is similar to the “Style” music video. In one of Taylornation’s TikToks, the video is completely silent. In Taylor’s song, “You Are In Love,” one of the song’s lyrics is “You can hear it in the silence” as if the fans can hear in the silence that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is coming soon! Also very recently, Swift has deleted two of her Instagram posts to align the grid, making her past Evermore album cover nine posts line up to form a picture. In the past, this has meant that Swift is about to announce something. It could be the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) announcement, but anything is possible.
Here’s to hoping that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is released soon! But not too soon… This article can’t be too outdated.