I am the opposite of a casual Reputation fan. Four of my five most-listened-to songs on Spotify are from the 2017 album, I wore a Rep-inspired outfit to my Eras Tour show, and I am constantly analyzing (and talking about) its symbolism. I stand by the fact that this album, as misunderstood as it is, is actually the key to understanding Taylor Swift herself, which is why its rerelease is the one I've been most looking forward to. With TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Reddit, it feels like there's a new theory every day about when we'll get Reputation (Taylor's Version), but I'm pretty sure Taylor's been telling us the announcement date the whole time.
When is Taylor Swift releasing Reputation (Taylor's Version)?
Image via Source Pictures & Taylor Swift Productions
The cappuccino Easter egg from the "Karma" music video.
We don't have an official Reputation (Taylor's Version) release date yet, but all signs were originally pointing to an announcement on February 16, 2024. When the music video for "Karma" from Midnights came out, featuring a shot of Taylor holding a cappuccino, Swifties immediately picked up on the symbolism. The blue nail (which represents 1989 (Taylor's Version)) lines up with the 8 on the clock, and the black nail lines up with the 2 on the clock. Taylor ended up announcing 1989 TV on August 9 — and then announced The Tortured Poets Department(also known as TS11) onstage at the 2024 Grammys in February!
TaylorNation just teased the Reputation (Taylor's Version) release date by hopping on the latest internet trend, which uses the "You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me" lyric from "Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?" Their Instagram carousel features images that have sent Swifties spiraling in the past, but there are two pics I'm paying special attention to: the "five holes in the fence" image from the Lover era, and a "Bejeweled" music video still of Taylor Swift pressing 3 in an elevator. May 3 (5/3) comes two weeks after the TTPD release, and since Taylor has been emphasizing her lead single "Fortnight" with the "For a Fortnight" challenge, it looks like it could line up perfectly.
There are plenty of other potential summer release dates too! Swifties know Taylor Swift lives and breathes the number 13, and that she's been making her recent rerecording announcements at her Eras Tour shows.
Well, this summer, Taylor is heading to Milan for a show on Saturday, July 13. X user @roranotaurora points out that the symbol for Milan is a snake (it's also a symbol for Rep!) AND that on July 13, 1977, there was a blackout across New York City. When Taylor announced the original Reputation in 2017, the "Don't Blame Me" singer blacked out all her social media. If she announced the album in July, there's a good chance we'd get it just in time for autumn, chilly weather, and Daylight Savings Time, all three of which go perfectly with the Reputation aesthetic.
There's another 13 we need to pay attention to as well: December 13, which is also Taylor Swift's birthday. The popstar had the date front and center in her Tortured Poets Department pop-up installation. Since the date falls on a Friday, it's the perfect day to drop some new music...
Are there any other clues that Reputation (Taylor's Version) will come out next?
Image via Amy Sussman
Taylor Swift attends the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 07, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Recently, Taylor showed up to the 81st Golden Globe Awards in an all green ensemble, which is already so Reputation-coded to begin with. However, fans noticed one teeeeeeeny tiny detail about her look that really leans into all the theories that Rep (TV) is next. If you zoom in on her rings, one of them is a snake that's wrapped around her finger. 🐍
And after Taylor Swift released a video teasing her new album, Swifties are analyzing all the snakeskin patterns (on the curtains, the floor, and the green couch), as well as the dark visuals. While the video moves from the dark room to a bright one for TTPD, I'm convinced we'll be returning — or continuing down the hallway where you can see a dark picture frame waiting for us...
All the surprise songs at her Tokyo Eras Tour shows referenced falling apart, and a huge part of the Reputation era was related to a quote from Taylor that says "when she fell, she fell apart." Before playing "The Outside" as her piano surprise song on February 9, she made a joke that the song was 175 years old — which has Swifties thinking August 2 (175 days from February 9) could be the album's release date. Considering "The Outside" is off her first album, it's also possible we're getting Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version) in August!
A recent Disney+ ad that paired the Eras Tour film and Disney Pixar's Cars went viral on Twitter because its tagline is "Getaway Car," one of the most beloved songs on Reputation (Taylor's Version)! No matter when the album drops, having Taylor Swift's final two re-recordings be her name and her reputation is literally so iconic and I can't wait to listen.
What Taylor Swift songs are on Reputation (Taylor's Version)?
Image via Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
We know that, based on previous re-recordings, Reputation (Taylor's Version) will have the original tracklist and an unknown number of vault tracks that Taylor wrote ahead of the Reputation era. PEOPLE also confirmed we'll be able to hear Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version)" in the new docuseries for the New England Patriots! You can also hear a snippet in the trailer for Ashley Benson's Wilderness ;). Here's what you can expect on Taylor Swift's Reputation (Taylor's Version). I'm really hoping the vault tracks include "I Don't Want To Live Forever"!
- "Ready For It? (Taylor's Version)"
- "End Game (Taylor's Version)"
- "I Did Something Bad (Taylor's Version)"
- "Don't Blame Me (Taylor's Version)"
- "Delicate (Taylor's Version)"
- "Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version)"
- "So It Goes... (Taylor's Version)"
- "Gorgeous (Taylor's Version)"
- "Getaway Car (Taylor's Version)"
- "King Of My Heart (Taylor's Version)"
- "Dancing With Our Hands Tied (Taylor's Version)"
- "Dress (Taylor's Version)"
- "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things (Taylor's Version)"
- "Call It What You Want (Taylor's Version)"
- "New Year's Day (Taylor's Version)"
What is Taylor Swift wearing to Grammys 2024?
Image via Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Taylor Swift showed up to the 2024 Grammys in a sculptural white gown from Schiaparelli Couture. I love how Taylor has hopped on the corset trend. This is my favorite neckline in recent years! Even though the dress is white instead of black or green — and ended up going along with the Tortured Poets Department (or TS 11) announcement — I think it's still a Reputation (Taylor's Version) Easter egg. White is, of course, the opposite of black, so I think it's a more unexpected reference to the album, with black accessories like gloves, shoes, and jewelry being a direct nod. Plus, the watch necklace pays homage to Midnights! At the 2022 VMAs, Taylor wore another Reputation-coded outfit before she announced Midnights, so I think it's definitely a pattern.
Is there gonna be a Reputation Taylor's Version?
Image Paul Kane/Getty Images
Taylor Swift performs at Optus Stadium on October 19, 2018 in Perth, Australia.
Yes, we're getting a Reputation (Taylor's Version)! Taylor Swift has been very vocal about the fact she's rerecording her first five albums. However, she's been less direct about the order or the release schedule, which is honestly more fun! The official Taylor Nation account added fuel to the fire when they posted a photo of Taylor rehearsing for The Eras Tour — because, like @nashs_mom on TikTok says, the pose doesn't match up with any of the songs. While all the photos they've previously posted match up with numbers like "Enchanted" or "Illicit Affairs," the new pose seems to match up with "I Did Something Bad" (which is both the last Reputation surprise song left AND the perfect song to announce the rerecording).
"Hear me out," another TikTok user commented. "['I Did Something Bad'] was not part of the set list in 2023 but what if the first night of the tour in 2024 she performs [it] and announces REP TV."
"I literally ratatatataed as soon as I saw it," another user says, referencing the iconic production at the beginning of the song. We have less than a month before the Eras Tour starts up again, so I'm excited to see when we'll finally get a Reputation (Taylor's Version) announcement!
What caused Taylor Swift to make Reputation?
Image via Def Jam/UMG
Cover art for Kanye West's The Life Of Pablo, which features "Famous."
The primary catalyst for Taylor Swift's Reputation era was a phone call with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. After Taylor said Kanye did not have her permission to say he "made that b-tch famous" in "Famous," a video leak from Kim seemed to show Taylor did actually give her permission (it was later revealed the video was edited, and Taylor gave her permission to be mentioned, NOT to be called a b-tch).
"#TaylorSwiftIsOverParty" began trending on Twitter, and everyone from the media to the general public began calling her a snake. So she disappeared from the public eye for over a year, and Reputation was born. The era was moody — and full of snake imagery. Taylor says in her TIME interview that the album came from "a goth-punk moment of female rage at being gaslit by an entire social structure," and told Rolling Stone in 2019 that Reputation was a "metaphor" and her "playing a character."
How old was Taylor when she wrote Reputation?
Image via Christopher Polk/Getty Images for TAS
Charli XCX, Camila Cabello and Taylor Swift perform onstage during opening night of Taylor Swift's 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour at University of Phoenix Stadium on May 8, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona.
Taylor began writing Reputation in 2016, when she was 27. However, the stories she's telling go back farther than that since "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" talks about a relationship from when she was 25.
Is Reputation a love album?
Image via Big Machine Records
Cover art for Taylor Swift's Reputation.
While Reputation is sassy, moody, and satirical, I stand by the idea that it's actually a love album at its core. While the general public talked most about "Ready for It?" and "Look What You Made Me Do," songs like "Delicate," "Call It What You Want," and "New Year's Day" are all about healing after the media turned against her. The message of the album is all about how she wants to spend the the ins and outs of life with people she loves, because they make the boring days beautiful, which is also the sentiment running throughout "Lover."
"I want your midnights, but I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day" and "We can leave the Christmas lights up 'til January" are the same!!
What are the Reputation Taylor's Version vault tracks?
Image via Warner Bros. Entertainment
A Horcrux from Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part I
While we don't have the tracklist for Reputation (Taylor's Version) yet, she did mention in her TIME interview that the vault tracks will be "fire."
"I’m collecting horcruxes,” she says of the rerecordings. “I’m collecting infinity stones. Gandalf’s voice is in my head every time I put out a new one. For me, it is a movie now.”
I'm going to be real honest, this is the line that sent me into a tailspin because the idea that Taylor loves stories like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the MCU as much as I do is too much!! But it makes sense because after all, she IS a storyteller.
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Lead image via Big Machine Records
This post has been updated.
