With just two days until the release of Reputation, Taylor Swift has unveiled the official tracklist for the album.
And as with every other part of this album cycle, people are already theorising the hell out of what the track titles and their placements on the list mean.
1. Many people think there are two halves to the album: The first half referencing her media persona, and the second her ~true self.~
People therefore think that the first six tracks reference the "media" Taylor, before "So It Goes..." signals a shift in the album where her real persona comes out.
This theory could stand up, based on the songs we've heard so far.
And when "...Ready For It?" was released, many people theorised that the lyrics in the verses were satirical, and told from the same perspective of the man-eating, serial-dating character from "Blank Space" that Taylor claims is a media construct.
However, "Gorgeous" and "Call It What You Want", from the second half of the album, are entirely different.
2. The theory that the album will be split into two halves stacks up even more when we bring in another theory, established after the release of the "Look What You Made Me Do" video.
Well, the Taylor who corresponds with "So It Goes..." is the Taylor from the VMAs incident in 2009, when she was interrupted by Kanye West.
3. However, just to throw a spanner in the works, it can't be ignored that the title of "So It Goes..." also has a connection to two songs from 1989.
"Style" contains the lyric: "So it goes / He can't keep his wild eyes on the road."
And "You Are In Love" has the lyric: "And so it goes / You two are in a snowglobe dancing round and round."
Which has got people debating whether "So It Goes..." will be an epic continuation of "You Are In Love", or "Style" 2.0.
I can’t help but sing «and SO IT GOES, you two are dancing in a snow globe round and round» when I read that title.… https://t.co/0GSsUr7JYj
I can’t help but sing «and SO IT GOES, you two are dancing in a snow globe round and round» when I read that title.… https://t.co/0GSsUr7JYj
"So It Goes..." made me think of that line in You Are In Love where they're dancing in a snow globe and sxksjdj thi… https://t.co/cSrnm1aNNY
'So It Goes.." sounds like Style 2.0 i think
4. Apparently "Dress" is sexy AF.
5. There's an Ed Sheeran collaboration – and we all missed this potential massive hint.
6. And it also seems that Taylor dropped a massive hint about the track "King of My Heart" in the "...Ready For It?" video.
7. However, this song might not be the romantic ode to her boyfriend that it appears to be.
Then, most recently in "Call It What You Want", Taylor sings: "All the drama queens taking swings / All the jokers dressing up as kings."
8. Going back to the lineup theory, this really does seem to stack up now that we know the names of the tracks and the corresponding Taylors.
Some things of note: "I Did Something Bad" would correspond quite well with the Taylor on a cross. "Delicate" corresponding with Fearless-era Taylor would work if it is indeed the sweet and whimsical love song it appears. But the most convincing? "Dancing With My Hands Tied" corresponds with "Out of the Woods" zombie Taylor, because who can forget the lyrics: "We moved the furniture so we could dance / Baby like we stood a chance." RIP me.
9. "New Year's Day" seems to follow the tradition of the final tracks on Taylor's albums representing fresh starts.
10. But it could also be a nod to the album's theme of duality, as Mess of a Dreamer expertly points out.
11. But we also now know that "New Year's Day" is the title of the track that Taylor told a fan could be used as her wedding song.
It's not too long until we get answers...
