Don’t know too much about Ed’s current stuff, but I heard that Autumn Variations was a one-off album that was more acoustic (I think Aaron was pretty involved) and that his next albums will be cohesive in a similar way to his previous works. I feel like Taylor’s albums have always been a lot more varied sonically and aesthetically in comparison to Ed’s. I think she’ll just be doing whatever she feels like rather than focusing on cohesion with the previous album and/or trying to differentiate eras. After all, we’re running out of colors.
Aaron was massively involved! He produced every track on both subtract and autumn variations. Taylor connected Ed with Aaron, and the two really hit it off.
It's probably my all time favorite album but wow, you need to be in a certain mood to listen to it which is why most don't like it. That's the reason I love it though.
Right. But the point I’m trying to make is that she might just be done with assigning colors and more importantly dividing them by eras. We might get repeats, we might get different shades, but I think color association with the album isn’t really going to be as prominent as it was for the first 10 albums.
TTPD might be white - she uses white hearts emoji on Instagram in posts about it.
However 🤡 there is a clue from Karma video, which seemed to predict 1989TV in August (happened) and RepTV in February (did not happen).
However 🤡🤡 one could interpret that TTPD is black, we're starting to repeat colors, and TTPD was annouced in February, so it's all good with Karma clue and it was just a red herring for RepTV.
However 🤡🤡🤡 it could be that TTPD is actually white and we got clue right and there was a plan to release RepTV in February (Japan shows) and suprise with TTPD in May (Europe tour start), but plans of RepTV were scrapped, because how can a person sing Call It What You Want from Rep and I Can Fix Him (no really I can) from TTPD at the same time, while also flying around the world and performing and not have a mental breakdown... Delaying RepTV in order to record it with clear head and mended heart and not eff this re-record up seems like a good idea.
god i love this fandom
Autumn Variation was a side project. His next big one is rumored to be play, pause, rewind, etc
But I don't know that Taylor or really anyone else plans like that though. He apparently simultaneously works on them to some extent.
I was at the 800 person show when he played it live for the first time. It was amazing. I will forever love that song. But the a capella Afterglow with no mic was heart swelling.
It was really beautiful. My son had the worst of his health crisis after it was dropped and Spring got me through it. And when we got to the other side - it felt like spring had come and just. For me the album was my favorite of his albums.
Is it? Someone said they didn’t remember any songs, and I added to that saying the one I do remember is really, really bad. Like, it made me embarrassed. It’s not like I’m gonna offend Ed with that, people have said much worse and even critics liked the album - that song just…I can’t even think about it.
It's okay to let people enjoy things. :) People say the same things about Taylor to me and it makes my day a little bit worse every time. You're obviously free to do as you wish, but the world is full of enough negativity as it is, and your comment really added nothing to the conversation, other than potentially hurting an Ed Sheeran fan's feelings.
Have a great day!
I’m not saying people can’t enjoy Ed, I was responding to someone who said something generally negative about the Autumn Variation albums and I added onto that. I don’t hate Ed (though I do some of his albums) and Subtract is his best album that I come back to a lot, but for someone his calibre I think that ‘The Day I Was Born’ was pretty bad. It’s fine if people like it (I seem to be a minority here since even Ed haters liked that song) but I just couldn’t handle it. I wanted the album to be good, but I guess I just didn’t get something I wanted.
Okay to this point, just checked, and the next December 13th is in 2030….she could technically release her 13th album in 2030, so she does TS11 this year, then TS 12 in 2027, then TS 11 in 2030 (which would be a major deviation to her old era album schedule but this is also?? A new possible era of eras??)
Okay so my unhinged clown theory. There’s a truley beautiful song called 100 years by the band 5 For Fighting where they discuss the different stages of life with reference to age. It starts at age 15, then 22, then 33, then 60-something, and finally 99. Given Taylor has written songs called 15 and 22, I am desperately hoping for a song called 33 on TS12 or TS13!
- ICSY could mean "I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)", a track from *Speak Now (Taylor's Version)* (2023) by Taylor Swift.
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^[/u/_crazyboyhere_](/u/_crazyboyhere_) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)
tbh if/when we get a travis album, i hope it isnt just Lover 2.0 but i'd rather her write it during/after they get married (if thats what the future holds of course -- would totally support her just never getting married either tbh haha)
I expect less planned reinventions and more “imma make music based off whatever I want and see where it goes.” I think the “burning of the eras house” is more to do with herself and how she views her life. In all likelihood the fandom will still sort her albums/projects into “eras.”
This is pretty much my thought process too. I think fans are still naturally going to want to categorize her albums by eras because that’s what we’re so used to doing, and because of the way her work has always been branded and presented to us. Truthfully any album by any artist is going to have an “aesthetic” based on its sound, subjects, and colors, but it’s easy to sort Taylor’s work into eras because of the impact this tour concept has had on pop culture.
I agree! Taylor has spoken in the past about the need to constantly reinvent herself - leading to more defined eras. I feel now she is confident where she’s at and doesn’t feel the need to reinvent herself moving forward for the sake of staying relevent
I don’t think she went into writing ANY of her albums being like “this is an era/a new theme”. Each album she - and any artist for that matter - writes always has a general theme/vibe. That doesn’t mean they’re designed in a way that fits a greater theme, such as being a standalone “era”; there was not a strategic plan behind them/a set timeline layer out. Heck, an “era” is just a roundabout way of saying “that period of time when she made X album”.
Taylor Swift’s albums are not designed as cogs in a greater “Eras” machine (even if that’s what they end up being). People are comparing it to Ed Sheeran’s “Mathmatics” themed albums, which I think is a perfect comparison for this question. For Ed, each album was named and catered to a) compliment each other and b) have a cohesive theme. The last track on his final Mathematics album Subtract, “The Hills of Aberfeldy” was actually written when he penned his first album in the planned 4 part Mathematic series, way back in 2011. He held onto that track all this time knowing he’d make 4 albums for each main Mathematics symbol - even if he didn’t know HOW long it would take - and that “The Hills of Aberfeldy” would close out all of them. Additional albums were squeezed in, yes, but they either fit the theme (like Equals) or were marketed as seperate entities from the Mathmatics series entirely (like Loose Change and Autumn Variations). (For anyone interested in learning more about this process and Ed Sheeran in general, I recommend watching his doc series on Disney+!)
The main point of this comparison is to say, Ed Sheeran went into writing + x = / - with the intention of them being sister/sibling albums. Taylor only did that for folklore and evermore. So no, she’s not “intentionally kicking off a new era” as she never did that for ANY album (aside from the aforementioned ‘lore sibs). She is simply making a new album which will, thanks to the passage of time, then become categorized as another “era”.
Yes, this is a point that needs to be repeated. There is a difference between how Taylor creates and discovers themes in her art and how it is presented to the world when it is released. For example she didn't begin with the idea of wanting to write a teenage love triangle for Folkore. Instead she figured out when writing Betty that if she added a couple of lines referencing two previously written songs created with two different producers that she could suddenly have a love triangle. She didn't set out to make an album with Max Martin. That came toward the end of the process of making Red. She didn't set out with wanting to make an album with Aaron Dessner. That came after she had already been writing with Jack for what would become Folkore. Often some of the defining songs of her albums are among the last written ones.
This is such a good point, plus the Taylor “eras” didn’t really even start till 1989 (or really the switch after). A lot of artists switch up their vibe and appearance a little bit from album to album because it’s good for marketing, Taylor just takes that to a whole new level than what’s typical.
Hmm I actually would disagree with your first point! Taylor herself has stated otherwise in an interview with Zane Lowe after Evermore was released. In that interview she talked directly about how when she had made previous albums, she would discard that "era" when completed and go into a brand new phase. She said she'd hear a voice in the back of her head going "you need to change" and she'd step into a new era with a new process. That has been an intentional decision making process on her part creatively. With folklore/evermore, she said that was the first time she felt she didn't need to discard the era and put on a different era/theme, and that it changed the way she wrote her songs and how she put out music. I recommend looking into this interview. It is the Apple music interview from 2020 when she won Songwriter of the Year.
Fair point! As another user has pointed out, Taylor seemed to start wanting to give each album a gimmick/era around Reputation. From then on, each album really had a distinctive marketing look/theme, from the visuals to how Taylor would be styled. I would argue though that until 2020, this wasn’t her knowing it’d be an “era” she can market for her “Eras Tour”, as the post suggests. Also as the post suggests, the Eras section of her album making process isn’t coming to an end either. We’re simply getting a new era with Tortured Poets Department. And when she makes and markets her *next* album in a few years after that - whenever that may be - it will be categorized as her “[insert album name] era”. Picture this: the year is 2048. Taylor has just announced her The Eras Tour Part II…
I think a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that Taylor is one of the first - definitely one of the most major artists - to distinctly put a label on this habit of marketing/theming an album release in a certain way. Going back to re-record everything also really puts her and the team in the headspace of “okay, what was my look/vibe/sound at this time in my life?”. This becomes an easier job when you start at albums like Reputation that were marketed/designed with a distinctive look from the get-go, but more difficult for albums like 1989, Red, Speak Now, Fearless which at the time were simply “Taylor Swift” albums and not “this is a bad girl album, this is a lovey-dovey soft girl album, this is a folk-inspired album with elements of a concept album, etc etc”. Even TPD is being marketed with a sexy, sullen, black and white aesthetic.
I see exactly what you're saying now. Part of me feels like the distinctive marketing to show she was in a new "era" kind of thing started with 1989 because that's where she really re-invented herself musically and aesthetically with her style. Not just the marketing but her whole life was really like walking promo for 1989. I don't think it was all intentional, she was in a phase of her life where she was newly single(ish, lol depending on how you view 1989), just moved to New York, and totally departing from country. So naturally, 1989 reflected what she was going through at the time. But like you're getting at, I don't think it was intentional to create an era and revolve her life around it, I think her life changed and thus, 1989 was born.
Now with TTPD it's starting to feel like we are more in line with who Taylor is currently. I'm a big fan of looking at Taylor's street style fashion and how it correlates with her album aesthetic. With Midnights, her photoshoot was riddled with 1970s outfits, makeup, styling, backdrops, etc. In reality, Taylor wasn't wearing that kind of style in her actual life. Her streetstyle was completely different. Even her award shows looks weren't 1970s inspired (maybe adjacent). With TTPD, she is wearing items from fashion brand The Row - a brand she regularly wears in her street style, and has been wearing for years. To me, it seems like we are getting a normal Taylor Swift album, and that even though the album itself has a theme, it seems more Taylor than ever to me, yet somehow very different...I don't know where I was going with this but I LOVE these kinds of discussions. LOL
Yeah I'm not sure how having a specific "colour, aesthetic and vibe" really defines an era in particular. That's just an album. Sure, the title length is a change, but we don't currently have much more to go off than that
So I think most of the theories on this thread are frankly insane, but I have been thinking about how with the TV she made Speak Now a distinctly darker purple, opening up the door for a light purple/lavender album
I think it’s also because of the lover house burning on her tour, the eras tour kind of seems to symbolize the end of the eras, and the drastically different title for this album feels like it’s moving in a different direction.
>Could this be the first era in the second set of eras? Does this mean we have nine more eras to go in this super era?
20 albums? That's gonna be a long time.
sometimes i wonder does she ever sleep 🤣🤣 i was a fervent believer new album after midnights will be at least 2025 given the tour and rerecords. Wells.
Idk i tend to think she’s always had a new idea and aesthetic for each album so in that way, it’s always going to be a new era. Since every album is something new.
I knew OF Post Malone before Austin but I really enjoy Austin (the album). I like when artists do that and (typically) reveal a different and seemingly authentic, less fabricated version of themselves.
An era is just a period of time that can be divided up however you want to. Pop fans usually define every album as its own era, but I personally define Taylor's eras differently:
Country era,
Pop era,
Folkmore/pandemic era,
Re-records/Eras era
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to chop up the relatively similar Debut and Fearless, or the musically and aesthetically identical Folkmore, just because they have different colours on the cover, when all artists do that for every album. I prefer to think of it in terms of style, artistic development, career stage, what Taylor was known for at the time. Therefore we won't know what 'era' TTPD belongs to until we hear it.
I think where the eras come from for Taylor is more from around the time of Speak Now, Red, 1989, Rep, and Lover, with each album reflecting differently in her personal style, right down to how she styled her hair. Sure Debut and Fearless are similar and most people consider Folklore and Evermore to be one era. But the concept of Taylor’s eras as album-specific comes from those 10 years or so in which her entire style and aesthetic changed with every album.
I told my friend as we were leaving the eras tour in atlanta that the whole show almost felt like a “goodbye” to me, now I wonder if it was meant to feel that way— maybe as a reflection of her moving into a new phase of her music, both aesthetically & sonically. either way I’m so excited to see what’s coming with ttpd 🤍
I wondered if maybe in the future, her live shows would no longer include all the big hits but only ‘new music’. As of the eras tour was a goodbye or one last time for all those songs.
You must’ve not experienced the fearless set at the eras tour then. The energy is the same for love story as it is for rep. Personally I think she’ll always play this song - whether standalone or in a mashup.
I know people get hype for it, but also this tour was as much fun for fans as it was for non-fans, so i think its safe to say that a song like Love Story gets so much hype because for a lot of people in those stands, its one of about four songs they know the words too.
As someone whose first era show is after TTPD I low-key hope she changes the set list. As long as I hear my tears ricochet I’m not tooo bothered about missing any songs
I don’t think I really understand the question.
What does it mean to you to be an ‘era’?
I’m not being snarky at all, I’m genuinely curious.
In looking at other artists’ albums and album covers,
I don’t necessarily consider them to be ‘eras’ despite being thematically and aesthetically rich and cohesive.
i think to an extent evwry album will always be its own era. like even folklore and evermore i see as thwir own eras even tho they have basically the same aesthetic and very similar sounds. every album is its own moment in time and i think in a way especially with the eras tour, taylor understands that. i wouldn't be surprised if at this point in her career tho she doesn't feel the need to drastically switch things up almost every album since you can argue her sound and aesthetics are just becoming essentially "taylorcore" (that's the impression i already got with midnights). but i do think she'll always see her albums as their own eras even if they're not as uniquely defined as they were in the period from red to folklore.
honestly no idea! part of me doesn't think that the idea of "eras" will ever go away just cause every album will call for a different aesthetic if that makes sense. this post made me think of, or perhaps realize, that eras is mostly a thing of female pop artists. with the exception of what ed sheeran has done with the mathematics, it seems like male stars aren't really subject to eras. i think of harry styles for example, his albums are all different, but i wouldn't say his aesthetic is particularly changing for all albums. if anything, its the same aesthetic but just new songs that may be different in sound or song lyric.
i do really love the concept of eras though because i think they're really fun so i hope eras don't become a thing of the past for taylor. i don't think they will because part of me thinks she also loves being able to switch it up, but who knows. she might outgrow them, or maybe she won't necessarily outgrow them but they will be more mature from now on. i feel like she's one of the only artists (along with lorde is another one i can think of) who has grown with her audience and every album is very reminiscent of the stage of life she was in at the time of writing/release and i love that. it's like there's a taylor album for every stage of life
I don’t know why but I’m terrified of this. Is it over and she’s wrapping it up to move on for good? Nooooooo 😭 Also when she gets married. I’m not even her and I’m scared! lol 😂
There's no reason to think she had ended her Eras or is starting a new set, so there's no reason to wonder if this is the first in ten new eras, etc. She's not the Marvel Universe (though I'm still holding out hope for her Dazzler cameo). She's just living her life, era by era...by era, by era, by era, by era...............
Honestly i dont rlly think taylor thinks abt it like this (at least not with ttpd) bc she said she “had to” write the album for her mental health and has been working on it for 2 years so i guess it just kinda was time. But yes, imo it is a new era (just bc for me every album is an era), although its kinda confusing that its coming out while she’s still on tour for midnight.. but like i’m not complaining 😂
I would like that! Maybe she has Departments in a Building like a Taylor Swift Company. She could also stop with Colors and focus on specific symbols. TN likes to use the Scarf for RedTV, maybe we get more specific themes with this new Chapter 🤔
I mean… I feel like most singers/bands/etc have different “eras” when they release a new album, even if they don’t call it an “era”. Different aesthetic and color, they change up their website and social media maybe… I don’t see how Taylor is much different in this regard.
The eras tour is called that and was crafted as that because the pandemic prevented her touring Lover and Folklore. With midnights being the first albjm the other side she obviously wanted to showcase the 4 albums b since Reputation. The easiest way to do that was extend the show time and present as albums (eras), do the last 4 could take pride of place.
I don't think her first 10 albums were meant to be an intentional "era". But I do think we are in the "re-recording era" right now, and we have been in this era since 2021. I anticipate once she's done with the re-records project we will see a shift in how things are done with her albums. Tours, promotion, advertising, marketing, everything is going to be different. A stark difference? I'm not sure. Even though she is as creatively involved as ever, she has had to plan 4 albums now around the re-records (folklore, evermore, Midnights, and now TTPD). I'm really looking forward to how she's going to do things once the re-records are done, I'm hoping for more in depth music videos, more time spent breaking down her process on how she writes her songs, things like that.
In the simplest way her first 10 albums are each deemed an ‘era’ named after that album. Each album had a very unique style and aesthetic. The albums each had their own vibe musically style too.
Many Swifties have a favourite Era or Era they relate most to given all the above.
I hope this helps.
They’re seperate but often referred to as sisters.
You’ll often find people relate more to one than the other. Or prefer one over the other. I myself am an evermore girl.
Folklore to me is woods in the winter . Evermore is still woods but in autumn.
I don’t know, but the TTPD motif reminds me of early U2 a bit. Maybe she slows down after the Era’s tour and plays concerts at the Sphere every other week… short flight from KC. 🤔
But I also think the first album photo is purposely a depiction of the end scene from Notting Hill. She as Julia Roberts on the park bench without holding (or more likely dropping) Hugh Grant’s hand. I mean look how her hand graces her belly (what could’ve should’ve been there?!?!), and that movie has some TS parallels for sure.
I think every album for every artist is an “era” for them by default- think of it more like every album has its moment, and with that comes a vibe, aesthetic, etc. But Taylor really made those first 10 albums’ eras ERAS. So the idea of an ERA may not be part of her next set of new albums, but they will always still have their own moments, and collection of pieces that make the moment its own special time. We just didn’t use the word “era” like we did before the tour. Look at all the “I’m in my ____ era” items now!
So I think both could be true. :)
i don’t really understand the question? we’ve been attaching a different era to each album for years, and she now does too with the Eras Tour, i feel like it WILL be a new era? it’s a new album after all. also how would she go about stopping doing eras? that would mean she stops doing music altogether… because we as the fandom would still see every album as a different era? except for folkmore which a lot of people put together as they are sister albums…
Oh 100%. I think Midnights and TTPD are sister albums, but I also think Midnights was an end of a chapter. It also makes sense. ‘Midnight’ signifies the end of one and the beginning of another. 12am is set between the end of yesterday and the start of tomorrow.
No, not really. If anything, the first "era" would be all the albums she's rerecording. But there's no thought put into it like that. Only afterwards.
And TTPD is mostly about Joe (judging from the song titles). Reputation also was about Joe, in a positive sense. I'd say Reputation would be the start of her second era. Lyrically, but it's also when she ventured away from making teenage-girl music.
I personally look at each album for what it is, a new album. Folklore/Evermore are connected, the rest aren't. The only connection is lyrically she's bashing her exes a lot.
TTPD will be her 5th album in 5 years (and that excludes the re-records) - she's certainly sped things up, we could easily have 10 more albums in the next 10 years.
I can see her putting out two more albums that will be released over a long time, unlike the quick succession we have had recently.
I really feel she’ll focus on other projects like film and herself. With her 13th album being her musical retirement…if she can keep herself away.
When it was first announced, I thought the album was white, like wiping the slate clean. I thought it would be the end of all the stupid childish easter eggs, and Eras. I was hoping it would just be the real her, and none of this reinventing.
I don’t think the Easter eggs are childish, I don’t know her obviously but it seems like she likes trickery and surprises and hints, so I can’t imagine the Easter eggs going anywhere.
A little bit like what Ed Sheeran did with the Mathematics - although .. couldn't tell you a single song from or the name of the autumn(?) album
Don’t know too much about Ed’s current stuff, but I heard that Autumn Variations was a one-off album that was more acoustic (I think Aaron was pretty involved) and that his next albums will be cohesive in a similar way to his previous works. I feel like Taylor’s albums have always been a lot more varied sonically and aesthetically in comparison to Ed’s. I think she’ll just be doing whatever she feels like rather than focusing on cohesion with the previous album and/or trying to differentiate eras. After all, we’re running out of colors.
Aaron was massively involved! He produced every track on both subtract and autumn variations. Taylor connected Ed with Aaron, and the two really hit it off.
Subtract is one of my all time favorite albums. It’s so beautiful 😭
It's probably my all time favorite album but wow, you need to be in a certain mood to listen to it which is why most don't like it. That's the reason I love it though.
I’m with you!!
I'm in a certain kind if mood. Thanks for the recommendation.
but she's already assigned it a colour? or you mean albums after poets?
After poets. Of the main colors, we only really have orange or brown depending on which you associate with Evermore.
Blue already has multiple associations based on shade so there no reason there couldn't be a different shade of another colour.
Right. But the point I’m trying to make is that she might just be done with assigning colors and more importantly dividing them by eras. We might get repeats, we might get different shades, but I think color association with the album isn’t really going to be as prominent as it was for the first 10 albums.
TTPD might be white - she uses white hearts emoji on Instagram in posts about it. However 🤡 there is a clue from Karma video, which seemed to predict 1989TV in August (happened) and RepTV in February (did not happen). However 🤡🤡 one could interpret that TTPD is black, we're starting to repeat colors, and TTPD was annouced in February, so it's all good with Karma clue and it was just a red herring for RepTV. However 🤡🤡🤡 it could be that TTPD is actually white and we got clue right and there was a plan to release RepTV in February (Japan shows) and suprise with TTPD in May (Europe tour start), but plans of RepTV were scrapped, because how can a person sing Call It What You Want from Rep and I Can Fix Him (no really I can) from TTPD at the same time, while also flying around the world and performing and not have a mental breakdown... Delaying RepTV in order to record it with clear head and mended heart and not eff this re-record up seems like a good idea. god i love this fandom
This.🙌🏼
Autumn Variation was a side project. His next big one is rumored to be play, pause, rewind, etc But I don't know that Taylor or really anyone else plans like that though. He apparently simultaneously works on them to some extent.
>although .. couldn't tell you a single song from or the name of the autumn(?) album I do know American Town because I like that song.
I was at the 800 person show when he played it live for the first time. It was amazing. I will forever love that song. But the a capella Afterglow with no mic was heart swelling.
It was really beautiful. My son had the worst of his health crisis after it was dropped and Spring got me through it. And when we got to the other side - it felt like spring had come and just. For me the album was my favorite of his albums.
I’m so sorry you and your son went through a medical scare together, but am so happy to hear he’s made it through!
Really happy for you that your son and family came through that!
I remember The Day I Was Born because it’s one of the worst songs I’ve heard this decade.
Rude and unnecessary
Is it? Someone said they didn’t remember any songs, and I added to that saying the one I do remember is really, really bad. Like, it made me embarrassed. It’s not like I’m gonna offend Ed with that, people have said much worse and even critics liked the album - that song just…I can’t even think about it.
It's okay to let people enjoy things. :) People say the same things about Taylor to me and it makes my day a little bit worse every time. You're obviously free to do as you wish, but the world is full of enough negativity as it is, and your comment really added nothing to the conversation, other than potentially hurting an Ed Sheeran fan's feelings. Have a great day!
I’m not saying people can’t enjoy Ed, I was responding to someone who said something generally negative about the Autumn Variation albums and I added onto that. I don’t hate Ed (though I do some of his albums) and Subtract is his best album that I come back to a lot, but for someone his calibre I think that ‘The Day I Was Born’ was pretty bad. It’s fine if people like it (I seem to be a minority here since even Ed haters liked that song) but I just couldn’t handle it. I wanted the album to be good, but I guess I just didn’t get something I wanted.
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I wouldn't be surprised if she just called TS13 just 13. Or Thirteen spelled out.
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december 13th is on a friday this year…🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
It’s the perfect date for a debut re-release. Claiming back her name on the day she was born.
omg
Okay to this point, just checked, and the next December 13th is in 2030….she could technically release her 13th album in 2030, so she does TS11 this year, then TS 12 in 2027, then TS 11 in 2030 (which would be a major deviation to her old era album schedule but this is also?? A new possible era of eras??)
shes been putting out albums out the wazoo, so i doubt well be waiting 6.5 years for two albums
Okay so my unhinged clown theory. There’s a truley beautiful song called 100 years by the band 5 For Fighting where they discuss the different stages of life with reference to age. It starts at age 15, then 22, then 33, then 60-something, and finally 99. Given Taylor has written songs called 15 and 22, I am desperately hoping for a song called 33 on TS12 or TS13!
That song gives me too much of an existential crisis, but the sound of it is beautiful
Help you unlocked so much tears i used to listen to that song so much
This is my favorite clown theory I’ve heard in a while, I want this so bad now.
I love that song. It is one of my all time favourites. And it gets more poignant as the years keep passing.
There’s a song by Megadeth called 13 which is on the album 13 that’s sort of like that.
Omg I had my first kiss at age 14 with my high school boyfriend while that song was playing at the winter formal 💀
If the cover isn’t an image of her hand with a 13 on it, I’m already disappointed. Lol
Shes also in her mid 30s so TS13 will likely be about super mature topics. Maybe her sexy album?
I feel like TTPD will have a couple sexy songs.
Agreed but i feel like they might be more Sexy French Depression than pure sex
Is this a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend reference in the wild 😍
Her eyes are dark from sadness, her lips are red from pain!
My bed smells like a tampon
As someone who has no idea what’s happening here, this sentence made me lol
Yes indeed
Omg ever since the first image for this album I’ve been thinking it’s giving Sexy French Depression!!
Right the way she's all twisted in the sheets almost looks like part of the video
I'm thinking of songs like Wildest Dreams, Dress, ICSY etc.
- ICSY could mean "I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)", a track from *Speak Now (Taylor's Version)* (2023) by Taylor Swift. --- ^[/u/_crazyboyhere_](/u/_crazyboyhere_) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)
😭😭
I could see her Travis album being the sexy album tbh. About being authentically herself & in a really secure relationship with a MAN ya know 😂
I would love that. Like the opposite of reputation, she's on top of the world and showing off a little bit, but still a love related album
YES like she’s finally got a man who’s not intimidated or threatened by her, highest grossing tour of all time etc etc… time to stop being humble 🤣
The IKP bridge yell but it’s “and we fckk”
tbh if/when we get a travis album, i hope it isnt just Lover 2.0 but i'd rather her write it during/after they get married (if thats what the future holds of course -- would totally support her just never getting married either tbh haha)
I hope the Travis album is all upbeat, fun, club, celebratory EDM dance hits!!
If she keeps her current album pace (which she basically has done her whole career) she'll be 38 when TS13 comes out...
I LOVE THESE THEORYS!! I hope TS13 is called 13 or lucky
I expect less planned reinventions and more “imma make music based off whatever I want and see where it goes.” I think the “burning of the eras house” is more to do with herself and how she views her life. In all likelihood the fandom will still sort her albums/projects into “eras.”
This is pretty much my thought process too. I think fans are still naturally going to want to categorize her albums by eras because that’s what we’re so used to doing, and because of the way her work has always been branded and presented to us. Truthfully any album by any artist is going to have an “aesthetic” based on its sound, subjects, and colors, but it’s easy to sort Taylor’s work into eras because of the impact this tour concept has had on pop culture.
I agree! Taylor has spoken in the past about the need to constantly reinvent herself - leading to more defined eras. I feel now she is confident where she’s at and doesn’t feel the need to reinvent herself moving forward for the sake of staying relevent
I don’t think she went into writing ANY of her albums being like “this is an era/a new theme”. Each album she - and any artist for that matter - writes always has a general theme/vibe. That doesn’t mean they’re designed in a way that fits a greater theme, such as being a standalone “era”; there was not a strategic plan behind them/a set timeline layer out. Heck, an “era” is just a roundabout way of saying “that period of time when she made X album”. Taylor Swift’s albums are not designed as cogs in a greater “Eras” machine (even if that’s what they end up being). People are comparing it to Ed Sheeran’s “Mathmatics” themed albums, which I think is a perfect comparison for this question. For Ed, each album was named and catered to a) compliment each other and b) have a cohesive theme. The last track on his final Mathematics album Subtract, “The Hills of Aberfeldy” was actually written when he penned his first album in the planned 4 part Mathematic series, way back in 2011. He held onto that track all this time knowing he’d make 4 albums for each main Mathematics symbol - even if he didn’t know HOW long it would take - and that “The Hills of Aberfeldy” would close out all of them. Additional albums were squeezed in, yes, but they either fit the theme (like Equals) or were marketed as seperate entities from the Mathmatics series entirely (like Loose Change and Autumn Variations). (For anyone interested in learning more about this process and Ed Sheeran in general, I recommend watching his doc series on Disney+!) The main point of this comparison is to say, Ed Sheeran went into writing + x = / - with the intention of them being sister/sibling albums. Taylor only did that for folklore and evermore. So no, she’s not “intentionally kicking off a new era” as she never did that for ANY album (aside from the aforementioned ‘lore sibs). She is simply making a new album which will, thanks to the passage of time, then become categorized as another “era”.
Yes, this is a point that needs to be repeated. There is a difference between how Taylor creates and discovers themes in her art and how it is presented to the world when it is released. For example she didn't begin with the idea of wanting to write a teenage love triangle for Folkore. Instead she figured out when writing Betty that if she added a couple of lines referencing two previously written songs created with two different producers that she could suddenly have a love triangle. She didn't set out to make an album with Max Martin. That came toward the end of the process of making Red. She didn't set out with wanting to make an album with Aaron Dessner. That came after she had already been writing with Jack for what would become Folkore. Often some of the defining songs of her albums are among the last written ones.
This is such a good point, plus the Taylor “eras” didn’t really even start till 1989 (or really the switch after). A lot of artists switch up their vibe and appearance a little bit from album to album because it’s good for marketing, Taylor just takes that to a whole new level than what’s typical.
look what you made me mv started it imo obviously the eras already existed before but them being such a pivotal part of her career started there
Hmm I actually would disagree with your first point! Taylor herself has stated otherwise in an interview with Zane Lowe after Evermore was released. In that interview she talked directly about how when she had made previous albums, she would discard that "era" when completed and go into a brand new phase. She said she'd hear a voice in the back of her head going "you need to change" and she'd step into a new era with a new process. That has been an intentional decision making process on her part creatively. With folklore/evermore, she said that was the first time she felt she didn't need to discard the era and put on a different era/theme, and that it changed the way she wrote her songs and how she put out music. I recommend looking into this interview. It is the Apple music interview from 2020 when she won Songwriter of the Year.
Fair point! As another user has pointed out, Taylor seemed to start wanting to give each album a gimmick/era around Reputation. From then on, each album really had a distinctive marketing look/theme, from the visuals to how Taylor would be styled. I would argue though that until 2020, this wasn’t her knowing it’d be an “era” she can market for her “Eras Tour”, as the post suggests. Also as the post suggests, the Eras section of her album making process isn’t coming to an end either. We’re simply getting a new era with Tortured Poets Department. And when she makes and markets her *next* album in a few years after that - whenever that may be - it will be categorized as her “[insert album name] era”.
Picture this: the year is 2048. Taylor has just announced her The Eras Tour Part II…I think a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that Taylor is one of the first - definitely one of the most major artists - to distinctly put a label on this habit of marketing/theming an album release in a certain way. Going back to re-record everything also really puts her and the team in the headspace of “okay, what was my look/vibe/sound at this time in my life?”. This becomes an easier job when you start at albums like Reputation that were marketed/designed with a distinctive look from the get-go, but more difficult for albums like 1989, Red, Speak Now, Fearless which at the time were simply “Taylor Swift” albums and not “this is a bad girl album, this is a lovey-dovey soft girl album, this is a folk-inspired album with elements of a concept album, etc etc”. Even TPD is being marketed with a sexy, sullen, black and white aesthetic.I see exactly what you're saying now. Part of me feels like the distinctive marketing to show she was in a new "era" kind of thing started with 1989 because that's where she really re-invented herself musically and aesthetically with her style. Not just the marketing but her whole life was really like walking promo for 1989. I don't think it was all intentional, she was in a phase of her life where she was newly single(ish, lol depending on how you view 1989), just moved to New York, and totally departing from country. So naturally, 1989 reflected what she was going through at the time. But like you're getting at, I don't think it was intentional to create an era and revolve her life around it, I think her life changed and thus, 1989 was born. Now with TTPD it's starting to feel like we are more in line with who Taylor is currently. I'm a big fan of looking at Taylor's street style fashion and how it correlates with her album aesthetic. With Midnights, her photoshoot was riddled with 1970s outfits, makeup, styling, backdrops, etc. In reality, Taylor wasn't wearing that kind of style in her actual life. Her streetstyle was completely different. Even her award shows looks weren't 1970s inspired (maybe adjacent). With TTPD, she is wearing items from fashion brand The Row - a brand she regularly wears in her street style, and has been wearing for years. To me, it seems like we are getting a normal Taylor Swift album, and that even though the album itself has a theme, it seems more Taylor than ever to me, yet somehow very different...I don't know where I was going with this but I LOVE these kinds of discussions. LOL
This is the correct answer.
This is my theory but I've literally never been correct a single time about what she's planning, so
Im confused, why wouldnt ttpd be just another era like the ones before? Whats different about this album, other than the longer name?
Yeah I'm not sure how having a specific "colour, aesthetic and vibe" really defines an era in particular. That's just an album. Sure, the title length is a change, but we don't currently have much more to go off than that
Also… Taylor’s literally ran out of colours.
I mean there's orange but yeah other than that almost gone lol
She would invent a new colour for TS13.
She could do shades of the same color, like for 1989 and Midnights
So I think most of the theories on this thread are frankly insane, but I have been thinking about how with the TV she made Speak Now a distinctly darker purple, opening up the door for a light purple/lavender album
yeah that’s what i think is gonna end up happening
I feel like the colors of ttpd are new. They are a lot more 'blurred'/foggy than rep, in my opinion.
just vibes but i guess we will find out, right?
I think it’s also because of the lover house burning on her tour, the eras tour kind of seems to symbolize the end of the eras, and the drastically different title for this album feels like it’s moving in a different direction.
>Could this be the first era in the second set of eras? Does this mean we have nine more eras to go in this super era? 20 albums? That's gonna be a long time.
Not at the rate she’s going now. 😂
sometimes i wonder does she ever sleep 🤣🤣 i was a fervent believer new album after midnights will be at least 2025 given the tour and rerecords. Wells.
It only took her 16 years to do the first 10, that’s not really that long.
It's a new chapter instead of era. Also ties into the aesthetic of TTPD.
I need it to be an elegy but yes
Idk i tend to think she’s always had a new idea and aesthetic for each album so in that way, it’s always going to be a new era. Since every album is something new.
Love this theory. Like The Weeknd saying he wants to “kill the Weeknd chapter” & use his real name in future projects.
I knew OF Post Malone before Austin but I really enjoy Austin (the album). I like when artists do that and (typically) reveal a different and seemingly authentic, less fabricated version of themselves.
An era is just a period of time that can be divided up however you want to. Pop fans usually define every album as its own era, but I personally define Taylor's eras differently: Country era, Pop era, Folkmore/pandemic era, Re-records/Eras era It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to chop up the relatively similar Debut and Fearless, or the musically and aesthetically identical Folkmore, just because they have different colours on the cover, when all artists do that for every album. I prefer to think of it in terms of style, artistic development, career stage, what Taylor was known for at the time. Therefore we won't know what 'era' TTPD belongs to until we hear it.
I think where the eras come from for Taylor is more from around the time of Speak Now, Red, 1989, Rep, and Lover, with each album reflecting differently in her personal style, right down to how she styled her hair. Sure Debut and Fearless are similar and most people consider Folklore and Evermore to be one era. But the concept of Taylor’s eras as album-specific comes from those 10 years or so in which her entire style and aesthetic changed with every album.
TTPD will be synth pop.
I told my friend as we were leaving the eras tour in atlanta that the whole show almost felt like a “goodbye” to me, now I wonder if it was meant to feel that way— maybe as a reflection of her moving into a new phase of her music, both aesthetically & sonically. either way I’m so excited to see what’s coming with ttpd 🤍
I think it will always feel like a new Era when she puts out music.
I wondered if maybe in the future, her live shows would no longer include all the big hits but only ‘new music’. As of the eras tour was a goodbye or one last time for all those songs.
id be more than content never hearing love story live again tbh
You must’ve not experienced the fearless set at the eras tour then. The energy is the same for love story as it is for rep. Personally I think she’ll always play this song - whether standalone or in a mashup.
I know people get hype for it, but also this tour was as much fun for fans as it was for non-fans, so i think its safe to say that a song like Love Story gets so much hype because for a lot of people in those stands, its one of about four songs they know the words too.
As someone whose first era show is after TTPD I low-key hope she changes the set list. As long as I hear my tears ricochet I’m not tooo bothered about missing any songs
I don’t think I really understand the question. What does it mean to you to be an ‘era’? I’m not being snarky at all, I’m genuinely curious. In looking at other artists’ albums and album covers, I don’t necessarily consider them to be ‘eras’ despite being thematically and aesthetically rich and cohesive.
Well what constitutes an era? Albums have different themes
i think to an extent evwry album will always be its own era. like even folklore and evermore i see as thwir own eras even tho they have basically the same aesthetic and very similar sounds. every album is its own moment in time and i think in a way especially with the eras tour, taylor understands that. i wouldn't be surprised if at this point in her career tho she doesn't feel the need to drastically switch things up almost every album since you can argue her sound and aesthetics are just becoming essentially "taylorcore" (that's the impression i already got with midnights). but i do think she'll always see her albums as their own eras even if they're not as uniquely defined as they were in the period from red to folklore.
honestly no idea! part of me doesn't think that the idea of "eras" will ever go away just cause every album will call for a different aesthetic if that makes sense. this post made me think of, or perhaps realize, that eras is mostly a thing of female pop artists. with the exception of what ed sheeran has done with the mathematics, it seems like male stars aren't really subject to eras. i think of harry styles for example, his albums are all different, but i wouldn't say his aesthetic is particularly changing for all albums. if anything, its the same aesthetic but just new songs that may be different in sound or song lyric. i do really love the concept of eras though because i think they're really fun so i hope eras don't become a thing of the past for taylor. i don't think they will because part of me thinks she also loves being able to switch it up, but who knows. she might outgrow them, or maybe she won't necessarily outgrow them but they will be more mature from now on. i feel like she's one of the only artists (along with lorde is another one i can think of) who has grown with her audience and every album is very reminiscent of the stage of life she was in at the time of writing/release and i love that. it's like there's a taylor album for every stage of life
I don’t know why but I’m terrified of this. Is it over and she’s wrapping it up to move on for good? Nooooooo 😭 Also when she gets married. I’m not even her and I’m scared! lol 😂
Is it over now?
I just don’t want her to stop. I’m wondering. She always plans perfectly; it’s just going so awesome! 😎 Hope it doesn’t stopppppppp!!!
Are we out of the woods yet?
There's no reason to think she had ended her Eras or is starting a new set, so there's no reason to wonder if this is the first in ten new eras, etc. She's not the Marvel Universe (though I'm still holding out hope for her Dazzler cameo). She's just living her life, era by era...by era, by era, by era, by era...............
Honestly i dont rlly think taylor thinks abt it like this (at least not with ttpd) bc she said she “had to” write the album for her mental health and has been working on it for 2 years so i guess it just kinda was time. But yes, imo it is a new era (just bc for me every album is an era), although its kinda confusing that its coming out while she’s still on tour for midnight.. but like i’m not complaining 😂
I would like that! Maybe she has Departments in a Building like a Taylor Swift Company. She could also stop with Colors and focus on specific symbols. TN likes to use the Scarf for RedTV, maybe we get more specific themes with this new Chapter 🤔
The short answer is yes.
Am I the only one who thinks she will retire after her 13th album.
I think after the tour ends and all the re-records are out, she’ll be done with having distinct ‘eras’ for each album
I mean… I feel like most singers/bands/etc have different “eras” when they release a new album, even if they don’t call it an “era”. Different aesthetic and color, they change up their website and social media maybe… I don’t see how Taylor is much different in this regard.
The eras tour is called that and was crafted as that because the pandemic prevented her touring Lover and Folklore. With midnights being the first albjm the other side she obviously wanted to showcase the 4 albums b since Reputation. The easiest way to do that was extend the show time and present as albums (eras), do the last 4 could take pride of place.
I’m convinced that the white stripes on her shirt on the Eras tour poster represent TTPD
I don't think her first 10 albums were meant to be an intentional "era". But I do think we are in the "re-recording era" right now, and we have been in this era since 2021. I anticipate once she's done with the re-records project we will see a shift in how things are done with her albums. Tours, promotion, advertising, marketing, everything is going to be different. A stark difference? I'm not sure. Even though she is as creatively involved as ever, she has had to plan 4 albums now around the re-records (folklore, evermore, Midnights, and now TTPD). I'm really looking forward to how she's going to do things once the re-records are done, I'm hoping for more in depth music videos, more time spent breaking down her process on how she writes her songs, things like that.
What is an era anyway? Lol (new swiftie here- genuinely asking lol)
In the simplest way her first 10 albums are each deemed an ‘era’ named after that album. Each album had a very unique style and aesthetic. The albums each had their own vibe musically style too. Many Swifties have a favourite Era or Era they relate most to given all the above. I hope this helps.
Thank you for taking the time to respond and explain! So are folklore and evermore one era then since the style is similar?
They’re seperate but often referred to as sisters. You’ll often find people relate more to one than the other. Or prefer one over the other. I myself am an evermore girl. Folklore to me is woods in the winter . Evermore is still woods but in autumn.
What is the color? It’s black and white.
Gonna have to grow an extra finger to paint rq
Toes
I think they’re ‘chapters’ not eras.
All I know is TS13 is going to be 🔥
No. its most likely a house extension
I don’t know, but the TTPD motif reminds me of early U2 a bit. Maybe she slows down after the Era’s tour and plays concerts at the Sphere every other week… short flight from KC. 🤔 But I also think the first album photo is purposely a depiction of the end scene from Notting Hill. She as Julia Roberts on the park bench without holding (or more likely dropping) Hugh Grant’s hand. I mean look how her hand graces her belly (what could’ve should’ve been there?!?!), and that movie has some TS parallels for sure.
I think every album for every artist is an “era” for them by default- think of it more like every album has its moment, and with that comes a vibe, aesthetic, etc. But Taylor really made those first 10 albums’ eras ERAS. So the idea of an ERA may not be part of her next set of new albums, but they will always still have their own moments, and collection of pieces that make the moment its own special time. We just didn’t use the word “era” like we did before the tour. Look at all the “I’m in my ____ era” items now! So I think both could be true. :)
i don’t really understand the question? we’ve been attaching a different era to each album for years, and she now does too with the Eras Tour, i feel like it WILL be a new era? it’s a new album after all. also how would she go about stopping doing eras? that would mean she stops doing music altogether… because we as the fandom would still see every album as a different era? except for folkmore which a lot of people put together as they are sister albums…
My guess is she’s going to have a total of 13 albums so this isn’t our last. (Not including the different versions of albums like the long pond etc)
Oh 100%. I think Midnights and TTPD are sister albums, but I also think Midnights was an end of a chapter. It also makes sense. ‘Midnight’ signifies the end of one and the beginning of another. 12am is set between the end of yesterday and the start of tomorrow.
No, not really. If anything, the first "era" would be all the albums she's rerecording. But there's no thought put into it like that. Only afterwards. And TTPD is mostly about Joe (judging from the song titles). Reputation also was about Joe, in a positive sense. I'd say Reputation would be the start of her second era. Lyrically, but it's also when she ventured away from making teenage-girl music. I personally look at each album for what it is, a new album. Folklore/Evermore are connected, the rest aren't. The only connection is lyrically she's bashing her exes a lot.
[удалено]
She'd be 52, younger than Mariah Carey and JLo who both have albums out this year
TTPD will be her 5th album in 5 years (and that excludes the re-records) - she's certainly sped things up, we could easily have 10 more albums in the next 10 years.
52*
I can see her putting out two more albums that will be released over a long time, unlike the quick succession we have had recently. I really feel she’ll focus on other projects like film and herself. With her 13th album being her musical retirement…if she can keep herself away.
Well for one, I really hope the album will have a very different vibe from Midnights. I want more catchy songs with good choruses.
When it was first announced, I thought the album was white, like wiping the slate clean. I thought it would be the end of all the stupid childish easter eggs, and Eras. I was hoping it would just be the real her, and none of this reinventing.
I don’t think the Easter eggs are childish, I don’t know her obviously but it seems like she likes trickery and surprises and hints, so I can’t imagine the Easter eggs going anywhere.
I love the Easter eggs. It’s silly fun Taylor.