Now That We Have Content, I Have Some Thoughts...
A. I don’t think its a coincidence that she did that “pap walk” running thing in the midst of these magazine covers. That “pap walk” thing means something - we can all HOPE it means a breakup soon. If that is the case, I think it was definitely laying the ground for the breakup, but done during a time when the media, internet, etc. are focusing elsewhere. That weird stunt will not leave a lasting mark on us - we are too busy focusing on her ELLE covers and essays to think much about it, but it will serve its place during the breakup. B. This is TS7 era Taylor, a nice middleground between 1989 and rep era Taylor. Instead of oversaturated, constantly papped, hyper exposed media friendly Taylor, and then under exposed, anti-media Taylor, we have middle ground Taylor. She is going to do actual promotion for this album, but it will be on her terms. Instead of interviews where we are only going to get the same questions over and over again, where her team will literally have to ask the interviewers what questions to ask so as to get the narrative they want out there, we have this version where she is writing essays, the highest form of control she can have in an “interview” format. This works well for her because she can choose what information she wants to share, what hints she wants to convey, etc., while expressing herself through writing. We already love her writing, we listen to her music to hear what she has to say, we’ve dutifully read her previous essays. This allows her fans to feel the intimacy of what she is telling us, while allowing her to share what exactly she wants to. That’s not to say that maybe she won’t still do a few interviews. I don’t know the future. But I think we will see more essays from her, more of her being the interviewer rather than the interviewee (Pattie Boyd).
C. I think her Power of Pop essay has hints within.
I think TS7 will be mostly pop. She may use a variety of genres, but I don’t think she wrote an essay about the Power of Pop only to go back to country as some fans are suggesting TS7 may be.
I think because the essay spoke to so many feelings of the past (in particular, her past), that this album will be either explicitly inspired by her past experiences, or allude to the past thematically - ie a retro album. 1989 was inspired by the songs from that decade, perhaps we will get an album inspired by songs from the 70′s. The styling on the first shoot certainly confirmed that, but this latest shoot had an entirely different tone.
She says that listeners connect to highly personalized details in songwriting. Taylor has always given us that, but I think she may be hinting that she will go even further into detail (we can hope!)
She says that everyone is just looking for a song to connect to, to basically validate their own experiences. I think that could go two different ways.  Who is still under represented in pop music? Those who are not heterosexual. BUT I think instead of saying "this is the gay experience", it will be that the experience of falling in love is UNIVERSAL, regardless of the gender the person you're falling with. She will help bridge the gap between the “straight” vs “gay” line of thinking about love - love is love and who cares what gender the person is singing about. I think the concept that love is universal will be a future theme.
D. I think the contrast between the 2 different magazines and accompanying photoshoots is intentional. I can’t help but notice the difference between the dark moody Taylor, and then the bright sassy Taylor. Maybe to draw further contrast between the fact there are 2 versions of her - the public and the private. Maybe drawing attention to dark moody rep era Taylor, and then this new sassy bright colourful era Taylor? This is just a thought, as dark moody Taylor was released after bright sassy Taylor (which could go along with the theory that TS7 was actually supposed to come first), so that doesn’t make sense lineally for it to represent rep era Taylor and then new/current Taylor.Â
E. I think she was genuinely trying to share some knowledge and wisdom in her recent ELLE essay, while allowing us to get a closer glimpse of what she has gone through, and perhaps giving us a couple of bones along the way. I don’t think it was wrote to give us hints. Her intentions were genuine here.
She tells us right there that those “couple goals” pictures she may have posted in the past aren’t real. Whether they weren’t real in the regard that the relationship itself wasn’t real, or whether they weren’t real in the regard that what she was trying to convey from those posts didn’t come from a place of genuineness, its still important to note that some of the content she’s given us in the past wasn’t real. I think this may be given as an explanation as to why she hasn’t posted at all about Toe (assuming you agree with that relationship being real), or then why if she’s been with Karlie all these years she hasn’t continued to post about her. Because it’s all just a fallacy, who you post about on your socials doesn’t mean shit. It’s only the version of yourself you’re willing to show.
She addressed a number of things that have been discussed about her, that other stars may have made a statement about, but she instead chose to remain quiet about. She did this in a highly personal way instead of making a tweet or a publicity statement, or even having an “insider source” dish out the details instead. She tells us that her mother is unfortunately currently fighting cancer. She alludes to body image issues, and that she perhaps didn’t treat her body so healthy in the past all in the name of losing weight. She talks about politics and tells us that she will be more involved in the future, basically admitting that perhaps she didn’t do enough in the past. She’s basically calling people out for making ageist remarks about women (can we please stop making posts about how Taylor Swift doesn’t age, like what an unrealistic ideal to live up to!) She’s hyperaware that there is a risk of gathering thousands of people and even on the day to day she’s prepared for the threat of a potential shooting or some other tragedy. She commented about the stalking she experiences. The sexual assault trial and how difficult that was for her. The pressure she experiences with the media and tabloids exploiting her trials and mistakes. She alludes to the fact that she may have had highly publicized friendships in the past that no longer exist (something tells me this may have something to do with Dianna, and that she doesn’t just mean friendship but a relationship that was a situationship - you think its forever, but its not). She said SO much in this essay, letting us in on small details about her life.
Step into the daylight and let it go. TS7 IS going to be about island breeze, summery bright days. Because she’s stepping into the daylight and letting her past go. Shedding and letting go of that previous skin, the hiding, the bearding, the inauthentic self she may have had to present. Laying it all out and giving us her authentic self, because you can’t hide in the daylight.
