Taylor Swift guested on The Late Show last night and the segment was a bit of a throwback for Stephen Colbert for a number of reasons. One was that he revived an old claim of his that Swift’s Fearless track “Hey Stephen” is about him, and another is that Colbert was basically in character for the conversation (like he used to do on The Colbert Report way back when), as the whole interview was a bit about “Hey Stephen.” As for Swift, fans believe that she dropped a number of hints that her next re-recorded album will be 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
During the interview, Swift made references to New York City (1989 of course leads with “Welcome To New York”), referenced “Shake It Off,” mentioned 1989 directly, and seemingly gave other hints. Fans got to work decoding the interview and they’ve come up with some findings, which don’t seem too outlandish given Swift’s love of sending Swifties on Easter egg hunts.
Some fans noted Swift’s vision board of Colbert features eight hearts and nine stars, which could be a visual representation of ’89 (so 1989). The poster also features a seagull, which may be a reference to the seagull-covered shirt Swift wears on the 1989 album cover. Furthermore, at one point during the interview, Swift starts to reveal Colbert’s social security number but gets cut off after saying just “33035.” The digits of that number add up to 14, and since May 14 is a Friday, some believe that is when the first single from 1989 (Taylor’s Version) will be released.
It’s also worth noting that it seems Swift has already started re-recording the album, as a snippet of her new version of the 1989 single “Wildest Dreams” premiered last month in a trailer for Spirit Untamed.
Check out some tweets about the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) theories below and watch the full Late Show interview above.
there are so many signs!!
1) A 1989 photograph of Stephen Colbert on the top left
2) Seagull which is on the shirt on 1989 album cover
3) 8 hearts, 9 stars which leads to ‘89 #1989TaylorsVersion 🥳 pic.twitter.com/LNvSRJjGBJ— andre (@tayxpector) April 13, 2021
Taylor made several 1989 references, "Shake It Off" . She also said that Stephen Colbert’s social security number was 33035
3+3+0+3+5 = 14
May 14th is a Friday
She also mentioned YNTC, which is Track 14 on Lover.
The first single off #1989TaylorsVersion might come out May 14. pic.twitter.com/cGGCfhrjj7— Facts About Taylor Swift (@factsboutTSwift) April 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/houaylorshome/status/1382190288844718083
SHE MENTIONED 1989 FUCK #1989TaylorsVersion pic.twitter.com/BMAe5otz8k
— chiz 🅴 (@chizswift13) April 14, 2021
the new york reference, the phone ringing, and the direct 1989 and shake it off references i- #1989TaylorsVersion pic.twitter.com/9BXrP4kARo
— christina ✩ (@tinalovestay) April 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/Saylorrtwiftt/status/1382119085455122435
