Taylor Swift has been known to do some pretty elaborate stunts for her fans — from sending personalized care packages to producing elaborate word searches for them to predict bonus tracks on her albums. But this morning, on the second anniversary of her album Lover, she surprised even her most loyal supporters by posting her very first TikTok.
Swift used the platform to announce that the rerecording of her über-melancholic album Red is now available for presale on her website. But the TikTok itself, like most things Swift does, is pretty elaborate. It’s soundtracked to a snippet from Dave’s “Screwface Capital” (which includes the lyric “swift like Taylor”) and features the singer dressed up in different outfits to showcase all the music she’s created over the last year: her four latest albums folklore, evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), and finally Red (Taylor’s Version), which will come out November 19.
Many fans are dissecting the video to see what secret messages are hidden about the upcoming album, but perhaps Swift just wanted to make a silly little video? She is currently in the process of rerecording her first five albums because of ownership disputes over her old masters — a feat that has sparked some important conversations about the music industry and inspired musicians to consider ownership of their own work. But creating a TikTok might inspire some 30-somethings out there to feel they, too, can join in on Gen Z’s favorite app — which is yet another brave act of service.
Despite being born in 1989, Swift appears to be a natural, and spent the day commenting on her fans’ videos. Her bio reads, “This is pretty much just a cat account,” and I, personally, am very excited to see more content from Meredith, Olivia, and Benjamin Button. You really do have to hand it to Taylor Swift for giving the people what they want, even when it’s unexpected.
