Taylor Swift, who can decode you? Fans will try as they look for clues for 'Reputation TV'

LONDON — Taylor Swift fans are doing their best to decipher their favorite poet.

As the "Tortured Poet" popstar goes into night four of a five night series of her famed Eras Tour at London's Wembley Stadium, one question is on every Swiftie's mind: When is "Reputation (Taylor's Version)" coming?

The album will be Swift's fifth project released as "Taylor's Version," an exercise Swift began to reclaim her artistic ownership after the sale of her original master recordings in 2020. The sale, Swift said at the time, "stripped me of my life's work." Her latest "Taylor's Version" release, "1989 (Taylor's Version)" came out October 2023.

While fans were served a new double album in April, they're back chanting for "more" in anticipation of a rerecorded "Reputation," which first debuted in November 2017. The album features high-fidelity dance beats and a streak of anger with songs like "Delicate" and "Ready For It" that resonate with fans today (look no further than the soundtrack to Simone Biles' gold-medal-winning floor routine at the Paris Olympics).

Easter-egging is practically Swift's birthright. But speculation has reached fever pitch (seriously, pack your ear plugs) as 92,000 fans (this author included) pack the London shows, which stretch until Tuesday and close out the European leg of the Eras Tour.

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Is London night five the big night?

Fans know to pay attention to Swift's hand signals. This was a lesson learned in February when she accepted the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and made a special announcement of her upcoming album "The Tortured Poets Department." As she dropped the news, she flashed two fingers.

"Two"? What did "two" mean? The peace-sign sent the internet into a frenzy. And ultimately, the sleuthing was rewarded when Swift released a surprise double album at 2 a.m. in April. The lesson: She wasn't just a star on stage accepting an award. She was telling her fans something.

Now, Eras attendees are looking for more clues, with some posting on social media that Swift flashed a "2-0" instead of the classic "2-2" choreography while performing the bop "22" during the "Red" section of the show on Saturday night.

Fans think the 2-0 may allude to Aug. 20, the final night of the Eras residency at Wembley, as the day the pop star announces "Reputation (Taylor's Version)."

That hand was rather serpentine...

The song "Karma" from the "Midnights" album marks the end of the over three-hour song fest that is the Eras Tour. As Swift popped a hip in a glittery body suit and feathery jacket per usual, fans noticed something serpentine about her bejeweled wave goodbye at the end of the night.

The star seemingly made a snake-like hand gesture as she waved farewell at the end of the Aug 17. show. Was it a wonky wave by a tired woman after singing 44 songs? Or a sign that she is the serpent queen fans want to think she is?

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Another fan posted Wembley Stadium shining red and green lights into the London sky which seemingly resemble the scales of a snake.

The snake is a heavily-employed metaphor by Swift, who dons a black body suit with red snakes on it during the "Reputation" portion of the Eras setlist. The reptile alludes to dishonesty and mistrust that marred Swift's reputation, and has been reclaimed through her music as a symbol of her biting back.

Whether or not she meant to make the snake-like gesture or flash calendar cues likely matters less than what the fans saw: her fangs are sunk deep and she's not going anywhere, even as her billion-dollar tour winds to an end. While "Tortured Poets" remains at the top of the charts, the arrival of "Reputation" will secure her spot at the height of the music industry for ensuing months.

Fans are dedicated nonetheless to labor of making it make sense, vying for insight into the inner world of their favorite mastermind. In some ways, going to the tour in this late stage is about figuring out what's next as much as it is celebrating Swift's 18 years of music.

In her titular song "The Tortured Poets Department" Swift asks "who can decode you?"

As the tour heads into the second to last night in London on Monday, the fans answer "we can."

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