Small Details You Missed In Taylor Swift's '...Ready For It?' Video
After dropping the record-breaking music video for "Look What You Made Me Do," Taylor Swift left fans wanting more.
Well, fortunately, the pop star delivered. The futuristic video for "...Ready For It?," released just two weeks before Swift's album Reputation hits shelves, follows a cloaked Swift walking among robotic citizens of a dark, cyberpunk society. But while the visuals certainly make the video a major contender for the 2018 VMAs, it's the details spotted in each scene that prove Swift (and director Joseph Kahn) to be award-worthy. Read on to learn all about the sneaky Easter eggs hidden in plain sight.
Sci-fi inspiration
For the filming of "...Ready For It?," Swift and Kahn seem to have borrowed certain elements from popular science fiction. Not only does the video feel visually similar to Blade Runner 2049 and TRON, but Swift appears to dress remarkably similar to actress Scarlett Johansson's character in Ghost in the Shell. Considering that the movie (and the anime on which it's based) follows a character that falls victim to identity manipulation at the hands of higher powers, Swift may very well be implying that her persona is a result of the media's influence—but now she's ready to break free of the industry's chains.
Maybe.
On a side note, the original Ghost in the Shell manga was first released in 1989, so Swift might just feel connected to the franchise because of their shared birth year.
Calvin Harris callback
While Swift may not have referenced ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris directly in this song, she proves her dominance once more by ever-so-slightly asserting her role in the creation of Harris' hit song "This Is What You Came For."
In Swift's new video, her name is displayed against a stormy night sky. Pretty innocuous, right? Sure–except when you compare the lightning-strike visuals to the single art from Harris' chart topper. (See above.) Add in some of the lyrics from Harris' song–"Baby, this is what you came for / Lightning strikes every time she moves"–and, well, it's another thing that makes you go, "Hmm."
Need more convincing? Hours before the video's release, Kahn tweeted out, "Nils Sjöbot," an obvious reference to both Swift's former writer pseudonym, Nils Sjoberg, and the robo-Swift seen in the video.
Fans may remember the drama that followed this track's release once Swift took credit for penning the single's catchy lyrics after her split from Harris in June 2016. Obviously annoyed that Swift took credit for her work, Harris took to Twitter to air his complaints.
"Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage," he wrote at the time (via NY Daily News). "I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do."
Well, lucky for everyone, Swift can be happy in a new relationship and take down an ex—all at the same time!
Taking back her body
Remember when Swift's feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian led to the rapper dropping the explicit video for "Famous," in which he calls his frenemy a "b*tch" and attempts to take credit for her fame? Yeah, Swift clearly wasn't pleased with West's depiction of her as the naked blonde beside him in bed. So what if he only used life-like wax figures? It's still a creepy power move.
But Swift's apparently through with letting West control her image, so she showed it off herself in her video for "...Ready For It?" Sure, Swift's probably wearing a skintight suit and has been CGI'd to all heck, but she's reshaping the image people may have of her naked self by making it less about sex and more about cool robotics. And, honestly, who doesn't love robots?
Bad Blood 2.0
Did that scene with cloaked Swift falling backwards as glass shards whipped by look familiar? Well, it's not far off from one of the opening scenes in Swift's music video for "Bad Blood." However, rather than Selena Gomez pushing Swift out of the window of a tall building, Swift's own self—or, at least, a version of herself—knocks her over.
While Swift's character in "Bad Blood" is healed after her hard fall, her character in "...Ready For It?" doesn't get such a fortunate ending. Glass cuts her face, revealing her robotic skeleton, and she's later seen suffering some major burns.
Burn all the witches
As cloaked Swift fries in a storm of electricity, the words "they're burning all the witches" can be seen spray-painted onto the platform on which she stands. While Swift may never have directly referenced witches to the press, it's easy to make the connection between Swift's often negative portrayal by other celebrities and media outlets with a full-on (figurative) witch hunt. Maybe Swift's trying to tell everyone that she's sick of taking the blame in Hollywood squabbles, being falsely accused for starting fights with other top dogs in the industry.
Or maybe she's actually playing the victim—just like Kim Kardashian said.
Graffiti everywhere
"They're burning all the witches" wasn't the only interesting piece of graffiti in Swift's new video. Throughout Swift's walk through the sketchy alleyway, secret messages can be found spray-painted onto the walls. Phrases like "This is enough," "All eyes on us," and "I love you in secret" can be spotted as Swift swaggers along.
Another visible phrase? "Ur gorgeous," a lyric from her third single off Reputation, "Gorgeous." Considering the "Gorgeous" reference and Swift's penchant for hiding album details in plain sight (she secretly revealed the title "...Ready For It?" in an Instagram caption), it doesn't seem far off for Swift to share lyrics from Reputation tracks ahead of the album's release.
All about the numbers
Nothing's an accident when it comes to Swift's music videos. In an early scene of "...Ready For It?," Swift pauses near a door which features the numbers "89" and "91" nearby. While at first glance, Swift fans may assume it's simply a rearrangement of Swift's birth year, 1989—and the name of her previous album—it may actually be more than that.
While the "89" is likely still a reference to Swift's birth year, the "91" may be in reference to boyfriend Joe Alwyn's birth year, as the Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk actor was born in 1991. As for his birth date of February 21, fans can spot Swift entering the code "2" and "1" before opening the door to the room housing the caged Swift android.
And, as if that weren't enough, Swift also threw in her well-documented lucky number, 13.
White horse
While boxed-Swift is holed up in a glass container, she transforms into a few different versions of herself. After going on the attack with a full suit of armor equipped with dangerously sharp blades, Swift switches up her look, donning a full white suit while sitting atop a matching white horse.
It'd be a major coincidence if this visual was not a direct reference to her 2008 song "White Horse." The song, which is about her disillusionment with romance, features the lyrics, "I'm not a princess / this ain't a fairytale" as well as the line, "Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around." While the track may have originally been about Swift realizing her then-boyfriend wasn't the Prince Charming she thought he was—or that she thought she needed—Swift appears to be using the reference in "...Ready For It?" to show haters that she's in control of her own destiny, taking charge and saving herself.
The white horse could also be a reference to Swift's video for "Blank Space," which shows an equestrian-outfitted Swift standing on top of a horse's back. Since that video mocked the media's portrayal of Swift as boy-obsessed, it'd make sense to drop a link into "...Ready For It?," which could very well be interpreted as Swift's takedown of her own former image.
Year of the snake
In case there was any doubt, Swift is back and ready to dominate the charts once again—and she wants everyone to know it. In the alleyway scene of her video, eagle-eyed viewers can spot signs with Chinese lettering, some of which translate to "year of the snake." And everybody knows that Swift just loves her snakes. Ever since she embraced them in her music video for "Look What You Made Me Do," she's branded herself with the creature, owning her haters' cruel nickname for her.
Plus, Swift was born in the actual year of the snake, according to the Chinese calendar: 1989. So she's clearly ready to turn her past title of "snake" into a powerful message to her enemies.
As if that weren't enough snake talk for one video, Swift also rocks a silver snake ring on her right hand in one scene, which looks to be the very same one up for sale in her merch shop. And, if fans pay extra close attention to caged-Swift's face at one point, there appears to be a small snake making its way across her chin and right cheek, likely marking this Swift character as one to watch.
So, are more snake-filled videos on the way for fans? We'll all just have to wait and see. Swift's sixth studio effort, Reputation, drops Nov. 11, 2017.