Taylor Swift made her TikTok debut one month ago and has since racked up almost 200 million views across 10 clips. Her latest video pays homage to Shania Twain—but many fans are convinced there's more to it.
Swift's clip hops on the "Mama Said" trend, in which TikTokers pair Lukas Graham's "Mama Said" with images of someone who inspired them to push boundaries—in this case, singer-songwriter Twain.
Some fans have read a deeper meaning in the seemingly simple video, which has gained close to 10 million views in just one day. They believe it is filled with Easter eggs about the release of the hotly anticipated 1989 (Taylor's Version) album.
"Country girls can't go pop," reads the text on the clip as Swift smirks at the camera before showing images of Twain.
"Mama said that it was OK, mama said that it was quite alright," is heard as images flash up of Twain performing on stage, followed by one of Swift and her hugging.
The video sparked a flurry of comments analyzing the footage. "She's in the studio, everyone panic," said one user, who thought that the background looked like the studio of Jack Antonoff—Swift's long-time collaborator and producer.
Another fan commented: "Um, 1989 was her first fully pop album and her first collaboration with Jack. What does it mean?"
@taylorswift Learned from the best 💁♀️ #mamasaid #swifttok @shaniatwain 📷: Getty Images by Jeff Kravitz and Denise Truscello
♬ Mama Said - Lukas Graham
Many TikTokers thought the reference to a journey from country to pop was a hint that 1989, originally released in October 2014, would be Swift's next re-recorded album—part of the singer's ongoing project to re-record all the albums she made while signed to Big Machine Records, in order to regain control of her masters.
Red (Taylor's Version) was supposed to be next—with the release slated for November 19 this year—but recent hints from the singer have suggested that may no longer be the plan.
"You set a date in November with Red but then someone mentions 1989," she wrote on a TikTok video that shows her becoming distracted. This clip, posted on September 17, ends with Swift winking at the camera.
One fan made their own video analyzing Swift's latest TikTok video to support the 1989 theory, pointing out that Swift is wearing a blue top, her signature color of the time, and Polaroids are stuck to the wall behind her, which came with the physical copy of the 1989 album.
Others were hoping that the video was actually a hint about a collaboration with Twain. "I am once again asking for a Shania Twain X T Swift collab," commented TikTok's official account.
"I've legitimately said for months that I want a Taylor and Shania collab omfg no way," wrote one TikTok user, before adding: "Not that this confirms a collab, just cool to see."
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