🤡 Clowning Chat No. 2: March 15th?!

And contemplating The Eras Tour, post-TTPD

Mar 13, 2024

Dear Reader,

Welcome to my second Clowning Chat newsletter! With all the speculation around March 15th, theories about a potential Reputation (Taylor’s Version), and suspicious behavior regarding doubles, I figured another Clowning issue was needed. I’ve tried to compile a lot of the ideas I’ve seen going around social media, along with my own thoughts, in this email. And I’d love to hear yours too! Leave a comment at the end with any of your own clowning thoughts.

In this newsletter you’ll find:

More Reputation (Taylor’s Version) Clowning
- Reputation (Taylor’s Version) and March 15th
Could Something Else Happen On March 15th?
The Eras Tour Post-TTPD
Dates To Look Out For

More Reputation (Taylor’s Version) Clowning

I’ve seen a number of Swifties clowning for a Reputation (Taylor’s Version) announcement, or even drop?!, on March 15th. And for once I’m not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for clowning and I’ve absolutely done my fair share of it over the months - November 26th and February 4th the notable culprits. Perhaps it’s because of how those turned out that I’m just not convinced Rep TV is coming right now.

Of course, if it does, I’ll happily devour it with every fiber of my being.

But, I’m just not feeling it.

It seems to me that Taylor is completely embracing The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) era. She’s been hyping up the album with new variant announcements at every stop of The Eras Tour this year. I think she also likes giving each album their own time to shine. So she wouldn’t want to divide the attention for either TTPD or Reputation TV by putting them out at the same time, or very closely together. From a business perspective it also wouldn’t make much sense to divide sales and streams and potentially jeopardize either album and/or tracks from hitting the top of the Billboard charts.

Reputation (Taylor’s Version) and March 15th

Why then, you might ask, would some Swifties clown for something to happen on March 15th?

Well, I won’t deny, Taylor has left some confusing clues lately:

15th: 1+5 = 6
Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) was supposed to release to Disney+ on March 15th. But on March 3rd, Taylor announced the movie would come 3 hours earlier. Taylor Nation posted the release at 9pm ET on March 14th. Taylor posted the release at 6pm PT. The same time, just different time zones! But pretty odd that Taylor decided to use 6pm PT instead of the usual ET that she pretty much always announces times in. She made a deliberate choice to tease us with that 6.
Earlier today Taylor Nation announced a watch party for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), using both 6pm PDT and 9pm EDT - again leaning into using both of those time zones - so it doesn’t seem like it was an accident.
Now that the movie is coming 3 hours earlier, if you started it right when it releases at 9pm EDT, it would end just in time for a midnight announcement.
The day before announcing this earlier release of Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), Taylor sang a mashup of two songs that released during her Reputation Era (I Don’t Wanna Live Forever x Dress) and live-streamed her performance on Instagram Live with a black heart. She’s only live-streamed announcements before on the tour, so that was an unusual move.
The name of this version of the movie is called Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version). Emphasis on the (Taylor’s Version). The only era featured on the tour that Taylor hasn’t released in her version is Reputation. (Taylor also hasn’t released her version of her debut album, but there isn’t a defined Debut era on The Eras Tour - it’s represented in The Eras Tour movie with a surprise song in the Acoustic Set, “Our Song”). Could this be a sign that Reputation is about to join the club of (Taylor’s Version) albums?
The previews/trailers for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) heavily emphasize Reputation. The song it uses is “…Ready For It?”, and a lot of footage is from the Rep Era.
Finally, this isn’t a recent Easter Egg, but in her “Look What You Made Me Do” music video, the golden throne that Taylor sits on has the phrase “ET TU BRUTE” etched into it. “Et Tu Brute” is a quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, who was betrayed by his friend Brutus and stabbed to death. This occurred on March 15th, and the date “later became infamous as the Ides of March”.

Not gonna lie, that last one does blow my mind 🤯

It’s also interesting that the photos on Taylor’s Instagram feed have been black and white since the TTPD announcement - that's also Reputation’s color scheme. But I’d say it’s even more similar to the grey/white colors of folklore, and TTPD is definitely giving me folklore/evermore vibes. Speaking of her Instagram, Taylor’s grid needs just one more post to become aligned. I imagine Taylor will make a post for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) once it’s out tomorrow. That would align her feed, leaving it open for a new announcement.

Finally, from the moment Taylor announced TTPD, I’ve been thinking about that order of releasing TTPD first and then Rep TV. I think it could make a lot of sense for Reputation TV to come first. After all, it’s an album about falling in love, and TTPD appears to be an album about the fallout, a breakup album. Chronologically that would come afterwards. Of course, Rep TV, and its “fire” vault songs could tell a slightly different story than the original album, who knows. Similarly, we won’t really know what TTPD’s storyline is until it’s released in April. But I do think the order in which she releases TTPD and Rep TV could hold significance. I am super curious about what Taylor is thinking for her overarching storyline of these album releases.

All in all, there’s a lot of thought-provoking evidence. But to me, this is giving red herring. This is giving Taylor dropping all kinds of hints for a Reputation TV announcement at The Grammys, and instead announcing TTPD. I’m not convinced.

What do you think?

Screenshot from The Recording Academy’s YouTube Video of Taylor’s GRAMMYs Acceptance Speech

Could Something Else Happen on March 15th?

Just because I don’t feel Reputation TV coming, doesn’t mean I don’t think something else couldn’t happen on March 15th. It’s just a matter of what.

I can’t get away from all of the 2’s that Taylor’s been teasing us with. There really has been a lot of doubles happening lately:

At the Grammy’s when she announced TTPD, she flashed a 2, very suspiciously I might add
She’s continued to flash 2’s at various moments during the Eras Tour
She announced the final TTPD variant on 3/3 - double 3
That same night she referenced 15 twice in one sentence in her “Champagne Problems” speech - double 15, and actually three times in that whole speech. I don’t know what to make of a triple 15...
She’s also been doing double mashups every night of the Eras Tour since Sydney N2 - which was on 2/24/24 (lots of 2’s and doubles going on with that date!)

The fact that she flashed that 2 while announcing TTPD makes me think it could be TTPD related. Nikki did a great video on TikTok about Taylor’s double 15 reference, how TTPD is Taylor’s 15th released album, and theorizing whether Taylor could release a book of poetry to go with the album. I would love to see it! I’m definitely leaning more towards a surprise announcement along these lines.

Or, the other theory I’ve seen floating around predicts that The Reputation Stadium Tour could also come to Disney+ on streaming. So we’d get a double drop of streaming tours, The Eras Tour on the 14th, and The Reputation Stadium Tour on the 15th - or at least an announcement of it. Since it was removed from Netflix on December 30th, 2023, The Reputation Stadium Tour has been needing a new home. I always thought (or hoped) she would bring it back to streaming around the same time as Rep TV’s release. But I also would be ecstatic to see it also come to Disney+ on March 15th.

What do you think will happen?

The Eras Tour Post-TTPD

Imagine a world where the ten eras that have defined The Eras Tour for the past year expand to include one more. It very well could happen after we get TTPD, and The Eras Tour starts back up again this May. Did anyone else feel like Taylor’s last show in Singapore felt a bit like, well, the end of an era? She went “back to the beginning”, by singing both “mirrorball” and “Tim McGraw” as surprise songs (but did both as mashups this time). Could that have been a reset? Could Taylor introduce a new kind of show in the next leg of The Eras Tour?

Here’s all the possibilities I’ve heard/can think of:

Taylor could not cut anything and add a new TTPD era to The Eras Tour setlist.
Taylor could cut all of the songs that were taken out of the original release of the Eras Tour movie (The Archer, Long Live, Cardigan and Wildest Dreams) and add a new TTPD era.
Taylor could replace the Acoustic Set/Surprise Song section of the show and instead perform songs from TTPD (some Swifties have wondered if this is why Taylor has been doing all these mashups lately, squeezing in as many of her current songs into that section, before replacing it).
Taylor could do one Surprise Song/Mashup, and one TTPD song in the Acoustic Set.
Taylor could not do any TTPD to The Eras Tour, and possibly tour it later.

I don’t know what Taylor is going to do. Selfishly, I wouldn’t want her to cut anything from the setlist. But it’s already such a long and intensive show that she so impressively delivers every single time, so it’s a lot to expect her to add even more to it. I don’t think she’ll do number 3 and get rid of the Acoustic Set though - she’s said over and over that it’s her favorite part of the show! (It’s mine too). I don’t think she’ll do number 5 either, and just wait on showcasing TTPD. So I’m leaning towards either number 2 or 4 happening.

How do you think Taylor is going to handle her latest album on tour?

Dates To Look Out For

Of course, the major date to look out for is MARCH 15TH! I’ll be watching Taylor’s socials closely to see if anything happens…I’m actually currently in LA, so I won’t even have to be up as late as usual for it 🥳

We should also be looking out for, or more looking forward to, April 19th, the day TTPD is released! I’m so scared for this album (in the best way possible).

Finally, we should most definitely be looking out for May 9th, which is when The Eras Tour restarts in Paris, France! What do you think she’ll do??

Those are my latest clowning thoughts! I’d love to hear yours. As usual, I’ve left some questions below. Comment under the Substack post with your predictions, theories, and any other clowning that you’re getting up to lately!

I’ll be updating my Instagram stories with all the happenings on March 15th. In the meantime…

Like any great love, it keeps you guessing
Like any real love, it's ever-changing,

Bekah

🎶 Can I Ask You a Question? 🎶

Do you think Reputation (Taylor’s Version) could get announced or dropped on March 15th?
Do you think something else could get announced on March 15th? What?!
How do you think Taylor is going to handle TTPD on the rest of The Eras Tour?

Dear Reader