Taylor Swift fans—otherwise known as Swifties—are questioning piano issues the singer had on stage during the Eras Tour, with many theorizing it's a clue she's giving them about her music.
The pop superstar is in the middle of the European leg of her record-breaking tour, having performed on July 13 and 14 in Milan, Italy. She is currently having a two-day break before performing in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on July 17. The three-and-a-half-hour show includes 10 acts, each inspired by Swift's albums and a period in her life.
Swift is known for leaving Easter eggs for her fans to find in her music, tours and promotional materials. Now Swifties believe that her piano being temporarily broken on stage was a secret hint regarding the pop star's next project.
Newsweek emailed Swift's publicist for comment on Monday.
People have uploaded various videos of the incident to X, formerly Twitter, to discuss whether it could be a hint about new music.
"The piano being broke was FAKE! The way the guy comes over, doesn't even try to fix it, a snake hisses when they open it, and the guy leaves laughing hysterically after it happens. Then Taylor opens the piano AGAIN so we could clearly hear a snake hiss twice. What is happening?!" X user @idioticxfool13 posted alongside a video of the singer trying to fix the piano.
In the viral clip—which had been viewed 1.5 million times at the time of writing—Swift can be seen trying to fix her piano with a man on stage. Many people believe that they can hear a snake hissing two different times, both when the top of the piano is open.
There is a snake theme attached to Swift's album Reputation, with the snake affiliation starting when Calvin Harris—who Swift previously dated—criticized Swift for claiming writing credits for the song "This Is What You Came For." After the hashtag #TaylorSwiftIsASnake went viral, people took to Swift's social media accounts to comment the snake emoji. This continued after Kim Kardashian disparaged Swift in a tweet regarding National Snake Day amid their widely publicized feud.
The "Bad Blood" singer eventually decided to incorporate the snake into her music to silence the haters. Her Reputation album has a lot of snake imagery, which she has used in the Eras Tour.
"Why does this guy do nothing to fix the piano and just keeps smiling and why does it sound like a snake when she opens it???? Was it an Easter egg??? I'm probably losing my mind dude idk," one person commented.
"I'm no piano expert, but deadass why would a piano make a noise like this???? it's definitely giving easter egg [snake emoji]," said another.
"And if you look at the corner of the piano closest to the camera, it's actually clearly hitting the Back end of the mic stand which is what prevents it from closing. After the second Hiss, she clearly adjusts the mic and then it closes just fine," someone else wrote.
A fourth person added: "not her first time doing this also so it's def a easter egg."
Many fans hoped it was a sign that the singer would be dropping the long-awaited Reputation: Taylor's Version.
"This better be a tease for rep tv [multiple crying emojis," one person wrote, while another added: "she check it ONCE then she check it TWICE OHH [two snake emojis]."
However, a different X user said it wasn't a snake hiss at all, but it was Swift laughing into the microphone.
"sorry to disappoint you guys but it's just Taylor laughing," they said alongside a video that showed a different angle of the piano moment on stage.
Other X users seemed to agree that the broken piano wasn't planned, with one person writing: "We were right in front and it was definitely broken lol the hinge was stuck. We could see it from our vantage point."
"The piano was broke as in the top part wasn't shutting...Taylor never referred to the keyboard lol it's not fake at all," said another.
The original poster of the video said that whether the sound out of the piano was a snake hiss or not, she still thinks this moment on stage could be a hint at the Reputation album.
"It's just insane to me that even if it was her laughing, it sounds exactly like the snake intro for reputation [crying emoji] I don't know but don't come at me in dms for just having fun. Love you all I was NOT expecting for this to blow up so fast! Thank you so much though!" @idioticxfool13 said.
Swift has been gradually re-recording her first six albums since 2019, when music mogul Scooter Braun purchased Big Machine Records, Swift's original label. The record company owned the rights to the singer's albums Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014) and Reputation (2017).
Braun acquired the rights to Swift's early work when he brought Big Machine Records. Swift had attempted to buy the album rights herself, but negotiations fell through.
Known as "Taylor's Versions" (or TVs), Swift has released re-recordings of every one of her first six albums in the past five years, except for Reputation.
Swifties were expecting the "Lover" singer to unveil Reputation TV at the Grammy Awards in February, but she surprised fans by announcing her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), instead.
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