How Taylor Swift’s song ‘The Story of Us’ could hint at the release of her seventh album
Apr 19, 2019
SALT LAKE CITY — April 26.
That’s the date Taylor Swift has been referencing for the past five days on Instagram, and fans are convinced it’s when the artist will drop her seventh album.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwVCmzPDgKq/
It isn’t the first time Swift has dropped hints related to April 26, however. In fact, Swift has left a series of clues for the past few months that something big is coming this month, and fans recently discovered that one of those clues may be found in her song “The Story of Us.”
Here’s how
Back in October 2018, Swift took the stage at the American Music Awards to receive her Artist of the Year award. In her award speech, Swift said, “I always look at albums as chapters in my life. To the fans, I’m so happy that you liked this one … but I have to be really honest with you about something. I’m even more excited about the next chapter.”
If the line seems familiar for Swift, it’s because “next chapter” is a lyric in her song “Story of Us.”
“The story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now. Next chapter,” Swift sings at the 1:26 mark.
While that seems irrelevant to her next album, it gets more interesting when you look at the numbers behind the song.
A few fans have pointed out that “The Story of Us” is four minutes and 26 seconds long.
Taylor's countdown on her IG is giving me chills. April 26th? Is this it? TS7? Is this the "next chapter"?
You know what else has "next chapter" written on 'em?
The Story of Us.
You know how long this song is?
4:26.
And do you know what number it is on the album?
— Ar. Kurtsky (𝙏𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣) (@KURTrancudo) April 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/repugaytion22/status/1117455371449376768
Furthermore, the song is the seventh on Swift’s “Speak Now” album, which adds to the theory that Swift could be using the song to allude to her seventh album.
A few fans also noted that Swift’s songs picked up a new background on Spotify this week, all but “The Story of Us,” that is.
A fan discovered that all of Taylor's songs on Spotify have the new "4.26 Midnight Eastern" backdrop EXCEPT "The Story of Us."
If you remember earlier this week, Taylor liked a post about "The Story of Us" containing the lyric "Next Chapter" and being 4:26 in length. pic.twitter.com/ep20VOuXen
— Taylor Swift Updates🧣 (@TSwiftinAsia) April 17, 2019
all of @taylorswift13’s songs on spotify have this new background… except the story of us
i’ve had enough y’all pic.twitter.com/zKGlyZFMfo
— ellie 🪐 (@eleanorbate) April 17, 2019
Elle Magazine
“The Story of Us” isn’t the only way Swift could be hinting at an April 26 release date.
Back in March, Swift wrote a piece for Elle Magazine titled “30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30.” If you read through that list, you’ll note that Swift’s 26th item is “I make countdowns for things I’m excited about.”
If Swift’s Instagram is any indication, she’s certainly counting the days for something.
Either fans are jumping for any information they can get about the artist’s next album or Swift is one of the greatest Easter egg masters of our time.
