Do Taylor Swift's Latest Dinner Guests Hint At Her Next Music Video?
Haley Sprankle is B+C's Content Editor, leading coverage across pop culture, beauty, style, home, and beyond. You can find her previous work at WIRED, Wirecutter, and VH1. Outside of work, she's probably drinking a dirty martini, walking her french bulldogs, or quoting School of Rock somewhere.
Obviously, everyone's guessing and grasping at straws for what Taylor Swift could announce at the 100th Eras Tour show tonight. Could it be Reputation TV? The long-awaited Karmaalbum? More Eras Tour dates? Any and all of those theories have plenty of evidence to back them up — just ask TikTok. But after Taylor Swift's latest dinner out in Liverpool, and the esteemed company she had with her, I think we're getting a brand new music video today. Here's why!
Photo via Taylor Swift/Youtube
The Tortured Poet's Department debuted on April 28, well over a month ago, with just one music video ("Fortnight") and plenty of singles to add to the Eras Tour. Sure, audience videos of Taylor's tour where she added an entire TTPD set scratched that "itch" a little, but it's not quiet the same as getting her standard music videos.
With the Midnightsrelease, we got two brand new music videos in one week — for "Anti Hero" and "Bejeweled" respectively. Then, three months later, Taylor graced us with the "Lavender Haze" music video, rounding out her visual trio before tour began.
While this most recent album drop is dramatically different than Midnights — she's literally in the middle of an international tour — it's still odd that we haven't seen any visuals past "Fortnight" and some Youtube Shorts compilations. If you ask me, knowing Taylor, she's definitely got something up her sleeve in this regard, especially given how much she loves to write and direct her music videos now. But what could it be?
Photo via Cara Delevigne/Instagram
According to PEOPLE, Taylor took an eclectic group to dinner, consisting of Lena Dunam, Danielle and Este Haim, Andrew Scott, Kate Moss, Cara Delevigne, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Chrissie Hynde, and Stella McCartney last night. While all of these folks certainly circle Miss Swift in their own right, I don't know if they'd all be together at once without something else binding them together. My prediction? The cast and crew of a brand new music video.
So, without further ado, here's what I think Taylor Swift and this unique crew are cooking up for the next TTPD music video.
"Clara Bow" Music Video
Photos via Taylor Swift/Youtube and General Photographic Agency/Getty Images
My first — and potentially most obvious — guess for Taylor Swift's next music video is "Clara Bow." A lot of fans noticed the return of Taylor's watch necklace from the Grammys last night, fervently trying to find out what time the clock shows in order to decode her next rerelease.
I'm not so convinced this has anything to do with Reputation or Taylor Swift Taylor's Versionthough. This is the same accessory she rocked at the Grammys earlier this year right before she announced TTPD, so while I definitely think it's an Easter egg, I just don't think it's for something outside of the Tortured Poet's realm.
Clara Bow herself often wore watch necklaces, tying the old-timey accessory not just to the aura Taylor curated for us at the very beginning of the TTPD era, but anchoring her to the silent film star more concretely. She does look like Clara Bow when she wears the necklace, mirroring the lyrics she literally wrote.
With that in mind, I definitely think "Clara Bow" is a top music video contender. Kate Moss could star as a relic of '90s models past, Lena Dunham as a lost beloved writer of her time (LOL "voice of her generation" anyone?), and Chrissie Hynde as a musician who doesn't fit the current bill. I could see Andrew and Phoebe as some example of executives saying yes or no to each of these stars, with Cara, Danielle, and Este representing the "shinier" new celebs. Oh, and Stella will dress all of them to the nines!
"I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" Music Video
Photo via Taylor Swift/Youtube
In terms of singles, "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" is definitely the clearest cut choice for a music video. It's poppy, it's vibrant, it's fun...even though it's incredibly sad. But that's what Taylor does — she meshes all her emotions into one beautiful sonic space for us to listen to over and over and over again.
The choreography for this song during the TTPD Eras Tour set, plus Taylor's watch necklace, are both major hints to the potential music video. The performance starts with Taylor's dancers changing her into a new costume, all three players acting silent film style with the screen projecting an "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" title card. The whole aesthetic of the song is very Old Hollywood and 1930s, matching the Clara Bow-esque necklace she wore last night.
I imagine this music video would stay the aesthetic course with the Old Hollywood, silent film, 1930s vibes. Think Bejeweled, but if it was black and white. This era has a ton of fun potential characters including other silent film stars, comedians, singers, and more. I can absolutely picture Cara playing a very mustached Charlie Chaplin, Danielle and Este giving some Marx Brothers silliness, Andrew and Phoebe taking Clark Gable and Marion Davies, Kate Moss as Bette Davis, and Chrissie Hynde as Marlene Dietrich.
"Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me" Music Video
Photo via Haley Sprankle
One of my absolute favorite songs, "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me" practically demands visuals. Taylor's language is so descriptive, almost mimicking directions in a script already. I've already pictured her "leaping" and "levitating," dreaming of her cobwebbed house that the "kids" sneak into, almost Stranger Thingsstyle. The video practically writes itself, making way for fantastical storytelling and plenty of cameos.
While the physical crew for "Clara Bow" is more overt, this one gets kind of meta. In Taylor's prime, she was well-known for her "squad," full of models and actors and writers and singers alike. Tabloids weren't always kind (go figure), often pitting Taylor against other celebrity women and judging her "squad" as a sort of exclusive group of bullies. By going out with a group that not only parallels that, but also includes some of the OG squad (Cara, Danielle, Este, and Lena) hints towards that "scary" friend group people were so judgmental of.
I can totally picture a ton of fun parts for this motley crew. My biggest guess would be a coven of witches á la the Evermore set during the Eras Tour, featuring all the women who hung out with Taylor last night. And as for Andrew Scott? He's giving Hot Priest (Hater's Version) who's after Taylor's extremely powerful coven.
So what do you think? Are we getting a music video? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Header image via Taylor Swift/Youtube
Haley Sprankle is B+C's Content Editor, leading coverage across pop culture, beauty, style, home, and beyond. You can find her previous work at WIRED, Wirecutter, and VH1. Outside of work, she's probably drinking a dirty martini, walking her french bulldogs, or quoting School of Rock somewhere.