I just would like to bring up this heavenly cover, (if you haven’t watched her cover of this you need to) because I have many things to say after reading comments, and just watching it.
(This cover aired October, 2014)
I love that she’s so “straight” that not only did she not change the pronouns, but her and the interviewer said the song was from a woman’s perspective.
Let’s simply go through the lyrics shall we? Here’s a little key for my OCD babes reading my complicated explanation 😘
Orange: Karlie
Pink: Taylor
Blue: 1989
Green: evermore
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations
Taylor was scared of pretty girls, does that sound like any supermodel we know?
This guy decides to quit his job and heads to New York City
Taylor quit her life back home in Pennsylvania & Nashville and headed to New York City, and lived near who? Cornelia street anyone?
This living situation obviously resulted in quite the album called “1989”.
This video came out on October 9th, 2014, it was obviously promo for 1989 which came out October 27th, 2014.
We obviously know and realize that part of 1989 is about Diana Aragon and Taylor’s relationship with her.
We also realize that by the time both this interview and 1989 came out Taylor had publicly known Karlie for 11 months.
However this Victoria’s Secret fashion show⬇️ was actually taped in November of 2013, so they had officially known each other almost a full year privately.
So the way she didn’t change any pronouns and was so happy singing it because of this lack of change, implys her happiness with whatever relationship they had going on. Whether that be platonic or romantic.
This cowboy's running from himself
Taylor is running from herself and the pain she caused herself with her last relationships. And of course Incidentally references her not yet planned 9th studio album.
And the song called “cowboy like me”
You're a cowboy like me, Perched in the dark
Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear
Eyes full of stars
Hustling for the good life (fame +riches)
Never thought I'd meet you here (at a VS fashion show? 😏)
It could be love
Wonder who that songs about… anyway-
And she's been living on the highest shelf
Karlie is a supermodel, she makes bank, and gets the highest tier treatment.
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen
(Michelle pfeiffer left, karlie kloss right)
A little bit self explanatory why this cover wasn’t done just for promo isn’t it?
Taylor communicates with us. People just don’t listen.
Best.Weekend.Ever. ❤️😁🇺🇸❤️
On 4th December 2014, Taylor and Karlie attended The 1975’s concert at Terminal 5 in New York (accompanied by Lily Aldridge, Martha Hunt, the Haim sisters and, for a short while, Josh Kushner.) This evening, which plausibly was intended to establish a public frame of reference for Taylor’s subsequent relationship with Matt Healy — the groundwork for which was being laid throughout November (see: here , here and here) — became notorious, when video was posted online purporting to show (an obviously inebriated) Taylor kissing Karlie.
Over the course of the same evening a total of 146 posts were liked by Taylor’s tumblr account. Notably, 26 of these concerned her relationship with Karlie, of which 13 were photos and/or gifs of their appearance together at VSFS on 2nd December. They are as follows below:
[NB: ‘likes’ generally related to Karlie are (in the process of being) collected here.]
Taylor and Karlie are the cutest. Can I be the third musketeer?
‘When You’re wearing a cute outfit to school…’
Taylor and Karlie in New York on 12th November 2014
‘Stop it you big flirts’
‘Looking at all the pictures of Taylor and Karlie…’
‘Best friends or twins?’
‘Bae checkin’ out bae’
kaylr.
‘Rip Me. I Died Dead’
‘my life is over. this is the end’
‘my best friend’s best friend is so hot like’
‘before and after joining tumblr’
‘Karlie Kloss, the Taylor whisperer’
‘Look at Karlie’
‘We’ll just walk out together’ (kaylor af)
‘I love you Taylor. I love you kaylor.’
‘Reblog this if you’re naming your kids, Taylor/ Karlie/ Alison/ Olivia/Meredith’
‘kookies from Karlie in my house. made for me. nbd.’
‘Taylor called Karlie her best friend. I’m so dead.’
‘kaylor feels through the roof’
‘i’m so happy i got to walk the runway with you’
‘karlie kloss dancing to shake it off’
‘she’s all over `karlie’s ass’
‘kaylor saving the world from haters’ (ft. a pegacorn)
‘i want taylor to look at me the way she looks at karlie’
‘shows up to your funeral like’
Other posts of interest from the same evening include:
a further 13 posts about VSFS (x//x//x//x//x//x//x//x//x//x//x//x//x)
3 posts about her publicist, Tree (x//x//x)
1 post about her cover of Riptide (x)
1 post about Wonderland (x)
The 102 likes which remain were distributed among fans’ selfies and expressions of devotion to Taylor (and to 1989.)
You walked the Victoria’s Secret show the other day and you looked like a fairy butterfly. And I was so proud of you ‘cause I was like ‘that’s my friend!’ and I knew you were singing all the words to my song and she’s walking, she’s got wings, she’s got shiny abs…
Theory Time 🕰 The Clock & the Rabbithole
WARNING: this is a LOOOOONG read.
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The other day, an anon sent me an ask, about how there might be correlations between YNTCD's 13 hour cat watch + Alice in Wonderland + 13th hour theory:
I'm not sure if it's the same anon, but someone sent me something like this from before too (around the time i made the 13 hour theory).
And since it's the 2nd time around, i've decided to.. 'dig' deeper. (If you're this anon/s, sorry i only got to it now 🙈)
DISCLAIMER: I'm not too familiar with Alice in Wonderland now, probably did as a kid, but i haven't revisited it as an adult. So i had to read a couple of stuff to familiarize myself and watch video essays about it. Whatever i wrote about Alice in Wonderland here, i only learned 24 hrs ago lol!! So please correct me if i got something/s wrong! Ok? Let's go!
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Down the Rabbithole.. into Wonderland:
Ok so anon/s have pointed out that You Need to Calm Down's cat watch (notably queer song) might've meant something more.. seeing as in all of Taylor's videos with clocks... this is the only one with a literal 13 on it AND that it's not working properly (spinning fast: time flies when you're having fun) and that she's freely in an LGBTQ+ community space -> outside the realm of time / 'reality'.. and isn't that the whole premise of 'Wonderland' (the place, not the song).
Wonderland (accordg to the book) includes a beautiful garden, an ocean, and a forest. Sometimes known as Underland. Wonderland was a place of dream at the start but it slowly showed it's true colors of being a trap.
Further proof that might lead us to believe YNTCD mv is in The Rabbithole -> Wonderland (outside of Time itself... The 13th Hour):
So if that's the case... are we in the Rabbithole -> Wonderland this whole time? Well.. for Kaylors and Gaylors, i guess we already know this. We always say that discovering her Gay rumors and easter eggs have always felt like falling down the rabbithole (these words even came out of Miss Swift's mouth in an interview). It's nothing new!... For gaylors. But for the rest of her fans? Welp.
Remember how in my 13th hour theory, we theorized that Midnights might've been pre-planned, one proof is her talking about easter eggs 3 years in advance right? Theorized as: 2019->2022? Well.. i went back to watch that interview in full, and didn't realize that she continues it by saying to come along with her into the Rabbithole. :
Notable things about this interview are:
1. She's wearing white (like the White Rabbit?) and saying "it's too late o'clock" -> Alice's White Rabbit "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!"
2. This was Red TV era (remember for later)
3. This was on Nov. 11/12, 2021... and the tv program: The TONIGHT Show w/ Jimmy Fallon, starts more or less at Midnight. So she's asking people to come along the Rabbithole with her at Midnight here?
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So... are we in Wonderland this whole time?
Maybe.. YNTCD mv was more 'in-your-face' that yes we are! But i think it all started in the Red (2012 era).. Let's re-trace! :
1. 'Wonderland' (the concept/feeling/aesthetic) technically started in the Red era + when she met(?) the muse who introduced it to her: Dianna.
2. Wonderland (the song) was released in the 1989 era + Rabbithole references appear in Taylor's music. If you analyze the song: they both went mad, and it didn't work out. The past muse eventually left her there, all alone in Wonderland. Even though this song is about that muse, i think Taylor carried and embodied Wonderland as her own too. Since Alice in Wonderland, in the end, is a self-discovery story.
3. How does Karlie fit into this? Well in the 1989 era (also known as the Golden days/era for Kaylor), we were introduced to the song: I Know Places. Burned from her past experience, she asks this new lover to take her hand and trust her, because this time.. she knows Places.. Places being Wonderland! Remember in her 1989 tour -> I Know Places' stage design involves: Mazes/Labyrinths (the Queen's garden maze/labyrinth?) and hallways with infinite doors (Alice in Wonderland - The Long Hall reference)?
4. In reputation era, Karlie became the King of Hearts -> Taylor's 'King of my Heart'. It's a night-aesthetic album (same as Midnights?) but on the contrary, this album is full of dreams references. The giddiness of keeping a secret, between two lovers. Hiding in plain sight. Being in paradise (wonderland). It was the dream. Also in reputation tour Taylor's dance partner/'lover' in King of My Heart, is the same one starring alongside her in the Lover mv. (KOMH->Lover). There's also chess references in the tour, Alice in Wonderland also has chess and card references. @9w1ft have a superb post about this!
5. In Lover era, Taylor gets more whimsical with the music videos: Me! (Wizard of Oz and/or the Queen of Hearts/Wonderland castle?) + YNTCD (as stated above) + Lover mv. The album shows that it was still paradise.. but the cracks are showing.
6. The Lover mv: we start by being introduced to the Lover doll house in the Snow Globe (Kaylor technically met* in Red era + YAIL + Snow angels/Globe), by LOOKING through a peephole (the door didn't actually open for us) -> Alice saw Wonderland by looking through the doorknob.. keyhole? (forgive me idk what it's called in english 😂).
We then see them slow dancing in what looks to be a hall with infinite doors -> referencing I Know Places -> referencing The Long Hall in Alice in Wonderland. We get to see their relationship behind closed doors -> their well-kept Wonderland? "This is OUR place. We (king and queen) MAKE the rules"
Notable thing i just saw: All of the rooms in the Lover mv/house is closed all the time, except for one room. The orange + Upside Down room. It's the only room where the door is always left slightly open. (remember for later).
6. Folklore and Evermore era. This is when the paradise revealed its true self, the nightmare, the pain, the heartbreak.. the TRAP. I'm not sure whether folkmore was actually pre-planned, but it felt like a 'frozen in time' type of era. Evidence supporting this is the music video for Cardigan and Willow, wherein the clock in the cabin, beside Taylor's piano, is only ever pointing to 1:15AM (or 1 & 3).
- most notable songs for me are: mirrorball, this is me trying, peace, hoax, the lakes, ivy, long story short (i fell from the pedestal, right down the rabbithole, long story short, it was a BAD TIME), evermore
- special mention: right where you left me. She's still 23 inside her FANTASY (Wonderland) -> She met* Karlie when she was 23, thus introduced 'Wonderland' to her at this age. She's still FROZEN in Wonderland -> I never grow up, it's getting so old! -> Time essentially doesn't work correctly in Wonderland.
- special mention: seven. Alice was notably seven years old when she fell into the rabbithole.
- special mention: coney island. Do you miss the rogue who coaxed you into paradise and left you there? / Accdg to Taylor, Coney Island was "a place where thrills were once sought. A place where once it was all electricity and magic.. and now the lights are out.. and you're looking at it thinking 'what did i do?' " / Were you waiting at our old spot, by the tree line, by the Gold clock -> the white rabbit's clock and the hole leading to Wonderland?***
Ok.. so now that we've established we might be in Wonderland this whole time... what now? Do they escape? Do they stay there forever? 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
Additional tidbit info about Alice in Wonderland's connection if you're into the Kaylore of Spade™️:
It is explained in the book that Spades are garderners. -> so are Spade's™️ riddles supposed to be like seeds being planted, that will only makes sense after some time?
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The Clock -> is it the KEY?
As i was thinking about Anon's suggestion of the 13 cat watch maybe being connected to Alice in Wonderland.. and theorizing that Taylor might've been the White Rabbit with the clock from there + Taylor mentioning the rabbithole on Jimmy Fallon (again, being the white rabbit?)...
Could the WHITE number 12 mean the WHITE RABBIT? Meet me (the white rabbit) at midnight.. and FALL DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE??
As i was reading about Alice in Wonderland, here are a few things about the White Rabbit and his clock-watch:
1. According to this (not sure if it's in the books): "As the Queen's manservant, he (the white rabbit) can always be found at 12 o'clock (!) at the entrance of the Queen's garden, standing watch and greeting the visitors of the Queen.
2. The White Rabbit's clock-watch was originally owned by the Mad-hatter and that the clock-watch doesn't tell time.. but rather "it tells the day of the month, and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!"
So if the clock doesn't tell time.. here are 2 ways to interpret the clock - in accordance to the theory that the white number 12 symbolizes the White Rabbit:
1. It tells the DAY/Season
The colors of the clock (green, yellow, red-ish, blue) can be the 4 seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) + The White Rabbit (or the Easter Bunny) is closely related to Spring. + let's not forget Ivy's 'spring' line:
Crescent Moon (Oct. 21?) coast is clear / Spring breaks loose / but so does fear / He's gonna burn this house to the ground
Side note: i just realized that 12 (o'clock) is inverted/mirrored 21. As in Oct. 21. 12 ->21. I'm so delirious rn.. help. 😭
2. It tells a DIRECTION.
So if the number 12 is the White Rabbit, with a catch-phrase - Fall down the Rabbit hole, should we then INVERT the clock? With the 12 pointing downward.
Remember in the 13th hour theory post, a reddit user - whatisitmaria, proposed that the Midnights clock reflected the Lover House colors IF you follow the UPSIDE DOWN + MIRRORED TAYLOR From the Orange room** (remember, this is the only room in the house where the door is always slightly open... upside down is the way out?) + Inverted (Alice in Wonderland, Falling down the rabbithole) + Mirrored (Alice Through the Looking Glass)
Watching a short clip of Alice in Wonderland.. when Alice was Falling down the Rabbithole, it wasn't until she was UPSIDE DOWN that she finally saw the White Rabbit again. (Note: in the books, she fell asleep while falling, and woke up when she landed on dry leaves and twigs)
Re-calling Taylor being stuck in the glass closet in her Willow mv... remember how she got out? An invisible string led her DOWNWARD (into a rabbithole?). And then she follows it with the lyrics: 'wait for the signal, and i'll meet you after dark'
In invisible string (song): Time, curious time / Gave me no compasses / Gave me no signs / Were there clues I didn't see?
In conclusion: (i know waaay too much about alice in wonderland now than i ever intended to.. 😂 jk)
In order for us to get to the 13th hour, should we first, follow the White Rabbit and Fall down the Rabbithole? Will it lead us to the "real" Taylor?
And when we get to the 13th hour.. what happens? Will we get stuck there too? Will we get a new clock? Will there be Burning (the house down / Wonderland?) and Running away? (theories, scroll down down down)
In YNTCD's mv, with the 13 hour watch. The fire started because of her phone. And then it burned the whole trailer, with Taylor leaving and only saving her drink with the Daisy.
Another cool tidbit i noticed about the watch is i think it's intended that it was Benji (the cat)'s face on it because of his namesake.. Benjamin Button. The Curious case of Benjamin Button is another story about whimsical time. And how even tho he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
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Lastly (if you're still here 😂).. the Maze or Labyrinth?
In one of Taylor's promo Midnights photos, there's a vinyl sleeve cover of what appears to be a Maze or a Labyrinth. And after reading about Alice in Wonderland.. i think it's both a Maze and a Labyrinth, it will only depend on whether you have an aim and can see through her (Labyrinth) or not (Maze):
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Ok, i'm out. Again, this is ALL just a theory tho. I have no idea what will happen when Midnights drop, but i love following these easter eggs, and will continue following these eggs no matter what happens. 🕳🐇🌼 Please feel free to correct me or add on this!
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Edit*** : Added Gold clock -> White Rabbit's clock @ Coney Island tidbit***
Ok ok ok
1) Unintentional Gaylor/Kaylor—“they moved OUT” Into the Daylight 🥹
2) LOOOOOK at this video someone took of the Lover house and Taylor exiting it—THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—whoever made the Alice in Wonderland connection with 🎃 here’s more evidence
Her singing "So tell me to run / Or dare to sit and watch what we'll become / And drink my husband's wine"
to "You don't need to save me / But would you run away with me?" / Yes"
Taylor's last moment on stage. Behind her the mysterious door that came from above during "Karma". This reddit user points out that the moment is similar to The Truman show ending!
Truman is begged not to leave his life in the "fishbowl" behind - he's brought people joy and hope, and he has millions of fans counting on him. But he says his catchphrase one last time, stretches out his arms, and takes a final bow.
Taylor stands in front of the door and stretches out her arms to take a final bow before disappearing into the stage.
Truman makes the choice to leave behind the only life he's ever known -a life of comfort and safety, but ultimately a life of inauthenticity. He leaves for the unknown, for the unpredictable, for the chance at a real life. IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, before finding the door, Truman finds stairs leading up into the clouds. Sound familiar?
(Many have already pointed out that the ascent into the clouds also mirrors the cover for the lesbian magazine The Ladder - but perhaps there's a bit of both?)
credits to the reddit user // The Truman show Ending
I know we’ve talked about the locket in this city of lover art before, but have we talked about the dice that say 3/6?
I’m sure someone must have already pointed this out?? But I missed it until just now.
so to recap…
karlie had an Aupen Fearless Re-Edition bag and taylor had an Aupen Fearless Mini Nirvana bag!?