- This is the collab that I needed that I didn't know that I need.
- (FBE) So, the fan noticed that the song "The Story of Us"
is 4 minutes and 26 seconds long. - Oh, the date! Oh!
(claps) Oh my god!
♪ (industrial intro) ♪
- (gasps and claps)
- Oh! I know this one. (laughs) - I love Taylor Swift.
- Ooh, this is Taylor Swift. Oh! I saw this video. It's so cool.
- Literally, this is all I've been listening to this whole weekend.
- I don't hate Taylor Swift. I don't hate her music.
I just-- I'm so not her demographic. - I remember previously,
she was doing the whole snake thing, like the snake mascot thing.
- And then it's gonna explode in three, two, and--
(sighs) Perfect way to enter this new era.
- (sighs) Woo. Okay, okay.
- (Brendon and Taylor speaking French)
- Ohh! I know him!
- Oh, that's Brendon Urie. - I'm not even reading the words.
I'm familiar with this argument.
- Don't you tell a woman to calm down.
- ♪ I promise that you'll never find another like me ♪
- This is such a good theme song. - ♪ ...find another like me ♪
♪ I know that I'm a handful... ♪ - Okay, and we see the palm trees
in the background, a motif of this era.
- ♪ ...the ladies want ♪ ♪ And there's a lot of... ♪
- The Dixie Chicks?
- ♪ I know that I was psycho on the phone ♪
♪ I never leave well... ♪
- That's the phone from "Our Song," by the way.
- ♪ One of these things is like the other ♪
- Such a bop! Oh my goodness.
- ♪ Babydoll, when it comes to a lover ♪
♪ I promise that you'll never... ♪ - Look at all the suits!
- (sings along) ♪ Me ♪ (laughs) I know that this is--
Dude, all us girls are just bad to the bone.
- ♪ I'm the only one of me ♪ ♪ Baby, that's the fun of me ♪
♪ Hee-hee-hee ♪ ♪ Hoo-hoo-hoo ♪
- He's so cute, too. - And the fact that
Brendon Urie's in it, my middle school self
is freaking out right now.
- ♪ Baby, that's the fun of you ♪ ♪ And I promise that nobody's
gonna love you like me ♪ - ♪ I know I tend to make... ♪
This is like-- it's all Mary Poppins. - ♪ You never get just what you see ♪
♪ But I will never... ♪ - Ooh. This is the collab
that I needed that I didn't know that I need.
- This is such an unexpected collab, but it works so much.
- ♪ And there's a lot of lame guys out there ♪
- ♪ And then we had that fight out in the rain ♪
- It's very visual. One of her most visual ones, actually.
- I do not care for the song. It's too poppy.
- This song is so cute! I don't know why people
are hating on this song. It's just so euphoric.
- Okay, that's kind of cute. I like that.
- This is a little reference to "Welcome to New York."
And it's so cool that she puts in-- it's all coming back together.
- ♪ I'm the only one of me ♪
♪ Let me keep you company ♪ - Oh! Get it, girl!
She 'bout to get it! That's me!!
- ♪ You're the only one of you ♪ ♪ Baby, that's the fun of you ♪
- Classic voice Brendon Urie has.
- I LOVE him. I wanna marry his voice.
- (Brendon) Hey, kids! - (Taylor) Spelling is fun!
- (laughs) - ♪ Girl, there ain't no "I" in team ♪
- ♪ But you know there is a me! ♪ - ♪ Strike the band up,
one, two, three ♪ - (sings along) ♪ I promise that
you'll never find another like me ♪ - ♪ Girl, there ain't... ♪
- Wow. So much to see. I'll say that. It's very interesting.
- I get what they're doing. It's all stylized, and it's fun.
It's interesting to watch. - I love this collab,
'cause they're both weird, but rock it.
And then some fans are theorizing that the theme of this era
is about kaleidoscopes. - She's wearing country boots.
Can she go back to her country roots?
- ♪ Baby that's the fun of you ♪ - ♪ And I promise that nobody's
gonna love you like me ♪ - ♪ Girl there ain't no "I" in team ♪
- ♪ But you know there is a me! ♪ - Go ahead, girl!
- That's so crazy looking. It's like "Singing in the Rain,"
but it's like, ahh. (chuckles)
- ♪ ...up, one, two, three ♪ ♪ You can't spell awesome without me ♪
- She know she bad. She know she pretty,
which is respected.
- ♪ Baby, that's the fun of you ♪ - Her dress is melting. Wow.
- ♪ Nobody's gonna love you like me ♪ - (sighs) Oh my goodness.
So good, so good, so good. - I love it.
It's so happy and upbeat and positive. - I've just grown up with her,
and I really think she's made me who I am today.
I mean, I'm kind of quiet about it now,
because my friends tease me and stuff, but I will always be a Swiftie, 100%.
- (FBE) So, that was the newest single, "Me,"
from Taylor Swift, featuring Brendon Urie from Panic! at the Disco.
- I'm a fan. I love it. I feel like I never
would have expected these two to collab together.
But their voices are... they sound magical together.
- (FBE) There was a lot of hype leading up to this track
over the past few months. Taylor's been teasing her fans
with cryptic tweets, Instagram posts, and so much more
that we can't cover it all in this episode.
- Oh, yeah. When she changed the date on her Instagram
and the whole countdown and everything.
- (FBE) Throughout it all, her fans have been trying to decipher
what all these clues signify. So, here are just a couple
of interesting things that Taylor Swift fans uncovered.
- Really? I'm intrigued to see this.
- (FBE) So, on January 1st, Taylor's official fan club
posted this tweet. - "Another 2019 big mood."
Rainbow, rainbow, rainbow, rainbow. - That's a lot of rainbows.
She like Skittles? I don't know.
- (FBE) A fan counted all the rainbows and discovered
that there were 115 of them. - No.
- (FBE) Immediately questioning the significance
of that number. - Oh my god.
Is that-- were we 115 days into the year?
- (FBE) As it turns out, the number of days between
the first of January when this tweet was posted to April 26,
which is when this new song was released, is exactly 115 days.
- Wow. (chuckles) Taylor Swift fans really go all out.
- It's good for the-- (chuckles) It's good for the youngins
to figure it all out. (laughs) I'm just like, I'll just wait
for the date. It's fine. - I love reading all the theories.
I love reading how she hides all these messages.
She wants the fans to figure it out with her
and really see how much effort and time she's put into all of this.
- (FBE) Here's another clue that fans found.
- Yeah, I've seen this one. Yeah, 'cause I have the calendar.
- "Has anyone bought and received the 2019 Taylor calendar?
Because I've been looking through mine and some months
have stamps on the 13th day." That's her number.
- "These months are April, May, July, August, and December.
The rest of the months don't have stamps on the 13th day."
- I was thinking she just likes the number 13, right?
Like, surface level observation. But then now--
because she posted the countdown on April 13th, right?
So, now I'm thinking all the other ones are
gonna be new song releases, so that's kind of cool.
- (FBE) So fans continued to freak out about the April 13th stamp date
when one of Taylor's friends, Todrick Hall, posted pictures
of an envelope that was a birthday gift
from the singer to Todrick. So, here is a fan's discovery of this.
- Okay. "Okay, so guys, I really believe something is coming
on the stamped calendar date, April 13th."
- "Taylor's gone from giving us hints directly from her Insta
to sending hints to others. For example, she's not only
sent Todrick a butterfly on his card, but also on his story was the stamp."
Hmm. - Chelsey... like, good for her. It's critical thinking.
And it's fun to decipher. It's awesome.
- Todrick Hall also did a cameo, like, you know, those videos?
And then, in one of those videos, he was talking like, "Okay,
get ready for new Taylor music." So, it was kind of like that was
the beginning of like, "Oh, we should be expecting something soon."
- (FBE) So, the April 13th stamp ended up being the day
that Taylor released the countdown clock
for the premiere of her music video. - That's so extra. (laughs)
- Ohhhh. Oh! What a smart team.
- (FBE) So, the butterfly on the card also holds significance.
Taylor has been adding the butterflies to various captions
on her social media and on her clothing as you see here.
- Wait. Cross-brand promotion from corporations? What?!
- "Due to the butterfly migration in Southern California,
maybe I'll just stay outside until I head indoors for iHeartRadio awards"
and has butterflies on her shoes. - Dang. These fans really need
to become investigators or something.
- For an artist at this point in her career,
figuring out fun ways, different ways to do things,
I think it's smart on her part.
That's one of the reasons why I like her.
- (FBE) So, this led fans to theorize that the new album will signify
a metamorphosis from the dark tones of her previous "Reputation" album.
From what you know of Taylor, did you see the metamorphosis
reflected within the music video? - Oh, yeah. For sure,
'cause the whole snake thing, 'cause, you know, it's like, ugh,
but it's like, no, it's butterflies. It's gonna be happy and positive.
- The previous videos were her in darker settings, you know.
But this is so very bubblegum pop.
- Just look at "Look What You Made Me Do."
That was her killing her old self, and everything was so dark and intense.
You were scared of her, right? And now, "Me" is literally
about self-glorification, and she's just so vibrant and happy.
It's just kind of her revival almost.
- (FBE) Finally, one of the first hints Taylor gave
that she was working on new music was at the AMAs back in October 2018
with this next speech. - I don't think I've seen this one.
- (Taylor) I always look at albums as chapters in my life.
And I am so- to the fans, I'm so happy that you like this one.
I'm so happy that this means that you liked this one.
- (audience cheering) - Aww, like it. Yes, girl.
- (Taylor) I have to be really honest with you about something.
I'm even more excited about the next chapter.
Thank you. - (audience cheering)
- Oh, yeah. So, she just loves teasing us.
- (FBE) So, the phrase that Taylor says at the end there, "next chapter,"
immediately reminded fans of her 2010 track, "The Story of Us..."
- ♪ And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy ♪
- (FBE) ...which also includes this phrase, "next chapter."
So, here is one of the fan's reactions to this.
- Next chapter. ♪ (humming) ♪
Yeah. That's my favorite song. - "You've gotta be [bleep] kidding me.
Y'all, she said 'next chapter.' Now, you tell me how long the song"--
Ohhhhh! "The Story of Us" is 4 minutes and 26 seconds long.
That means April 26. - Some things are just a coincidence,
don't you think? That's really intense
if that's on purpose. - There's no way this is coincidental.
This is planned.
- (FBE) So, the fan noticed that the song, "The Story of Us"
is 4 minutes and 26 seconds long... - Oh, the date!
Oh! Oh my god! Wait!! Oh my god! Wait! The dates!
- (FBE) ...which ends up being the release date of the music video
you just watched on Friday, 4/26.
- I mean-- oh my god. Maybe she's been watching a lot
of conspiracy theory videos or something, and she's trying
to make everything mean something. - Her fans are sleuths.
How far does this rabbit hole go?
- I think it's really fun for the fans. I think it's fantastic.
- You have to really put a lot of time and effort into this,
because you have to really think, "Oh, wait. That's a lyric
of her song. Oh, wait. Let me look. Is there any hints in there?"
It's like, "Oh, 4:26 is the length of the song.
This has some significance."
- (FBE) So, as you saw, there was a lot of hype
and anticipation from both the fans and Taylor around the release
of this new music video. After watching it, do you think
that it lived up to the hype? - No. This just wasn't it for me.
I still liked when Taylor was going pop country.
And when she went full pop, that's where I started to care less.
- It's just so aesthetically pleasing.
It has so many hints. It's so her still.
And it really fits the theme of the song.
- It does live up to the hype, because she just put so much work
into it. Like, the date. Come on. She obviously spent so much time
into the song. Even though people are like,
"But it's so basic and cringy and, like, nyah."
I'm like, "Shut up," 'cause she worked hard.
- (FBE) So, this isn't the first time Taylor has teased fans
with cryptic social media posts or dropping clues on release dates.
What do you think about the amount of effort and planning
that goes into this? - Oh, yeah. That's really fun,
'cause it gives fans a little something extra,
and they feel that extra connection. - I think it's really interesting
when artists kind of make an effort
to kind of really give something
to their community and their audience. - It's a lot of hard work
that they have to do, but it's worth it,
because Taylor Swift is such a household name,
and her albums do so well that you sit down in your little writer's room,
in your think tank, and you come up with ways to do this,
it'll always pay off. - I love artists who put the effort
into making the paper, because, you know, we are consumers.
We buy this, okay? So, if you're gonna make the effort
to have clues here and this here and calendars here and so forth
and make it fun for us, for that dollar to go further,
I appreciate that. - Just like planning a scavenger hunt
or drawing a treasure map. You got to think that out.
And no artist has to give hints to their fans, but it's such a treat
for their fans, because it's like, "Oh, now I know something
that the general public doesn't know."
- (FBE) So, back to the video itself and even more messaging,
to hype up the video after its release,
Taylor announced that both the name of the next single and the name
of the full album are hidden somewhere inside of the "Me" music video.
- I'm so stressed, because I keep watching it,
and I'm like, "Is this it?"
Like, what could it be? Am I missing things?
- (FBE) So, this led to even more of a spike and watching
and rewatching the video, and... - Ahhh, okay, okay. Smart.
- (FBE) ...it ended up getting 65.2 million views
in just 24 hours, making it the most viewed video
in that time span for a female artist only behind the recent new release
by the K-pop group BTS. - I'm just saying, her hype team?
Money well spent. They're not stupid.
- (FBE) What is it about Taylor Swift throughout her career that she remains
one of the most famous and hyped up artists of this era?
- She is a good businesswoman. She understands her art.
And yes, people are gonna be like, "My gosh! Did you see that? Rewind."
(chuckles) "Rewind!"
- You have people that love her, and you have people
that don't like her. But despite all that,
people still want to know everything about her.
So, no matter if you like her or not, you watch the video.
Like, "Look What You Made Me Do," people wanted to know
what was going on, like what was going on with Taylor.
- She's just the model for that, for keeping a fandom
and evolving with the fandom. She has literally grown
with her fan base. The topics she discusses are,
you know, just vital experiences that a lot of girls--
just people in general can relate to.
- (FBE) So, finally, we don't have a release date yet
for an album, but after seeing all the fan theories
and the speculation, do you think that you're gonna go out there
and try and decipher when it releases? Or if not, do you have more
of an appreciation for the experience she provides to her fans
by doing all of this? - Mm, probably not.
I'll see it when it comes out. - I'm excited to see what she does,
but I will not be trying to figure it out.
- I just like the experience. It's just bringing a group together,
and they can share the same love for this person and this music.
- I try, you know. (chuckles) My brain just does not work like that.
So, I try to look at other hints people have been giving.
So, I've seen, like, oh, the clock says 8:30.
So, people are like, "Oh, maybe her album's
gonna come outside on August 30th."
- I think I'm gonna go look for stuff, you know, search for a release date
and any clues. But if I don't find it
or someone finds it before me, it's not the end of the world.
Any T-Swift music is T-swift music,
and I'm fine with it at the end of the day.
- Thanks for watching this episode of Generations React.
- Shout out to Caitlin Naomi and Eilish Fan.
- Peace out, Swifties. - Hey, everyone.
Lauren, producer here at FBE. Thank you so much for watching
this episode. Make sure you subscribe
and also hit the little bell, so you get notified every time
we upload a new video. We'll also be in the comments
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So come and say hi. Bye, everyone!