We know that Taylor Swift delighted in nesting a bunch of easter eggs in her new album, folklore – hell, we even got noted a Swifty Stan to point them all out for you – but Taylor’s come out and revealed it extends beyond the lyrics and definitely does include the videos. We’ve only been blessed with a clip for cardigan so far, but Taylor’s taken the time to reveal all of the easter eggs in that clip, in case we missed them.
In a video for Vevo’s Footnotes series, Taylor handed in her working on the video clip, which she wrote and directed herself.
So let’s have a dig through this trivia so we can store these cardigan easter eggs away in that Taylor Swift folder in our brains, which might seem like it’s just taking up valuable real estate in your head, but could just serve you well at a future pub trivia night or something. (My friends run music trivia in Sydney and that shit’s HARD, okay?)
1. That Framed Photo Is Taylor Swift’s Grandfather
We already know that the track epiphany was inspired by her grandfather, Dean, but now she’s put a face to the name with a framed photo of him in the video. Dean’s image sits beside a painting Taylor painted herself.
2. The Painting Was Done During The Coronavirus Quarantine
The sweet landscape of the small house by the ocean was painted by Taylor herself during the early stages of the pandemic shutdowns and quarantine, a small nod to 2020 and the conditions that she wrote and recorded the entire album under.
3. Taylor’s Favourite Number
The clock on the wall? Pointing to the numbers 1 and 3. It’s known that Taylor’s favourite number is 13, and it pops up in her work a lot. So this is no surprise, but a level of continuity and commitment to the bit we must appreciate.
4. The Forest Is A Metaphor
The whole album has both hidden and very obvious meaning to it, and the visuals pair with that as well. Taylor has spoken about the theme of the “summer love triangle” that folklore explores, and the lush green forest in the cardigan clip represents the beauty of a new relationship – that moment when you feel like love has breathed new life into the world around you.
5. The Ocean Is Also A Metaphor
On the flip side, Taylor has revealed that the ocean scene is a metaphor for the other end of the relationship, representing the “isolation and fear involved while a relationship is breaking down”.
6. Yes, That’s Taylor’s Own Nightie
Not only was the album written and recorded in the COVID-19 shutdowns, but the cardigan video clip also had to be done with everyone’s safety in mind. Because of that, Taylor actually did her own hair and makeup and wore her own nightgown in the video. Apparently her piano keys were also disinfected after every take, and a special crane was used to film closeup scenes so they could maintain adequate social distancing.
7. Her Wet Clothes? A Metaphor
Returning back to the cabin scene at the start of the clip absolutely saturated is meant to represent Taylor recognising that the relationship changed her, but “has discovered who she always was”.
8. The Writing On The Piano Was Edited In
Because the whole album, including cardigan, was such a big secret, the ‘folklore’ text on the piano was actually edited in after the video was shot. Turns out that wasn’t the only thing Taylor did to keep things under wraps, either, because she did the whole shoot with an earpiece in so nobody else could hear the song before it was properly released. Oof, that’s probably the best of the cardigan easter eggs, tbh.
