In the 17 years since Taylor Swift released her self-titled debut album, sheâs gone from opening concerts for Rascal Flatts to selling out an international stadium tour. TL;DR: for newer Swifties, thereâs a lot to catch up on â and thereâs no time like the present, when Swift is taking over the NFL and preparing for 1989 (Taylorâs Version). Not to mention, the Eras Tour movie is coming out Oct. 13. As one person on Twitter put it, âI gotta catch up on Taylor Swift lore before going to the Eras concert movie.â
Whether youâve been a Swiftie since âTeardrops on My Guitarâ first played on Radio Disney or youâve just joined the club after hearing Midnights, thereâs plenty of Tay-lore to learn. Read on for a full lesson in all things Taylor with this starterâs guide to the Swiftieverse.
A Quick Swiftstory Lesson
Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. When she was 13, her family â her mother Andrea, father Scott, and brother Austin â moved to Nashville, Tennessee so she could pursue country music. She got noticed while performing at Nashvilleâs Bluebird Cafe and signed onto Big Machine Records in 2005. She released six albums there, before switching over to Republic Records, a division of Universal Music Group (UMG), in 2018. Since moving to UMG, Swift has released four new albums and started re-recording her previous albums.
The Number 13
Swift loves the number 13, often calling it her âlucky number.â (During her early tours, sheâd paint a 13 on her hand before each show.) In a 2009 interview with MTV, Swift explained the numberâs significance. âI was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first #1 song had a 13-second intro,â she said. âEvery time I've won an award I've been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter.â
Names In The Swiftiverse To Know
Swiftâs current squad includes big names like Selena Gomez, Sophie Turner, Blake Lively, Gigi Hadid, Sabrina Carpenter, and the Haim sisters. But there are more names to keep on your radar.
Travis Kelce: the Kansas City Chiefs tight end and reportedly Swiftâs current love interest.
Jack Antonoff: the lead singer of Bleachers and Swiftâs go-to producer ever since they collaborated on 1989 in 2014.
Abigail Anderson: Swiftâs long-time best friend who got a shoutout in âFifteen.â
Tree Paine: Swiftâs publicist, who fans adore for how sheâs handled Swiftâs public feuds (more on that later).
Karlie Kloss: Swiftâs ultimate bestie from 2012 to 2018. Kloss was an OG member of Swiftâs squad, but they had a rumored feud around 2019. Her nameâs popped back up in the Swiftieverse recently, though, because Kloss showed up at the Eras Tour in August 2023.
Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button: Swiftâs cats, all named after famous TV and film characters.
Swiftie Terminology
Easter Egg: Swifties are constantly looking out for âEaster eggs,â aka any subtle hint Swift drops for them, often teasing upcoming projects. âI love to communicate through Easter eggs,â Swift told Entertainment Weekly in 2019. âI think the best messages are cryptic ones.â
(Taylorâs Version): A parenthetical added to every re-released song, showing Swift owns it.
(From The Vault): A parenthetical used for songs that didnât initially make it onto an album, but were added back on when it was re-recorded.
Taylurking: Term to describe âTaylor lurkingâ on the internet, keeping tabs on her fans on social media.
Friendship Bracelets: Swifties started trading friendship bracelets during the Eras Tour, a reference to Swiftâs lyric from âYouâre On Your Own Kid.â
Secret Sessions: Swift held Secret Sessions, or surprise parties for fans at her home, ahead of releasing her albums 1989, reputation, and Lover. On tour, Swift held meet-and-greets, too, including T-Party, Club Red, Loft â89, and Rep Room.
The Scarf: In âAll Too Well,â Swift sings, âI left my scarf there at your sister's house / And you've still got it in your drawer even now.â Fans think the lost scarf is a metaphor for lost innocence, which Swift alluded to at TIFF 2022.
Swiftâs Feuds
Throughout her career, Swift has gotten into two major public disputes. Hereâs the rundown of each.
Kanye West & Kim Kardashian
The Swift versus Kanye West feud started when he interrupted her 2009 VMA acceptance speech to say that BeyoncĂ© should have won. In 2010, Swift released the song âInnocentâ about West and this incident.
By the 2015 VMAS, all drama seemed to be in the past â Swift even presented West with the Video Vanguard Award. But then the rapper released âFamousâ in 2016, where he called Swift a âb*tchâ and credited himself with her fame. (In the songâs music video, West put a wax figure of a naked Swift in bed with him.)
When Swift got mad about the song, Westâs then-wife Kim Kardashian released a video of a phone call, seemingly showing that Swift had OK-ed the lyrics. (Kardashian also shaded Swift with a snake emoji, which eventually led to Swiftâs rep era motif.)
After Kardashian posted the phone call, Swift maintained that she was never OK with being called âthat b*tchâ in the song. She famously wrote on IG, âI would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.â In 2020, the full phone call was released, proving that Swift didnât know about the âb*tchâ lyric.
Scooter Braun
In July 2019, Scooter Braun and his company Ithaca Holdings purchased Big Machine Records from Scott Borchetta. The sale included the rights to Swiftâs masters. On Tumblr, Swift called the purchase her âworst case scenario,â pointing out how Braunâs friendship with Justin Bieber and West involved âbullying [her] on social media.â
In the Tumblr post, Swift also claimed she was denied the opportunity to purchase her masters, only offered a deal to âsign back up to Big Machine Records and âearnâ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in.â
The sale prompted Swift to start re-recording all of her Braun-owned albums. Following the controversy, Braun claimed there must have been some misunderstanding due to a lack of âopen communication.â He told Variety in 2021, âI asked for her to sit down with me several times, but she refused. I offered to sell her the catalog back and went under NDA, but her team refused. It all seems very unfortunate.â
Taylor Swiftâs Muses
Swift writes most of her music, and many of her songs are autobiographical. (Back in the day, she even put codes in her album booklets, so that fans would know who/what she wrote each song about.)
Here are some of her most well-known muses (either confirmed or assumed), by album.
- Taylor Swift: In her debut, Swift wasnât singing about megastars, but instead her high school crushes, including Drew Hardwick (âTeardrops On My Guitarâ), Cory Robertson (âStay Beautifulâ), and Stephen Barker Liles (âHey Stephenâ)
- Fearless: Joe Jonas (âForever & Always,â âLast Kiss,â and âMr. Perfectly Fineâ)
- Speak Now: Taylor Lautner (âBack To Decemberâ), John Mayer (âDear Johnâ), Kanye West (âInnocentâ), Emma Stone (âWhen Emma Falls In Loveâ)
- Red: Jake Gyllenhaal (âAll Too Wellâ)
- 1989: Harry Styles (âStyleâ and âOut Of The Woodsâ)
- Reputation: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian (âThis Is Why We Canât Have Nice Thingsâ), Tom Hiddleston (âGetaway Carâ), Joe Alwyn (âCall It What You Wantâ)
- Lover: Joe Alwyn (âLoverâ and âLondon Boyâ)
- Folklore: Scooter Braun (âMad Womanâ), Joe Alwyn (âInvisible Stringâ)
- Evermore: Rebecca Harkness (âThe Last Great American Dynastyâ), Selena Gomez (âDorotheaâ), Joe Alwyn (âWillowâ)
- Midnights: Joe Alwyn (âSweet Nothingâ)
Essential Items For Swifties
There are a few must-haves that most Taylor Swift fans agree on. These Swiftie-approved essentials range from an Etsy version of the highly-coveted Folklore cardigan to Swiftâs signature red lip (a long-lasting formula that holds up through all 44 songs of the Eras Tour set list).