All the References and Easter Eggs in Taylor Swift’s ‘Evermore’ Album

Taylor Swift surprised fans big time on Thursday, December 10, when she revealed another album, Evermore, was coming just five months after Folklore…her other surprise album from this year. 

Well, the album is here, and it’s incredible. “I have no idea what will come next,” Swift wrote on social media. “I have no idea about a lot of things these days and so I’ve clung to the one thing that keeps me connected to you all. That thing always has and always will be music. And may it continue, evermore.”

She also gave some details about the stories behind the songs. “Before I knew it I had 17 tales, some of which are mirrored or intersecting with each other,” she wrote. “The one about two young con artists who fall in love while hanging out at fancy resorts trying to score rich romantic beneficiaries. The one where longtime college sweethearts had very different plans for the same night, one to end it and one who bought a ring.”

“Dorothea, the girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams—and what happens when she comes back home for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame,” Swift continued. “The ‘unhappily ever after’ trilogy of marriages gone bad that includes infidelity, ambivalent toleration, and even murder. The most righteous motive, to avenge the fallen. The realization that maybe the only path to healing is to wish happiness on the one who took it away from you. One starring my grandmother, Marjorie, who still visits me sometimes…if only in my dreams.”

In typical Taylor Swift fashion, Evermore is chock-full of references, stories, and Easter eggs, both about her life and the fictional characters she created in Folklore. Below, we break down all the major moments from each song. Take a look after you’ve finished crying (which, full disclosure, I still am). 

“Willow”

Swift was dropping hints about this track before she announced Evermore, and we didn’t even realize it—like with a photo of a willow in a recent Instagram post and a using the word in a tweet on December 4. 

And, as she mentioned, some of the songs on the album (and Folklore) intersect with each other. The video for “Willow” begins where “Cardigan” ends and that gold string ties them together. 

“Champagne Problems”

This appears to be the song about the college sweethearts that Swift referenced in her note about the album where one half of the couple is ready to break up, the other to get engaged. “Because I dropped your hand while dancing / Left you out there standing / Crestfallen on the landing / Champagne problems/ Your mom’s ring in your pocket / My picture in your wallet / Your heart was glass, I dropped it / Champagne problems,” she sings.