The fangs are out.
After three days of thoroughly studying every detail of Taylor Swift's recent cryptic social media videos, fans have finally learned what the star was hiding: a snake. After mysteriously purging all of her social media accounts last week, the songstress unveiled the third piece of a digital puzzle on Wednesday with a clip of a snake head biting at our screens. In the previous two videos, only a tail could be seen, raising questions about whether or not it was a reptile or perhaps a dragon. With that cleared up, Swifties are eagerly waiting to see where all of these signs will lead—the most obvious answer being to a new album.
However, while details about any unreleased music remain heavily guarded, the 27-year-old Grammy winner has deliberately chosen a snake to represent whatever is ahead. While the pop princess and the cold-blooded reptile don't appear to have many similarities on the surface, the star has a rather complicated history with snakes if you take a closer look.
Allow us:
1. Serpent by Birth
While Swift and snakes don't seem like sisters on first glance, the two are far more connected than some may realize—at least, astrologically. Having famously been born in 1989—also the name of her most recent album—the "Shake If Off" singer was born in the year of the snake, according to the Chinese Zodiac.
2. A Met Gala Motif
As the Met Gala's co-chair in 2016, Swift's appearance was even more highly anticipated. When she finally stepped out on the red carpet steps, the star was donning a Louis Vuitton creation with all-over silver snakeskin print. The look arguably could have marked a sartorial transition for the star since she also debuted her then-newly bleached blond bob. Overall, the edgy look was a departure from the ethereal Oscar de la Renta gown she sported a year earlier.
To add fuel to any music theories, that was also the night the star was first spotted dancing with soon-to-be beau Tom Hiddleston. Could her ex be connected to the snake symbolism?
3. Branded by Her Foes
Last summer, Swift's tumultuous relationship with Kanye West came to a head when Kim Kardashian shared footage on her Snapchat account of her husband and the singer discussing his track, "Famous." While the star's rep originally claimed Kanye had not called for approval to include her in the song, the footage showed him and Swift discussing the lyric, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex." After the social media videos went live, Swift responded to the growing frenzy with a statement, pointing out that none of the videos showed the rapper informing her about his "I made that b--ch famous" line.
"It doesn't exist because it never happened," she said in the statement. "You don't get to control someone's emotional response to being called ‘that bitch' in front of the entire world."
However, foes on the Internet had already begun branding the star by using a snake emoji to reference her and the trending hashtag, #TaylorIsaSnake.
Could she be facing her critics head-on using the very symbol they had used to attack her?
4. Shedding Her Skin
Snakes are known for shedding their skin, so symbolically Swift can potentially use the animal to indicate her own shedding, or period of rebirth, just as the purging of her social media accounts also suggested. After all, as a source told E! News last November, she and Drake had been in the studio working on something "different." What better way to mark a new phase in your career than with a reptile that routinely shakes off the old?