Swifties, put your clown noses back on; it’s time to talk about Reputation (Taylor’s Version). Honestly, when Taylor Swift bought her music back, I had put my hopes and dreams for Rep TV to bed and have been trying to move forward. However, after Swifties realized that two lyrics had changed on the original recording of the pop star’s fifth album, the theories are back in full force.
What Happened To 'I Did Something Bad' And 'Delicate'?
Alright, here’s what happened: On the eve of the premiere for Swift’s docuseries The End of an Era on the 2025 TV schedule, fans noticed that Reputation changed a bit on Apple Music.
On the song “I Did Something Bad,” instead of hearing Swift sing “I don’t regret it one bit, ‘cause he had it coming,” she sings, “and if he calls me a bitch then he had it coming.” As an Apple Music user, I checked this myself and noticed the lyric discrepancy. However, you can literally see it in this video from 1989vinyl, as she posted footage that shows how the lyrics you can hear do not match up with the ones you can read as the track plays.
Then, on the track “Delicate,” a lyric changed there as well. Instead of singing “Oh damn, never seen that color blue,” she sings “God damn, never seen that color blue.”
So, considering all that and the fact that this happened right around the time The End of an Era became available with a Disney+ subscription, of course, the Swifties are theorizing and clowning about Reputation (Taylor’s Version) again.
What Could These Lyric Changes Mean?
Listen, we’ve gotten got by Rep clowning so many times. There was the time when nothing came from the 100th Eras show. Earlier this year, the use of “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)" in a TV show got Swifties all worked up. There were even theories that the Reputation vault could be connected to The Life of a Showgirl. Nothing came out of any of that; however, the theorizing has persisted for years now, and that’s what is continuing to happen here.
Generally, these lyric changes have fans wondering if Rep TV will come, and they’re pondering if it’s connected to the release of The End of an Era. In a TikTok posted by goofyyapperboy, they noted that on December 11, Swift posted a video on Instagram about the docuseries dropping “tomorrow” with a cover image that featured her in the gold Reputation bodysuit (you can see it below). That, mixed with these lyric changes, made them theorize that she could have “hinted at the Reputation vault tracks” through all this.
Notably, kombuchabucha added even more elements to this theory. She explained that both the post and the lyric changes point to something Rep-related happening. She also noted that December 12 is a Friday, which is when new music is typically released. The conclusion she came to was that Swift might want to fully bring this era to a close and drop the re-records with this docuseries. I can’t lie, it’d certainly be a full circle and epic thing to do.
All around, I personally feel like there’s good reason to clown here. Changing lyrics in songs is a very big deal, and Swift has famously sung about how nothing is accidental. So, maybe something will actually come of this.
However, for now, it’s just clowning. And while we hope something Rep-related happens, make sure to catch new episodes of the End of an Era every Friday on Disney+.
