Music
Taylor Swift Debunked The Folklore Trilogy Theory & Revealed What "Woodvale" Actually Means
That Easter egg was a major design error.
Among the busiest celebs of 2020 is Taylor Swift, of course. She gave us not one but two albums during the coronavirus pandemic, along with a concert special and a self-directed documentary. However, contrary to what some Swifties theorized, don't expect another new album in the near future. On Dec. 14, Taylor Swift debunked the fan theory of a third surprise album during an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, explaining that "Woodvale" isn't the title of the final album in a rumored Folklore trilogy. In fact, it was a major technical mistake.
Speculation about the possibility of a third album started when eagle-eyed fans noticed that the word "Woodvale" was hidden on the "Hide and Seek" cover of Folklore. Given the surprise release of Evermore, which Swift described as a "sister record" to Folklore, and the singer's tendency to drop random hints and Easter eggs about future projects, it was only natural that fans assumed an album called "Woodvale" could be coming next.
"I tend to be sort of annoyingly secret agenty about dropping clues and hints and Easter eggs," Swift confessed to Kimmel. "It's very annoying, but it's fun for fans, and it's fun for me because they like to pick up on things. Sometimes I take it too far, and I make a mistake."
As she explained to the host, Swift said that while making Folklore, she didn't want to reveal the album title — not even to her closest team members. So when designing the cover art, Swift made up the "Woodvale" code name, which had the same amount of letters as Folklore, to put on the copies. "I wanted to see how it would look on the album covers, mocked them up, and then decided I don’t actually want to have a title on the album covers," she explained. "And we forgot to take the fake code name off of one of them.”
Yes, what Swifties thought was a hint at her next album was actually just a design error. Luckily, she didn't make the same mistake before dropping Evermore, which went by "November" in the early stages. "We remembered to take it off all the mock-ups of the album covers before we released them this time, so we learned a lesson," she confirmed.
Swift didn't directly deny that a third surprise album, or the final part in the rumored Folklore trilogy, would be released in the future. However, when Kimmel suggested some potential album titles, she reacted with pure exhaustion. "Jimmy, I'm so tired. I'm just so exhausted," she responded. "I've tired myself out. I have nothing left." Well, considering the singer is currently re-recording her first five albums, she obviously has some energy left. But after giving us two surprise albums in 2020, Swift deserves a very long vacation.
