Taylor Swift Surprises Fans by Releasing Her New Track, "The Archer"

Taylor Swift just released a new song off her upcoming seventh studio album, Lover, and we need to calm down. The singer-songwriter, who just last week manifested her dreams of becoming a cat, announced on Instagram Live today (July 23) that her new song, “The Archer,” is out now. Taylor also went into detail about the deluxe versions of the album, all of which will be available at Target. This option comes with a journal featuring the Lover album cover, along with scans of 120 pages from the personal diaries Taylor's written throughout her life, with blank pages for fans’ personal writing. The original lyrics from “All Too Well” will also be part of this deluxe version.

“The Archer,” written solely by Taylor, includes memorable lyrics like “'Cause all of my enemies / Started out friends, I’ve been the archer / I’ve been the prey / And all the king’s horses, all the king’s men / Couldn’t put me together again.” The phrases “Who could stay?” and “You could stay” are repeated throughout the song, possibly as a nod to past Taylor songs like “Stay Stay Stay” from Red and “All You Had to Do Was Stay” from 1989 (the latter was also the fifth track on its corresponding album). In the “Delicate” music video, the last single from Reputation, Taylor was invisible to everyone else, which ties into the new lyrics, “'Cause they see right through me.” Also in this video, Track 5 is featured on a subway pole behind Taylor. Fans have noticed that the fifth track from her albums is often quite personal, and Taylor is continuing this trend with "The Archer."

“I didn’t realize I was doing this, but as I was making albums, I guess I was just kind of putting a very vulnerable, personal, honest, emotional song as track five,” she explained during the Instagram Live session. “So because you noticed this, I kind of started to put the songs that were really honest, emotional, vulnerable, and personal as track five, so that has definitely happened in the case of track five on this album, Lover.”

Lover comes out in one month, on August 23, and “The Archer” is the third song released off of the album, following “ME!” and “You Need to Calm Down.” Taylor first went on Instagram Live last month to announce the new record, the second single and music video, and her forthcoming fashion collaboration with Stella McCartney.

As a prelude to this new announcement, Taylor posted a clip yesterday from the "YNTCD” music video across her social media platforms, with the caption, “I’m going live tomorrow, July 23, at 5pm ET! I have some stuff I’m reeeeeally excited to tell you about, including some info on this Easter egg right here. 🏹🎯👀⬆️” The short video depicts an arrow hitting a bull's-eye with the number "5" at the center, indicating that something is being announced at 5 P.M., and her caption includes five e’s in the word “reeeeeally,” because what is a Taylor Swift creation without a plethora of hidden meanings and allusions?

The number five, of course, has a special place in Swiftie lore. In May, one of the many buttons Taylor wore on the denim jacket in her Entertainment Weekly cover reads “Track 5.” EW deciphered this button clue as a reference to the fact that the fifth track on Taylor’s previous albums tends to be more emotional than other tracks (see “Cold As You,” “White Horse,” “Dear John,” “All Too Well,” “All You Had to Do Was Stay,” and “Delicate”).

And in February — when Taylor first posted a series of photos to establish the bright and colorful aesthetic of her upcoming album — the number five became an inside joke in the Taylor fandom because of a photo that has "five holes in the fence," thus leading fans to believe it was part of a countdown to something happening in five days. Taylor poked fun at this incorrect theory last month when she posted a close-up of a fence from the star-studded “YNTCD” music video, with the caption, “There were five posts in the fence.”

Hayley Kiyoko, the person behind the bow and arrow hitting the bull's-eye in the “YNTCD” video, recently shared that Taylor called her and said, “‘I have this really perfect Easter egg for you to be a part of!’” That part of the music video led to theories that Hayley will be featured on the fifth track of Lover, or that the fifth track would have something to do with a bull's-eye or archery, so “The Archer” title for the song definitely makes sense. (There’s no word yet on whether Hayley will actually show up in "The Archer" video or on the album.)

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue