Taylor Swift's Friends Keep Repeating 1 Phrase, Sparking A Big Theory
The life of a showgirl is never over.
Taylor Swift knows a thing or two about friendship. The superstar’s close-knit “squad” of supermodels and artists basically defined group chat goals in the mid-2010s, and although her circle has changed a lot in recent years, she seems to be entering a new era of putting her closest confidantes on a pedestal. It started with box-seat hangs at Chiefs games, then an increase in lyrics supposedly about her besties, and most recently the friend-filled “Patient Zero” video. But the biggest culmination of Swiftie Squad 2.0 may still be on the horizon, at least according to a telling phrase Swift and her friends keep repeating.
The speculation Swift may be teasing new music that potentially involves her crew reached a fever pitch after her surprise appearance during Dakota Johnson’s Saturday Night Live hosting gig on Oct. 3. The show posted a clip of Swift and Johnson waxing poetic about their therapeutic friendship with a caption that stuck out to superfans: “That’s what friends are for.”
This marked the third time this phrase had been used in the Swiftie-verse in the week since the “Patient Zero” video released. Swift used it in her Instagram post announcing the music video, and co-star Cara Delvingne also used it when captioning her Instagram about the video.
So, clearly this specific phrase must mean something to Swift — but what?
1. Is Taylor Releasing A Dionne Warwick Cover?
Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when hearing “that’s what friends are for” is the 1985 Dionna Warwick standard of the same name. A viral TikTok investigation pointed out that Swift and Warwick have a lot of crossover, from Swift tweeting at Warwick how big of a fan she is back in 2020, to some strange coincidences between Warwick’s song and Swift’s discography (like how Elizabeth Taylor, the muse for Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl track, was in the studio when Warwick recorded “That’s What Friends Are For.”)
Though Swift isn’t really known to record cover songs, all of these connections could be pointing to a surprising new release.
2. Or Maybe It’s A Toy Story Tease
The friendly phrase also calls to mind Randy Newman’s iconic Toy Story theme, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” which Swift sang with Newman at the Toy Story 5 premiere in June. Superfans believe Swift snuck a “Pink Clouding” Easter egg in that performance, so it’s gotten a lot of renewed attention. Maybe Swift got her buddies to help to hint at an official release of her Randy Newman duet.
3. Calling All The Showgirls For Another Encore
The most exciting prospect of all is Swift nodding to what may be her most collaborative project ever. Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For” is famous for bringing several big-named singers together to record a charity single that raised millions for AIDS research. In light of this backstory, Swift and her pals could be teasing a full squad song or Showgirl addendum after The Encore.
Notably, Delevingne released her debut album right before starring in “Patient Zero,” signalling a new foray into music. Johnson also just made her musical debut earlier this year on Role Model’s album. It certainly feels like the stage is set for Swift to bring her besties into her artistic world in the most major way since “Bad Blood” over a decade ago.
