Taylor Swift is no stranger to dropping Easter eggs in her music and she’s also been known to be inspired by those around her.
After surprising the music world once again with a sudden new album, Evermore, fans were quick to suggest who her song Dorothea was actually written about.
Here, we take a closer look at the rumours ...
Is 'Dorothea' the name of Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik’s daughter?
Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik's daughter was born in September but, until now, they have yet to announce her name. As Swift revealed the name of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds's third daughter, Betty, on her album Folklore, some are wondering if she's done the same with Evermore.
One fan tweeted her theory suggesting that because August was the eighth track from Folklore, which was released in July, and Dorothea is the eighth track on Evermore, there might be something tying the two together.
This is also because of a throwback photo shared by Hadid on November 30 in which she wrote: “August, waiting for our girl.”
While it might seem like a coincidence, most Swift fans knows she doesn’t do much by accident in her work.
Adding some fuel to this theory, she explained during a YouTube Q&A on December 11 that the song had a connection to the Betty universe. "There's not a direct continuation of the Betty / James / August storyline, but in my mind Dorothea went to the same school as Betty, James and Inez," Taylor said during the chat. "You'll meet her soon."
The thinking goes that if the songs are similar in that way, maybe they're also similar in being baby-name reveals.
Is 'Dorothea' about Selena Gomez?
Another popular theory is that the song is written about Swift’s good friend Selena Gomez. One user started a Twitter thread about the connection to the pop star, which has been liked more than 48,000 times.
In it, user @Kbyerevival mentions that Gomez's favourite film is The Wizard of Oz, which features the main character Dorothy. There are also lyrics that potentially allude to their friendship including "a tiny screen's the only place I see you now" and "you got shiny friends since you left town", citing that they live in different cities.
Gomez also once played a character called Dot in the film The Fundamentals of Caring.
The song ‘dorothea’ by taylor swift is about Selena Gomez: a thread🧚🏽♀️ pic.twitter.com/nI8FXJ65LD
— léa (@folklorerevival) December 11, 2020
Other theories floating around suggest that the song could be about Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, former friend Karlie Kloss, an older famous actress named Dorothea Kent, and even about Swift herself, told from a perspective of an old friend.
However, Swift has confirmed that her albums blend fact and fiction, so it's possible that the song isn't about anyone in particular. It seems only time will tell.
