Taylor Swift took her fans by surprise yet again with the release of the music video of her song, Lavender Haze. Track one on Taylor’s recently released album Midnight, Lavender Haze is a soft and romantic number that describes what being in love is all about. ‘Lavender Haze’ was a commonly used phrase in the 1950s to describe being in an all-encompassing type of love that makes you forget everything but the person you’re in love with.

Taylor revealed in a tweet that the music video for Lavender Haze was one of the first ones that she wrote, which then helped her conceptualise the mood for Midnights.

Written and directed by Taylor, Lavender Haze is the third music video from the Midnights album. The first two are Anti-Hero and Bejewelled. Before the release of the album, Taylor had posted an Instagram video on the meaning behind Lavender Haze. The American singer-songwriter talked about how she had to deal with tabloid rumours surrounding her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn before the two came out as a couple. The song, according to Taylor, is a version of her story with Joe where she would ignore everything negative to protect her relationship.

The Lavender Haze music video starts with Taylor waking up at midnight to a record player playing the song. Her partner, played by trans activist and model Laith Ashley De La Cruz, is sleeping by her side as a cloud settles over Taylor. The lyrics go – I’ve been under scrutiny/ You handle it beautifully/ All this shit is new to me – referring to her relationship with Joe and how he handled the public attention with ease.

With the lavender hue being an integral part of the music video, Taylor is seen dancing and swimming around as the colour surrounds her in every frame. A cloudy mist settles on her as she realises she is in love with her partner. The end of the video has Taylor tuning out with her partner from the rest of the world.

It wouldn’t be a Taylor Swift music video without Easter eggs in it. The beginning of Lavender Haze shows a vinyl recording of Midnights with two constellations printed on it – Sagittarius and Pisces – which are the zodiac signs for her and Joe Alwyn. A koi fish bowl refers to Joe’s Pisces star sign as well as an upcoming re-recording of Speak Now. The weather forecast on the television shows the number 13 everywhere, which is Taylor’s lucky number. And the cloud over Taylor’s head at the beginning of the music video is a nod to Taylor’s song Midnight Rain, which could be the next music video from Midnights.