Taylor Swift believes in the number 13.
As most Swifties know, Swift would pen the number 13 on her hand before a concert so she could take the stage as fearlessly as her second studio album of the same name.
Out of all the numbers in the world, why would Swift choose 13 as her lucky number? Well, Swift was born on Dec. 13, 1989, making her a Sagittarius.
Once she decided to pursue a music career, Swift started using the number 13 in cryptic ways.
For instance, her song “The Lucky One” is the 13th track on her 2021 album, “Red (Taylor’s Version),” and the tune also has a 13-second intro and the word “lucky” is said 13 times in the song.
While talking about numerology and how it relates to her music, Swift told singer Paul McCartney that she loves to include numbers in her work.
“Numbers kind of rule my world,” she said in a 2020 conversation with McCartney for Rolling Stone’s “Musicians on Musicians” series. “The numbers 13 … 89 is a big one.”
Swift elaborated on this more in a 2009 interview with MTV.
“The significance of the number 13 on my hand… I paint this on my hand before every show because 13 is my lucky number; for a lot of reasons,” she explained. “It’s really weird.”
“I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first #1 song had a 13-second intro,” she said. “Every time I’ve won an award I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter.”
While it may be superstitious for some, the number 13 has not failed Swift yet. That’s why when Swift released her two albums “Folklore” and “Evermore” in the same year she turned 31, she made sure that one album had 16 songs, while the other had 15 to equal 31 tracks in total, which is 13 backward.
“Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backwards, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now,” the singer wrote on X in December 2020.
During an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that same year, Swift again discussed her obsession with turning 31.
“Until I turn 113 or 131, this will be the highlight of my life,” she joked. “The numerology thing, when it doesn’t take over on its own, I sort of force it to happen.”
In her social media post, she also thanked Swifties for their support and wanted to reciprocate on her birthday with “Evermore.”
“You’ve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something!” she added.
Swift is also giving her fans a gift on her birthday in 2023: Her concert film, “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Extended Version),” is available to stream as of Dec. 13.
“Hi! Well, so, basically I have a birthday coming up and I was thinking a fun way to celebrate the year we’ve had together would be to make The Eras Tour Concert Film available for you to watch at home!” she wrote on Instagram Nov. 27.
She added that songs that did not make it into the movie in theaters, like “The Archer,” would be available in the extended version.
Cre: Joyann Jeffrey
