When Is Taylor Swift’s The Fate of Ophelia Music Video Releasing on YouTube?

A good mystery appeals to Taylor Swift.

Swift tends to hide her future movements in cloak-and-dagger secrecy, from the innumerable Easter eggs she leaves for her fans to the release of albums like The Life of a Showgirl without any singles beforehand. Her forthcoming music video for the Shakespeare-inspired lead track “The Fate of Ophelia” from The Life of a Showgirl is also shrouded in secrecy.

Swift posted music videos for her lead singles from her last two non-recorded albums on YouTube on the same day as the release of their albums. The songs are “Anti-Hero” by Midnights and “Fortnight” by The Tortured Poets Department. However, Swift’s next music video, “The Fate of Ophelia,” will only be available to viewers in theaters as part of The Official Release Party of a Showgirl. The 89-minute film, which runs from October 3 to October 5, also includes new lyric videos, song breakdowns from The Life of a Showgirl, and behind-the-scenes movies of “The Fate of Ophelia” video.

However, when will “The Fate of Ophelia” be available to those who are unable to attend The Official Release Party of a Showgirl?

What date is the YouTube debut of “The Fate of Ophelia”?

At 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 5, Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” music video will make its YouTube debut. Swift’s fiancé Travis Kelce’s 36th birthday falls on the same day as the release.

Swift sings in the song about how Kelce spared her heart from the destiny of Ophelia, the tragic heroine of Hamlet, who drowns after becoming insane after Hamlet reject her. In the pre-chorus, Swift appropriately sings, “If you’d never come for me / I might’ve drowned in the melancholy.”

The connection between Swift and Ophelia is not limited to “The Fate of Ophelia,” however. Swift is half immersed in water on the album cover of The Life of a Showgirl, referencing the 19th-century picture “Ophelia,” by John Everett Millais, which shows Ophelia lying in a river.

Bringing the Ophelia metaphor full circle, Swift stated in an interview with BBC Radio 1 that Millais’ painting served as inspiration for the “The Fate of Ophelia” music video.