Kelly Keegs, Nate rank Taylor Swift's 4 new encore songs

The news broke Wednesday morning with no warning. Swift said the Encore was a thank-you to fans after The Life of a Showgirl posted the biggest first week for an album in history. She celebrated in Sweden with Max Martin and Shellback, and the 3 of them wrote more songs while they were there. The 4 new tracks are Patient Zero, Cleveland!, Pink Clouding and Babylon. Kelly Keegs saw it and lost it on the spot.

Kelly Keegs

@kellykeegs

THIS WOMAN IS OUT OF HER MIND FOUR NEW SONGS FRIDAY

Taylor Swift

@taylorswift13

About a year ago, you guys did a truly unfathomable thing. Something that completely blew my mind… You gave The Life of a Showgirl the biggest first week for an album in history. I took a trip to Sweden to celebrate with Max and Shellback, my two collaborators on this album. Really we just wanted to reflect and take in how grateful we were for the moment we were in, but there was a studio there and we did what we do when we feel anything at all: We wrote more songs. I hope you love them, because they were born out of pure gratitude for your exuberance for and celebration of the album we made. The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore including four new songs is out on Friday and available to pre-order and save now at t.co/bWaNOQ6OmT ❤️‍🔥 📸: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

Chicks in the Office sounded the siren minutes later with every capital letter available. Mid-album-cycle drops aren't new for Swift, but a full encore 2 days out is quick even by her standards.

Chicks in the Office

@ChicksInTheOff

🚨 TAYLOR SWIFT'S 'THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL: THE ENCORE' IS COMING FRIDAY WITH 4 NEW SONGS!!!

That left fans roughly 48 hours to guess what 4 songs named after a disease, a city in Ohio, a sobriety term and an ancient city could sound like.

Then came the second surprise. On Thursday Swift announced a Patient Zero music video starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, premiering at the VMAs on Sunday. Swift directed it herself, and she's getting the show's first Artist-Director Award the same night.

Chicks in the Office

@ChicksInTheOff

Taylor Swift is full of surprises this week!! The 'Patient Zero' music video starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell is premiering at the #VMAs this Sunday 🤩

Keegs had been on Fox & Friends a day earlier to talk Swift with Ainsley Earhardt. By Thursday she was joking that the whole segment was already out of date. That's the job when you cover Swift: the news moves faster than the TV cycle. She also took a moment to appreciate her business woman pants.

Kelly Keegs

@kellykeegs

Had this convo with @ainsleyearhardt a little more than 24 hours ago and it’s almost completely null and void at this point. The Swifty world moves fast!!!!! @foxandfriends (But a moment for the business woman pants)

One day of news had turned into an album drop and a VMA world premiere. Nobody had heard a note yet.

Once the songs dropped, the takes came in fast. Keegs needed about 20 minutes to post a full ranking: Babylon first, Cleveland! a close second, Pink Clouding third and Patient Zero, the song with the celebrity music video, last. She also said she couldn't get over how much of a banger Cleveland! is.

Kelly Keegs

@kellykeegs

First listen rank: 1. Babylon 2. Cleveland! 3. Pink Clouding 4. Patient Zero Can’t wrap my head around how much of a banger Cleveland! is #TSTLOASTheEncore

Kelly Keegs

@kellykeegs

LISTENING NOW

Barstool Nate went the other way. Cleveland! was his 1, Patient Zero moved up to 2, Babylon fell to 3 and Pink Clouding came last. That makes Pink Clouding the only song both of them placed in the same spot.

Eric Nathan

@BarstoolNate

1) Cleveland! 2) Patient Zero 3) Babylon 4) Pink Clouding #TSTLOASTheEncore

Jeff D. Lowe was there first to claim Cleveland! for the city. He predicted it'll be blaring at Browns, Cavs and Guardians games for the foreseeable future. Then he went after Nate's list with a joke Browns fans know too well: the only time he sees Cleveland next to a 1 is on draft night.

Jeff D. Lowe

@JeffDLowe

@BarstoolNate Used to seeing 1) and Cleveland next to each other outside of the Draft, so this was normal for me.

Patient Zero wasn't left without fans. A few hours later, Dante weighed in with a Larry David pretty, pretty, pretty good gif.

Dante 🇺🇸

@DanteTheDon

This new Taylor Swift - patient zero is pretty good

So the office is split 1-1 at the top, and Cleveland! is the only song in both top 2s. Patient Zero gets its chance to change minds Sunday, when the Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell video premieres at the VMAs at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS. If Jeff is right, Cleveland! will be on the PA at Huntington Bank Field and Progressive Field long after that.