Weeks away from its release, Taylor Swift’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, has fans spiraling over her lyrical prose and the meaning behind each sure-to-be pop hit.
Swift, 35, announced her 12th studio record during a Wednesday, August 13, appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, revealing that she wrote the LP while on the European leg of her Eras Tour in 2024.
“I would do three shows in a row, [and then] I’d have three days off,” Swift told Travis, 35, and his brother, Jason Kelce. “I’d fly to Sweden, [then] go back to the tour. I was physically exhausted at this point in the tour, but I was so mentally stimulated and so excited to be creating.”
Swift collaborated with the Sweden-based producers Max Martin and Shellback, whom she previously worked with on Red and Reputation, on the new album.
“It meant the world to me to have this creative experience, where we knew that we had to bring the best ideas we’ve ever said,” the Grammy winner explained. “I also know the pressure I’m putting on this record by saying that, but I don’t care ’cause I love it that much, and I’m so proud of it. It just comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in my life. So, that effervescence has come through on this record.”
Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, and Travis Kelce. Getty Images; WireImage; FilmMagic
The tracklist reveal for The Life of a Showgirl — which Travis teased was full of back-to-back “bangers” — has since had devoted Swifties trying to decode Swift’s themes in advance. Keep scrolling for a full breakdown:
‘The Fate of Ophelia’
Swift noted on “New Heights” that Ophelia is based on the character from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ophelia, who is the love interest of the titular prince, has a tragic story line and was famously used as a pawn at the hands of the men in her life. She ultimately died by drowning in a “weeping brook” surrounded by flowers and branches.
Swift appeared to replicate Ophelia’s last moments during her Life of a Showgirl cover shoot, where she posed in a bathtub partially underwater.
“This represents the end of my night, like, when I’m on tour, I have the same day every single day,” Swift said. “My show days are the same every single day. I just happen to be in a different city, and my day ends with me in a bathtub — not usually in a bedazzled dress.”
For more on Ophelia’s significance in Hamlet, read Us Weekly’s explanation here.
‘Elizabeth Taylor’
While many fans pointed out that actress Elizabeth Taylor is a type of “showgirl” in her own right, Swift has previously named her in Reputation’s “Ready for It.”
“And he can be jailor / Burton to this Taylor,” she sings, making a pun out of her first name and Taylor’s last.
Aside from that, fans are making a connection between Taylor and Swift.
“Elizabeth Taylor: famous child star in the 1940s and even more of a superstar in the 1950s,” a social media user wrote via X. “Tay rose to fame at 16 and got even bigger 10 and 20 years later. [Elizabeth] was married seven times. Tay could touch on this with the media’s perception of her and her partners throughout her career.”
‘Opalite’
The general Swiftie consensus seems to be that “Opalite” is inspired by Travis, considering opal is his birthstone. (The Life of a Showgirl drops on October 3, two days before Travis turns 36.)
Opalite is a man-made, iridescent version of opal, hence the name, but is also associated with spiritual and emotional healing properties. Users believe that opalite can enhance communication, intuition, emotional stability, inner peace and tranquility. Given that Swift once hoped to give her lover “peace” in the Folklore track, it could tie back to how she’s now found happiness with Travis if the romantic theories do hold up.
Fans also noticed that Swift previously dropped an Elizabeth Taylor connection to the gemstone when Swift’s friend Keleigh Teller bought the singer an oval-shaped ring for her 34th birthday.
“This is unreal, Keleigh, opal and blue topaz,” Swift marveled in a social media video shared in 2023. “This is like a present for Elizabeth Taylor, not me.”
Keleigh, the wife of actor Miles Teller, then said that Swift is “my Elizabeth Taylor.”
‘Father Figure’
One X user pointed out that “Father Figure” could be “epitomizing masculinity” on the fourth track, while others speculated the song could sample George Michael’s song of the same name. (The 1987 song found new life in Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson’s Babygirl.)
“‘Father Figure’ being the name of a song on The Life of A Showgirl,” an X user wrote. “Taylor Swift and George Michael coming together to create c***iest album of the decade.”
‘Eldest Daughter’
“Father Figure” is followed up by “Eldest Daughter,” which fans quickly guessed would continue in Swift’s trend of emotionally devastating Track 5 selections.
“[She is] immediately following [‘Father Figure’] up with what it means to be a daughter/their femininity,” one social media user tweeted, with another adding, “’Eldest Daughter’ being a track 5 is terrifying.”
Firstborn daughters have often shared the plight of their familial positions and obligations compared to their siblings on social media, and they seem to be emotional about the song title alone. Swift, for the record, is an eldest daughter herself. (Her parents, Scott and Andrea Swift, also share a younger son named Austin.)
‘Ruin The Friendship’
Fans think that Swift will sing about the dissolution of a friendship, namely, with Blake Lively. Us broke the news in May that Swift and Lively, 37, had drifted apart after the singer was name-dropped in Lively’s ongoing legal battle with It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni. Lively and Swift’s alleged text messages were included in the lawsuit, with Baldoni believing Lively was using her A-list relationships (with people like Swift and husband Ryan Reynolds) to accept Lively’s version of the film. Swift was also briefly subpoenaed by Baldoni’s team before the request was dropped. He denied the misconduct claims and Swift denied any involvement.
“I am CER-TAIN that ‘Ruin The Friendship’ on Taylor Swift’s new album is about Blake Lively,” one fan claimed.
Neither Swift nor Lively has publicly discussed their relationship status after It Ends With Us, which used Swift’s “My Tears Ricochet” onscreen, was released in 2024.
‘Actually Romantic’
With romance in the name, fans are certain that “Actually Romantic” will highlight Swift’s whirlwind relationship with Travis. (She even said on “New Heights” that the NFL star is the type of man she’s been writing songs about since she was “a teenager.”)
“My God, one of Taylor Swift’s most romantic songs is coming,” an X user wrote.
‘Wi$h Li$t’
Swift pointed out on “New Heights” that the letter “S” in both words was replaced with dollar signs for a “dramatic flourish.”
Her fans also think that “Wi$h Li$t” was written about Travis since she used those very words about him earlier on the podcast, while detailing his 2023 podcast shout-out. (For the uninitiated, Travis attended her July 2023 concert in Kansas City and was upset he didn’t get a meet-and-greet afterward so he could ask her out. Weeks later, he publicly professed his interest on his podcast, which got her attention.)
“‘She’s like, ‘This is just her wish list,’” Swift quipped of what Travis likely thought while hearing her Eras setlist.
‘Wood’
Fans noticed a small Pinocchio figurine on a wooden shelf behind Swift when she filmed her “New Heights” episode, thinking that the ninth track could reference the animated character. Pinocchio, based on the 1940 Disney movie, is about a wooden puppet who wished to be a real boy.
‘CANCELLED!’
On “New Heights,” Swift mentioned that the song title was written out in capital letters with an exclamation point. She compared her boyfriend to the grammatical mark earlier in the episode.
“Travis is, just, a vibe booster in everyone’s life that he’s in. He’s, like, a human exclamation point,” she said. “He’s, like, when you take a picture on your phone and you push the ‘enhance color’ button? That’s what you do.”
Swift also noted that she uses “so many more exclamation points” in her own text messages since she started dating Travis.
In terms of meaning, fans are curious whether the track is about public perception.
“SHE’S SO SMART, from now on when you search ‘Taylor Swift Cancelled,’ it’s gonna show the song and not anything from 2016,” an X user wrote, referring to when Swift felt she’d be cancelled over her feud with Kanye West.
‘Honey’
While fans have yet to theorize a meaning for “Honey,” they were quick to point out that Halsey and Mariah Carey both have songs with the same name. Swift, for her part, also has an unreleased song from 2003 called “Honey Baby.” Not to mention Honey could just be a cute nickname for Travis — since he called her “Sweetie” on the “New Heights” episode.
‘The Life of a Showgirl’
The title track, which features Eras Tour opener Sabrina Carpenter, was penned about Swift’s experience during Eras.
“I wanted to sort of, like, glamorize the different aspects of how that tour felt … to be at the end of the night when all this has gone down,” she said on her “New Heights” episode. “You won’t be able to get to bed till 4 in the morning after this, but you had to jump through 50 million hoops in the obstacle course that is your show, and you did it. ‘You got two more in a row, but you did it tonight. That’s all that matters right now.’”