The Life of a Showgirl: What we know & how we got here
It’s official, Taylor Swift has announced her 12th original studio album The Life of a Showgirl, dropping on October 3rd, and I am ready for my showgirl era!
But how did we get here, and what can we gather from all the clues Taylor left in her wake?
The Life of a Showgirl cover art | Photo by Mert Alaş and Marcus Piggott
As us Swifties know, there is nothing Taylor loves more than leaving easter eggs for us to solve, especially regarding upcoming projects (lest we forget when her speech at the 2022 NYU graduation was almost entirely made up of lyrics for an album that wouldn't be out for another five months). Which is why some keen-eyed Swifties weren’t all that surprised at this week’s announcement.
Over the last year, the tiniest references to the number 12 have popped up throughout Taylor’s public appearances. In a Tiktok posted toward the end of The Eras Tour, Taylor walked into an empty stadium and stood right by section A12 — perhaps meaning August 12th? At the end of the final Eras Tour show, instead of lowering into the stage like she had for the previous 148 shows, she walked to the back of the stage and disappeared through an orange door that had appeared — does this symbolise her entering into a new era? And is that era orange themed??
Noticing these details does kind of make you sound crazy, it’s hard to deny when they all culminate in an actual announcement!
It started Monday night, when Taylor Nation — the PR account for the Taylor Swift™ brand — posted a set of 12 photos, all of Taylor wearing orange, with the caption ‘Thinking about when she said “See you next era…” ❤️🔥’. Oh my god?? There had never been a more clear sign that something was about to happen.
Cut to Tuesday morning, just when Swiftie Twitter has started to calm themselves, the Taylor Swift online store suddenly went down and was instead replaced by a glittery orange page displaying a three hour countdown. This specific orange glitter pattern just so happened to match a thumbnail uploaded by New Heights — the podcast of Taylor’s boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother — the night before, boasting a special guest interview.
And just like that, it clicked in the minds of millions: Taylor is going to announce her new album on Travis’ podcast!! But until then there was nothing to do but theorise, panic-scroll Twitter and wait for the next three hours to pass.
Finally, at 1:42pm (or, going by New York time, 12:12am on the 12th of August), the timer reached its end and we were treated to a sneak-peek clip on the New Heights Instagram: Taylor holding up a blurred-out record and announcing The Life of a Showgirl! The album cover and any information other than the name was being left until the full podcast episode came out.
But never mind that! There was a new easter egg to solve! Being broadcast all over Times Square was a Spotify barcode leading to a playlist on Taylor Swift’s official Spotify page titled ‘And, baby, that’s show business for you ❤️🔥’. The playlist features some of Taylor’s most well known pop songs.
Sure, this is probably an indication of the type of sound we have to look forward to, but there was another detail that piqued fans’ interest: all of the songs on the playlist were produced by Swedish pop GOD Max Martin, as well as his frequent collaborator, Shellback. This led people to the assumption that Taylor would be returning to them as producers for the first time since 2017.
(You may be tempted to say you don’t know who Max Martin is. You would be wrong. Max Martin has written or co-written 27 Billboard #1 singles from the 90s through to the 2020s, many of which are impossible to have not heard.)
Feeling very smart to have caught another easter egg, all we could do was wait for the New Heights episode to drop. And when it finally did, we got a full two hours of Taylor just having a casual chat with her boyfriend and his brother, covering everything from her new sourdough obsession to her emotional reaction to gaining the rights to her first six albums.
Then finally, what we’d all been so patiently waiting for, the album reveal! Depicting Taylor bathing in a bedazzled bikini, the cover is a turquoise dream, with some beautiful variants for the deluxe CDs.
‘It’s Frightening’, ‘It’s Rapturous’, and ‘It’s Beautiful’ Deluxe CD covers | Photos by Mert Alaş and Marcus Piggott
Not only was the cover revealed, but also the titles of all 12 songs on the tracklist and we got confirmation of the orange door theory and the producers.
So what do we have to look forward to? Here’s the tracklist and a few notes:
1. The Fate of Ophelia
Ophelia is a tragic character from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, going mad throughout the play and drowning in act 4 scene 7 — is it a coincidence that Taylor mentioned the number 47 multiple times in the New Heights podcast?
2. Elizabeth Taylor
A movie star from the 50s and 60s, Elizabeth Taylor was a victim of much media scrutiny surrounding her love life, specifically having an affair with co-star Richard Burton, an event already referenced by Taylor Swift in ‘...Ready For It?’.
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
Taylor’s track 5s are famously her most emotional tracks on each album, with songs like ‘Dear John’, ‘My Tears Ricochet’, ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’, and ‘So Long, London’ taking the spot in previous albums. As an eldest daughter myself, I’m looking forward to this one.
6. Ruin the Friendship
On the other hand, track 6s are usually used to break us out of the track 5 blues. Think ‘You Belong With Me’, ‘22’, ‘Shake It Off’, and ‘No Body No Crime (feat. HAIM)’.
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)
Teased in the Taylor Nation post on Monday with Sabrina appearing in the 12th photo performing on stage with Taylor, this title track will mark the first time the two friends have officially collaborated on a track. This is particularly cute in regards to Sabrina, with old Facebook posts recently resurfacing of her lamenting that she wasn’t old enough to enter a Taylor Swift karaoke contest — the minimum age for entry was 13.
