A new Taylor Swift album means it’s time for everyone’s favorite pastime of analyzing the lyrics to try and deduce who the songs are about. The Life of a Showgirl comes out a month after Taylor’s engagement to Travis Kelce. Taylor and Travis were already dating when her last album The Tortured Poet’s Department was released. However, most songs on that album were devoted to unpacking her previous relationships with Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy. But there were a few lyrics unmistakingly about Travis. Most notably, the song So High School. In fact, when Taylor and Travis announced their engagement on Instagram, they used that song to accompany the photos.
Is The Life of a Showgirl Taylor Swift’s album about Travis Kelce? What do the lyrics reveal about their relationship? And does Taylor reference any of her famous exes on the album?
Is Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl about Travis Kelce?
Many songs on The Life of a Showgirl are about being in a very happy and fulfilling relationship that makes you excited for the future. Most notably Wi$h Li$t, which is all about settling down. More than fame or fortune, Taylor claims, “I just want you.” She continues, “have a couple kids, got the whole block lookin’ like you.” Taylor gushes that she got what she wished for in Travis, “a best friend who I think is hot.”
In the opening track The Fate of Ophelia, Taylor sings, “Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes.” The Grammy winner definitely pledged allegiance to Travis’ team the Kansas City Chiefs. The whole song is about a great love saving Taylor from a doomed fate like Hamlet’s tragic heroine. “And if you’ve never come for me,” she sings, “I might’ve drowned in the melancholy.” Taylor also recalls Travis asking her out via his podcast, writing, “I heard you calling on the megaphone/You want to see me all alone.”
The very explicit and cheeky track Wood also winks at Travis’ podcast. Taylor praises her lover for his “New Heights of manhood.”
Travis is clearly the youngest child referenced in Eldest Daughter, where Taylor promises, “I’m never gonna break that vow/I’m never gonna leave you now.”
And then there’s Opalite, Travis’ favorite song from the album. It references both their failed relationships “dancing through the lightning strikes/Sleepless in the onyx night” before finding each other. In the joyful chorus, she gushes, “never met anyone like you before,” singing, “You had to make your own sunshine / But now the sky is opalite.” Fun fact – Travis was born in October, meaning opal is his birthstone.
Does Taylor Swift reference any exes on The Life of a Showgirl?
Taylor appears to make references to her exes before Travis, Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy. Both inspired her previous album, The Tortured Poet’s Department.
Now, Taylor mostly references her exes in comparison to Travis. In Elizabeth Taylor, she sings that that others “withered away” in the “bright lights” of her fame, but Travis “blooms.”
Taylor claimed to be uninterested in marriage on songs about Joe like Lavender Haze. But in Eldest Daughter, she admits, “that was a lie.”
In the song Honey, Taylor alludes to an ex who would call “askin’, ‘What are you wearin’?'” then was “Too high to remember in the morning.” On Tortured Poet’s Department, multiple songs referenced Matty’s alleged drug use.
Then there’s the song Actually Romantic, believed to be about Charli XCX. For context, Charli knows Matty quite well. She’s married to his The 1975 bandmate. Actually Romantic’s lyrics appear to accuse Charli of being happy Matty ghosted Taylor.
In addition to her famous former relationships, the song Ruin the Friendship appears to reference a missed opportunity romance that never got off the ground. There are lots of high school metaphors, and Taylor names her childhood best friend Abigail in the song.
Additionally, the song Cancelled may be about one of Taylor’s friends, not romantic partners. Many fans deduced that the song is about Blake Lively. And claim it proves that, contrary to rumors and reports, Taylor did not end their friendship over the It Ends With Us legal drama.
But while Taylor has a lot of muses on this album, it’s clear from the amount of songs about him that Travis was her main one.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL’S SONGS ABOUT TRAVIS KELCE? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW TAYLOR SWIFT ALBUM OVERALL?
