Decoding Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl: A guide to the references on her new album
The curtain has been drawn. The stage lights are on. It's time for The Life of a Showgirl.
For Taylor Swift's most dedicated audience, a new album means new opportunities to decode Easter eggs in her lyrics and music videos. The pop superstar's 12th studio album, which dropped last night at midnight, has no shortage of clues and references to her public life and discography.
Many are opaque, revealing just enough to inspire myriad fan theories. Others are concrete — explicit names and places worth exploring.
Here's a guide to some of the references and how they relate to the pop star.
Elizabeth TaylorLyric: "That view of Portofino was on my mind / When you called me at the Plaza Athenee"
Meaning: When Swift announced her new album, she did so with the introduction of a makeup shade she's calling Portofino Orange Glitter after donning the colour onstage during the latter part of her Eras tour. "I've just always liked it," she said of the hue during her first appearance on New Heights, the popular, typically football-focused podcast hosted by her fiance, Travis Kelce, and his brother Jason.
"It feels like energetically how my life has felt. And this album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour." She and beau Kelce were spotted last year in Lake Como, Italy, but it is unclear if they spent time in nearby Portofino. Additionally, the standard version of her album is available in "sweat and vanilla perfume Portofino orange vinyl."
As for the Plaza Athenee? That's a luxury hotel in Paris.
Lyric: "Be my NY when Hollywood hates me"
Meaning: Both locations make appearances in Swift's songwriting. Among them: Welcome to New York, from 2014's 1989, and White Horse, from 2008's Fearless. She also owns property in both locations.
Lyric: "Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust — just kidding"
Meaning: In August of this year, Swift announced her engagement to Kelce by posting a carousel of images on Instagram.
Eagle-eyed fans noticed that the ring wasn't the only jewelry she was showing off. She was also wearing a Cartier watch.
Lyric: "We hit the best booth at Musso & Frank's"
Meaning: Since opening in 1919, Musso & Frank Grill has been a hot spot for celebrities in Los Angeles — embodying the kind of old-school Hollywood glamour that inspired The Life of a Showgirl artwork.
Lyric: "All my white diamonds and lovers are forever"
Meaning: The song is titled Elizabeth Taylor after the classic Hollywood starlet who, in 1991, created her own perfume called White Diamonds.
Ruin the FriendshipLyric: "You drive, 85 / Gallatin Road and the lakeside beach"
Meaning: There are several Gallatin Roads in the United States, but given the other lyrics in the song, this one likely refers to a street in Hendersonville, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville, where Swift spent her adolescence.
Lyric: "But as the 50 Cent song played"
Meaning: A 50 Cent reference further implies this song is rooted in Swift's teen years in the aughts, when the rapper was at the height of his popularity. The song also mentions "prom" and "second period," making it obviously associated with high school.
Lyric: "When I left school, I lost track of you / Abigail called me with the bad news / Goodbye"
Meaning: "Abigail" refers to Swift's best friend Abigail Anderson, with whom she attended Hendersonville High School. This marks the second time Abigail is mentioned in Swift's discography: the first is the evocative Fifteen from Fearless.
Lyric: "Redwood tree / It ain't hard to see"
Meaning: In October 2023, Swift and Kelce made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live for a season premiere episode that featured host Pete Davidson and a musical performance by Ice Spice, a friend to Swift. Afterwards, SNL cast member Bowen Yang described the couple as the "tallest people in the world" on the Las Culturistas podcast he co-hosts with comedian Matt Rogers. "I see them together, I go, 'I am in the Redwood Forest."' Hence, "Redwood tree."
Lyric: "New Heights of manhood"
Meaning: New Heights is a direct reference to the Kelces' podcast of the same name.
Lyric: "Summertime spritz, pink skies"
Meaning: Physical album variants have been a huge part of Swift's The Life of a Showgirl rollout, and in some ways, they appear in the lyrics of Honey. The colour of her exclusive vinyl release with Target, The Crowd Is Your King edition, was described online as "summertime spritz pink shimmer."
Lyric: "Wintergreen kiss, all mine"
Meaning: This line relates to another one of her variants: The Shiny Bug Collection, which is available in "violet shimmer marbled vinyl" and more relevantly, "wintergreen and onyx marbled vinyl." ("Violet" is mentioned in Elizabeth Taylor, as is "onyx" in Opalite.)
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