12 Taylor Swift Lyrics That Laid The Groundwork for ‘Showgirl’

Taylor Swift ushered in a full-on pop emergency with the announcement of her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, arriving Oct. 3, the singer-songwriter has pulled in Max Martin and Shellback, applied her brightest lipstick, and shimmied into feathers and jewels for this new era.

Our first look at The Life of a Showgirl’s visuals and track list (including a Sabrina Carpenter feature), imply a body of work mining Swift’s experiences on and off the stage throughout her globe-trotting Eras Tour. Who better to unpack the inner workings of a professional performer than a woman who played 149 shows and literally donned a feather headdress?

Of course, Swift (and her fans) are pros at Easter eggs, social media scrambles, and years-in-the-making hints. But even outside of orange-themed IG dumps and onscreen clues, Taylor has been lyrically paving the way for a project dedicated to a showgirl’s life. A deeper dive into past work shows this is a world she’s been itching to explore since her very first single.

1. “Lights, camera, bitch, smile / Even when you wanna die”

The biggest Easter egg for Tay’s new era hid in plain sight on The Tortured Poets Department’s “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and its accompanying performance on The Eras Tour, during which she recorded the album. Swift twirled in front of feathered props and tap dancers, while lyrically diving into pre-show mantras and issuing the ultimate show-biz dare: “Try and come for my job.”

2. “If you have children someday / When they point to the pictures / Please tell them my name”

This Speak Now fan favorite was the first tune dedicated to the Swifties, written “like looking at a photo album of all the award shows, and all the stadium shows, and all the hands in the air in the crowd,” Swift explained upon its release. Most notably, “Long Live” also kicked off her lyrical self-mythologizing, a most crucial aspect of the esteemed showgirl.

3. “I’m still on that trapeze / I’m still trying everything to keep you looking at me”

With its warbling, meditative alt-pop production, courtesy of Folklore and Jack Antonoff, “Mirrorball” unpacks Swift’s feelings about performing, both onstage and in her personal life. She compares herself to a disco ball and circus performer (a vibe seemingly reflected in her new visuals) and admits a devotion to the art of holding attention.

4. “You played in bars, you play guitar / I’m invisible and everyone knows who you are / And you’ll never see, you sing me to sleep / Every night from the radio”

This soft and sad ballad of a fangirl, who asks the titular “Superstar” for a “photograph to hang on my wall,” showed Swift was analyzing the dichotomy between performer and spectator even while living out sugary fairytales on Fearless.

With TS12 on the horizon, this vulnerable lyric in the sparse bridge rings differently; perhaps Taylor’s narrator is realizing she doesn’t covet her crush as much as the stage he’s performing on.

5. “You’re a queen sellin’ dreams, selling makeup and magazines”

With a long braid and a flannel coat, Taylor toyed with onstage versus offstage life in Evermore’s “Dorothea.” The acoustic and breezy track served as an invitation to a fictional woman who might have changed after ditching her hometown, but is undeniably a star.

6. “Met you in a bar / All eyes on me, your illusionist / All eyes on us”

On “So It Goes…,” a synth-soaked deep cut from Reputation, Swift and her lover feel forced to play magician and illusionist in front of the public, but behind closed doors (or a giant, brilliant red curtain), it’s an entirely different story.

7. “Everybody’s watching her, but she’s looking at you”

Swift ghostwrote the lyrics to this throbbing and triumphant Calvin Harris and Rihanna collaboration. In hindsight, the lyrical comparisons of paparazzi flashes to lightning strikes and a woman bathed in the world’s spotlight gave major showgirl energy.

8. “Diamonds in my eyes / I polish up real nice”

Was this Midnights-era music video, which featured the “Queen of Burlesque,” Dita Von Teese, hinting at a forthcoming showgirl era? We may never know. Either way, “Bejeweled” was Swift’s way of dusting herself off and owning her sparkling spectacle status.

9. “Every day is like a battle / But every night with us is like a dream”

Could we get another “New Romantics” moment on The Life of a Showgirl? Swift wrote this soaring ode to being a young hot mess — emphasis on the “hot” — with Martin and Shellback for 1989, calling out the roles she (and her dating pool) played in their own heartbreaks.

10. “He’s so obsessed with me / And boy, I understand”

This snapping and bubbling Lover track is about a physical attraction so intense, Swift is about to burst. But more notable is Taylor’s lyrical confidence as she acknowledges her own power.

11. “The idea you had of me, who was she? / A never-needy, ever-lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you”

As an album, Red might seem too focused on the throes of heartbreak to offer much shimmer, but this line from the historic “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” which dropped in 2021, begs to differ. Between tossed car keys and abandoned scarves, it seems the duties of being a consummate performer were demanded of her offstage.

12. “When you think Tim McGraw / I hope you think my favorite song / Someday you’ll turn your radio on / I hope it takes you back to that place”

Yep, even Swift’s debut single on country radio, 2006’s “Tim McGraw,” laid the groundwork for her showgirl era. The nostalgic tune finds Taylor wistfully hoping an ex remembers her by a favorite McGraw song. But in its final chorus, the then-17-year-old seemingly changes her tune, knowing that in just a few years, she’ll be the one singing.