Sequins, Salvation, and the Spotlight: An Inside Look at Taylor Swift’s Dazzling New Era, The Life of a Showgirl
Nina Sinclair, 7th grade News Editor
Taylor Swift has topped the charts with her song, The Fate of Ophelia, number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. The rest of her songs on the Life Of a Showgirl followed shortly behind the Fate of Ophelia on the charts.
Taylor Swift’s past albums seem to explore her insecurities and fears, but this album seems to be quite the opposite.
Swift is embracing her life and is telling us that she’s really happy and excited for what is to come. Whether she’s speaking about her recent engagement with the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce, or her career development and recent successful tour, The Eras Tour.
She seems to be moving on from past inconveniences, enemies, and just plain old hate. Taylor is past all that now, she’s just happy making music, and of course, baking her famous sourdough, which made its debut in the The Fate of Ophelia music video.
Here’s a track by track overview of, in my opinion, the best five songs on the album:
- The Fate Of Ophelia
In this song, Taylor Swift is telling us that her fiance, Travis Kelce, saved her from the fate of Ophelia, a character in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, who eventually drowns herself because of her miserable loneliness.
This song also ties into the cover of the album, depicting Swift in a bath of water. This song has a 70s vibe to it, a catchy tune that will make you light up when you hear it on the radio.
“Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.”
- Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor was a famous actress in the 1950s and 60s, and was often criticized about her personal love life. In this song, Swift is asking this famous Hollywood actress if her love will be able to survive the spotlight and public scrutiny.
She reminisces about past relationships, and how eventually none of her exes were able to stay in the end. She seeks guidance from Elizabeth, asking her if her love will last forever.
This song is also a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, though, bringing awareness to the fact that Elizabeth was never bothered by the media and celebrating her for being bold and daring.
“Elizabeth Taylor, do you think it’s forever?
- Opalite
The third track on The Life of A Showgirl is obviously a love song about Taylor’s fiance, Travis Kelce, which we can quickly point out because Kelce’s birthstone happens to be an opal.
The song has a disco, shiny, 70s vibe to it, and Taylor seems to be saying that all her past relationships never seemed to work out, but this one was real, speaking for Travis as well.
Taylor Swift is talking about a man made opal, and saying that you have to learn to be resilient and make your own happiness, that it doesn’t always choose you, you have to choose it.
When past relationships seem to not work out, they all propel you towards your true love, and Swift says Opalite is about: “Forgiving yourself for having gone through something that didn’t pan out the way you wanted it to.
It’s giving yourself permission to not have it all figured out or not marry the first person you ever dated,” she mentioned in an interview with Hits Radio.
“I had a bad habit / Of missing lovers past / My brother used to call it / ‘Eating out of the trash’ / It’s never gonna last.”
- Father Figure
This song, one of my personal favorites on the album, is a nod to George Michael’s 80s hit, which is about offering almost parental support to a lover.
However, Taylor takes a bit of a dark twist on the song. It’s about business, and the dark side of the music industry, discussing a mentor who took a mentee, but ending with betrayal.
Swift seems to be talking about Scott Borchetta, the founder of Big Machine Records, and who sold all of her masters to Scooter Braun. Taylor has been through some pretty shady business in the music industry, but in this song, she turns it around, and she’s the one in charge instead.
The song has some dark themes, but ultimately it’s cathay and rather upbeat. George Michael’s album with this track won him a Grammy, Album of the Year, the year Taylor was born, 1989.
“You’ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you’re drowning.”
- Eldest Daughter
Eldest Daughter discusses two topics: The emotional weight of being the firstborn child and feeling pressured to be cool and unbothered while under the public eye, but only feeling yourself and letting go when you’re privately with your loved ones.
Taylor talks about how she feels she must be strong and reliable, but she herself is feeling weak and anxious and has no one to rely on, a feeling most eldest daughters go through.
She must hide her true feelings in the public because she needs to seem unbothered and tough. She talks about how she can only rely on her loved ones, and how she finally finds someone she can be herself with.
Swift uses the metaphor: “The first lamb to the slaughter” to describe how she had to go through difficult situations by herself with no one to guide and help her.
“I’m never going to let you down, never gonna leave you now.”
