Taylor Swift is giving Us the first glimpses of The Life of a Showgirl.
Ahead of the record’s Friday, October 3, release, the 35-year-old pop star has been dropping Easter eggs and lyrical teases about the album’s tracklist.
Shortly after announcing her 12th album, Swift created a Spotify playlist titled “And baby, that’s show business for you” with songs she wrote with Max Martin and Shellback. The quote also appeared multiple times throughout Spotify’s activation in New York City, leading fans to speculate whether it will appear on one of the new songs.
Other fans noticed that Apple Music started capitalizing random letters in the lyric liners of 2017’s Reputation. When unscrambled, the letters spell out, “They don’t make loyalty like they used to,” which Swifties believe to be another lyric from the album.
Weeks away from its release, Taylor Swift’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, has fans spiraling over her lyrical prose and the meaning behind each sure-to-be pop hit. Swift, 35, announced her 12th studio record during a Wednesday, August 13, appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, revealing that she wrote the […]
Swift cowrote the entirety of Showgirl with Martin and Shellback last year.
“It was something I was working on while I was in Europe on The Eras Tour,” Swift said on an August 2025 episode of fiancé Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast. “I would do three shows in a row, [and then] I’d have three days off. I’d fly to Sweden, [then] go back to the tour. I was physically exhausted at this point in the tour, but I was so mentally stimulated and so excited to be creating.”
She continued, “It meant the world to me to have this creative experience, where [Max Martin, Shellback and I] knew that we had to bring the best ideas we’ve ever said. I also know the pressure I’m putting on this record by saying that, but I don’t care ’cause I love it that much, and I’m so proud of it.”
Swift gushed that The Life of a Showgirl was born from “the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place” of her life.
Swift previously collaborated with Martin and Shellback on her LPs Red, 1989 and Reputation before joining forces for Showgirl. She also credited the late George Michael on the track “Father Figure.” Michael, who died in 2016, also has a 1987 song titled “Father Figure.”
Michael’s former partner Kenny Goss told TMZ in late September 2025 that Swift used an interpolation of the 1987 single on her album. Goss also told the outlet that he believed the late singer would have approved of the inclusion.
Keep scrolling to see which lyrics will be featured on The Life of a Showgirl:
‘Oftentimes it doesn’t feel so glamorous to be me’
The first lyric was shared at Spotify’s pre-release activation in New York City, where fans saw the quote written in lipstick on a mirror and on top of a stage marquee. The line was later included on billboards in NYC, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Swifties have since discovered that iTunes lists this lyric on the Showgirl song “Elizabeth Taylor.”
‘Everyone’s unbothered ’til they’re not’
Another lyric was unveiled via a billboard shared in São Paulo, Brazil, and later replaced the “doesn’t feel so glamorous” one inside the NYC exhibit.
‘You wanna take a skate on the ice inside my veins?’
A London billboard teased the chilling lyric, which was also written on a napkin at the Spotify pop-up.
The Life of a Showgirl will be released Friday, October 3.
