Love, heartbreak, friendship, and revenge: all themes rooted throughout Taylor Swift’s 11 studio albums. With her new album, “Life of a Showgirl,” Swift transitions to a new focus, unmasked happiness. Like she quotes in her song, “imgonnagetyouback,” her latest record “Push(es) the reset button, we’re becoming something new.”
Incorporating Elizabethan literature by Shakespeare into her first track, “The Fate of Ophelia,” she twists the unfortunate fate of Ophelia in “Hamlet” into a love story, where she gets rescued by a new lover. Taylor Swift’s new “lover” in the song has been rumored to be her fiancé, Travis Kelce. As well as a release of the song, Swift has also released a matching music video, adding easter eggs relating to Kelce. Her creative perspective on a tragic story turned fairytale creates an uplifting mood that connects listeners to literature and excites them for their own love stories.
“The Fate of Ophelia” isn’t the only song that intertwines Swift’s love for Travis Kelce into her lyrics. “Opalite,” Taylor’s third track in “The Life of a Showgirl,” explores the story of an extensive search for love turning into a wish come true, indirectly describing her story with Travis.
Many of her lyrics within “Opalite” also have a lot of symbolism, including the title of the song. In her chorus, she says, “You were dancing through the lightning strikes / Sleepless in the onyx night / but now the sky is opalite.” Swift’s lover in the song has become a protection for her, creating an opalite sky. An opalite symbolizes new beginnings, which corresponds to her newfound happiness and connects to the overall theme of the album.
Tying the album all together, Taylor Swift concludes with her final song, “The Life of a Showgirl” featuring Sabrina Carpenter. “The Life of a Showgirl” reveals the peaks and pits of being a “showgirl,” relating to Carpenter and Swift as top musical artists. Along with the happiness behind the fame and the enjoyment of entertaining, Taylor Swift expands her audience’s eyes to see the hardships woven within being a singer. By leaving a piece of her heart in her final song, Swift’s listeners are given a strong message that they aren’t alone with their struggles, and it’s okay to not be okay.
“The Life of a Showgirl” has over 1.5 billion streams and has ranked number one on Billboard charts for the third week in a row. An album that is fun and upbeat, while also unveiling Taylor Swift’s personal life and her genuine emotions, has inspired millions of her listeners and risen to great success as her 12th studio album.
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