Originally appeared on E! Online
As Taylor Swift knows all too well, it’s not an album release day without a slew of Easter eggs to decode.
Which is why the Grammy winner included a number of hidden messages in “The Life of a Showgirl,” her 12th studio album, released at midnight on Oct. 3.
Like in the lyrics to “Wood,” which references Swift relationship with fiancé Travis Kelce — and gives a cheeky shoutout to his “New Heights” podcast.
“Seems to me that you and me, we make our own luck,” Taylor sings on “Showgirl’s” ninth track. “New Heights of manhood / I ain’t gotta knock on wood.”
Kelce himself even got in on the Easter egg game, unbeknownst to fans, with the NFL star captioning his July Instagram post, featuring several Swift pics, “Had some adventures this offseason, kept it [100].”
As it turns out, “The Fate of Ophelia,” the first of 12 songs on “Showgirl,” includes the lyrics, “You dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia / Keep it one hundred / On the land, the sea, the sky / Pledge allegiance to your hands / Your team, your vibes.”
READ: Taylor Swift Hilariously Trolls Herself Ahead of “The Life of a Showgirl” Release
In addition to songs about love, “Showgirl” also has tracks aimed at her critics, including “Actually Romantic.”
“Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face,” Swift croons. “Some people might be offended / But it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me.”
So, who are these lyrics referencing? Keep reading for a complete decoding of “The Life of a Showgirl.”
PHOTOS: Taylor Swift, the life of a showgirl easter eggs
1: “The Fate of Ophelia”
The opening song on “The Life of a Showgirl” references the character Ophelia from William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” who faces a tragic fate.
According to the song’s lyrics, Swift “might’ve drowned in the melancholy” if she hadn’t been saved by her true love.
“I heard you calling / On the megaphone,” Swift sings. “You wanna see me all alone.”
The lyrics appear to be a nod to Kelce calling Swift out on his “New Heights” podcast for not meeting him at her Eras Tour, which is how their romance began.
“I swore loyalty to me, myself and I,” the lyrics continue. “Right before you lit my sky up.”
Before meeting Kelce, Swift was fresh off a breakup from Matty Healy, having declared herself one of the “independent girlies” in July 2023.
But after Kelce went to her concert in Kansas City that same month, sparks began to fly.
Now, Swift’s fiancé is even in on her Easter egg game, teasing “The Fate of Ophelia” lyrics on Instagram back in July. (Had some adventures this offseason,” he captioned pics with Taylor, adding, “Kept it [100].”)
How does that connect to Taylor’s song? Well, as the lyrics go, “You dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia / Keep it one hundred.”
2: “Elizabeth Taylor”
Swift gives a nod to another famous showgirl, the late Elizabeth Taylor, in the second song on the album, even naming Elizabeth Taylor’s favorite places, the Plaza Athénée hotel in Paris, as well as old school celebrity hot spot Musso & Frank’s in Los Angeles.
In the lyrics, Swift also draws parallels between her and the “Cleopatra” actress. Like Swift today, Taylor often made headlines for everything from her love life to her dazzling outfits.
But, as Swift notes in her song, “Oftentimes it doesn’t feel so glamorous to be me.”
Travis Kelce says he and Taylor Swift are already in the swing of planning their big day.
3: “Opalite”
In upbeat “Opalite,” which Kelce previously revealed as his favorite “Showgirl” song, Swift references their love story.
After weathering her fair share of lightning strikes in relationships, now Swift’s sky is calm, it’s opalite, with Kelce.
4: “Father Figure”
While Taylor, Max Martin and Shellback are credited as “Showgirl” writers, the late George Michael receives a posthumous credit on “Father Figure” because the song includes an interpolation of Michael’s 1987 track of the same name.
Michael’s team even gave their stamp of approval, writing on Instagram Oct. 2, “Thank you @taylorswift for including George in such a special moment.”
5: “Eldest Daughter”
We’ve reached track five on “Showgirl,” known to be the spot on an album that Swift reserves for her most heartbreaking songs.
In “Eldest Daughter,” Swift, who Andrea Swift and Scott Swift welcomed before also becoming parents to Austin Swift, sings about navigating all of life’s highs and lows, but always sticking with the ones she loves.
“Cause I’m not a bad b—- / And this isn’t savage / And I’m never gonna let you down,” the lyrics note. “I’m never gonna leave you out / So many traitors / Smooth operators / But I’m never gonna break that vow.”
6: “Ruin the Friendship”
Track six on “Showgirl” tells a story of regret over a romance that didn’t quite get off the ground. The lyrics are filled with nostalgia, “Have fun, it’s prom / Wilted corsage dangles from my wrist / Over his shoulder I catch a glimpse / And see … You looking at me / And it was not an invitation / But as the 50 Cent song played / Should’ve kissed you anyway.”
A 50 Cent reference further implies this song is rooted in Swift’s teen years in the ’00s, when the rapper was at the height of his popularity.
“You drive, 85 / Gallatin Road and the lakeside beach,” Swift sings. While there are several Gallatin Roads in the U.S., given the other lyrics in the song, this one likely refers to a street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, where Swift spent her adolescence.
Swift’s best friend Abigail Anderson, who she attended Hendersonville High School with, also gets a shoutout. “When I left school, I lost track of you / Abigail called me with the bad news / Goodbye.”
Travis Kelce may have played in 4 Super Bowl games, but proposing to Taylor Swift still made him nervous.
7: “Actually Romantic”
“Actually Romantic” is not actually about a romance, per se. Rather, it’s a response to an unnamed person who, according to the lyrics, has spent a lot of time talking about Swift.
“High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me,” Swift sings. “Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face / Some people might be offended / But it’s actually sweet.”
While Taylor rarely reveals who a song is written about, many fans on social media believe it was inspired by Charli XCX, who opened for Swift on her “Reputation Tour” and is friends with Swift’s ex Healy and his fiancée Gabbriette Bechtel.
When Charli — who is married to Healy’s The 1975 bandmate George Daniel — released “brat” in June 2024, there was speculation that her song “Sympathy is a Knife” threw shade at Swift. However, two months later, Swift seemed to put rumors to rest by sharing her praise for Charli.
“I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011,” Swift told New York magazine in an article published Aug. 26. “Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She just takes a song to places you wouldn’t expect it to go, and she’s been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that pay off.”
E! News has reached out to reps for comment on the speculation and has not heard back.
8: “Wish List”
On the very top of Swift’s wish list? A forever with Kelce. That includes starting a family.
“I just want you,” she sings. “Have a couple kids / Got the whole block looking like you.”
Access Hollywood is breaking down their relationship timeline, from Travis Klece shooting his shot on his “New Heights” podcast to Taylor Swift’s first Kansas City Chiefs game and the whirlwind romance that followed.
9: “Wood”
In Oct. 2023, Swift and Kelce made a surprise appearance at “Saturday Night Live” for a season premiere episode that featured host Pete Davidson and musical performer/friend to Swift, Ice Spice. 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 the lyrics, “Redwood tree / It ain’t hard to see”
According to Swift, wishing on a star “never did me any good” when it came to love. But now, with Kelce, she doesn’t even need to knock on wood.
“Girls, I don’t need to catch the bouquet,” she notes in the lyrics, “to know a hard rock is on the way.”
And she was right. Swift and Kelce announced their engagement in August 2025 after two years of dating.
The song also includes a nod to Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights of manhood,” which Swift credits for the start of their relationship.
Taylor Swift is officially getting involved in Blake Lively’s ongoing legal battle with her “It Ends with Us” costar Justin Baldoni.
10: “Cancelled!”
In track 10, Swift is taking someone under her wing after they’ve been canceled, something she too has experienced.
“Come with me, when they see us they’ll run,” she advises. “Something wicked this way comes / Good thing I like my friends cancelled / I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal.”
Fans are speculating the song is about actress Blake Lively, who is embroiled in a legal battle with her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director Justin Baldoni. Lively was the face of Gucci’s fragrance, Gucci Premiere, in 2012.
“I salute you if you’re much too much to handle,” Swift sings. “Now you know exactly who you’re friends are / We’re the ones with matching scars.”
11: “Honey”
“Honey” is as sweet as it sounds. In the 11th track, Swift sings about how Kelce has been able to redefine her vocabulary. Instead of having bad memories tied to words like “honey” and “sweetheart,” Swift now thinks of Kelce.
“Redefine all of those blues / When you say ‘honey,'” Swift croons. “Summertime spritz, pink skies / You can call me ‘honey’ if you want / Because I’m the one you want.”
In fact, Kelce did call Swift “sweetie” during her debut appearance on “New Heights” in August.
12: “The Life of a Showgirl” (Featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
For her final act, Swift teamed up with friend Sabrina Carpenter.
The lyrics tie together with “Elizabeth Taylor,” giving a glimpse behind-the-scenes of a showgirl. While it may seem glamorous, there’s always a price to pay, and the seasoned showgirl has to let the budding star know.
And the lyrics paint a picture, “She said, ‘I’d sell my soul to have a tase of a magnificent life, that’s all mine’ / But that’s not what showgirls get / They leave us for dead.”
In the end, after learning about the life of a showgirl, they join together for a final bow, “That’s our show / We love you so much, goodnight!”
When Taylor Swift announced the track list of her upcoming “Life of a Showgirl” album, fans quickly began to dissect each title – especially No. 6, “Ruin the Friendship.”
