Decoding Taylor Swift’s 'The Life a Showgirl': A guide to her references
[October 03, 2025]
By MARIA SHERMAN
NEW YORK (AP) — The curtain has been drawn. The stage lights are on.
It’s time for “The Life of a Showgirl.”
For Taylor Swift’s most dedicated audience, a new album means new
opportunities to decode Easter eggs in her lyrics and music videos. The
pop superstar’s 12th studio album has no shortage of clever clues and
references to her public life and discography. Many are opaque,
revealing just enough to inspire a myriad of fan theories. Others are
concrete – explicit names and places worth exploring. Below, you will
find a guide to those instances, and how they relate to Swift.
Read on, and happy digging!
“Elizabeth Taylor”
Lyric: “That view of Portofino was on my mind / When you called me at
the Plaza Athénée”
Meaning: When Swift announced her new album, she did so with the
introduction of a shade she’s calling Portofino Orange Glitter after
donning the color onstage during the latter part of her “Eras Tour.”
“I’ve just always liked it,” she said of the hue during her first
appearance on “New Heights,” the popular, typically football-focused
podcast hosted by her fiancé Travis Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce.
“It feels like energetically how my life has felt. And this album is
about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this
tour.” She and beau Kelce were spotted last year in Lake Como, Italy,
but it is unclear if they spent time in nearby Portofino. Additionally,
the standard version of her album is available in “sweat and vanilla
perfume Portofino orange vinyl.” As for the Plaza Athénée? That’s a
luxury hotel in Paris.
Lyric: “Be my NY when Hollywood hates me”
Meaning: Both locations make appearances in Swift’s songwriting. Among
them: “Welcome to New York” from 2014’s “1989” and “White Horse” from
2008’s “Fearless.” She also owns property in both locations.
Lyric: “Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust … just
kidding”
Meaning: In August of this year, Swift announced her engagement to Kelce
by posting a carousel of images on Instagram. Eagle-eyed fans noticed
that the ring wasn’t the only jewelry she was showing off. She was also
wearing a Cartier watch.
Lyric: “We hit the best booth at Musso & Frank’s”
Meaning: Since opening in 1919, Musso & Frank Grill has been a hot spot
for celebrities in Los Angeles – embodying the kind of old school
Hollywood glamor that inspired “The Life of a Showgirl” artwork.
Lyric: “All my white diamonds and lovers are forever”
Meaning: The song is titled “Elizabeth Taylor” after the classic
Hollywood starlet who, in 1991, created her own perfume called “White
Diamonds.”
“Ruin the Friendship”
Lyric: “You drive, 85 / Gallatin Road and the lakeside beach”
Meaning: There are several Gallatin Roads in the United States, but
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.
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This album cover image released by Republic Records shows "The Life
of a Showgirl" by Taylor Swift. (Republic Records via AP)
 Lyric: “But as the 50 Cent song
played”
Meaning: 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. The song also mentions “prom” and “second period,”
what is typically associated with high school.
Lyric: “When I left school, I lost track of you / Abigail called me
with the bad news / Goodbye”
Meaning: Abigail refers to Swift’s best friend AbigailAnderson, who
she attended Hendersonville High School with. This marks the second
time Abigail is mentioned in Swift’s discography: the first is the
evocative “Fifteen” from “Fearless.”
“Wood”
Lyric: “Redwood tree / It ain’t hard to see”
Meaning: 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, “Redwood tree.”
Lyric: “New Heights of manhood”
Meaning: “New Heights” is a direct reference to the Kelces’ podcast
of the same name.
“Honey”
Lyric: “Summertime spritz, pink skies”
Meaning: Physical album variants have been a huge part of Swift’s
“The Life of a Showgirl” rollout, and in some ways, they appear in
the lyrics of “Honey.” The color of her exclusive vinyl release with
Target, “The Crowd Is Your King” edition, was described online as
“summertime spritz pink shimmer.”
Lyric: “Wintergreen kiss, all mine”
Meaning: This line relates to another one of her variants: “The
Shiny Bug Collection,” which is available in “violet shimmer marbled
vinyl” and more relevantly, “wintergreen and onyx marbled vinyl.”
(“Violet” is mentioned in “Elizabeth Tylor,” as is “onyx” in
“Opalite.”)
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