How Taylor Swift Became the Showgirl: A Deep Dive into the Era’s Themes & Storytelling

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome back to the Swiftly Song Stories podcast.
I'm your host, Jen.
I am your Swifty English teacher, and today we are wrapping up our coverage of the life of a showgirl.
It's been an entire month of just showgirl.
So today we're gonna tie all of those loose ends together, and we're gonna finish it off by looking at the themes.
Over the past month, I have gone track by track, line by line through each song, and now we're gonna take all of these puzzle pieces of the album, lay them out and just see what they look like, see what they mean.

(00:28):
I have a lot of thoughts on this album, so I'm gonna try to lay this out as clearly as I can, but this is probably gonna be a longer episode because number one, there's a lot I wanna do and a lot I wanna talk about.
And number two, I think showgirl is not at all what it seems on the surface.
I think there's a whole lot going on behind the curtain and there's just a lot to talk about.
If you are a major Swiftie, which of course you are, 'cause you're here, or even if you're new.

(00:52):
This is the thing.
One era doesn't just end and another one begins.
Taylor is telling a larger story and she always has been, and she leaves these breadcrumbs or narrative threads that lead from one album to the next.
So before we dive into the whole theme of showgirl, I wanna see where Taylor was.

(01:12):
Before Showgirl came out, we have to look at her larger character arc and see really what was happening in her writing and in her career before this new chapter was released and added to the story. 17 00:01:24,99.970123934 --> 00:01:28,749.970123934 First rule of storytelling is that you have to develop your characters and you have to give them backstory. 18 00:01:29,199.970123934 --> 00:01:34,659.970123934 So we can't understand where Taylor is and where she's going if we don't understand where she's been. 19 00:01:35,289.970123934 --> 00:01:40,329.97012393 So we're gonna do a quick recap of the larger story that's led up to the life of a showgirl. 20 00:01:40,709.97012393 --> 00:01:53,549.97012393 Then after our recap slash prelude, we are gonna pick part, the major themes of the album, compare them to how she has discussed these themes before, and really just try to see what new elements are being added to the conversation of Taylor Swift. 21 00:01:53,939.97012393 --> 00:02:07,409.97012393 How has her thinking changed on fame and love and her career, and what pieces of past songs and albums are evidence of that, and what pieces of this album are evidence of that? These ideas didn't just drop out of the sky and land in this new album. 22 00:02:08,104.97012393 --> 00:02:11,794.97012393 And this album is really a new chapter of the same story she's been telling all along. 23 00:02:11,794.97012393 --> 00:02:15,904.97012393 So we're gonna discuss these thematic elements and put them into context. 24 00:02:16,564.97012393 --> 00:02:24,184.97012393 Finally, we're gonna wrap it up with a brand new segment that reaches outside the Taylor Swift cinematic universe and goes into the actual cinematic universe. 25 00:02:24,184.97012393 --> 00:02:26,224.97012393 One of my other special interests movies and TV shows. 26 00:02:26,969.97012393 --> 00:02:33,89.97012393 After we have fully dissected showgirl, I'm gonna suggest some other content that you might like if you are in your showgirl era. 27 00:02:33,899.97012393 --> 00:02:46,529.97012393 Next week before we wind down for the holidays, we're gonna wrap up our showgirl season by looking at the trajectory, where is she going next? What does this album and albums and events before this, tell us about her larger plan. 28 00:02:46,529.97012393 --> 00:02:52,514.97012393 What is likely to come next? And what can we expect from TS 13? Gonna be a big one. 29 00:02:53,354.97012393 --> 00:02:54,434.97012393 So first is. 30 00:02:54,514.97012393 --> 00:03:00,184.97012393 Recap where she's been then it's where she currently is, the themes she's discussing in showgirl. 31 00:03:00,184.97012393 --> 00:03:02,614.97012393 That's gonna be the majority of our discussion today. 32 00:03:03,94.97012393 --> 00:03:20,854.97012393 Then we will wrap up with some suggestions of other contents in the showgirl vein, and then next week it's a look forward about what's gonna come next, and I hope this will also put us in a good position to watch the docuseries that comes out on December 12th, so we can kind of see this larger character arc as she adds a new chapter or. 33 00:03:20,904.97012393 --> 00:03:24,174.97012393 Kind of hopefully fills in the blanks of these last few eras. 34 00:03:24,984.97012393 --> 00:03:30,684.97012393 But before we get into the heavy thematic stuff, we are gonna have some fun by looking at Taylor's best lyrics from this album. 35 00:03:30,834.97012393 --> 00:03:32,829.97012393 So let's roll the intro and we'll get into it. 36 00:03:36,81.10366513 --> 00:03:41,781.10366513 Welcome to swiftly sung Stories where we unpack the Taylor Swift Universe one era album and lyric at a time. 37 00:03:41,961.10366513 --> 00:03:46,281.10366513 Think of it like English class, but it's all Taylor Swift and none of the boring stuff. 38 00:03:46,731.10366513 --> 00:03:52,131.10366513 I'm Jen, your Swifty English teacher and classes in session, so come on in and meet me in the margins. 39 00:03:52,340.70366513 --> 00:03:58,130.70366513 When this album first came out, it was super polarizing, and a lot of that, I think, came down to Taylor's lyricism. 40 00:03:58,790.70366513 --> 00:04:05,480.70366513 People were saying it couldn't hold a candle to tortured poets, but if you've done the deep dives with me, you'll know that that's just not true. 41 00:04:06,320.70366513 --> 00:04:16,160.70366513 I've analyzed not only showgirl, but every single song from every Taylor Swift studio album ever, and you can find all of my lyrical analysis on my website linked in the show notes. 42 00:04:17,90.70366513 --> 00:04:22,220.70366513 But this is all to say I do in fact know what I'm talking about when I'm speaking on her lyrics. 43 00:04:22,910.70366513 --> 00:04:27,890.70366513 Even though every middle aged man in my comments likes to tell me otherwise, is showgirl as deep as tortured poets. 44 00:04:28,670.70366513 --> 00:04:30,590.70366513 No, because it's happier. 45 00:04:30,590.70366513 --> 00:04:32,30.70366513 It's more optimistic. 46 00:04:32,540.70366513 --> 00:04:38,270.70366513 It's not gonna be as much of a gut punch because it's not targeting that depressive funny bone that we all have. 47 00:04:38,270.70366513 --> 00:04:41,660.70366513 Sad songs just hit harder than happy ones universally. 48 00:04:42,410.70366513 --> 00:04:47,705.70366513 But is her lyricism any less crafty here? No, it's just wrapped in a different package. 49 00:04:47,705.70366513 --> 00:04:49,955.70366513 It's wrapped in a shinier facade. 50 00:04:50,195.70366513 --> 00:04:55,205.70366513 But that doesn't mean that what she's saying and how she's saying it is less than or not as good. 51 00:04:56,15.70366513 --> 00:05:03,995.70366513 So I'm gonna quickly go song by song and pick just the best lines that I think are either clever or emotionally impactful or funny, or just really memorable. 52 00:05:04,265.70366513 --> 00:05:11,285.70366513 And leave me your favorite lines in the comments, starting with Ophelia T Locked inside my memory and only you possess the key. 53 00:05:11,555.70366513 --> 00:05:19,475.70366513 This is a variation from a quote from Hamlet, and the original is Tiz in my memory, locked, and you yourself shall keep the key of it. 54 00:05:20,315.70366513 --> 00:05:31,265.70366513 And just like that scene from Hamlet, what Taylor is saying is we have this special sacred secret between us and it's a really sweet line that that tells us how deep and special this relationship is. 55 00:05:32,355.70366513 --> 00:05:34,725.70366513 In Elizabeth Taylor, I'd cry my eyes. 56 00:05:34,725.70366513 --> 00:05:40,215.70366513 Violet is, of course, beautiful, just as imagery alone as a metaphor. 57 00:05:40,215.70366513 --> 00:05:43,785.70366513 It means if he left, she'd be so despondent, even the color of her eyes would change. 58 00:05:44,680.70366513 --> 00:05:47,440.70366513 And she's of course referencing Elizabeth Taylor's violet eyes. 59 00:05:47,440.70366513 --> 00:05:51,580.70366513 But she's saying that if he left, she would be permanently altered. 60 00:05:52,600.70366513 --> 00:06:06,340.70366513 And then there's all my white diamonds and lovers are forever in the papers on the screen, and in their minds, this references Elizabeth Taylor's white Diamonds ads from the eighties slash nineties where she whispered this tagline, diamonds are forever, but. 61 00:06:07,40.70366513 --> 00:06:09,50.70366513 It also means that the internet is forever. 62 00:06:09,350.70366513 --> 00:06:16,280.70366513 All of your wins, all of your losses, and especially your exes will live on in the public memory forever. 63 00:06:16,910.70366513 --> 00:06:25,460.70366513 You're only hot as your last hit baby, and the public will remember your scandals more than your successes because the triumphs fade away more easily. 64 00:06:25,520.70366513 --> 00:06:27,350.70366513 The mistakes live on forever. 65 00:06:27,350.70366513 --> 00:06:30,470.70366513 From Opalite, this is the easiest choice. 66 00:06:30,680.70366513 --> 00:06:33,380.70366513 I had a bad habit of missing lover's past. 67 00:06:33,440.70366513 --> 00:06:36,110.70366513 My brother used to call it eating out of the trash. 68 00:06:36,860.70366513 --> 00:06:38,390.70366513 It's just hilarious. 69 00:06:38,480.70366513 --> 00:06:51,170.70366513 And not only is it a great metaphor for not getting back together with your ex, but it's also bashing her exes, calling them trash, but it's done in this subtle way, wrapping it in a metaphor and attributing it to her brother. 70 00:06:51,170.70366513 --> 00:06:52,790.70366513 It's like, I didn't call you trash. 71 00:06:52,790.70366513 --> 00:06:53,510.70366513 Austin did. 72 00:06:54,50.70366513 --> 00:06:58,70.70366513 But she's published it in a song, which is just the best revenge. 73 00:06:58,100.70366513 --> 00:06:59,720.70366513 One of my favorite lines on the album. 74 00:06:59,720.70366513 --> 00:07:01,550.70366513 It's so simple, but so effective. 75 00:07:02,960.70366513 --> 00:07:03,890.70366513 Father figure. 76 00:07:04,550.70366513 --> 00:07:09,230.70366513 Can I pick the whole of father figure? This is my favorite song on the album for so many reasons. 77 00:07:10,100.70366513 --> 00:07:13,730.70366513 If I had to pick just one line, it would be, you made a deal with this devil. 78 00:07:13,760.70366513 --> 00:07:14,630.70366513 Turns out my. 79 00:07:15,545.70366513 --> 00:07:16,985.70366513 Checks bigger. 80 00:07:17,75.70366513 --> 00:07:19,745.70366513 You know what I really wanna say there, but I don't know what'll get censored. 81 00:07:20,645.70366513 --> 00:07:27,125.70366513 She flips this whole narrative on its head when the student becomes the master and then she recycles these really important lines. 82 00:07:27,695.70366513 --> 00:07:33,65.70366513 I protect the family and leave it with me so that they mean different things each time she says them. 83 00:07:34,145.70366513 --> 00:07:36,605.70366513 It's brilliant, and I ride or die for father figure. 84 00:07:36,605.70366513 --> 00:07:38,195.70366513 I could talk about it literally forever. 85 00:07:39,695.70366513 --> 00:07:46,175.70366513 Eldest daughter, I did a TikTok on this line and it turns out you guys think this line is just as much of a gut punch as I do. 86 00:07:47,15.70366513 --> 00:07:49,690.70366513 When I said I don't believe in marriage, that was a lie. 87 00:07:50,810.70366513 --> 00:08:11,0.70366513 She used to be this tough pretending to be cool girl who said she didn't believe in marriage, so that if he never wanted to marry her, she could pretend she didn't want it or didn't need it Anyway, she was trying to protect herself, but then she admits that was a lie, which is this really vulnerable moment, and it might be the most vulnerable moment on the whole album. 88 00:08:11,0.70366513 --> 00:08:19,100.70366513 She's no longer pretending she's taking off this mask or this facade and showing this person who she really is underneath and what she really wants. 89 00:08:20,625.70366513 --> 00:08:21,345.70366513 Ru in the friendship. 90 00:08:21,345.70366513 --> 00:08:23,775.70366513 I have to pick the imagery in the prom scene. 91 00:08:23,775.70366513 --> 00:08:25,905.70366513 Shiny wood floors underneath my feet. 92 00:08:26,85.70366513 --> 00:08:27,855.70366513 Disco ball makes everything look cheap. 93 00:08:28,455.70366513 --> 00:08:30,495.70366513 And then she also adds wilted corsage. 94 00:08:30,495.70366513 --> 00:08:31,485.70366513 dangles from my wrist. 95 00:08:31,485.70366513 --> 00:08:39,885.70366513 So she's painted this really depressing prom, and it's depressing because she's with the wrong date, but she conveys it through describing the physical setting. 96 00:08:40,450.70366513 --> 00:08:50,260.70366513 The scene looks on the outside, how she feels on the inside, and Taylor's physical settings and imagery are usually used as emotional settings, and she does it really beautifully here. 97 00:08:51,545.70366513 --> 00:08:52,775.70366513 Actually romantic. 98 00:08:52,925.70366513 --> 00:09:03,125.70366513 The whole song is full of just these really cutting insults and the boring Barbie opening line is is brilliant, but my favorite line is multiple lines. 99 00:09:03,185.70366513 --> 00:09:04,625.70366513 The entirety of the second verse. 100 00:09:04,625.70366513 --> 00:09:08,665.70366513 Hadn't thought of you in a long time, but you keep sending me funny valentines. 101 00:09:09,695.70366513 --> 00:09:14,360.70366513 Funny valentines are these cruel, hateful messages that are being sent to her by this drama queen. 102 00:09:14,360.70366513 --> 00:09:17,930.70366513 But she takes them as funny and she takes them as obsession. 103 00:09:18,410.70366513 --> 00:09:23,990.70366513 And then the funniest line of the whole song for me is like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse. 104 00:09:24,170.70366513 --> 00:09:25,340.70366513 That's how much it hurts. 105 00:09:25,940.70366513 --> 00:09:29,30.70366513 So she's comparing this hater to a tiny yippy dog. 106 00:09:29,110.70366513 --> 00:09:30,340.70366513 Their bark is worse than their bite. 107 00:09:30,340.70366513 --> 00:09:34,360.70366513 But that dog doesn't even have any real power, and this is the really brutal part. 108 00:09:34,990.70366513 --> 00:09:37,510.70366513 They're caged inside a tiny purse. 109 00:09:37,510.70366513 --> 00:09:38,470.70366513 They can't move. 110 00:09:38,710.70366513 --> 00:09:43,450.70366513 They're so insignificant that they're not even the person carrying the purse. 111 00:09:43,930.70366513 --> 00:09:46,180.70366513 They're the dog that's locked away inside. 112 00:09:46,770.70366513 --> 00:09:53,220.70366513 It's the most cutting insult and the imagery she uses to paint the scene is just perfect wishlist. 113 00:09:53,400.70366513 --> 00:09:59,100.70366513 My favorite funny line is they want that spring break that was effing lit and then that video taken off the internet. 114 00:09:59,190.70366513 --> 00:10:03,600.70366513 They wanna get into some debauchery and then have all of their indiscretions deleted. 115 00:10:04,410.70366513 --> 00:10:08,250.70366513 But then my favorite vulnerable line is I made wishes on all of the stars. 116 00:10:08,250.70366513 --> 00:10:11,130.70366513 Please God bring me a best friend who I think is hot. 117 00:10:11,800.70366513 --> 00:10:13,600.70366513 This calls back to the prophecy. 118 00:10:14,200.70366513 --> 00:10:16,390.70366513 Don't want money, just someone who wants my company. 119 00:10:17,80.70366513 --> 00:10:20,350.70366513 So she wished upon a star, and then all the stars aligned. 120 00:10:20,400.70366513 --> 00:10:23,760.70366513 It's this beautiful full circle moment. 121 00:10:24,195.70366513 --> 00:10:32,145.70366513 And then I also love, they want that complex female character because it describes both what Taylor tries to be and what Taylor tries to write. 122 00:10:32,175.70366513 --> 00:10:40,635.70366513 It's kind of this meta moment where she's describing the position of women in the industry and what we demand of them, and then there's boss up, settle down. 123 00:10:40,875.70366513 --> 00:10:48,645.70366513 That's another great one where she's saying, I need to woman it up and settle down, or I want to be the boss and have a private life. 124 00:10:49,275.70366513 --> 00:11:01,545.70366513 And it circles back to this central theme of the album, which we'll cover shortly, which is, can I have both? Can I have my cake and eat it too? For wood, I have to pick the entirety of the first verse. 125 00:11:01,545.70366513 --> 00:11:02,715.70366513 Daisy's bare naked. 126 00:11:02,895.70366513 --> 00:11:03,705.70366513 I was distraught. 127 00:11:03,705.70366513 --> 00:11:06,915.70366513 He loves me not he loves me, not Penny's unlucky. 128 00:11:06,915.70366513 --> 00:11:07,725.70366513 I took him back. 129 00:11:07,725.70366513 --> 00:11:10,35.70366513 Then stepped on a crack and the black cat laughed. 130 00:11:10,425.70366513 --> 00:11:16,965.70366513 So she's setting up these superstitions that never work out, but it's also like she's naming past versions of herself. 131 00:11:16,965.70366513 --> 00:11:24,915.70366513 That person who plucked the pedals hoping that he would love her back, that's Daisy and that past person who tried to find lucky coins. 132 00:11:24,915.70366513 --> 00:11:25,755.70366513 That's penny. 133 00:11:26,160.70366513 --> 00:11:36,510.70366513 But this whole verse is just layering one superstition over another, and it's these layers of constant bad luck where nothing is working out, and it's just really extremely well written. 134 00:11:37,875.70366513 --> 00:11:38,745.70366513 Canceled. 135 00:11:39,135.70366513 --> 00:11:43,545.70366513 This is a tough one, but I think my favorite is the second pre-course. 136 00:11:43,785.70366513 --> 00:11:45,675.70366513 Did you make a joke? Only a man could. 137 00:11:45,735.70366513 --> 00:11:52,575.70366513 Were you just too smug for your own good, or bring a tiny violin to a knife fight? So she's listing all of these things that shouldn't be. 138 00:11:53,210.70366513 --> 00:12:00,590.70366513 Cancelable offenses, right? They should be small blunders, but in the patriarchy they're worthy of burning witches. 139 00:12:00,770.70366513 --> 00:12:04,460.70366513 And the tiny violin to and I fight is just hilarious and it's so clever. 140 00:12:04,940.70366513 --> 00:12:08,930.70366513 And then there's my other favorite line, which isn't actually Taylors, but it's from Macbeth. 141 00:12:09,20.70366513 --> 00:12:10,640.70366513 Something wicked this way. 142 00:12:10,640.70366513 --> 00:12:18,500.70366513 Comes check out my full analysis of canceled if you want the whole rundown on Macbeth and the Witches, because it's a deep dive for sure. 143 00:12:19,175.70366513 --> 00:12:23,765.70366513 But if fits perfectly with the whole vibe of the song, which is this witchy underworld of celebrity. 144 00:12:24,185.70366513 --> 00:12:26,765.70366513 And we're gonna get into that in our discussion of the themes of the album. 145 00:12:26,795.70366513 --> 00:12:30,815.70366513 'cause it's, it's a big theme here, honey. 146 00:12:31,145.70366513 --> 00:12:33,185.70366513 This one is easy by far away. 147 00:12:33,185.70366513 --> 00:12:35,225.70366513 One of my top five of the whole album. 148 00:12:36,215.70366513 --> 00:12:38,195.70366513 You could be my forever nightstand. 149 00:12:38,280.70366513 --> 00:12:40,290.70366513 It is a play on one night stand. 150 00:12:40,290.70366513 --> 00:12:47,100.70366513 So she's taking something fleeting, a one night stand and turning it into something permanent, a forever nightstand. 151 00:12:48,0.70366513 --> 00:12:51,420.70366513 But the scene, this verse also takes place inside a bedroom. 152 00:12:51,690.70366513 --> 00:12:55,80.70366513 So she's also referring to the physical nightstand in the room. 153 00:12:55,80.70366513 --> 00:13:01,500.70366513 He can be a permanent fixture in her bedroom and in her life, and it's a brilliant bit of lyricism. 154 00:13:02,760.70366513 --> 00:13:06,450.70366513 For the title track, I can pick just one I love. 155 00:13:06,450.70366513 --> 00:13:14,430.70366513 I waited by the stage door, packed in with the autograph hounds barking her name, where dogs, the autograph hounds are barking for Kitty the cat. 156 00:13:15,150.70366513 --> 00:13:19,560.70366513 She's painting this relationship between paparazzi and celebrities as antagonistic. 157 00:13:19,560.70366513 --> 00:13:20,490.70366513 It's cats and dogs. 158 00:13:21,480.70366513 --> 00:13:25,410.70366513 But I also love the metaphor of I took her pearls of wisdom, hung them from my neck. 159 00:13:26,205.70366513 --> 00:13:32,55.70366513 So she's twisted this common metaphor, pearls of wisdom, and she uses them as physical pearls. 160 00:13:32,355.70366513 --> 00:13:43,875.70366513 What it means overall is that she listened to kitty's advice, but she does it with this great imagery of taking these pearls of wisdom and then actually putting them on and wearing them, taking them to heart. 161 00:13:44,760.70366513 --> 00:13:54,120.70366513 And then my favorite funny line of the song is, and all the headshot on the walls of the dance hall are the b---hes who wish I'd hurry up and die, but I'm immortal now. 162 00:13:54,120.70366513 --> 00:14:07,920.70366513 Baby dolls, I couldn't, if I tried, we can picture this art deco dance hall where there these all these professional headshots of up and comers, but they'll never stand a chance because kitty will always be number one. 163 00:14:08,555.70366513 --> 00:14:18,905.70366513 But then there's also the double meaning of headshot, which is a shot to the head, and that's reinforced by all the "witches" who wish I'd hurry up and die. 164 00:14:19,475.70366513 --> 00:14:25,745.70366513 So she's so self-aware here, both as Taylor and as Kitty or as the protege Showgirl. 165 00:14:25,745.70366513 --> 00:14:26,675.70366513 She's immortal. 166 00:14:27,60.70366513 --> 00:14:28,770.70366513 No matter what, she's too big to fail. 167 00:14:29,40.70366513 --> 00:14:31,650.70366513 She looms too large over this whole industry. 168 00:14:31,650.70366513 --> 00:14:36,720.70366513 But the message of the song, the title track, is that we don't know the life of a showgirl. 169 00:14:37,500.70366513 --> 00:14:42,90.70366513 And if we did, if we did know it, we wouldn't want it or we wouldn't covet it. 170 00:14:43,110.70366513 --> 00:14:55,50.70366513 And that is a good segue into our exploration of how Taylor got to showgirl, how she got to where she is today, and how this album fits into the larger character arc of Taylor Swift. 171 00:14:55,50.70366513 --> 00:15:08,500.70366513 So how did we get here in the life of showgirl? We're living inside this world that looks beautiful on the outside, but is really harsh and hard to handle on the inside, but we didn't just magically appear here, did we? No. 172 00:15:08,850.70366513 --> 00:15:15,810.70366513 This has been, to quote Taylor, "a long time coming", so I wanna do a brief synopsis of Taylor's career. 173 00:15:16,90.70366513 --> 00:15:20,440.70366513 And the themes in her songwriting that have led up to this showgirl moment. 174 00:15:20,980.70366513 --> 00:15:25,240.70366513 So then we'll have a better idea of how she got here and where we're going next. 175 00:15:25,840.70366513 --> 00:15:28,0.70366513 I'm not gonna recap Taylor's entire career. 176 00:15:28,0.70366513 --> 00:15:31,300.70366513 I have separate videos on that in my Taylor Swift 101 playlist. 177 00:15:31,950.70366513 --> 00:15:43,80.70366513 But I do wanna look at the larger narrative because to put the life of a showgirl into context, if we really wanna understand the album as a whole, we have to look at Taylor's career as kind of a chapter book. 178 00:15:43,80.70366513 --> 00:15:45,540.70366513 We didn't just start with chapter 12. 179 00:15:45,600.70366513 --> 00:15:49,800.70366513 We had chapters one through 11 that all led up to this point. 180 00:15:51,45.70366513 --> 00:16:00,75.70366513 So when Taylor Swift first came on the scene, she was this fresh-faced country, ingenue, but controversy was always, always, always nipping at her heels. 181 00:16:00,75.70366513 --> 00:16:01,245.70366513 Even from the very beginning. 182 00:16:01,275.70366513 --> 00:16:04,515.70366513 It was never, here's your career on a silver platter. 183 00:16:04,995.70366513 --> 00:16:09,45.70366513 It was a struggle, and she's been honest about this struggle with fearless. 184 00:16:09,45.70366513 --> 00:16:11,715.70366513 Even though she won all the awards, they said she couldn't sing. 185 00:16:12,315.70366513 --> 00:16:14,115.70366513 They doubted if she wrote her own songs. 186 00:16:14,115.70366513 --> 00:16:17,655.70366513 They said when she did write her own songs, she was just bashing her ex-boyfriends. 187 00:16:18,690.70366513 --> 00:16:30,30.70366513 But she did then what is now a classic Taylor move, which is to pivot and to pivot so far in the opposite direction that it shuts down the haters or tries to shut down the haters. 188 00:16:30,30.70366513 --> 00:16:39,210.70366513 She tried to prove everyone wrong by writing Speak now entirely on her own, and really amping up her vocal and performance abilities, and it works for a while. 189 00:16:39,510.70366513 --> 00:16:43,920.7036651 But then they just started targeting her personal life since they couldn't criticize her music. 190 00:16:45,315.7036651 --> 00:16:48,295.7036651 In the red era, she is labeled a serial monogamist. 191 00:16:48,315.7036651 --> 00:16:55,845.7036651 She's slut shamed, so she pivots again, coming out with 1989 and not dating anyone so that the tabloids didn't have any more ammunition. 192 00:16:56,595.7036651 --> 00:17:09,160.7036651 It doesn't really work, but Lord knows she tried and then she is quote unquote canceled between 1989 and reputation instead of pivoting right away, though she retreats this time, she regroups. 193 00:17:09,900.7036651 --> 00:17:13,380.7036651 She grows a thicker skin and she reinvents herself again. 194 00:17:14,130.7036651 --> 00:17:20,670.7036651 They call her a snake, so she leans into the snake with reputation and claps back really quite effectively. 195 00:17:20,940.7036651 --> 00:17:20,970.7036651 I. 196 00:17:21,720.7036651 --> 00:17:29,550.7036651 But this is what I see as the beginning of this darkness or the dark side of fame, which will be ever present in her lyrics. 197 00:17:29,550.7036651 --> 00:17:32,190.7036651 From this point forward, it really starts with reputation. 198 00:17:32,970.7036651 --> 00:17:37,290.7036651 There was a little bit of darkness before, but she kept it locked away, sort of behind the scenes. 199 00:17:37,475.7036651 --> 00:17:45,905.7036651 But what we didn't know at the time, but that we know now, is that after reputation, she would be in a battle to regain control and ownership of her life's work. 200 00:17:46,445.7036651 --> 00:17:49,175.7036651 She wasn't just dealing with her reputation being destroyed. 201 00:17:49,175.7036651 --> 00:17:56,225.7036651 She also had left her record label and left her master recordings behind because she had to. 202 00:17:56,225.7036651 --> 00:17:57,455.7036651 She was really forced to. 203 00:17:58,355.7036651 --> 00:18:08,855.7036651 She had always been experiencing this dark side of the music industry and dark side of celebrity, but I think this is the crucial turning point that informs every album from here on out. 204 00:18:08,855.7036651 --> 00:18:20,765.7036651 She had this incredibly tough situation going on behind the scenes, and this is where these really big existential questions start to blossom about the nature of fame, about the power of the patriarchy. 205 00:18:21,365.7036651 --> 00:18:24,575.7036651 They really begin to seep into her writing here with reputation. 206 00:18:25,760.7036651 --> 00:18:26,900.7036651 With lover, she rebrands. 207 00:18:26,900.7036651 --> 00:18:34,570.7036651 Again, looking at the more optimistic side of things, but even though Lover is color coded as happy, and it's the first album that she owns outright. 208 00:18:35,245.7036651 --> 00:18:36,445.7036651 The darkness is still there. 209 00:18:36,805.7036651 --> 00:18:39,595.7036651 It's not a cheerful album if you really look at it. 210 00:18:39,675.7036651 --> 00:18:46,815.7036651 And it's from Lover that we get what I see as Taylor Swift's thesis statement, both on her career and on love. 211 00:18:47,355.7036651 --> 00:18:49,875.7036651 That will be present for all of her albums to come. 212 00:18:49,875.7036651 --> 00:18:51,675.7036651 And the thesis statement is this. 213 00:18:52,275.7036651 --> 00:19:09,855.7036651 Who could ever leave me darling, but who could stay? This line from the Archer really sums up these two parts of herself that are at war, right? There's the private girl who wants a private life and to be truly loved, and the pop star whose life gets in the way of the girl underneath. 214 00:19:10,215.7036651 --> 00:19:16,785.7036651 So, who could stay? Who could tolerate this life with me? But who could leave? I'm, I'm Taylor Swift. 215 00:19:16,785.7036651 --> 00:19:17,565.7036651 I'm amazing. 216 00:19:17,565.7036651 --> 00:19:24,510.7036651 Who wouldn't wanna be with me? So after Lover is released, then you all know what happens. 217 00:19:24,510.7036651 --> 00:19:27,0.7036651 The pandemic hits, the Lover Tour is canceled. 218 00:19:27,510.7036651 --> 00:19:33,570.7036651 She pivots once more, leaning into indie folk vibes and putting out folklore and evermore back to back. 219 00:19:34,260.7036651 --> 00:19:39,780.7036651 These are really deep, really introspective albums and sometimes very dark albums. 220 00:19:40,440.7036651 --> 00:19:45,90.7036651 She's fully relinquished any of the brightness that Lover tried to offer. 221 00:19:45,893.3910469 --> 00:19:58,73.3910469 It is from folklore that we get Mirrorball, which is really important, maybe her most important song in her songs about fame, and we'll really dig into Mirrorball in relation to showgirl shortly. 222 00:19:58,853.3910469 --> 00:20:02,423.3910469 Then after the folkmore era, the world reopens. 223 00:20:02,843.3910469 --> 00:20:05,33.3910469 And she comes back out with midnights. 224 00:20:05,483.3910469 --> 00:20:10,793.3910469 Looking back at all of the sleepless nights for life, the unanswered questions, these long, dark nights of the soul. 225 00:20:11,453.3910469 --> 00:20:18,503.3910469 This darkness and the dark side of fame is really heavy on this album, but then we get an interesting juxtaposition. 226 00:20:19,133.3910469 --> 00:20:22,613.3910469 The eras tour starts and career wise, she is on top of the world. 227 00:20:22,613.3910469 --> 00:20:23,693.3910469 She breaks all the records. 228 00:20:23,693.3910469 --> 00:20:24,713.3910469 She's everywhere. 229 00:20:24,713.3910469 --> 00:20:26,183.3910469 She's more visible than she's ever been. 230 00:20:26,183.3910469 --> 00:20:28,43.3910469 She's more popular than she's ever been. 231 00:20:28,523.3910469 --> 00:20:31,43.3910469 And she also begins to release the rerecord. 232 00:20:31,903.3910469 --> 00:20:42,373.3910469 With the goal in mind, to essentially devalue whoever owns her first six albums, if she can't own them, she'll try to make them worthless to whomever does own them. 233 00:20:43,183.3910469 --> 00:20:44,623.3910469 So on the surface, she has it all. 234 00:20:44,773.3910469 --> 00:20:46,693.3910469 She's putting on the greatest show of all time. 235 00:20:46,753.3910469 --> 00:20:51,973.3910469 She's successfully releasing the rerecord, but underneath there is something missing. 236 00:20:51,973.3910469 --> 00:20:59,773.3910469 And though her songwriting has already reflected this for quite some time, she really, really is going to get into it in her next album. 237 00:21:00,913.3910469 --> 00:21:08,743.3910469 During this stretch of really prolific songwriting, four studio albums in three years, we can kind of glean that there's two things missing. 238 00:21:09,73.3910469 --> 00:21:12,583.3910469 Number one, a real partner, and number two, her life's work. 239 00:21:13,273.3910469 --> 00:21:16,783.3910469 So while she's spinning on her tallest tiptoes every night on the Airs tour. 240 00:21:17,353.3910469 --> 00:21:19,543.3910469 And on the outside, she's in her glittering prime. 241 00:21:19,543.3910469 --> 00:21:22,63.3910469 It seems that on the inside she's falling apart. 242 00:21:22,873.3910469 --> 00:21:39,73.3910469 And this becomes really, really apparent when she releases the tortured poets department midway through the eras tour, after a breakup with her longtime partner and a short-lived in incredibly polarizing fling, which was maybe after a long situationship. 243 00:21:39,73.3910469 --> 00:21:42,913.3910469 We don't know with fellow pop star Matty Healy of the 1975. 244 00:21:43,738.3910469 --> 00:21:48,478.3910469 It seems she is in the darkest, most introspective place she has ever been. 245 00:21:49,318.3910469 --> 00:21:54,538.3910469 TTPD is the darkest of the dark, and it really addresses this internal battle head on. 246 00:21:54,538.3910469 --> 00:22:01,678.3910469 It's not just an album about heartbreak, it's really an album about why she keeps experiencing this heartbreak. 247 00:22:02,518.3910469 --> 00:22:07,468.3910469 And she seems to think it's because of this fame monster it always gets in the way. 248 00:22:08,338.3910469 --> 00:22:14,698.3910469 So torture poets more than any other song or album before really addresses her relationship with her own persona. 249 00:22:15,238.3910469 --> 00:22:17,158.3910469 The relationship between Taylor Swift Inc. 250 00:22:17,428.3910469 --> 00:22:18,448.3910469 And Taylor Swift. 251 00:22:18,668.3910469 --> 00:22:31,358.3910469 Human girl, and she wrote and released it at a time when her daily life was to be one person for the crowd, be Taylor Swift, the pop star every night, but behind the scenes, she was doing it with a broken heart. 252 00:22:31,388.3910469 --> 00:22:34,28.3910469 She was the mirror ball on stage and off stage. 253 00:22:34,28.3910469 --> 00:22:35,588.3910469 She was shattered on the floor. 254 00:22:36,628.3910469 --> 00:22:45,538.3910469 So since TTPD comes right before Showgirl, we have to look at it a little more closely to really understand where she was and where she's going. 255 00:22:46,348.3910469 --> 00:22:53,698.3910469 And the songs on TTPD that I think give us the most critical context for what Showgirl contains are. 256 00:22:54,178.3910469 --> 00:22:55,258.3910469 But Daddy, I love him. 257 00:22:55,318.3910469 --> 00:22:56,578.3910469 Who's afraid of little old me. 258 00:22:56,668.3910469 --> 00:22:57,838.3910469 I could do it with a broken heart. 259 00:22:57,958.3910469 --> 00:22:58,408.3910469 Clara Bow. 260 00:22:58,708.3910469 --> 00:22:59,638.3910469 I hate it here. 261 00:22:59,668.3910469 --> 00:23:01,18.3910469 And the Prophecy. 262 00:23:01,828.3910469 --> 00:23:08,428.3910469 These are all songs that really discuss her relationship with fame, and I'll link my lyrical analysis for each of these below in the show notes. 263 00:23:08,428.3910469 --> 00:23:09,478.3910469 If you wanna dive in further. 264 00:23:10,18.3910469 --> 00:23:16,978.3910469 I hope to begin some episodes on TTPD once I finish Showgirl, but you can read the text version for now if you want to in. 265 00:23:17,8.3910469 --> 00:23:17,848.3910469 But Daddy, I love him. 266 00:23:17,848.3910469 --> 00:23:30,388.3910469 She's drawing this distinction between her private relationship and this pair social relationship, her fans and her critics have with her in whose fray of a little old me, she is commenting on how large she looms in the industry. 267 00:23:31,18.3910469 --> 00:23:32,338.3910469 And I can do it with a broken heart. 268 00:23:32,338.3910469 --> 00:23:39,388.3910469 She's discussing pretty overtly private versus public life and how one always gets in the way of the other. 269 00:23:40,48.3910469 --> 00:23:52,468.3910469 In Clara B, she's talking about the expectations of women in the public eye and the drawbacks of this extreme level of fame, and in, I hate it Here, she's talking about how she mentally and emotionally just checks out of this life because it's too much. 270 00:23:53,158.3910469 --> 00:23:59,773.3910469 And finally, in the prophecy, she prays for a real partner because this pedestal of fame is incredibly lonely at the top. 271 00:24:01,183.3910469 --> 00:24:05,53.3910469 So these are all songs that describe this entire world that she's created. 272 00:24:05,563.3910469 --> 00:24:14,953.3910469 And while on the outside this life looks like her glittering prime on the inside, it's really lonely in creating this massive career. 273 00:24:15,553.3910469 --> 00:24:18,853.3910469 She's almost made herself unreachable or untouchable. 274 00:24:19,93.3910469 --> 00:24:22,253.3910469 The show has become bigger than the girl and the show gets in the way of the girl. 275 00:24:24,163.3910469 --> 00:24:30,703.3910469 This is a big theme on TTPD, and it seems to be the larger question she's trying to answer in showgirl. 276 00:24:31,273.3910469 --> 00:24:52,768.3910469 Can I have it both ways? Can I have this private life while maintaining this massive public career? Is it a catch 22? Can I be this private person when I'm required to be a very public person? And can anyone stand beside me when there are spotlights shining on us 24 7 and every move we make is dissected to death. 277 00:24:54,58.3910469 --> 00:25:03,328.3910469 It's also important to remember that through this whole rollercoaster ride, it wasn't only an emotional battle, it was also a physical battle because she was trying to regain control of her masters. 278 00:25:03,928.3910469 --> 00:25:10,288.3910469 So it's not only this internal power struggle, the showgirl versus the girl, it's an external power struggle. 279 00:25:10,318.3910469 --> 00:25:13,768.3910469 The man who owns her music versus the woman who created it. 280 00:25:14,338.3910469 --> 00:25:35,698.3910469 So through this whole career and songwriting trajectory, we can see that she was heading in this direction, right? Like the evidence we already had the songs, the albums, the lyrics tells us that she was and is struggling with I, I'm just gonna call it the fame monster 'cause I don't know what else to call it, it, but it is, it's a monster. 281 00:25:36,898.3910469 --> 00:25:40,858.3910469 And that there are these two sides of herself that are almost different people. 282 00:25:40,858.3910469 --> 00:25:41,368.3910469 The showgirl. 283 00:25:42,43.3910469 --> 00:25:42,913.3910469 And just the girl. 284 00:25:43,753.3910469 --> 00:25:59,653.3910469 And while most of us, I don't think believed that life of a showgirl would head quite so strongly in this direction after TTPD, we maybe thought it would be more focused on her life behind the scenes of the eras tour,I don't think we should be surprised that it does. 285 00:25:59,683.3910469 --> 00:26:02,113.3910469 She was heading this way for quite some time. 286 00:26:02,773.3910469 --> 00:26:04,513.3910469 Ann is right there in the title. 287 00:26:04,513.3910469 --> 00:26:07,273.3910469 It's The Life of a Showgirl, not the Life of Taylor Swift. 288 00:26:08,233.3910469 --> 00:26:14,293.3910469 So we can see the direction she was heading, but then we got our first plot twist in May of 2025. 289 00:26:14,293.3910469 --> 00:26:18,703.3910469 Taylor announced that she had finally acquired the master recordings of her first six albums. 290 00:26:19,243.3910469 --> 00:26:24,43.3910469 So this long running battle to reclaim her life's work was over and she had won. 291 00:26:25,168.3910469 --> 00:26:30,598.3910469 And then the rerecord were suddenly over this entire war, this whole master's dispute was just done. 292 00:26:31,228.3910469 --> 00:26:35,398.3910469 So something that was likely causing a lot of tension and angst behind the scenes was finished. 293 00:26:36,258.3910469 --> 00:26:40,878.3910469 and then we got another big plot twist, another big battle that she had been fighting. 294 00:26:41,478.3910469 --> 00:26:48,828.3910469 Who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay? This was also over and the war was all but won. 295 00:26:48,888.3910469 --> 00:27:01,218.3910469 Travis Kelsey proposed apparently right after she announced this album, and the timing of both the Masters purchase and the proposal are murky in the sense that we don't know how long the masters repurchase was in the works. 296 00:27:01,608.3910469 --> 00:27:03,498.3910469 This was probably a long time coming. 297 00:27:03,498.3910469 --> 00:27:14,448.3910469 But what this really does, these two events in Taylor's life, it sets up Showgirl to be at Victory Lap, right? She's just gone through the most prolific songwriting years of her life. 298 00:27:14,448.3910469 --> 00:27:19,638.3910469 She's successfully rerecorded four of her previous albums, which no artist had ever done before. 299 00:27:19,998.3910469 --> 00:27:23,743.3910469 She's just wrapped up the, eras tour the most successful tour of all time. 300 00:27:24,408.3910469 --> 00:27:29,388.3910469 She's just gotten her long desired Masters back and she's just found real love. 301 00:27:30,258.3910469 --> 00:27:47,328.3910469 So showgirl was poised to be a victory lap in every sense, but, and there's a big, but all those positive, incredible things can't wipe away The very real conflict that this extreme level of fame and success brings to the table. 302 00:27:47,928.3910469 --> 00:27:56,178.3910469 What she's been writing about for a long time is the internal battle that all of these external forces cause and that internal conflict, we could argue. 303 00:27:57,18.3910469 --> 00:28:14,568.3910469 it's even more amplified now that she's in this private relationship with someone who is also famous in his own right and in this relationship that generates opinions and press every waking moment of every day, even when she's not touring, even when she's not doing interviews, even when she's not physically in the public eye. 304 00:28:15,478.3910469 --> 00:28:18,418.3910469 And then we may never know the timing of all of these things. 305 00:28:18,418.3910469 --> 00:28:32,188.3910469 When showgirl songs were finalized and written and recorded, when the masters were secured, when her private relationships began and ended, we can assume that all along this central battle is never ending. 306 00:28:32,818.3910469 --> 00:28:34,348.3910469 No matter what is happening on the outside. 307 00:28:34,348.3910469 --> 00:28:36,328.3910469 She's still incredibly famous. 308 00:28:36,388.3910469 --> 00:28:38,248.3910469 She's still incredibly scrutinized. 309 00:28:38,578.3910469 --> 00:28:40,558.3910469 She's still living with the fame monster. 310 00:28:41,488.3910469 --> 00:28:43,588.3910469 No matter what's going on on the outside. 311 00:28:44,568.3910469 --> 00:28:49,668.3910469 I think to look at this album and to look at where she's been, and then finally to find out where she's going. 312 00:28:50,208.3910469 --> 00:28:52,578.3910469 We have to take all of this into account. 313 00:28:52,628.3910469 --> 00:29:01,268.3910469 Even though the skies are looking a lot brighter recently, she's still been discussing this dark side of fame and the dark side of her career for a really long time. 314 00:29:02,288.3910469 --> 00:29:10,958.3910469 So is showgirl part victory lap and part lamentation of all of that she's been through and all that, she continues to go through. 315 00:29:11,843.3910469 --> 00:29:13,253.3910469 It definitely can be both. 316 00:29:13,523.3910469 --> 00:29:18,593.3910469 And as things go with Taylor, sometimes it's never just what it seems on the surface. 317 00:29:19,973.3910469 --> 00:29:31,883.3910469 So as we go through some of these major themes of the album that I've already hinted at, just keep in mind where she's come from and what happened recently, and then next week we're gonna try to see where she's going next. 318 00:29:32,453.3910469 --> 00:29:35,183.3910469 I don't know, but it's fun to look at the patterns and make some guesses. 319 00:29:35,273.3910469 --> 00:29:39,623.3910469 We're not gonna go full on clowning mode, but we can look at the data and see what it tells us. 320 00:29:40,73.3910469 --> 00:29:47,453.3910469 So let's take a deeper look into Showgirl as a whole, as its own story in the context of this sort of larger story. 321 00:29:48,233.3910469 --> 00:29:50,213.3910469 And we'll start with the first major album theme. 322 00:29:50,333.3910469 --> 00:29:53,453.3910469 We're going to dive into this duality of self. 323 00:29:53,573.3910469 --> 00:29:57,983.3910469 The Taylor has been ruminating on for a while, the showgirl versus the girl. 324 00:29:57,983.3910469 --> 00:30:04,583.3910469 If I had to pick just one theme for this album that describes it in a nutshell, it is this, the duality of a showgirl. 325 00:30:04,583.3910469 --> 00:30:11,33.3910469 There is the showgirl, the persona that she puts on this life that she has built that's become so large and unmanageable. 326 00:30:11,813.3910469 --> 00:30:15,708.3910469 And then there's the girl underneath these two selves, Taylor Swift, Inc. 327 00:30:15,848.3910469 --> 00:30:17,788.3910469 Versus Taylor Swift, human girl. 328 00:30:18,748.3910469 --> 00:30:23,728.3910469 Want and need very different things and they've been at war for quite a few albums and eras now. 329 00:30:23,728.3910469 --> 00:30:33,238.3910469 And this kind of existential question, will I ever get to have it both ways is something she's been worrying about basically since she got super famous. 330 00:30:33,268.3910469 --> 00:30:39,868.3910469 But for me, this worry, this question really starts where most things start with reputation. 331 00:30:40,643.3910469 --> 00:30:47,843.3910469 And if we had to pinpoint the very song in which she first started talking about these things directly, it would have to be delicate. 332 00:30:48,263.3910469 --> 00:30:50,663.3910469 My reputation's never been worse, so you must like me. 333 00:30:50,663.3910469 --> 00:30:57,983.3910469 For me, this line is describing these two sides of herself, her inner self versus her reputation. 334 00:30:57,983.3910469 --> 00:31:00,983.3910469 That thing on the outside that people see and people judge. 335 00:31:01,658.3910469 --> 00:31:03,188.3910469 Those are separate things. 336 00:31:03,488.3910469 --> 00:31:12,578.3910469 One part of her pop star Taylor, the persona she puts on for the world, can get in the way of the girl underneath who wants a private life and a private love. 337 00:31:13,358.3910469 --> 00:31:19,138.3910469 And in this earlier era, the reputation era, she also gets into this in detail in Call What you Want. 338 00:31:19,703.3910469 --> 00:31:23,218.3910469 And then in her next album on Lover with the Archer. 339 00:31:24,118.3910469 --> 00:31:31,858.3910469 But the song that I think most clearly describes these two sides of herself is definitely mirror ball from folklore. 340 00:31:32,458.3910469 --> 00:31:34,348.3910469 I want you to know I'm a mirror ball. 341 00:31:34,348.3910469 --> 00:31:36,238.3910469 I'll show you every version of yourself tonight. 342 00:31:36,928.3910469 --> 00:31:38,218.3910469 I'll get you out on the floor. 343 00:31:38,248.3910469 --> 00:31:39,508.3910469 Shimmering beautiful. 344 00:31:39,718.3910469 --> 00:31:42,208.3910469 And when I break, it's in a million pieces. 345 00:31:43,228.3910469 --> 00:31:48,748.3910469 The mirror ball is this public facing persona, the entertainer, the pop star. 346 00:31:48,748.3910469 --> 00:31:52,858.3910469 She's spinning on her tallest tiptoes, trying her hardest. 347 00:31:53,353.3910469 --> 00:31:56,173.3910469 Trying to be the best, trying to make us love her. 348 00:31:57,13.3910469 --> 00:32:05,413.3910469 She reflects back what we want to see in ourselves, but then the mirror ball breaks, the illusion shatters and what happens next. 349 00:32:05,413.3910469 --> 00:32:13,63.3910469 We use her pain as entertainment we're the masquerade revelers drunk as they watch my shattered edges. 350 00:32:13,63.3910469 --> 00:32:13,693.3910469 Glisten. 351 00:32:14,38.3910469 --> 00:32:23,218.3910469 These are the two lives, the two sides of Taylor Swift, the glittering mirror ball, spinning to entertain, and the broken shards on the floor. 352 00:32:23,218.3910469 --> 00:32:24,448.3910469 We stare at both. 353 00:32:24,688.3910469 --> 00:32:27,568.3910469 We expect both to perform for us. 354 00:32:27,808.3910469 --> 00:32:31,888.3910469 If it's not spinning on the ceiling, we'll still watch it shattered on the floor. 355 00:32:31,918.3910469 --> 00:32:39,598.3910469 Both are interesting to look at for different reasons, but in neither case do we see the mirror ball as fully human. 356 00:32:40,508.3910469 --> 00:32:41,888.3910469 We don't really care about. 357 00:32:41,918.3910469 --> 00:32:52,246.1676377 The girl underneath the show is essentially what she's saying in Mirror, and this really sets up this dual self that she's exploring so thoroughly in Showgirl. 358 00:32:52,876.1676377 --> 00:32:57,916.1676377 And again, it's right there in the title, the Life of a Showgirl, not the Life of Taylor Swift. 359 00:32:58,636.1676377 --> 00:33:03,676.1676377 So not only does Showgirl pick up these themes that she's discussed in Mirrorball. 360 00:33:04,626.1676377 --> 00:33:10,206.1676377 I think she's specifically calling out mirror ball in her album imagery on the cover. 361 00:33:10,206.1676377 --> 00:33:12,576.1676377 She's in full showgirl garb. 362 00:33:12,576.1676377 --> 00:33:17,916.1676377 She's wrapped in rhinestones like a mirror ball, and the edges are shattered. 363 00:33:18,6.1676377 --> 00:33:27,336.1676377 This image is fractured into these broken pieces, so she's just barely head above water in the bathtub wearing this mirror ball like bodysuit. 364 00:33:28,296.1676377 --> 00:33:31,206.1676377 And when does she get into the bath After the show. 365 00:33:31,686.1676377 --> 00:33:42,756.1676377 After the showgirl exits the stage and steps away from the show, she's still wearing the trappings of this life, this costume, this armor, these mirrored pieces, and it's heavy. 366 00:33:42,816.1676377 --> 00:33:44,616.1676377 It's weighing heavily on her. 367 00:33:45,246.1676377 --> 00:33:54,336.1676377 And yes, this image alludes to the John Everett Malay Ophelia painting, Ophelia drowning, and the head above water is her. 368 00:33:54,336.1676377 --> 00:33:58,626.1676377 Not quite drowning, but the implication is there, right? Like it might drown her. 369 00:33:59,386.1676377 --> 00:34:07,336.1676377 This showgirl life is a big weight to bear, and it may have shattered her or tried to shatter her as reflected in the cover. 370 00:34:08,386.1676377 --> 00:34:21,166.1676377 So there's the title and the cover, and then she also presented this theme, this duality of self, the mirror ball, and the broken glass from the jump in the prologue poem in the very first poem that was on the baby. 371 00:34:21,166.1676377 --> 00:34:22,966.1676377 That's show business variant, she says. 372 00:34:23,256.1676377 --> 00:34:32,196.1676377 We learn these tricks of the trade, the flesh toned bandage wrap covered by skin colored fishnets because you will cover the wound no matter how deep it is. 373 00:34:33,216.1676377 --> 00:34:42,366.1676377 In this scene, in the poem she's putting on her costume, her armor, and she's covering both the physical and emotional wounds that this life has inflicted upon her. 374 00:34:43,86.1676377 --> 00:34:50,946.1676377 This isn't just a physical costume, it's a metaphor for how the show must go on, no matter how the girl is feeling, no matter if the girl wants to go on or not. 375 00:34:51,351.1676377 --> 00:34:59,31.1676377 It doesn't matter if she's broken into a million pieces, she has to put herself back together and be the mirror ball on stage the show is bigger than the girl. 376 00:34:59,931.1676377 --> 00:35:08,961.1676377 She'll pick up the pieces, stuff them inside the flesh toned bandage wrap, covered by skin colored fishnets, and get herself out on stage to do her job. 377 00:35:09,471.1676377 --> 00:35:12,81.1676377 And in the life of Taylor Swift Human. 378 00:35:12,606.1676377 --> 00:35:15,216.1676377 The show of Taylor Swift, Inc. 379 00:35:15,846.1676377 --> 00:35:18,6.1676377 Has become so much bigger than the girl underneath. 380 00:35:18,36.1676377 --> 00:35:29,916.1676377 That's what she's really grappling with, and I think many, many songs and many lyrics on this album juxtapose these two sides of herself and describe how they've been in conflict with one another. 381 00:35:29,916.1676377 --> 00:35:39,756.1676377 So from the very first track, the Fate of Ophelia, she dives into this duality, both with comparing herself to Ophelia from Hamlet, and with the important line. 382 00:35:40,86.1676377 --> 00:35:42,366.1676377 All that time, I sat alone in my tower. 383 00:35:43,656.1676377 --> 00:35:54,156.1676377 So she's setting up this duality in a really interesting way that calls back to one of her longest recurring metaphors, which is her career as her castle or her kingdom. 384 00:35:54,966.1676377 --> 00:35:58,596.1676377 This really started way back in Long Live, and it's continued through. 385 00:35:58,596.1676377 --> 00:35:59,616.1676377 Look what you made me do. 386 00:35:59,616.1676377 --> 00:36:01,206.1676377 This is why we can't have nice things. 387 00:36:01,266.1676377 --> 00:36:03,486.1676377 Call it what you want, the Archer Castle's crumbling. 388 00:36:03,696.1676377 --> 00:36:11,16.1676377 Long story short, et cetera, and in upcoming episodes, I'm gonna dive into her use of fairytale metaphors that describe her career. 389 00:36:11,706.1676377 --> 00:36:14,316.1676377 Because she's used them for a very long time and she's them a lot. 390 00:36:15,306.1676377 --> 00:36:30,216.1676377 So taking what we know about Taylor's recurring castles and kingdoms in Ophelia, all that time, I sat alone in my tower, really means all that time I spent alone in this self-made kingdom, my massive career. 391 00:36:30,966.1676377 --> 00:36:37,896.1676377 It isolated me from having real, meaningful relationships this life, the castle I've built, the persona I've built. 392 00:36:38,616.1676377 --> 00:36:42,396.1676377 Is a fortress built to protect me, but what it really does is keep people out. 393 00:36:43,476.1676377 --> 00:36:49,146.1676377 This life that I live is too crazy for most people to withstand the outer me Taylor Swift, the castle. 394 00:36:49,146.1676377 --> 00:36:51,726.1676377 The kingdom prevents inner me. 395 00:36:51,936.1676377 --> 00:36:54,966.1676377 Taylor Swift, the human who is alone. 396 00:36:56,166.1676377 --> 00:36:59,976.1676377 Prevents me from living a normal life with normal relationships. 397 00:37:00,696.1676377 --> 00:37:03,396.1676377 So she set up this dual self in Ophelia. 398 00:37:03,396.1676377 --> 00:37:05,916.1676377 And then this theme goes on in Elizabeth Taylor. 399 00:37:06,486.1676377 --> 00:37:17,136.1676377 And this is a song from the Jump that we knew would be probably about fame, right? Because Elizabeth Taylor was the Taylor Swift of her time, the most famous, the most criticized, the most photographed person on the planet. 400 00:37:17,826.1676377 --> 00:37:30,336.1676377 And in the song she has a conversation with Elizabeth Taylor as a mentor and asks another really existential question, do you think it's forever? And this is a really loaded question. 401 00:37:30,336.1676377 --> 00:37:31,176.1676377 It could mean. 402 00:37:31,581.1676377 --> 00:37:45,411.1676377 Is this dual life? I have to live forever? Or is there someone who can love both the showgirl and the girl? It could mean this new love that I found, will it last or will he run away like all the rest because my career drives people away. 403 00:37:45,801.1676377 --> 00:37:52,101.1676377 It could mean is fame forever or will I get canceled again? It could mean is my legacy forever. 404 00:37:52,761.1676377 --> 00:37:57,561.1676377 It could mean so many things, but they all tie back to this duality between the showgirl and the girl. 405 00:37:58,251.1676377 --> 00:38:20,871.1676377 Will the show go on forever? And if it does what? What does that mean for the girl? What is there gonna be left of the girl? Then in eldest daughter, she goes deeper and she gets more vulnerable On this theme, in this track five, she really confronts these two sides of herself directly in a pretty vulnerable way, and we also get a bit of an origin story of these two selves. 406 00:38:21,471.1676377 --> 00:38:26,601.1676377 She describes these tough facades that eldest daughters put on to protect ourselves. 407 00:38:26,601.1676377 --> 00:38:36,171.1676377 We dress up as wolves on the outside, but on the inside we're a little red riding hood, and in eldest daughter, she tells us explicitly that stuff I show on the outside. 408 00:38:36,831.1676377 --> 00:38:42,681.1676377 That's a front, that hard exterior, that showgirl, that's not who I really am. 409 00:38:42,681.1676377 --> 00:38:47,331.1676377 Underneath, on the inside I'm vulnerable and I have real desires and real needs. 410 00:38:48,216.1676377 --> 00:38:53,141.1676377 To survive this insane life that I've built, though I have to pretend to be unbothered just to get by. 411 00:38:54,741.1676377 --> 00:39:00,171.1676377 But I think her most direct confrontation of this dual self comes in the title Track, the Life of Showgirl. 412 00:39:00,531.1676377 --> 00:39:09,51.1676377 And though it's telling the story of this seasoned showgirl kitty who made her money being pretty and witty, we can see that in the end it's really about Taylor herself. 413 00:39:09,531.1676377 --> 00:39:21,406.1676377 And this closing track really summarizes this entire theme where we meet Kitty and we hear from this aspiring showgirl or showgirls plural, who want the life of fame and fortune that Kitty has. 414 00:39:22,431.1676377 --> 00:39:27,141.1676377 But this OG showgirl tells them directly, you don't know the life of showgirl babe. 415 00:39:27,891.1676377 --> 00:39:29,151.1676377 You don't know what it's really like. 416 00:39:29,211.1676377 --> 00:39:33,711.1676377 On the inside, you see the sequins and the autograph hounds and the lipstick and lace. 417 00:39:33,711.1676377 --> 00:39:40,461.1676377 You don't see what really happens behind the scenes and what it really takes to get this life, to maintain this life. 418 00:39:42,141.1676377 --> 00:39:51,741.1676377 Then we get kitty's backstory, which is probably also Taylor's backstory, where she says she would sell her soul to have a taste of the magnificent life. 419 00:39:51,801.1676377 --> 00:39:52,731.1676377 That's all mine. 420 00:39:53,901.1676377 --> 00:39:56,241.1676377 That's the price of being showgirl, selling her soul. 421 00:39:56,631.1676377 --> 00:39:59,31.1676377 And then Kitty's Protege does sell her soul. 422 00:39:59,751.1676377 --> 00:40:02,391.1676377 She gets success through becoming tough as nails. 423 00:40:02,391.1676377 --> 00:40:10,176.1676377 And we know that she's sold her soul because she asks, do you wanna take a skate on the ice inside of my veins? She is no longer human. 424 00:40:10,206.1676377 --> 00:40:13,386.1676377 She sold her soul to the devil for success. 425 00:40:14,796.1676377 --> 00:40:17,706.1676377 She played and she paid, and she paid a lot. 426 00:40:17,706.1676377 --> 00:40:25,416.1676377 She pays the ultimate price, and in the end we find out that our showgirl, narrator, or narrators are married to the hustle. 427 00:40:26,496.1676377 --> 00:40:32,106.1676377 They chose the showgirl life, the celebrity life, and sacrificed their private life to get there. 428 00:40:32,736.1676377 --> 00:40:33,606.1676377 And these two. 429 00:40:33,876.1676377 --> 00:40:36,336.1676377 Sides of the showgirl that permeate this album. 430 00:40:36,936.1676377 --> 00:40:42,756.1676377 There's the showgirl, the perfect specimen who lives in a tower and seems to have it all and has ice for veins. 431 00:40:42,816.1676377 --> 00:40:49,866.1676377 That's the showgirl we see on the outside, the one who's on stage and makes all the money and is built to entertain, to be our dance monkey. 432 00:40:50,391.1676377 --> 00:40:59,541.1676377 But then there's this inner girl, the girl inside the show, she got sacrificed in the name of the production, in the name of success. 433 00:40:59,541.1676377 --> 00:41:02,121.1676377 She's the soul that was sold to get there. 434 00:41:03,81.1676377 --> 00:41:04,461.1676377 We don't get to know her. 435 00:41:04,851.1676377 --> 00:41:09,666.1676377 We only get to know the life of a showgirl because that's what we see on the outside. 436 00:41:10,431.1676377 --> 00:41:11,541.1676377 So you don't know. 437 00:41:11,541.1676377 --> 00:41:24,681.1676377 The life of Showgirl babe really means I'm two different people and you have to be two different people To survive this life, you have to be the public facing person and only let the crowd see what you want them to see. 438 00:41:24,681.1676377 --> 00:41:26,781.1676377 You have to make it look easy. 439 00:41:27,741.1676377 --> 00:41:29,961.1676377 You can't let them know the struggle because if they knew. 440 00:41:30,756.1676377 --> 00:41:34,956.1676377 If they knew the real life of a showgirl, they wouldn't believe the illusion anymore. 441 00:41:35,466.1676377 --> 00:41:37,416.1676377 You'd no longer be the mirror ball. 442 00:41:37,416.1676377 --> 00:41:39,426.1676377 You'd be the broken shards on the floor. 443 00:41:39,426.1676377 --> 00:41:43,296.1676377 They'd be examining you and gawing at you for the wrong reasons. 444 00:41:44,256.1676377 --> 00:41:51,426.1676377 The life of a showgirl is trying your best to stay intact as the mirror ball to keep up the illusion. 445 00:41:52,611.1676377 --> 00:41:56,511.1676377 So these two selves are at war with one another throughout this album. 446 00:41:56,571.1676377 --> 00:42:00,471.1676377 And in some songs it feels like the showgirl gets the last laugh. 447 00:42:01,71.1676377 --> 00:42:06,231.1676377 But in some songs we do get to hear from the really vulnerable girl on the inside. 448 00:42:07,401.1676377 --> 00:42:14,871.1676377 But through the whole of this album, these two sides of Taylor Swift are not only battling against one another, they also have a common enemy. 449 00:42:15,471.1676377 --> 00:42:18,381.1676377 And that enemy is the business we call show. 450 00:42:18,381.1676377 --> 00:42:24,291.1676377 And that brings us to our next discussion on the themes of this album, which is The Dark Side of Celebrity. 451 00:42:25,731.1676377 --> 00:42:33,411.1676377 in this album, Taylor has described these two sides of herself, the showgirl and the girl, but there's also two sides to the show itself. 452 00:42:33,831.1676377 --> 00:42:36,276.1676377 There's this whole world behind the curtain that we don't get to see. 453 00:42:36,951.1676377 --> 00:42:41,121.1676377 And if we did see it, we would never want this life or covet this life that she has. 454 00:42:41,991.1676377 --> 00:42:45,531.1676377 This theme is also really reflected in the title and in the cover. 455 00:42:45,591.1676377 --> 00:42:54,111.1676377 And if we look at this bathtub image, again, it's a little ominous, right? Like she could drown and that water is pretty close to coming over her head. 456 00:42:54,111.1676377 --> 00:42:57,501.1676377 That's the darkness that kind of looms over this whole album. 457 00:42:57,501.1676377 --> 00:43:03,771.1676377 Fame isn't something that you should want, and fame has this dark, scary underworld that us. 458 00:43:03,996.1676377 --> 00:43:07,26.1676377 You know, mere mortals, mere civilians never get to see. 459 00:43:08,16.1676377 --> 00:43:11,616.1676377 And actually, all of the images for this album are really dark. 460 00:43:11,736.1676377 --> 00:43:14,406.1676377 The lighting is dim and it's dim. 461 00:43:14,406.1676377 --> 00:43:19,26.1676377 While she is in this full showgirl garb on stage, or in a dark theater. 462 00:43:19,656.1676377 --> 00:43:23,376.1676377 The show and putting on the show isn't light and bright and cheery. 463 00:43:23,376.1676377 --> 00:43:27,246.1676377 It's dark and it's dangerous, and it's full of obstacles and illusions. 464 00:43:27,906.1676377 --> 00:43:32,226.1676377 She's telling us just in the imagery alone that it's not all sunshines and rainbows. 465 00:43:33,426.1676377 --> 00:43:39,906.1676377 But she's told us this for a really long time, and as most things do, it goes back again to reputation. 466 00:43:40,836.1676377 --> 00:43:43,596.1676377 She wrote this album after a huge professional setback. 467 00:43:43,596.1676377 --> 00:43:46,116.1676377 She was canceled, quote unquote canceled. 468 00:43:46,446.1676377 --> 00:43:50,256.1676377 And a lot of the songs on reputation deal with the aftermath of this big realization. 469 00:43:50,256.1676377 --> 00:43:53,76.1676377 Fame in success aren't permanent. 470 00:43:53,136.1676377 --> 00:44:00,336.1676377 They can be yanked away at a moment's notice many of the songs on reputation are talking about this precarious nature of fame. 471 00:44:00,336.1676377 --> 00:44:02,526.1676377 There's delicate, which we've already discussed. 472 00:44:03,96.1676377 --> 00:44:04,446.1676377 There's look up, you made me. 473 00:44:04,446.1676377 --> 00:44:06,456.1676377 Do you know, I don't trust nobody. 474 00:44:06,456.1676377 --> 00:44:07,416.1676377 Nobody trust me. 475 00:44:07,926.1676377 --> 00:44:11,256.1676377 This is why we can't have nice things herein lies the issue. 476 00:44:11,256.1676377 --> 00:44:12,606.1676377 Friends, don't try to trick you. 477 00:44:13,356.1676377 --> 00:44:14,856.1676377 There's, call it what you want. 478 00:44:14,916.1676377 --> 00:44:16,716.1676377 My castle crumbled overnight. 479 00:44:16,776.1676377 --> 00:44:18,456.1676377 I brought a knife to a gunfight. 480 00:44:18,516.1676377 --> 00:44:20,856.1676377 They took the crown, but it's all right. 481 00:44:22,191.1676377 --> 00:44:29,1.1676377 But I wanna call your attention to an overlooked aspect of reputation, which is Taylor's prologue poem, why she Disappeared. 482 00:44:29,811.1676377 --> 00:44:38,421.1676377 If you've seen the Reputation Stadium Concert tour, you've heard this, there's a voiceover in part of the film, but you may never have read it in full. 483 00:44:38,541.1676377 --> 00:44:42,111.1676377 And there's one particular portion that I think really ties into showgirl. 484 00:44:42,111.1676377 --> 00:44:43,461.1676377 So I'm gonna read that portion for you. 485 00:44:43,461.1676377 --> 00:44:49,341.1676377 So the first part of the poem is describing her cancellation as falling and breaking her bones. 486 00:44:50,241.1676377 --> 00:44:53,556.1676377 Then there's this portion which describes what happens when she tries to get back up. 487 00:44:54,816.1676377 --> 00:45:06,306.1676377 When she finally rose, she rose slowly, avoiding old haunts and sidestepping shiny pennies, wary of phone calls and promises, charmers, dandies, and get love quick schemes. 488 00:45:06,936.1676377 --> 00:45:17,646.1676377 When she stood, she stood with a desolate knowingness, waded out into the dark, wild ocean, up to her neck, bathed in her brokenness, said a prayer of gratitude for each chink in the armor. 489 00:45:17,646.1676377 --> 00:45:18,966.1676377 She never knew she needed. 490 00:45:20,511.1676377 --> 00:45:21,771.1676377 I love this entire poem. 491 00:45:21,921.1676377 --> 00:45:28,251.1676377 Um, I think it's a really gorgeous prelude to reputation, but this prologue really emphasizes this dark side of fame. 492 00:45:29,31.1676377 --> 00:45:37,551.1676377 She's fallen down this rabbit hole that was hiding in plain sight along, and she's fallen into this underworld, this dark side of celebrity and success. 493 00:45:37,941.1676377 --> 00:45:47,31.1676377 And when she climbs back out again, the world looks different because she's seen this whole other side of being in the public eye and she reemerges and she's now wary of everything. 494 00:45:47,686.1676377 --> 00:45:50,986.1676377 Phone calls and promises, charmers, dandies, and get love quick schemes. 495 00:45:50,986.1676377 --> 00:45:55,126.1676377 Everything now seems scary because she's been scared to death. 496 00:45:55,666.1676377 --> 00:46:07,306.1676377 It's kind of like the upside down and stranger things, where once will sees what's hiding on the other side of Hawkins, he can never see the world in the same way again because he's seen the danger and the terror hiding just underneath the surface. 497 00:46:08,376.1676377 --> 00:46:14,466.1676377 When she climbs back out after she's learned that she basically can't trust anyone and has to be wary of everything. 498 00:46:15,126.1676377 --> 00:46:19,56.1676377 She looks around and she doesn't see friends or lovers. 499 00:46:19,266.1676377 --> 00:46:20,886.1676377 She sees enemies. 500 00:46:20,886.1676377 --> 00:46:25,56.1676377 She sees people to be questioned, even though she's right side up again. 501 00:46:25,56.1676377 --> 00:46:27,366.1676377 She's seen this darkness and she can't unsee it. 502 00:46:27,396.1676377 --> 00:46:29,886.1676377 She's realized that her reputation isn't solid. 503 00:46:29,886.1676377 --> 00:46:35,76.1676377 It's precarious, and these people surrounding her, they could contribute to that. 504 00:46:36,261.1676377 --> 00:46:59,51.1676377 And this is another really big theme on the life of a showgirl, what's going on behind the show of show business? There's this underworld where it gets quite dark and if we saw that darkness, like Will sees the upside down, we'd never be able to see the show, the pedestal of celebrity in the same way Again, we see it as something admirable, something that we want, we want to achieve it. 505 00:46:59,741.1676377 --> 00:47:03,551.1676377 But she sees it as something she can fall off of at any moment. 506 00:47:04,811.1676377 --> 00:47:14,771.1676377 So Taylor introduced this theme in reputation, and though there are a handful of songs in between then and now that also dig into the dark side of fame, like mirror ball, right where you left me, et cetera. 507 00:47:15,161.1676377 --> 00:47:17,681.1676377 She really brings it back around in showgirl. 508 00:47:17,681.1676377 --> 00:47:27,821.1676377 And before the album even begins, she lays out this idea also in the prologue poem, that there is this darkness to show business that we don't get to see or that we shouldn't see. 509 00:47:28,751.1676377 --> 00:47:39,581.1676377 In the fourth poem, which was on the shiny bug variant, which shiny bug is just a mirror ball by any other name, she says, perhaps someday they will despise you again. 510 00:47:39,921.1676377 --> 00:47:53,451.1676377 Perhaps it is not a matter of if, but when they'll reassess your merits and then take a magnifying glass to the shiny bug deflate all of the heroes they had decided she was, and maybe they'll do it just because. 511 00:47:54,761.1676377 --> 00:47:56,261.1676377 She's talking about being canceled again. 512 00:47:56,261.1676377 --> 00:48:04,631.1676377 But what this portion of the poem does is introduce this theme that the life of showgirl has so much more going on behind the scenes than we ever get to know or we ever get to see. 513 00:48:04,751.1676377 --> 00:48:07,151.1676377 And of course, the entire poem does that as well. 514 00:48:07,151.1676377 --> 00:48:16,531.1676377 But this specific shiny bug metaphor is illustrating not only her internal battle, but the nature of the show itself. 515 00:48:16,711.1676377 --> 00:48:18,901.1676377 She's saying, I'm the shiny bug. 516 00:48:18,901.1676377 --> 00:48:20,911.1676377 And bugs can be crushed on a whim. 517 00:48:20,911.1676377 --> 00:48:22,801.1676377 They can be crushed whenever people feel like it. 518 00:48:23,491.1676377 --> 00:48:25,141.1676377 Public opinion can flip on a dime. 519 00:48:25,141.1676377 --> 00:48:26,971.1676377 And if that happens, this entire show. 520 00:48:27,211.1676377 --> 00:48:30,61.1676377 The production that is Taylor Swift can just evaporate. 521 00:48:31,81.1676377 --> 00:48:34,471.1676377 She also adds onto this idea in the final poem where she's on stage. 522 00:48:34,471.1676377 --> 00:48:38,851.1676377 She's looking around at the crowd and she says, it's beautiful, it's rapturous. 523 00:48:38,971.1676377 --> 00:48:44,401.1676377 It is frightening this career that she's built, this celebrity status. 524 00:48:44,401.1676377 --> 00:48:47,761.1676377 It's gorgeous on the outside, but on the inside it is terrifying. 525 00:48:48,961.1676377 --> 00:48:51,361.1676377 And to keep her shell intact. 526 00:48:51,571.1676377 --> 00:48:52,741.1676377 The shiny bugs armor. 527 00:48:53,101.1676377 --> 00:49:01,711.1676377 There's a huge amount that goes on behind the show to keep her in our good graces, and that's really what showgirl gets into in many of the lyrics. 528 00:49:01,711.1676377 --> 00:49:07,951.1676377 Fame is, beautiful on the outside, but hideous on the inside and what it takes to stay famous. 529 00:49:08,586.1676377 --> 00:49:09,546.1676377 Is not pretty. 530 00:49:09,576.1676377 --> 00:49:18,246.1676377 It is dark and underhanded, and you have to sell your soul to get there and to stay there maintaining the show of your reputation as a constant battle. 531 00:49:19,476.1676377 --> 00:49:29,856.1676377 As the album begins, she kind of dips her toes into this theme in the fate of ophelia, but then she dives in headfirst In Elizabeth Taylor, there's again this existential question. 532 00:49:29,856.1676377 --> 00:49:36,666.1676377 Do you think it's forever? And then there's this important line, you're only as hot as your last hit, baby. 533 00:49:37,741.1676377 --> 00:49:43,741.1676377 You are only successful and you can only stay famous if you keep being new and fresh and relevant. 534 00:49:45,391.1676377 --> 00:49:53,101.1676377 Elizabeth Taylor knew this just as well as Taylor Swift does because she was also on this rollercoaster of public opinion. 535 00:49:53,101.1676377 --> 00:50:00,691.1676377 Her reputation was tied to what film she just put out, which man she had just married, and which paparazzi photograph was just snapped. 536 00:50:00,811.1676377 --> 00:50:04,231.1676377 She wasn't judged on her merits, she was judged by the noise. 537 00:50:04,741.1676377 --> 00:50:11,191.1676377 And that's the same idea that Taylor's getting at in showgirl and on reputation and in a lot of songs in between. 538 00:50:12,241.1676377 --> 00:50:14,101.1676377 Then there's this other line in Elizabeth Taylor. 539 00:50:14,101.1676377 --> 00:50:18,561.1676377 All my white diamonds and lovers are forever on the papers on the screen and in their minds. 540 00:50:18,561.1676377 --> 00:50:22,701.1676377 So what she's saying here is, I've left a permanent paper trail. 541 00:50:23,61.1676377 --> 00:50:25,791.1676377 My successes and my scandals are forever. 542 00:50:26,331.1676377 --> 00:50:33,51.1676377 So I have to be incredibly careful where I step, because every move I make, I could be walking straight off a cliff. 543 00:50:34,221.1676377 --> 00:50:37,791.1676377 Like she says in the prologue poem, every missed step is a misstep. 544 00:50:38,601.1676377 --> 00:50:44,421.1676377 One wrong move, the shiny bug is crushed and she'll no longer be the hero we had thought she was. 545 00:50:44,421.1676377 --> 00:50:45,591.1676377 She'll be a has been. 546 00:50:46,551.1676377 --> 00:50:53,451.1676377 So there's this constant struggle to stay in the public's good graces, this dark, underhanded side of fame. 547 00:50:54,141.1676377 --> 00:51:02,391.1676377 And then in father figure, we get to hear almost the origin story of what it took to climb to the top of this pedestal of fame. 548 00:51:03,261.1676377 --> 00:51:10,731.1676377 And father figure is really dark and it's a twisted tail about this dark side, this struggle to get and maintain any kind of power. 549 00:51:11,106.1676377 --> 00:51:16,566.1676377 And the song starts off being narrated by this father figure, and we learn almost immediately. 550 00:51:16,566.1676377 --> 00:51:19,26.1676377 He is power hungry and he is money hungry. 551 00:51:19,566.1676377 --> 00:51:21,726.1676377 I can make deals with the devil. 552 00:51:21,786.1676377 --> 00:51:28,386.1676377 He says he takes advantage of his young protege and exploits him for fortune and fame. 553 00:51:29,586.1676377 --> 00:51:32,616.1676377 All of this goes according to plan until the protege gets a mind of his own. 554 00:51:33,21.1676377 --> 00:51:40,641.1676377 He realizes it was his blood, sweat, and tears that built the empire, and he kicks the father figure out of the metaphorical family. 555 00:51:41,751.1676377 --> 00:51:55,881.1676377 But by the end of the story, the power dynamic has flipped, and we can see now that it was really an allegory about the industry, about how young artists can be taken advantage of when they have such little agency when they're just starting out. 556 00:51:55,881.1676377 --> 00:52:01,311.1676377 They have to put their souls in the hands of devils in order to attain success. 557 00:52:01,851.1676377 --> 00:52:09,231.1676377 And though this is probably a story about Taylor's master's dispute and former manager Scott Borchetta, who sold her master's out from under her. 558 00:52:10,176.1676377 --> 00:52:15,66.1676377 The larger takeaway is that there's this whole wide world going on behind the scenes of the show. 559 00:52:15,156.1676377 --> 00:52:19,386.1676377 There's so much sacrifice and hard work and being tricked and taken advantage of. 560 00:52:19,386.1676377 --> 00:52:22,746.1676377 It is a really cutthroat business. 561 00:52:22,776.1676377 --> 00:52:33,246.1676377 That is the dark reality behind the curtain that we don't get to see people who are supposed to protect you can end up ruining you and in the end you won't be able to trust anyone but yourself. 562 00:52:34,156.1676377 --> 00:52:40,36.1676377 This is the dark side of fame that they don't want us to see, because if we saw it, it would shatter the illusion. 563 00:52:40,36.1676377 --> 00:52:41,146.1676377 We'd no longer buy in. 564 00:52:41,596.1676377 --> 00:52:47,236.1676377 We'd see that it's all a show and they have to make it look easy or else the show itself crumbles. 565 00:52:47,236.1676377 --> 00:52:50,806.1676377 But maybe the most important track that illustrates this dark side of fame has canceled. 566 00:52:51,466.1676377 --> 00:52:58,156.1676377 And this is a really interesting track in which Taylor uses satire to comment on cancel culture. 567 00:52:59,286.1676377 --> 00:53:05,486.1676377 She's talked about what it felt like to be canceled before, but really never so blatantly as she does and canceled. 568 00:53:05,486.1676377 --> 00:53:09,266.1676377 And although it's satire, it's not meant to be taken literally. 569 00:53:09,956.1676377 --> 00:53:13,16.1676377 I think there's some big kernels of truth inside. 570 00:53:14,6.1676377 --> 00:53:16,196.1676377 It's easy to love you when you're popular. 571 00:53:16,196.1676377 --> 00:53:21,956.1676377 She says the optics, click, everyone prospers, but one single drop. 572 00:53:21,956.1676377 --> 00:53:23,786.1676377 You're off the roster. 573 00:53:24,236.1676377 --> 00:53:25,376.1676377 Tone deaf and hot. 574 00:53:25,466.1676377 --> 00:53:27,116.1676377 Let's effing off her. 575 00:53:28,466.1676377 --> 00:53:32,276.1676377 What she's talking about here are these critical missteps. 576 00:53:32,606.1676377 --> 00:53:40,106.1676377 Make one wrong move in any direction, and the masked crusaders, the internet mob will take you out back and cancel you. 577 00:53:40,706.1676377 --> 00:53:46,316.1676377 And staying in the public's good graces is nearly impossible because you have to be so hyper aware of everything. 578 00:53:47,246.1676377 --> 00:53:54,956.1676377 She talks about how easy it is to get kicked off the pedestal of fame, but she also tells us and canceled what it feels like after that happens. 579 00:53:54,956.1676377 --> 00:54:00,476.1676377 And she says, welcome to my underworld, where it gets quite dark and the same underworld. 580 00:54:00,656.1676377 --> 00:54:01,886.1676377 It'll break your heart. 581 00:54:02,516.1676377 --> 00:54:06,536.1676377 This is the dark underworld of celebrity culture or superstardom. 582 00:54:07,166.1676377 --> 00:54:15,536.1676377 It does feel like the upside down, where once you see this darkness, you can never look at your career or your life the same way again. 583 00:54:15,536.1676377 --> 00:54:20,786.1676377 And these two worlds, the purgatory of cancellation and the pedestal of celebrity. 584 00:54:21,626.1676377 --> 00:54:23,156.1676377 They kind of bleed into each other. 585 00:54:23,156.1676377 --> 00:54:28,616.1676377 You can never be safely at the top of the charts without the constant threat of falling off the cliff. 586 00:54:29,486.1676377 --> 00:54:33,806.1676377 But then she gets really, really dark, but also probably very, very honest. 587 00:54:34,826.1676377 --> 00:54:37,556.1676377 But if you can't be good, then just be better at it. 588 00:54:37,766.1676377 --> 00:54:44,396.1676377 Everyone's got bodies in the attic or took somebody's man, we'll take you by the hand and soon you'll learn the art of never getting caught. 589 00:54:45,386.1676377 --> 00:54:50,786.1676377 She's saying that our culture, our cancel culture hasn't made people behave better. 590 00:54:51,446.1676377 --> 00:54:54,266.1676377 It hasn't made celebrities more cautious or more kind. 591 00:54:54,266.1676377 --> 00:54:56,156.1676377 It's just made them better at disguise. 592 00:54:56,846.1676377 --> 00:54:59,636.1676377 And though this song is satire, it's totally true. 593 00:55:00,116.1676377 --> 00:55:03,446.1676377 You can be kicked off the pedestal for something relatively minor. 594 00:55:04,286.1676377 --> 00:55:11,126.1676377 And then there's the darker reality that most people when threatened with reputation, death won't change or learn or grow. 595 00:55:11,156.1676377 --> 00:55:12,236.1676377 They'll just get sneakier. 596 00:55:12,626.1676377 --> 00:55:17,906.1676377 They just learn to hide their real intentions or their real personality better because maybe that's show business for you. 597 00:55:18,596.1676377 --> 00:55:21,26.1676377 That's what we see on the outside a show. 598 00:55:21,776.1676377 --> 00:55:28,166.1676377 It's all for show, and what happens behind the scenes is that really dark ugliness, but it's also true. 599 00:55:30,41.1676377 --> 00:55:34,691.1676377 One final note on this theme and then we'll move on to the last one I wanna discuss in the title track. 600 00:55:34,691.1676377 --> 00:55:37,691.1676377 She says, I'd sell my soul to have a taste of the magnificent life. 601 00:55:37,691.1676377 --> 00:55:40,1.1676377 That's all mine, but that's not what showgirls get. 602 00:55:40,31.1676377 --> 00:55:41,291.1676377 They leave us for dead. 603 00:55:42,266.1676377 --> 00:55:46,826.1676377 They sell their souls to have success, but then once they attain that, it can be yanked away at any point. 604 00:55:46,826.1676377 --> 00:55:48,746.1676377 Their careers can die at any given moment. 605 00:55:48,746.1676377 --> 00:56:01,556.1676377 Once the public tires of them, they are the shiny bugs that can be crushed whenever we feel like it, and then later on she says, and all the headshots on the walls of the dance hall are of the witches who wish I'd hurry up and die. 606 00:56:02,576.1676377 --> 00:56:04,106.1676377 These are these up and coming show. 607 00:56:04,106.1676377 --> 00:56:10,466.1676377 Showgirls or aspiring showgirls who want the major players to get out of the way so that they can have their shot at infamy. 608 00:56:10,976.1676377 --> 00:56:17,606.1676377 But what this is implying is that at the pedestal of fame, there is only room for one at the top. 609 00:56:18,386.1676377 --> 00:56:22,346.1676377 So once you're kicked off, once you're canceled, someone else just takes your place. 610 00:56:23,156.1676377 --> 00:56:26,486.1676377 And if you want this top spot, if you wanna be at the peak. 611 00:56:27,686.1676377 --> 00:56:30,536.1676377 You have to off someone else to get there. 612 00:56:30,656.1676377 --> 00:56:32,816.1676377 There is not room for everyone. 613 00:56:32,816.1676377 --> 00:56:35,846.1676377 So not only do you have to play your cards very carefully to get there. 614 00:56:36,206.1676377 --> 00:56:40,616.1676377 To stay there takes an incredible amount of maneuvering and tenacity. 615 00:56:41,516.1676377 --> 00:56:44,816.1676377 This is the dark side, the cutthroat side that they don't want us to see. 616 00:56:45,236.1676377 --> 00:56:51,806.1676377 The show is really a show and behind the curtain it's dark and it's twisted, and it's manipulative and it's a power struggle. 617 00:56:52,766.1676377 --> 00:56:55,586.1676377 So in the sense the life of a showgirl is also really. 618 00:56:55,961.1676377 --> 00:57:12,431.1676377 The death of a showgirl as you're living this life, which is one thing on the outside, and a tangled mess on the inside, you're just trying to stay alive, to stay relevant, to stay intact, and it takes some pretty dark deeds to stay there. 619 00:57:12,814.500971 --> 00:57:22,779.500971 The final theme that I wanna talk about that's running through this album is something a little bit different, and it's this idea of fate or what was faded and what wasn't faded, and why. 620 00:57:23,674.500971 --> 00:57:31,474.500971 This is a theme that Taylor has always circled around, and she's done it since her very first album on debut in a song called The Outside. 621 00:57:31,474.500971 --> 00:57:37,984.500971 She says, I tried to take the road less traveled by, and in that line she's talking about the road not taken. 622 00:57:38,464.500971 --> 00:57:42,484.500971 She's of course, referencing Walt Whitman, the poem, the Road Not Taken. 623 00:57:42,484.500971 --> 00:57:44,434.500971 You know, two Roads Diverge in a Yellow Wood. 624 00:57:45,499.500971 --> 00:57:48,859.500971 There's a whole rabbit hole about that poem and what it really means that we don't need to get into. 625 00:57:49,9.500971 --> 00:57:57,559.500971 But we can see from very early on she has these ideas of fate and destiny and what it means to choose one path and not choose another. 626 00:57:58,399.500971 --> 00:58:09,439.500971 And while she's constantly told us her ideas about fate and destiny, and karma, in pretty much every album, ever since she really begins to go deeper into this idea in her later darker albums. 627 00:58:10,139.500971 --> 00:58:15,719.500971 On folklore, she begins the entire album, and era with this idea in the one. 628 00:58:16,439.500971 --> 00:58:18,34.500971 It would've been fun if you would've been the one. 629 00:58:19,204.500971 --> 00:58:22,264.500971 It would've been cool if we'd ended up together, but I'm doing okay on my own. 630 00:58:23,314.500971 --> 00:58:28,954.500971 And then she continues on invisible string, where basically the whole song is looking at fate and destiny. 631 00:58:28,954.500971 --> 00:58:37,354.500971 So within folklore, this idea is optimistic, right? It's so pretty to think that all along there was some invisible string tying you. 632 00:58:37,354.500971 --> 00:58:45,694.500971 To me, she seems to have this kind of faith that destiny will take her where she wants to go and take her to whom she's meant to be with. 633 00:58:45,694.500971 --> 00:58:51,664.500971 But then in evermore, this idea of fate takes kind of a darker turn in tis the damn season. 634 00:58:52,204.500971 --> 00:58:53,284.500971 The road not taken. 635 00:58:53,284.500971 --> 00:58:54,364.500971 Looks real good now. 636 00:58:55,249.500971 --> 00:59:02,299.500971 She's wondering if she can turn back time just for a moment, just for one moment of happiness because she's not happy in her current life. 637 00:59:03,139.500971 --> 00:59:05,479.500971 And then in right where you left me, you know, help. 638 00:59:05,479.500971 --> 00:59:11,869.500971 I'm still at the restaurant, she says, did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen Time went on for everybody else. 639 00:59:11,899.500971 --> 00:59:12,829.500971 She won't know it. 640 00:59:12,949.500971 --> 00:59:15,529.500971 She's still 23 inside her fantasy. 641 00:59:16,9.500971 --> 00:59:21,289.500971 How was it supposed to be? She's stuck and she's wondering why she got stuck. 642 00:59:21,319.500971 --> 00:59:23,269.500971 Everyone else is moving on, but she can't. 643 00:59:24,109.500971 --> 00:59:34,849.500971 Why did fate, if fate still exists, put her in neutral while everyone else is driving on? Then there's the ultimate fate and destiny song that comes in her next album, midnights. 644 00:59:34,849.500971 --> 00:59:40,879.500971 and no, it's not karma, even though that song is important, that for our purposes it's would've coulda, should have. 645 00:59:41,929.500971 --> 00:59:43,39.500971 God rest my soul. 646 00:59:43,249.500971 --> 00:59:44,419.500971 I miss who I used to be. 647 00:59:44,419.500971 --> 00:59:47,809.500971 The tomb won't close stained glass windows in my mind. 648 00:59:47,869.500971 --> 00:59:49,969.500971 I regret you all the time. 649 00:59:51,379.500971 --> 01:00:00,974.500971 So she's gone from being curious about fate, to trusting fate, to really questioning fate, and then finally cursing fate. 650 01:00:02,149.500971 --> 01:00:07,699.500971 And then, then she gets really dark about fate in tortured poets with the prophecy. 651 01:00:08,479.500971 --> 01:00:11,329.500971 Please, I've been on my knees, change the prophecy. 652 01:00:11,479.500971 --> 01:00:16,99.500971 Do want money to someone who wants my company? Let it once be me. 653 01:00:16,429.500971 --> 01:00:23,689.500971 Who do I have to speak to about if they can redo the prophecy? So now she's asking for the manager. 654 01:00:24,859.500971 --> 01:00:29,149.500971 She looks over where fate and destiny has gotten her and she wants a redo. 655 01:00:29,539.500971 --> 01:00:32,389.500971 She sees herself as cursed by fate. 656 01:00:32,449.500971 --> 01:00:43,399.500971 Why did it land her here in this space where no one can stand beside her, but also on TTPD, she closes with a more hopeful note in the manuscript. 657 01:00:44,389.500971 --> 01:00:46,819.500971 And at last, she knew what the agony had been for. 658 01:00:47,599.500971 --> 01:00:52,399.500971 So she's looking over this whole larger narrative and she assumes it must have been for a purpose. 659 01:00:53,29.500971 --> 01:00:56,359.500971 And in this song, the purpose is the manuscript. 660 01:00:56,689.500971 --> 01:00:57,109.500971 This. 661 01:00:57,574.500971 --> 01:00:58,324.500971 Songbook. 662 01:00:58,954.500971 --> 01:01:02,134.500971 It was going through these painful experiences so that she could write about it. 663 01:01:02,134.500971 --> 01:01:03,154.500971 That was her destiny. 664 01:01:04,414.500971 --> 01:01:08,974.500971 And of course, I'm cherry picking these songs about fate, right? Like there's so much more. 665 01:01:09,634.500971 --> 01:01:16,534.500971 In this whole theme in Taylor songwriting, but I'm just using a few examples to paint a general picture of where she's been and her attitude on fate. 666 01:01:17,194.500971 --> 01:01:21,154.500971 We can see she's really gone on a journey through her faith in fate. 667 01:01:21,154.500971 --> 01:01:28,174.500971 It's been up and down and all around through albums and eras, but where we left off is the manuscript. 668 01:01:28,564.500971 --> 01:01:34,924.500971 That was the last time she talked about it before this album came out, and in the manuscript, she trusts that it was all for purpose. 669 01:01:35,374.500971 --> 01:01:38,224.500971 This is where we pick up in the life of a showgirl. 670 01:01:39,484.500971 --> 01:01:46,924.500971 But before we touch on the very obvious ideas of fate, in the fate of Ophelia, I also wanna point out this idea that she includes in the prologue poem. 671 01:01:47,449.500971 --> 01:01:56,479.500971 In the fifth poem, which was on the Tiny Bubbles in Champagne variant, she says, you've begun to feel that every song before was just a prayer, a wishlist. 672 01:01:56,719.500971 --> 01:01:58,579.500971 He is not what you've been waiting for. 673 01:01:58,579.500971 --> 01:02:03,979.500971 He is more why you held out, why you left, and nothing aches. 674 01:02:03,979.500971 --> 01:02:06,259.500971 Suddenly he has that effect. 675 01:02:07,519.500971 --> 01:02:15,739.500971 These lines are touching on the prophecy, but they're also reintroducing this idea of fate in a more hopeful way in this new album. 676 01:02:15,739.500971 --> 01:02:21,109.500971 So where we left off in TTPD, she was pretty hopeless, but moving towards acceptance. 677 01:02:21,754.500971 --> 01:02:23,824.500971 But now she sees it was all for a purpose. 678 01:02:23,824.500971 --> 01:02:25,234.500971 He was the purpose. 679 01:02:25,864.500971 --> 01:02:26,884.500971 It was all leading here. 680 01:02:26,884.500971 --> 01:02:28,744.500971 She just didn't know it at the time. 681 01:02:29,944.500971 --> 01:02:40,864.500971 So if we left off with the prophecy and the manuscript, we pick up in first the prologue poem, and then in the fate of Ophelia with Taylor's updated version of Fate and Destiny. 682 01:02:41,314.500971 --> 01:02:44,254.500971 And in the opening track, she rewrites the fate of Ophelia. 683 01:02:44,554.500971 --> 01:02:46,744.500971 And in doing that, she rewrites her own fate. 684 01:02:46,744.500971 --> 01:02:50,374.500971 She says, if you've never come for me, I might have drowned in the melancholy. 685 01:02:50,779.500971 --> 01:02:57,319.500971 So the rescuer comes and plucks her out of the depression of midnights and TTPD and changes the prophecy. 686 01:02:58,369.500971 --> 01:03:04,399.500971 But here's where there is this new twist in the Taylor Swift fate and destiny narrative. 687 01:03:05,89.500971 --> 01:03:07,769.500971 She's not just talking about what was fated. 688 01:03:08,239.500971 --> 01:03:11,989.500971 She's talking about what would've happened if it wasn't fated. 689 01:03:12,979.500971 --> 01:03:16,999.500971 She would've drowned in the melancholy or lingered in purgatory. 690 01:03:16,999.500971 --> 01:03:19,819.500971 She's wondering both what it means that this is her fate. 691 01:03:20,719.500971 --> 01:03:22,729.500971 And why it happened the way it happened. 692 01:03:23,239.500971 --> 01:03:29,329.500971 She's tracing all of these plot points and mapping out how she got to where she is, and she can see it going both ways. 693 01:03:30,79.500971 --> 01:03:39,289.500971 She's grateful that it played out the way it did, and it's like she's no longer fixated on one particular path or trying to steer in one direction or the other. 694 01:03:40,189.500971 --> 01:03:43,819.500971 She's zooming out and she can see exactly how everything happened. 695 01:03:43,819.500971 --> 01:03:48,649.500971 She says, now I can see it all, and this mirrors a line in the manuscript. 696 01:03:49,234.500971 --> 01:03:51,274.500971 She can see what the agony had been for. 697 01:03:51,874.500971 --> 01:04:00,574.500971 She can see this whole invisible string of her life and how it led up to this point where she's finally reached happiness and fulfillment and love. 698 01:04:01,264.500971 --> 01:04:09,694.500971 But she also sees this other path, the road not taken, and she compares her life now to what it would've looked like had she chosen differently. 699 01:04:10,354.500971 --> 01:04:12,664.500971 And she really goes into these different paths. 700 01:04:12,754.500971 --> 01:04:15,874.500971 In Opalite, she starts alite. 701 01:04:15,874.500971 --> 01:04:20,704.500971 Looking back at her past self, I had a bad habit of missing lovers past. 702 01:04:20,794.500971 --> 01:04:23,254.500971 My brother used to call it eating out of the trash. 703 01:04:23,314.500971 --> 01:04:24,904.500971 It's never gonna last. 704 01:04:25,444.500971 --> 01:04:26,734.500971 I thought my house was haunted. 705 01:04:26,764.500971 --> 01:04:32,854.500971 I used to live with ghost and all the perfect couples said, when you know, you know, and when you don't, you don't. 706 01:04:32,854.500971 --> 01:04:36,844.500971 This is the road she could have continued on, had her life not turned around. 707 01:04:37,864.500971 --> 01:04:48,424.500971 Constantly probing the past, wondering what would've, could've, should've been, and taking trips back in time to old lovers trying to change her current fate. 708 01:04:49,414.500971 --> 01:04:52,324.500971 She was stuck looking backwards at the road, not taken. 709 01:04:52,324.500971 --> 01:04:55,294.500971 She was unable to look forwards, but then it turned around. 710 01:04:56,344.500971 --> 01:04:57,94.500971 Life is a song. 711 01:04:57,94.500971 --> 01:04:58,354.500971 It ends when it ends. 712 01:04:58,774.500971 --> 01:05:00,4.500971 I was wrong. 713 01:05:00,154.500971 --> 01:05:04,204.500971 She says, you don't just go through life and then you die. 714 01:05:04,204.500971 --> 01:05:08,404.500971 You have to make the most of it and look to the future, not the past. 715 01:05:08,464.500971 --> 01:05:13,114.500971 I was wrong to do it the old way, she says, and I found a new way of living. 716 01:05:14,509.500971 --> 01:05:16,819.500971 What she's really describing here is perspective. 717 01:05:16,819.500971 --> 01:05:26,359.500971 She's gained a new perspective, and once she has this new perspective in Alite, she realizes that she was in charge all along. 718 01:05:27,319.500971 --> 01:05:29,59.500971 You were dancing through the lightning strike. 719 01:05:29,59.500971 --> 01:05:34,19.500971 She says you were making the best of a bad situation, but now the guy is opalite. 720 01:05:34,39.500971 --> 01:05:38,784.500971 It means that my fate and destiny changed because I changed my behavior. 721 01:05:39,649.500971 --> 01:05:47,29.500971 I stopped waiting for these naturally occurring gemstones, naturally occurring mood rings to change color. 722 01:05:47,509.500971 --> 01:05:49,99.500971 I created my own. 723 01:05:49,879.500971 --> 01:05:55,219.500971 I stopped waiting for fate to make things happen, and I became an active participant in my. 724 01:05:55,579.500971 --> 01:05:56,599.500971 Own happiness. 725 01:05:57,199.500971 --> 01:06:08,239.500971 I stopped thinking that fate and destiny would just play out how they were supposed to play out, and I took control and I took a chance instead of always looking back and wondered why it happened that way, I started looking forwards. 726 01:06:08,869.500971 --> 01:06:12,529.500971 So she's kinda adding these new elements to her ideas on fate. 727 01:06:12,529.500971 --> 01:06:15,739.500971 And then she also does this in ruin the friendship where she looks back. 728 01:06:16,354.500971 --> 01:06:20,674.500971 Over the past to see how it could have played out differently in RU and the friendship. 729 01:06:20,674.500971 --> 01:06:25,84.500971 She zooms in on these particular moments where she didn't take a chance and she played it safe. 730 01:06:25,624.500971 --> 01:06:29,584.500971 And now with the power of hindsight and more maturity, she can see. 731 01:06:30,79.500971 --> 01:06:31,699.500971 She should have just gone for it. 732 01:06:32,179.500971 --> 01:06:37,639.500971 Instead of waiting for a perfect moment or an invitation, I should have kissed you anyway. 733 01:06:37,969.500971 --> 01:06:45,799.500971 And it's not just about the kiss, it's about choosing where you wanna go, choosing your own happiness and not worrying about what others think or what others need. 734 01:06:46,459.500971 --> 01:06:49,249.500971 Putting yourself first because you'll never know until you try. 735 01:06:50,359.500971 --> 01:06:52,699.500971 And then she passes down this new revelation to us. 736 01:06:53,29.500971 --> 01:06:55,129.500971 My advice is always ruin the friendship. 737 01:06:55,609.500971 --> 01:06:58,69.500971 Better that than regret it for all time. 738 01:06:58,834.500971 --> 01:07:03,244.500971 So she's saying, stop waiting for fate or destiny to take the reins. 739 01:07:03,244.500971 --> 01:07:07,744.500971 You have to choose your fate yourself in honey. 740 01:07:07,744.500971 --> 01:07:09,784.500971 She's also playing around with these new ideas to fate. 741 01:07:09,784.500971 --> 01:07:15,664.500971 She looks back over these past moments where terms of endearment like honey and sweetheart were weaponized. 742 01:07:15,664.500971 --> 01:07:19,924.500971 They used to hurt, but now that she has her new perspective, they feel sweet. 743 01:07:20,254.500971 --> 01:07:25,29.500971 They actually feel endearing because they're coming from someone who means what He says. 744 01:07:26,99.500971 --> 01:07:33,669.500971 He's redefined all of those blues, which means now when she looks back at these painful moments, they don't feel quite so painful. 745 01:07:35,89.500971 --> 01:07:37,69.500971 But here's this new perspective on fate. 746 01:07:37,69.500971 --> 01:07:42,439.500971 Had she not had those prior experiences, which felt horrible in the moment. 747 01:07:43,369.500971 --> 01:07:53,209.500971 This new happiness might not feel quite so happy, and she's not just talking about the language, the terms, honey and sweetheart, she's talking about the relationship itself. 748 01:07:53,869.500971 --> 01:08:05,659.500971 Had she not gone through with those previous late night booty calls with someone who didn't mean what he said, she might not appreciate this love and this new honesty and sincerity for what it is. 749 01:08:06,434.500971 --> 01:08:14,54.500971 She had to go through the dishonesty and the manipulation to appreciate the honesty and the transparency when it's right in front of her. 750 01:08:15,14.500971 --> 01:08:21,824.500971 She, in other words, had to kiss a lot of frogs to find her prince, but that doesn't mean that she was never gonna find the prince. 751 01:08:21,824.500971 --> 01:08:23,834.500971 It doesn't mean that fate cursed her. 752 01:08:24,644.500971 --> 01:08:28,34.500971 It means she had to open her eyes and look forward. 753 01:08:29,434.500971 --> 01:08:35,14.500971 And in these songs in this road Not Traveled vein, Ophelia ruined the friendship, honey. 754 01:08:35,404.500971 --> 01:08:37,54.500971 She's not just redefining her future. 755 01:08:37,54.500971 --> 01:08:41,854.500971 She's looking back at the past and seeing really that it was for a purpose. 756 01:08:41,914.500971 --> 01:08:52,804.500971 It may not have been clear at the time, but as soon as she stopped expecting fate to just lay out her future on a platter and actually began to make choices that would lead to happiness instead of. 757 01:08:53,299.500971 --> 01:08:56,479.500971 Lingering in her past sadness, eating out of the trash. 758 01:08:56,989.500971 --> 01:09:01,549.500971 That's when fate and destiny finally were fulfilled. 759 01:09:02,189.500971 --> 01:09:07,919.500971 It was fated to go through the hard times so that the happy times would actually feel happy. 760 01:09:09,59.500971 --> 01:09:16,439.500971 And even though she has some regrets, because of course she does, she's also learned that those are for a purpose because she learned from them. 761 01:09:16,439.500971 --> 01:09:17,759.500971 She learned what she wanted. 762 01:09:18,269.500971 --> 01:09:20,729.500971 She learned what she didn't want, and why. 763 01:09:21,719.500971 --> 01:09:28,799.500971 So Taylor's new ideas on fate and destiny are now less like a fairytale and more like a hero's journey. 764 01:09:29,399.500971 --> 01:09:30,719.500971 She had to make the choices. 765 01:09:30,719.500971 --> 01:09:37,149.500971 She had to go through the rough patches, and she had to learn the lessons to get to a place where the sky is opalite. 766 01:09:37,169.500971 --> 01:09:41,189.500971 The Onyx nights were for a reason, and it's so that when the sky brightens. 767 01:09:41,759.500971 --> 01:09:43,199.500971 She has a point of comparison. 768 01:09:43,199.500971 --> 01:09:46,949.500971 It looks brighter because she knows what the darkness feels like. 769 01:09:46,949.500971 --> 01:09:55,169.500971 The road not taken looks like a lesson, not a regret, and that's the real epiphany that comes out of the life of a showgirl. 770 01:09:55,169.500971 --> 01:10:05,39.500971 We could go into more themes on the album, but those three are, for me, the most important and the most crucial in the larger character arc, the larger narrative of Taylor Swift. 771 01:10:05,549.500971 --> 01:10:15,719.500971 She's not really introducing any brand new themes here, but she is adding more to the story inside these things that she's already talked about for quite a while. 772 01:10:16,199.500971 --> 01:10:20,549.500971 So in an album that by all accounts should be a victory lap. 773 01:10:20,889.500971 --> 01:10:26,979.500971 I think it is in its own way because all of this darkness can't simply evaporate. 774 01:10:27,9.500971 --> 01:10:38,259.500971 This darkness has plagued for her entire career, and even though things are looking brighter recently, she's still telling her own story and her own story isn't all rainbows and kittens. 775 01:10:38,889.500971 --> 01:10:42,9.500971 The life of a showgirl hasn't been straightforward. 776 01:10:42,249.500971 --> 01:10:49,509.500971 It's been really hard and arduous, and it's been a lifelong journey to get to these big realizations and learn these big lessons. 777 01:10:50,549.500971 --> 01:11:01,19.500971 Personally, I'm incredibly excited for TS 13, and in my next episode I'm gonna take a look at this larger trajectory and try to make some predictions for what's to come. 778 01:11:01,19.500971 --> 01:11:02,849.500971 But I'm not gonna do it in the way you might think. 779 01:11:03,329.500971 --> 01:11:04,469.500971 And here's a hint. 780 01:11:04,559.500971 --> 01:11:07,259.500971 It involves charts and data so. 781 01:11:07,709.500971 --> 01:11:09,899.500971 Please like and subscribe so you don't miss my next episode. 782 01:11:10,349.500971 --> 01:11:21,809.500971 But before we wrap up, I wanna debut a new segment for you, and it's a segment I'm going to call Vibes where I suggest some other content that has the same vibes as whatever Taylor Project we're talking about. 783 01:11:22,679.500971 --> 01:11:27,719.500971 I should have done this in my song by song analysis, but hindsight is 2020, so I'm just gonna include it in the future. 784 01:11:27,719.500971 --> 01:11:29,279.500971 If you guys are into it. 785 01:11:29,279.500971 --> 01:11:35,399.500971 Since we are in the showgirl era, here are some movies and shows that I think have the same vibes as the life of a Showgirl. 786 01:11:35,399.500971 --> 01:11:37,349.500971 No spoilers for any of these if you haven't seen them. 787 01:11:37,349.500971 --> 01:11:38,639.500971 Just suggestions. 788 01:11:38,729.500971 --> 01:11:44,399.500971 If you're into the vibes of showgirls, if you like these themes that I just talked about, you're gonna like these things too. 789 01:11:44,909.500971 --> 01:11:47,579.500971 So need some fresh ideas for what to watch over the holidays. 790 01:11:47,579.500971 --> 01:11:47,999.500971 Here you go. 791 01:11:48,659.500971 --> 01:11:56,129.500971 Starting off strong, A Star is born the 2018 Lady Gaga version, in which Lady Gaga's character learns the life of a showgirl. 792 01:11:56,609.500971 --> 01:12:03,479.500971 She's an aspiring singer songwriter, and one day this father figure pulls up into the Jag, turns her rags into gold and plot twists. 793 01:12:03,479.500971 --> 01:12:03,719.500971 She saves him. 794 01:12:04,619.500971 --> 01:12:07,769.500971 Or tries to save him from the fate of Ophelia. 795 01:12:08,639.500971 --> 01:12:12,509.500971 But this movie is number one, a beautiful love story and a beautiful loss story. 796 01:12:12,539.500971 --> 01:12:15,749.500971 But number two is about the perils and pitfalls of fame. 797 01:12:16,109.500971 --> 01:12:20,909.500971 It's really about what this life costs and how unavoidable this price to pay is. 798 01:12:20,909.500971 --> 01:12:23,309.500971 When you're famous in the crowd is always chanting more. 799 01:12:23,849.500971 --> 01:12:30,749.500971 It's about what all that external pressure and validation does to you internally, and it's a gorgeous story. 800 01:12:30,989.500971 --> 01:12:33,629.500971 You can watch the originals too, but they don't quite hit like that. 801 01:12:33,689.500971 --> 01:12:43,99.500971 Gaga Bradley Cooper, chemistry number two, postcards from the Edge, the 1990 dramedy starring Meryl Streep and Shirley Maclaine. 802 01:12:43,199.500971 --> 01:12:49,619.500971 The film is based on a semi autobiographical novel of the same name written by Carrie Fisher about her toxic. 803 01:12:50,99.500971 --> 01:12:55,229.500971 Relationship with show business and her toxic relationship with her mother, Debbie Reynolds. 804 01:12:55,829.500971 --> 01:13:09,419.500971 So Meryl Streep plays our protagonist, Suzanne, based on Carrie Fisher, who is a famous actress struggling with addiction and struggling with always living in the shadow of her more famous showgirl mother, Doris, who is of course, based on Debbie Reynolds. 805 01:13:09,689.500971 --> 01:13:18,359.500971 And though there are a lot of themes of drug abuse and narcissistic family systems, we can see that this setting, this Hollywood showgirl life. 806 01:13:18,719.500971 --> 01:13:24,119.500971 Is really both the catalyst and the roadblock for all of these hard things that the characters are going through. 807 01:13:24,119.500971 --> 01:13:32,309.500971 They both know the life of a showgirl, and it's not a life that anyone should aspire to, which is also what Taylor's saying in this album. 808 01:13:33,89.500971 --> 01:13:41,159.500971 And if you're into Carrie Fisher and her vast lore, definitely watch the documentary Bright Lights, which was filmed before Carrie and her mother both passed away. 809 01:13:42,579.500971 --> 01:13:45,879.500971 Number three, the last showgirl starring Pamela Anderson. 810 01:13:45,909.500971 --> 01:13:52,419.500971 Pam plays our protagonist who had been a proper showgirl, a Las Vegas sequin and feather showgirl. 811 01:13:52,449.500971 --> 01:13:54,579.500971 Much like the album covers that we got here. 812 01:13:55,484.500971 --> 01:14:00,224.500971 She's been this showgirl all her life, and these types of shows begin to shut down. 813 01:14:00,224.500971 --> 01:14:09,464.500971 They're outdated, and so it follows Pam as she struggles with what her life meant and what she sacrificed to have these moments in the spotlight. 814 01:14:10,244.500971 --> 01:14:14,324.500971 As she auditions for more modern shows, she finds that she's kind of stuck in this time capsule. 815 01:14:14,374.500971 --> 01:14:20,584.500971 She's been in the showgirl bubble, and the world moved on without her "help, I'm still at the restaurant." 816 01:14:21,454.500971 --> 01:14:29,854.500971 What felt like this ultimate life being this glamorous Vegas showgirl is no longer something the world is interested in. 817 01:14:30,64.500971 --> 01:14:31,504.500971 It's just a beautiful film. 818 01:14:31,534.500971 --> 01:14:38,454.500971 It's also starring Kiernan Shipka and Jamie Lee Curtis, and you should definitely watch it Number four, almost famous. 819 01:14:38,484.500971 --> 01:14:40,344.500971 Of course, it has to be on this list. 820 01:14:40,404.500971 --> 01:14:42,354.500971 It is a Cameron Crowe Classic. 821 01:14:43,164.500971 --> 01:14:48,594.500971 It follows our protagonist, William, as he fakes his way into writing for Rolling Stone in the seventies. 822 01:14:48,864.500971 --> 01:14:54,594.500971 He gets to go on tour with this new hot band, and he gets immersed in the world of rock and roll debauchery. 823 01:14:55,449.500971 --> 01:15:04,449.500971 But what really steals the show are the band-Aids who are essentially groupies to all of these rock stars played by Kate Hudson and Anna Paquin and others. 824 01:15:05,229.500971 --> 01:15:11,379.500971 They just wanna be in this world of music and superstars, even though they're not in the industry themselves. 825 01:15:11,949.500971 --> 01:15:20,964.500971 And what this film emphas izes to me is really the power of fame, the magnetism of fame, and how it can attract people who aren't good for you and only want to exploit you. 826 01:15:22,74.500971 --> 01:15:26,124.500971 And how even on the periphery, this world is dark and it's dangerous. 827 01:15:26,184.500971 --> 01:15:30,894.500971 And this film displays it brilliantly and it's funny and also somehow heartwarming. 828 01:15:30,894.500971 --> 01:15:32,334.500971 And it's a classic. 829 01:15:32,334.500971 --> 01:15:33,414.500971 You have to see it if you haven't. 830 01:15:34,599.500971 --> 01:15:35,589.500971 Moving on to TV shows. 831 01:15:35,589.500971 --> 01:15:36,639.500971 I have to start with hacks. 832 01:15:36,669.500971 --> 01:15:42,879.500971 This is a more recent show on HBO Max that follows two comedians who have been recently quote unquote canceled. 833 01:15:43,89.500971 --> 01:15:55,689.500971 Jean Smart plays Debra Vance, this older famous comedian who is losing her luster as she kinda ages out of the industry, and she's paired up with Ava, played by Hannah Einbinder, who is this up and coming comedian. 834 01:15:56,364.500971 --> 01:15:59,34.500971 But she got into some professional trouble with her jokes. 835 01:15:59,334.500971 --> 01:16:03,564.500971 So even though it's not based in the music industry, it's inside the world of professional comedy. 836 01:16:04,44.500971 --> 01:16:09,684.500971 It's really an exploration of women in the spotlight, what it takes to get there, what it takes to stay there. 837 01:16:09,804.500971 --> 01:16:15,114.500971 And it discusses cancel culture, the patriarchy, the expiration date of celebrity women. 838 01:16:15,774.500971 --> 01:16:17,694.500971 It's incredibly funny and incredibly smart. 839 01:16:18,519.500971 --> 01:16:21,969.500971 And the second TV show that has the same vibes is the studio. 840 01:16:22,119.500971 --> 01:16:28,299.500971 This came out just this year, I think it stars Seth Rogan as this newly promoted Hollywood studio head. 841 01:16:28,299.500971 --> 01:16:30,669.500971 He wants to make movies that matter. 842 01:16:30,819.500971 --> 01:16:31,719.500971 He has a vision. 843 01:16:31,869.500971 --> 01:16:32,829.500971 He's optimistic. 844 01:16:32,889.500971 --> 01:16:38,379.500971 He charges full speed head to make content that's entertaining, but also has something to say. 845 01:16:39,99.500971 --> 01:16:41,169.500971 But these wrenches keep getting thrown in his wheels. 846 01:16:41,964.500971 --> 01:16:48,54.500971 And the wrenches are the egos of celebrities and the egos of all of these other people inside the Hollywood machine. 847 01:16:48,54.500971 --> 01:16:56,64.500971 He can't get where he wants to go because he has to just keep trying to please people and make things look a certain way on the outside. 848 01:16:56,919.500971 --> 01:17:03,489.500971 It's really funny exploration of what we see on the outside of the entertainment industry versus what it's really like on the inside. 849 01:17:04,149.500971 --> 01:17:09,639.500971 And Zoe Kravitz, friend of Taylor Swift absolutely steals the show in a later episode. 850 01:17:09,699.500971 --> 01:17:17,319.500971 And Agatha, all along Katherine Hahn and Moira Rose, Katherine O'Hara also make this series incredibly funny and memorable. 851 01:17:17,594.500971 --> 01:17:18,284.500971 So go watch it. 852 01:17:19,244.500971 --> 01:17:22,754.500971 Those are my vibe choices, and there are probably some really obvious ones that I missed. 853 01:17:22,754.500971 --> 01:17:28,394.500971 And yes, I skipped Showgirl starring Jesse Spano on purpose because you can't force that film upon my psyche anymore. 854 01:17:28,394.500971 --> 01:17:30,44.500971 I just can't, I, I won't do it. 855 01:17:30,944.500971 --> 01:17:36,854.500971 But let me know what your vibe suggestions are in the comments and more vibes to come if you want this to be a regular thing. 856 01:17:37,844.500971 --> 01:17:41,564.500971 If you've made it all the way to the end of this episode, please remember to like and subscribe. 857 01:17:41,964.500971 --> 01:17:43,764.500971 Because this channel is definitely for you. 858 01:17:43,824.500971 --> 01:17:52,814.500971 We are all nerdy Taylor Swift fans here who can dissect lyrics to death, and we know that things are just never what they seem on the surface when it comes to Ms. 859 01:17:52,814.500971 --> 01:17:54,114.500971 Taylor Allison Swift. 860 01:17:54,204.500971 --> 01:18:01,194.500971 Next week I'm gonna look at the big picture again, but this time try to come up with some predictions for TS 13. 861 01:18:01,494.500971 --> 01:18:02,484.500971 So stay tuned. 862 01:18:03,24.500971 --> 01:18:04,284.500971 Thank you so much for watching. 863 01:18:04,284.500971 --> 01:18:05,574.500971 Please share with your friends. 864 01:18:05,604.500971 --> 01:18:09,114.500971 Comment, like, subscribe, click all of the buttony buttons. 865 01:18:09,684.500971 --> 01:18:11,454.500971 Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. 866 01:18:11,454.500971 --> 01:18:13,764.500971 That's it for this chapter of Swiftly Sung Stories. 867 01:18:13,824.500971 --> 01:18:17,544.500971 If you enjoyed this deep dive, please don't forget to follow, subscribe, or leave a review. 868 01:18:17,604.500971 --> 01:18:19,644.500971 It helps other Swifties find their way here. 869 01:18:19,794.500971 --> 01:18:22,614.500971 I'm Jen and I had a marvelous time reading everything with you. 870 01:18:22,734.500971 --> 01:18:23,244.500971 See you next time.

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