Taylor Swift closes out The Life of a Showgirl with this title track duet, sung with fellow showgirl Sabrina Carpenter. We hear the tale of Kitty, who made her money being pretty and witty, and the dire warnings she offers to her protege: this glamorous life is not what it seems.
If there’s a thesis song for this album, this is it, and we’re picking it apart line by line.
Who is Kitty, and does she represent Taylor herself? What’s up with the cats vs dogs comparisons? What are these showgirls hiding underneath their costumes?
And, most importantly, how does this song tie the entire album together, and what is it really saying?
✨ Swiftly Sung Stories dives deep into Taylor Swift’s storytelling craft, exploring her lyrics through the lens of literature, emotion, and the art of songwriting.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
I'm Jen, your Swiftie English teacher, and today we are in the final track of the life of a showgirl and we are tackling Track 12, the title track.
So the Life of a Showgirl closes out this album with really an allegory about the perils of fame.
And in this track we meet Kitty, who is this OG Showgirl, who warns her young fan not to enter into this tough business, even though it's narrated by both Taylor and Sabrina Carpenter.
(00:27):
This duet tells a singular story.
But what does this song really mean and how is it tying all of these album threads together? We are gonna find out all of this content is available on my website if you want the text version with annotated lyrics, and if you're watching this on YouTube, you can also find me wherever, get your podcast and vice versa.
Okay? Let's lay a little bit of groundwork for the themes within the song, and then we will roll into our dissection line by line. 8 00:00:55,847.355152681 --> 00:01:01,547.355152681 Welcome to swiftly sung Stories where we unpack the Taylor Swift Universe one era album and lyric at a time. 9 00:01:01,727.355152681 --> 00:01:06,47.355152681 Think of it like English class, but it's all Taylor Swift and none of the boring stuff. 10 00:01:06,497.355152681 --> 00:01:11,897.355152681 I'm Jen, your Swifty English teacher and classes in session, so come on in and meet me in the margins. 11 00:01:12,183.355152681 --> 00:01:12,903.355152681 Quick PSA. 12 00:01:12,933.355152681 --> 00:01:20,853.355152681 I only discuss Taylor's personal life in my lyrical analysis when it is essential to understanding the text or if it helps us put the lyrics into context. 13 00:01:20,853.355152681 --> 00:01:22,833.355152681 I'm not here to discover what Taylor Swift did. 14 00:01:22,833.355152681 --> 00:01:25,533.355152681 I wanna see what the art does and what the art says. 15 00:01:26,103.355152681 --> 00:01:33,393.355152681 Also, I'm dissecting it obviously through my lens and my opinion, and that's gonna be different from your lens and your opinion, and that is the amazing part. 16 00:01:33,653.355152681 --> 00:01:34,223.355152681 About art. 17 00:01:34,223.355152681 --> 00:01:35,33.355152681 It's subjective. 18 00:01:35,63.355152681 --> 00:01:40,703.35515268 We all have different takes on this, so I'm not saying that my analysis is fact or gospel. 19 00:01:40,703.35515268 --> 00:01:44,573.35515268 I'm just here to point out different interpretations so you can draw your own conclusions. 20 00:01:45,83.35515268 --> 00:01:48,698.35515268 Take what resonates, and leave the rest and let me know what you think in the comments. 21 00:01:50,128.35515268 --> 00:01:56,608.35515268 Okay, so the life of a showgirl is really interesting in the way that Taylor and Sabrina narrate this story. 22 00:01:56,708.35515268 --> 00:01:59,948.35515268 There's two really common narrative formats for a duet. 23 00:01:59,998.35515268 --> 00:02:09,208.35515268 There's this sort of dueling duet where each narrator is playing a character and each character tells their own story, like they're in conversation with one another. 24 00:02:09,388.35515268 --> 00:02:12,418.35515268 Think of a song like Exile that is a conversational duet. 25 00:02:13,78.35515268 --> 00:02:23,728.35515268 Then there's the parallel duet, which is what the song is where we have two narrators who are telling the same story either as two separate characters or as one character. 26 00:02:23,778.35515268 --> 00:02:26,478.35515268 So our two narrators are Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter. 27 00:02:26,568.35515268 --> 00:02:35,178.35515268 And what's interesting is that we don't get to know whether they are separate characters or whether they are the same person. 28 00:02:35,178.35515268 --> 00:02:43,788.35515268 They could each be playing these aspirational showgirls looking up to this mentor, or they could just be taking turns voicing this single protege. 29 00:02:44,178.35515268 --> 00:02:46,308.35515268 So keep that in the back of your mind as we go through this. 30 00:02:46,308.35515268 --> 00:02:51,798.35515268 Like is it intentional? What does it represent and what's your take? So we have our two narrators. 31 00:02:51,798.35515268 --> 00:02:58,38.35515268 They take turns telling the story of their experience with a third showgirl kitty who is their idol. 32 00:02:58,518.35515268 --> 00:03:05,988.35515268 But Kitty discourages them from entering the showgirl life because she's warning them this business, this sparkly life is not what it seems. 33 00:03:06,768.35515268 --> 00:03:10,398.35515268 And as a whole, this is an allegory about perils of fame and celebrity. 34 00:03:10,758.35515268 --> 00:03:18,468.35515268 As we've discovered through our whole analysis of this album, this is the most prominent theme, the duality of a showgirl. 35 00:03:18,498.35515268 --> 00:03:28,38.35515268 There's this polished, sparkly exterior, the showgirl who performs, and then there's the softer, more introspective human girl inside. 36 00:03:29,58.35515268 --> 00:03:32,538.35515268 These two sides have been at war, not only in this album. 37 00:03:33,53.35515268 --> 00:03:59,448.35515268 But in several albums, really beginning earnestly in reputation, it's this dilemma of can I have my cake and eat it too? Will I ever get to have a peaceful private life when my show, this production that is me, always gets in the way? We've seen the more vulnerable side of this with songs like Delicate, call it What You Want, the Archer Mirror Ball, dear Reader, how did it end, et cetera. 38 00:03:59,988.35515268 --> 00:04:05,148.35515268 And we've also seen her put on this tougher facade of like, I'm fine, I swear I'm fine. 39 00:04:05,208.35515268 --> 00:04:07,758.35515268 In songs like Endgame, antihero be jeweled. 40 00:04:08,178.35515268 --> 00:04:10,38.35515268 But Daddy, I love him. 41 00:04:10,38.35515268 --> 00:04:10,923.35515268 I can do it with a broken heart. 42 00:04:11,733.35515268 --> 00:04:12,333.35515268 Et cetera. 43 00:04:13,173.35515268 --> 00:04:20,553.35515268 For me, the life of a showgirl kind of straddles this line between vulnerable and putting on a tough front. 44 00:04:20,583.35515268 --> 00:04:26,43.35515268 There's some real moments of vulnerability, but it's still wrapped up in this facade of a showgirl. 45 00:04:26,488.35515268 --> 00:04:40,798.35515268 And we're gonna dig into all of that, but I think with this song being the title track, we have to pay attention to how these themes play out in the lyrics, who these narrators are, what they're saying, and who these characters represent in the context of this showgirl life. 46 00:04:41,428.35515268 --> 00:04:46,858.35515268 So we're also gonna see how these lyrics tie into other lyrics on this album and on her writing and other albums. 47 00:04:46,908.35515268 --> 00:04:55,518.35515268 So let's dive in, see what we can extract, and hopefully by the end we will be able to sort of tie a bow around all of the themes that she's been exploring in this album. 48 00:04:56,658.35515268 --> 00:05:00,528.35515268 So the first verse begins, her name was Kitty, made her money being pretty and witty. 49 00:05:01,413.35515268 --> 00:05:05,943.35515268 So our first narrator, Taylor, introduces this other showgirl character Kitty. 50 00:05:06,603.35515268 --> 00:05:09,3.35515268 We're in the present tense and we're looking back on the past. 51 00:05:09,333.35515268 --> 00:05:17,13.35515268 The name Kitty conjures up this sort of soft, feminine woman, right? Like someone who doesn't really have claws. 52 00:05:17,13.35515268 --> 00:05:19,173.35515268 She's kind of child like she's innocent. 53 00:05:19,953.35515268 --> 00:05:22,83.35515268 But we're gonna learn that that is not the case at all. 54 00:05:22,83.35515268 --> 00:05:30,153.35515268 But why Kitty? Why did Taylor choose this name? There's the obvious inspiration, which is Taylor's cats, but there's another more pertinent one. 55 00:05:30,393.35515268 --> 00:05:34,113.35515268 Elizabeth Taylor, who was often called kitten or kitty. 56 00:05:34,803.35515268 --> 00:05:42,873.35515268 I think that is the most likely reference she's making because Elizabeth Taylor was portrayed as this soft, ultra feminine women on the outside. 57 00:05:43,578.35515268 --> 00:05:46,98.35515268 But on the inside, she was tough as nails. 58 00:05:46,128.35515268 --> 00:05:48,768.35515268 She was a bulldog, a powerhouse. 59 00:05:49,428.35515268 --> 00:05:57,78.35515268 So this fictional kitty is introduced as this perfect showgirl specimen who makes her living as the ideal feminine, pretty and witty. 60 00:05:57,78.35515268 --> 00:06:01,498.35515268 But our two showgirl narrators don't yet know how much she sacrificed to get to where she is. 61 00:06:03,63.35515268 --> 00:06:03,693.35515268 Taylor goes on. 62 00:06:03,693.35515268 --> 00:06:05,103.35515268 They gave her the keys to the city. 63 00:06:05,553.35515268 --> 00:06:07,563.35515268 Then they said she didn't do it. 64 00:06:07,803.35515268 --> 00:06:10,23.35515268 Legitly sounds familiar. 65 00:06:10,713.35515268 --> 00:06:19,233.35515268 So Kitty conquered show business, but then they tried to yank her career away the moment she made a misstep or a perceived misstep. 66 00:06:20,303.35515268 --> 00:06:24,323.35515268 This is the narrative that Taylor has often told us about her cancellation. 67 00:06:24,323.35515268 --> 00:06:27,503.35515268 She even uses similar metaphors here. 68 00:06:27,503.35515268 --> 00:06:33,233.35515268 Her career is her kingdom or her castle, and even the keys being taken away. 69 00:06:33,563.35515268 --> 00:06:35,393.35515268 See, uh, look what you made me do. 70 00:06:35,723.35515268 --> 00:06:47,183.35515268 She uses almost that exact phrase, this theme of missteps is also explored and canceled, where she's making this cultural commentary about how the world tries to tear down powerful women. 71 00:06:48,648.35515268 --> 00:06:52,338.35515268 I bought a ticket, our showgirl narrator says about Kitty's show. 72 00:06:52,638.35515268 --> 00:06:55,188.35515268 She's dancing in her garters and fishnets. 73 00:06:55,488.35515268 --> 00:06:57,768.35515268 50 in the cast zero missteps. 74 00:06:57,768.35515268 --> 00:07:08,718.35515268 The Garters and Fishnets are a classic showgirl costume, but they also remind us of Taylor's costumes on the Eras tour and that show, much like this one takes a village to put on and to pull off. 75 00:07:09,528.35515268 --> 00:07:14,88.35515268 But it also reminds us of the prologue poem where Taylor says, we learn these tricks along the way. 76 00:07:14,448.35515268 --> 00:07:21,618.35515268 The flesh toned bandage wrap covered by skin colored fishnets because you will cover the wound no matter how deep it is. 77 00:07:22,518.35515268 --> 00:07:26,358.35515268 Here, she's using the fishnets to symbolize this facade. 78 00:07:26,358.35515268 --> 00:07:34,728.35515268 Kitty is on stage in her costume, and her costume is the armor that covers all the bruises and the wounds that this business has inflicted on her. 79 00:07:34,728.35515268 --> 00:07:36,558.35515268 Looking back, I guess it was kismet. 80 00:07:36,558.35515268 --> 00:07:39,438.35515268 She says Kismet just means fated or destined. 81 00:07:39,438.35515268 --> 00:07:50,418.35515268 So this visit to see Kitty performing was fated, she thinks, and that is because of what Kitty is going to reveal when she approaches her in the lyrics that follow. 82 00:07:50,418.35515268 --> 00:07:54,558.35515268 Moving into the first pre-chorus, the show is over, but our narrator sticks around. 83 00:07:55,398.35515268 --> 00:07:59,898.35515268 I waited by the stage door, packed in with the autograph hounds barking her name. 84 00:08:01,8.35515268 --> 00:08:06,138.35515268 She is trying to get a look behind the curtain of this performance, and she gets a taste of what this is like. 85 00:08:06,168.35515268 --> 00:08:18,78.35515268 These people are all screaming and clamoring for Kitty, but she describes this as Autograph Hounds barking her name dogs barking for Kitty, it's cats versus dogs. 86 00:08:18,408.35515268 --> 00:08:21,888.35515268 That's how she's framing this relationship between fans and artists. 87 00:08:22,488.35515268 --> 00:08:23,988.35515268 It's an antagonistic relationship. 88 00:08:25,548.35515268 --> 00:08:32,328.35515268 And honestly, if I had people trying to take my photo everywhere I went and pestering me, I would see it as an antagonistic relationship too. 89 00:08:33,108.35515268 --> 00:08:34,38.35515268 It's understandable. 90 00:08:34,938.35515268 --> 00:08:36,798.35515268 Then glowing like the end of a cigarette. 91 00:08:36,798.35515268 --> 00:08:39,918.35515268 She goes on, wow, she came out suddenly. 92 00:08:39,918.35515268 --> 00:08:41,568.35515268 This celebrity is among mere mortals. 93 00:08:43,203.35515268 --> 00:08:46,923.35515268 Kitty is described as glowing, but it's not flattering. 94 00:08:46,983.35515268 --> 00:08:58,353.35515268 She's a light in the darkness, but she's represented as something deadly, a cigarette, and this cigarette imagery foreshadows what happens to showgirls. 95 00:08:58,353.35515268 --> 00:09:04,83.35515268 They burn bright and burn out, and all the while living this life will slowly kill you. 96 00:09:05,283.35515268 --> 00:09:06,483.35515268 Then she speaks to Kitty. 97 00:09:07,83.35515268 --> 00:09:08,883.35515268 I said, you're living my dream. 98 00:09:09,423.35515268 --> 00:09:13,143.35515268 Our wannabe showgirl tells her idol that she has her dream life. 99 00:09:13,143.35515268 --> 00:09:20,913.35515268 It's everything she's ever wanted, but it's been foreshadowed by the cigarette imagery and the cats versus dog comparison. 100 00:09:21,693.35515268 --> 00:09:25,893.35515268 This dream life is not a dream, and she's about to learn why. 101 00:09:25,893.35515268 --> 00:09:31,383.35515268 When kitty replies in the first chorus, we get to hear kitty's reply and her advice. 102 00:09:31,713.35515268 --> 00:09:34,743.35515268 Hey, thank you for the lovely bouquet Kitty says. 103 00:09:35,688.35515268 --> 00:09:46,698.35515268 Literally, she's probably handing her flowers, which is traditional after performance, but metaphorically, the flowers are admiration, props, idolization. 104 00:09:47,478.35515268 --> 00:09:51,708.35515268 But what else are cut flowers? They're dead on arrival. 105 00:09:51,708.35515268 --> 00:09:52,668.35515268 They won't last. 106 00:09:53,808.35515268 --> 00:09:56,58.35515268 So this fits in with this subtle foreshadowing. 107 00:09:56,58.35515268 --> 00:09:57,663.35515268 You're only as hot as your last hit. 108 00:09:58,293.35515268 --> 00:10:02,598.35515268 Just like these flowers, they'll be dead and forgotten in this fast-paced show. 109 00:10:02,598.35515268 --> 00:10:03,318.35515268 Business life. 110 00:10:04,533.35515268 --> 00:10:08,463.35515268 You are sweeter than a peach kitty says, but you don't know. 111 00:10:08,463.35515268 --> 00:10:17,883.35515268 The life of a showgirl babe sweeter than a peach is rather an old fashioned phrase, which fits in with this art deco imagery of the album. 112 00:10:18,273.35515268 --> 00:10:23,43.35515268 But it also implies that she's easily bruised, not tough enough for this life. 113 00:10:23,43.35515268 --> 00:10:24,693.35515268 She's a fragile peach. 114 00:10:25,503.35515268 --> 00:10:29,133.35515268 You have no idea what it really takes kitty's saying, and you're never ever gonna. 115 00:10:30,738.35515268 --> 00:10:32,508.35515268 This last line is a bit of a dagger. 116 00:10:32,508.35515268 --> 00:10:33,738.35515268 You'll never make it. 117 00:10:34,878.35515268 --> 00:10:38,568.35515268 Why won't she make it? Because she has unrealistic expectations. 118 00:10:38,568.35515268 --> 00:10:44,448.35515268 She looks at this showgirl life as a dream, but she doesn't see the bruises and the wounds underneath the costume. 119 00:10:44,448.35515268 --> 00:10:47,28.35515268 She sees the show, not the girl. 120 00:10:47,988.35515268 --> 00:10:49,988.35515268 Then kitty goes on wait. 121 00:10:50,148.35515268 --> 00:10:52,428.35515268 The more you play, the more that you pay. 122 00:10:52,818.35515268 --> 00:10:56,508.35515268 So she's comparing show business to a losing game or to gambling. 123 00:10:57,48.35515268 --> 00:10:58,818.35515268 And it's not just money, though. 124 00:10:58,938.35515268 --> 00:11:00,588.35515268 This life probably costs a lot of money. 125 00:11:01,98.35515268 --> 00:11:02,748.35515268 She's talking about the emotional price. 126 00:11:02,748.35515268 --> 00:11:08,58.35515268 The longer you're in this business and the more popular you are, the more you sacrifice in your private life. 127 00:11:08,958.35515268 --> 00:11:20,628.35515268 She encourages her protege to hold off and think about it, because once she starts playing, it'll only cost money, time, privacy, sanity, and all the rest it'll take over your entire life. 128 00:11:21,648.35515268 --> 00:11:23,178.35515268 You're softer than a kitten. 129 00:11:23,358.35515268 --> 00:11:31,818.35515268 So you don't know the life of showgirl, babe, she's saying this ironically, and you're never gonna wanna so kitty. 130 00:11:32,838.35515268 --> 00:11:43,998.35515268 The soft kitten thinks that she's too soft, too naive, too optimistic, not tough enough, and she tries to shut down these hopeful dreams by giving her this really crushing reality check. 131 00:11:43,998.35515268 --> 00:11:46,128.35515268 You can't be soft in this business. 132 00:11:46,128.35515268 --> 00:11:50,898.35515268 You have to be tough, and even though her name is Kitty, she only looks soft on the outside. 133 00:11:50,898.35515268 --> 00:11:51,468.35515268 On the inside. 134 00:11:51,468.35515268 --> 00:11:52,488.35515268 She's hard as nails. 135 00:11:52,788.35515268 --> 00:11:55,518.35515268 And we're about to learn how she came to be that way. 136 00:11:55,578.35515268 --> 00:12:03,948.35515268 In the second verse, so the second verse is narrated by Sabrina Carpenter, and she begins, she was a menace, the baby of the family in Lennox. 137 00:12:04,803.35515268 --> 00:12:14,583.35515268 So we're now hearing Kitty's origin story, and this is important in the narrative sense because we can't care about Kitty who is really the center of this story without knowing why she is the way she is. 138 00:12:14,583.35515268 --> 00:12:17,343.35515268 She can't be this one dimensional, famous figure. 139 00:12:17,343.35515268 --> 00:12:22,473.35515268 We have to understand why her advice is important and how her struggles got her to where she is. 140 00:12:23,193.35515268 --> 00:12:26,283.35515268 So Kitty was the rebellious child of the family growing up. 141 00:12:26,283.35515268 --> 00:12:29,613.35515268 Like every youngest child, Taylor tells us an eldest daughter. 142 00:12:29,613.35515268 --> 00:12:30,873.35515268 She grew up in the wild. 143 00:12:31,743.35515268 --> 00:12:34,383.35515268 Her father whored around like all men did. 144 00:12:34,413.35515268 --> 00:12:39,93.35515268 She continues implying that she lacked a strong father figure. 145 00:12:39,723.35515268 --> 00:12:41,703.35515268 Her mother took pills and played tennis. 146 00:12:42,828.35515268 --> 00:12:46,908.35515268 So it sounds like she's had this privileged but really lonely upbringing. 147 00:12:46,908.35515268 --> 00:12:50,298.35515268 So we begin to understand why this kitty character longed for more. 148 00:12:50,688.35515268 --> 00:12:54,918.35515268 She's got this philandering father, absent addict mother. 149 00:12:55,218.35515268 --> 00:12:55,838.35515268 You get the picture. 150 00:12:55,968.35515268 --> 00:13:00,618.35515268 She probably never had the attention or the love that she needed, so she went out in search of it elsewhere. 151 00:13:01,938.35515268 --> 00:13:03,108.35515268 Then we see this search. 152 00:13:03,108.35515268 --> 00:13:05,118.35515268 So she waited by the stage door. 153 00:13:05,178.35515268 --> 00:13:07,188.35515268 She's talking about this younger kitty. 154 00:13:07,818.35515268 --> 00:13:11,568.35515268 Before she became a showgirl, she repeated the same ritual that our narrators have. 155 00:13:12,288.35515268 --> 00:13:18,48.35515268 As the club promoter arrived, she said, I'd sell my soul to have a taste of the magnificent life. 156 00:13:18,78.35515268 --> 00:13:19,188.35515268 That's all mine. 157 00:13:20,118.35515268 --> 00:13:23,328.35515268 So young Kitty is speaking to this industry figure. 158 00:13:23,328.35515268 --> 00:13:28,188.35515268 She's looking for someone to guide her and take a chance on her, just like our narrators are. 159 00:13:28,818.35515268 --> 00:13:33,318.35515268 But it's important to note that she says she'd sell my soul for this career. 160 00:13:34,308.35515268 --> 00:13:38,718.35515268 This is in fact what it will cost, and we will learn later on in the lyrics. 161 00:13:38,748.35515268 --> 00:13:40,458.35515268 She's going to make a deal with the devil. 162 00:13:40,938.35515268 --> 00:13:47,58.35515268 We know how those deals pan out in father figure, and it's the same here, but that's not what showgirls get. 163 00:13:47,58.35515268 --> 00:13:49,398.35515268 She says they leave us for dead. 164 00:13:50,253.35515268 --> 00:13:52,323.35515268 They don't get a magnificent life, that's all mine. 165 00:13:52,323.35515268 --> 00:13:58,473.35515268 Their lives are dictated by money and fame, and the public, their time and their soul is not their own. 166 00:13:58,473.35515268 --> 00:14:01,443.35515268 Once the public loses interest, you are left by the wayside. 167 00:14:01,443.35515268 --> 00:14:10,338.35515268 So once the show is over, what happens to the girl? The chorus repeats word for word, and then when we reach the bridge, the narrative zooms out. 168 00:14:10,938.35515268 --> 00:14:16,128.35515268 It zooms out from kitty and it's back on our narrators, our wannabe showgirl or showgirls. 169 00:14:17,88.35515268 --> 00:14:20,598.35515268 So I took her pearls of wisdom, hung them from my neck. 170 00:14:21,408.35515268 --> 00:14:22,308.35515268 This is the bridge. 171 00:14:22,728.35515268 --> 00:14:27,768.35515268 Our showgirl takes the metaphorical pearls of wisdom and puts them on heeding kitty's. 172 00:14:27,768.35515268 --> 00:14:31,98.35515268 Advice to toughen up, but kind of disregarding the rest. 173 00:14:31,998.35515268 --> 00:14:33,288.35515268 Someone can tell us what. 174 00:14:33,618.35515268 --> 00:14:35,898.35515268 We want will really suck, but in reality we won't. 175 00:14:35,958.35515268 --> 00:14:38,88.35515268 It won't click until we find out for ourselves. 176 00:14:38,88.35515268 --> 00:14:46,848.35515268 But even though those pearls of wisdom aren't physical pearls, they also kind of are, she's putting on this costume and Pearls usually symbolize this innocent femininity. 177 00:14:47,538.35515268 --> 00:14:49,338.35515268 She's going to lose that innocence though. 178 00:14:50,343.35515268 --> 00:14:52,983.35515268 I paid my dues with every bruise she goes on. 179 00:14:52,983.35515268 --> 00:14:54,393.35515268 I knew what to expect. 180 00:14:54,663.35515268 --> 00:14:57,993.35515268 So she's climbing the industry ladder and she pays her dues. 181 00:14:57,993.35515268 --> 00:15:01,173.35515268 By gaining experience and this sweet peach. 182 00:15:01,233.35515268 --> 00:15:06,333.35515268 Probably gets bruised physically, but mostly emotionally along the way. 183 00:15:06,963.35515268 --> 00:15:09,3.35515268 She knew it would be tough, so she had to become tougher. 184 00:15:09,153.35515268 --> 00:15:11,703.35515268 She's no longer sweeter than a peach and softer than a kitten. 185 00:15:11,703.35515268 --> 00:15:13,833.35515268 She's hard as nails just like kitty. 186 00:15:14,883.35515268 --> 00:15:23,313.35515268 And we know that because she tells us, do you wanna take a skate on the ice inside my veins? And this is her displaying how far she's come. 187 00:15:23,313.35515268 --> 00:15:29,853.35515268 She's had to become so unshakeable in this business that she no longer cares about anything but her path forward. 188 00:15:29,853.35515268 --> 00:15:34,203.35515268 Her veins, her blood now runs ice cold. 189 00:15:35,43.35515268 --> 00:15:40,233.35515268 And here's where we discover that she really did sell her soul ,because she's become inhuman. 190 00:15:41,523.35515268 --> 00:15:49,683.35515268 It wasn't just a smooth skate to the finish line though, because she tells us next, they ripped me off like false lashes and threw me away. 191 00:15:50,313.35515268 --> 00:15:56,463.35515268 So once the public got tired of her, or she made one misstep, she became disposable. 192 00:15:57,93.35515268 --> 00:16:04,293.35515268 If the lashes sound familiar, she also mentioned this part of her showgirl costume, this showgirl armor in the prologue poem. 193 00:16:04,803.35515268 --> 00:16:11,973.35515268 So this life that she puts on this showgirl facade can be ripped away just as easily as false lashes. 194 00:16:12,963.35515268 --> 00:16:22,653.35515268 This whole metaphor likely alludes to Taylor's cancellation of 2016, but in the broader sense, it's commenting on the expiration date of women in show business. 195 00:16:22,983.35515268 --> 00:16:26,613.35515268 It's already short and you can expire before you know it. 196 00:16:26,643.35515268 --> 00:16:47,13.3551527 This is a major theme on the album, and it's asking, how long will this last? Will it last? Will I get canceled again, or can I step down gracefully from the pedestal? How is this gonna end? She goes on and all the headshot on the walls of the dance hall are the bitches who wish I'd hurry up and die. 197 00:16:47,13.3551527 --> 00:16:47,373.3551527 Sorry. 198 00:16:47,493.3551527 --> 00:16:48,153.3551527 It's hilarious. 199 00:16:48,153.3551527 --> 00:17:01,863.3551527 There's the literal meaning of this, which is that inside the story, our showgirl is in a dance hall and there's photos on the walls of all of these up and comers who wish she would just get out of the way and let them have their own moment in the spotlight. 200 00:17:03,93.3551527 --> 00:17:14,853.3551527 But then there is the metaphorical dance hall of show business, or the music industry, which could be the billboard charts, the Grammy Awards, Spotify, social media, whatever. 201 00:17:15,798.3551527 --> 00:17:22,728.3551527 In that way, the photos are of other artists that wish that Taylor's career would just die so that they can stand a chance. 202 00:17:23,688.3551527 --> 00:17:37,398.3551527 And though headshot is just what industry photos are called, the darker tone here reminds us of the other, meaning a shot to the head or a kill shot, but as targeted as she is, both this fictional showgirl character. 203 00:17:37,398.3551527 --> 00:17:42,528.3551527 And Taylor herself, she's not going anywhere, she says, but I'm immortal now. 204 00:17:42,618.3551527 --> 00:17:43,218.3551527 Baby dolls. 205 00:17:44,523.3551527 --> 00:17:46,143.3551527 I couldn't if I tried. 206 00:17:47,508.3551527 --> 00:17:51,978.3551527 She's too big to fail or too legendary to ever become a footnote. 207 00:17:51,978.3551527 --> 00:18:03,498.3551527 And the I here is, I think both this showgirl character on the page and Taylor Swift Incorporated, or this massive epic career and persona that she's created. 208 00:18:04,38.3551527 --> 00:18:07,758.3551527 She's immortal in the sense that her career and her music will live on no matter what. 209 00:18:07,998.3551527 --> 00:18:15,258.3551527 She set this new standard and that legend, that mythology will live on forever, even after. 210 00:18:15,268.3551527 --> 00:18:16,48.3551527 She's gone. 211 00:18:16,468.3551527 --> 00:18:30,658.3551527 She can't die because as she says in Elizabeth Taylor, all my white diamonds and lovers are forever in the paper, on the screen, and in their minds, she's left this paper trail on the public memory and on pop culture as a whole. 212 00:18:31,708.3551527 --> 00:18:37,78.3551527 But this I'm immortal now also reminds us of that previous line I'd sell my soul. 213 00:18:37,948.3551527 --> 00:18:40,198.3551527 And then she did sell her soul because we have. 214 00:18:40,233.3551527 --> 00:18:49,983.3551527 Learned that she became cold and callous and has ice for veins, and she's immortal now because she sold her soul to the devil in order to have all of this success. 215 00:18:51,393.3551527 --> 00:18:58,833.3551527 I think this is both a particular commentary on showgirls in general and what they have to sacrifice to get themselves to the top. 216 00:18:59,883.3551527 --> 00:19:02,343.3551527 It's also an admission from Taylor herself. 217 00:19:02,343.3551527 --> 00:19:08,703.3551527 So much of this record deals with the duality of the showgirl, what it's like on the outside versus what it feels like on the inside. 218 00:19:09,153.3551527 --> 00:19:16,923.3551527 So when she says she couldn't die, even if she tried, it's this confession that this life, this career, is inhuman. 219 00:19:17,313.3551527 --> 00:19:19,593.3551527 Even if she wanted to get out, she couldn't. 220 00:19:19,593.3551527 --> 00:19:20,733.3551527 She's too big. 221 00:19:21,303.3551527 --> 00:19:23,913.3551527 She looms too large over this whole universe. 222 00:19:24,603.3551527 --> 00:19:28,383.3551527 But can we also read this as snarky and condescending? Yeah. 223 00:19:28,653.3551527 --> 00:19:37,443.3551527 There's the infantalizing baby dolls talking down to those up and comers in the industry, and it feels like bragging or rubbing their noses in it. 224 00:19:38,148.3551527 --> 00:19:45,828.3551527 But it's important to remember that she's saying this as this showgirl character who had to sell her soul to the devil, and now she's become the devil. 225 00:19:46,8.3551527 --> 00:19:49,188.3551527 So in the context of this character. 226 00:19:49,743.3551527 --> 00:19:52,323.3551527 Yes, it makes sense out of context. 227 00:19:52,323.3551527 --> 00:19:55,53.3551527 If we read this as Taylor Swift talking, it's both true. 228 00:19:55,473.3551527 --> 00:20:01,53.3551527 She is kind of the biggest artist to ever exist and it also feels icky and boastful. 229 00:20:01,83.3551527 --> 00:20:07,143.3551527 So it's Yes, and And I think a lot of the songs on this album are both things. 230 00:20:07,213.3551527 --> 00:20:08,743.3551527 I'm immortal Now, baby Dolls. 231 00:20:08,773.3551527 --> 00:20:09,193.3551527 I couldn't have. 232 00:20:09,193.3551527 --> 00:20:15,43.3551527 I tried and then she moves into, so I say, Hey, thank you for the lovely bouquet. 233 00:20:15,583.3551527 --> 00:20:18,973.3551527 She's saying, you want me to die, but I'm immortal. 234 00:20:19,603.3551527 --> 00:20:20,953.3551527 But thanks for the flowers. 235 00:20:21,223.3551527 --> 00:20:22,543.3551527 It's not a genuine, thank you. 236 00:20:22,543.3551527 --> 00:20:28,843.3551527 It's an Oh, of course you admire me because I am who I am, which is the greatest thing to ever exist. 237 00:20:29,383.3551527 --> 00:20:31,423.3551527 It's like, oh, you tried to tear me down. 238 00:20:31,423.3551527 --> 00:20:32,863.3551527 You're so obsessed with me. 239 00:20:32,863.3551527 --> 00:20:34,333.3551527 It's actually romantic. 240 00:20:35,503.3551527 --> 00:20:37,603.3551527 She goes on, I'm married to the hustle. 241 00:20:38,143.3551527 --> 00:20:40,933.3551527 She's never gonna slow down so that they can catch up. 242 00:20:41,593.3551527 --> 00:20:43,63.3551527 But this metaphor, I'm married to. 243 00:20:43,63.3551527 --> 00:20:48,463.3551527 The hustle also hints at one of the other themes of this album, which is this private versus public life. 244 00:20:48,733.3551527 --> 00:20:51,253.3551527 The showgirl character has sacrificed a private life. 245 00:20:52,168.3551527 --> 00:20:53,428.3551527 To have a public life. 246 00:20:53,458.3551527 --> 00:21:00,148.3551527 She married her job and that is something that our central narrator, Taylor, is really grappling with this in this album. 247 00:21:00,208.3551527 --> 00:21:07,78.3551527 Can she have both? Can she have her cake and ate it too? And now I know the life of a showgirl babe. 248 00:21:07,78.3551527 --> 00:21:09,808.3551527 She goes on and I'll never know another. 249 00:21:09,808.3551527 --> 00:21:11,428.3551527 Now she really knows what it takes. 250 00:21:11,638.3551527 --> 00:21:15,148.3551527 She knows she has what it takes, and she'll never go back to having a normal life. 251 00:21:15,148.3551527 --> 00:21:16,888.3551527 For better or for worse. 252 00:21:17,218.3551527 --> 00:21:17,998.3551527 I'll never know. 253 00:21:17,998.3551527 --> 00:21:21,748.3551527 Another touches on this other theme of the album, which is The Road Not Taken. 254 00:21:22,258.3551527 --> 00:21:37,288.3551527 So many songs on this album, the Fate of Ophelia, opalite, ruin, the Friendship, et cetera, are centered around fate and the idea of why something wasn't fated or what would've, could've, should've happened had she made a different choice. 255 00:21:38,128.3551527 --> 00:21:38,548.3551527 Here. 256 00:21:38,548.3551527 --> 00:21:41,608.3551527 She'll never know another life because she's given her entire life. 257 00:21:42,253.3551527 --> 00:21:44,833.3551527 To this career, this showgirl production. 258 00:21:46,63.3551527 --> 00:21:49,213.3551527 She goes on pain hidden by the lipstick and lace. 259 00:21:49,243.3551527 --> 00:21:50,833.3551527 Sequins are forever. 260 00:21:50,983.3551527 --> 00:21:52,873.3551527 And now I know the life of a showgirl babe. 261 00:21:53,743.3551527 --> 00:21:59,503.3551527 So beneath her costume is all of the turmoil and tears that it took to get here, but the show must go on. 262 00:22:00,633.3551527 --> 00:22:14,463.3551527 This is another major motif on this album, which is the facade, the costume, and she touched on this in the prologue too, but sequins are forever is interesting because it's almost the polar opposite of diamonds are forever from Elizabeth Taylor. 263 00:22:14,463.3551527 --> 00:22:21,543.3551527 Diamonds are shiny and valuable and impenetrable, but sequins are cheap, mass produced and disposable. 264 00:22:21,693.3551527 --> 00:22:23,133.3551527 So why are sequins forever. 265 00:22:24,3.3551527 --> 00:22:27,603.3551527 To me, it feels like she'll always hide behind the sequins. 266 00:22:27,958.3551527 --> 00:22:37,408.3551527 Or the show, she'll never let the curtain fall and show the pain that's hiding behind the lipstick and lace, because that would reveal too much about how taxing this whole business is. 267 00:22:38,98.3551527 --> 00:22:45,928.3551527 She needs to make it look easy in order for us to believe in the facade, so the sequins distract us from what's going on underneath. 268 00:22:45,928.3551527 --> 00:22:48,958.3551527 We'll be forever distracted by the shiny exterior. 269 00:22:48,958.3551527 --> 00:22:51,208.3551527 Sequins are forever because they're her armor. 270 00:22:52,678.3551527 --> 00:22:53,788.3551527 Wouldn't have it any other way. 271 00:22:53,788.3551527 --> 00:22:59,68.3551527 and she repeats this twice, she'd never trade this life for another and she'll never quit the act. 272 00:22:59,248.3551527 --> 00:23:03,388.3551527 But the repetition makes it feel like she's trying to convince herself. 273 00:23:03,448.3551527 --> 00:23:09,688.3551527 And I'll never know another, and I'll never know another, it's like she's trying to convince herself of her commitment. 274 00:23:09,688.3551527 --> 00:23:15,948.3551527 Would she really never wanna go back to a normal civilian life? She could never do that. 275 00:23:16,248.3551527 --> 00:23:18,318.3551527 She's too big, she's too famous. 276 00:23:18,558.3551527 --> 00:23:22,728.3551527 She can't just go, you know, live in Kentucky somewhere anonymously. 277 00:23:22,728.3551527 --> 00:23:23,688.3551527 It just couldn't happen. 278 00:23:23,688.3551527 --> 00:23:27,18.3551527 This calls back to one of the most vulnerable parts of the prologue poem. 279 00:23:27,888.3551527 --> 00:23:41,973.3551527 It's worth everything it has cost you, and even at your darkest or drunkest, you wouldn't say anything different, would you? You would choose it all again, no matter how the story ends with the ugliest boos or the loveliest bouquet. 280 00:23:43,173.3551527 --> 00:23:48,873.3551527 The loveliest bouquet of course, ties this moment inextricably to the song, but so does this. 281 00:23:48,873.3551527 --> 00:23:50,703.3551527 Wouldn't have it any other way. 282 00:23:51,183.3551527 --> 00:24:02,103.3551527 In both of these lines, both in this song and in prologue poem, it feels like she's asking and answering, but in doing this, she's trying to convince herself that the road she's taken is the right one. 283 00:24:03,18.3551527 --> 00:24:05,238.3551527 For our showgirl narrators in this song. 284 00:24:05,238.3551527 --> 00:24:06,708.3551527 They asked for it and they got it. 285 00:24:07,188.3551527 --> 00:24:11,838.3551527 They were warned, and it was just as terrible and scary as Kitty said it would be. 286 00:24:12,678.3551527 --> 00:24:18,168.3551527 Or as Taylor says in the prologue poem, it's beautiful, it's rapturous, it is frightening. 287 00:24:19,398.3551527 --> 00:24:20,508.3551527 It's all of these things. 288 00:24:20,508.3551527 --> 00:24:26,178.3551527 But for our showgirl, Taylor Swift, it feels like this is something she's really truly grappling with. 289 00:24:26,388.3551527 --> 00:24:34,38.3551527 Is it worth it? Is the show worth sacrificing the girl? In the end, our showgirl narrators call out to their mentor. 290 00:24:34,38.3551527 --> 00:24:39,738.3551527 They say, Hey Kitty, now I'm making money being pretty and witty and this is their, I told you so. 291 00:24:39,738.3551527 --> 00:24:43,878.3551527 Moment Kitty said they'd never know the showgirl life, but now they do. 292 00:24:44,898.3551527 --> 00:24:50,988.3551527 Thank you for the lovely bouquet They say to Kitty, who's now handing them flowers after their show. 293 00:24:51,798.3551527 --> 00:24:55,548.3551527 Just like in father figure, the student has surpassed the master. 294 00:24:55,548.3551527 --> 00:25:01,488.3551527 But what does this bouquet represent? It's been repeated so many times, both here and mentioned in the prologue. 295 00:25:02,238.3551527 --> 00:25:07,818.3551527 It's becoming symbolic of something and here are a few possibilities that exist in my mind. 296 00:25:07,818.3551527 --> 00:25:09,18.3551527 Number one, it's the obvious. 297 00:25:09,18.3551527 --> 00:25:10,728.3551527 It's props, it's awards. 298 00:25:10,728.3551527 --> 00:25:12,168.3551527 It's you're doing a great job. 299 00:25:12,168.3551527 --> 00:25:13,668.3551527 Like, girl, go get your flowers. 300 00:25:14,538.3551527 --> 00:25:17,778.3551527 But the award, the applause is for the show. 301 00:25:18,318.3551527 --> 00:25:21,48.3551527 And here's where this second interpretation comes in. 302 00:25:21,708.3551527 --> 00:25:23,748.3551527 It's exposing this duality. 303 00:25:23,748.3551527 --> 00:25:31,368.3551527 There's the showgirl who gets the lovely bouquet, and then there's the girl who has all these trappings of fame and fortune. 304 00:25:31,368.3551527 --> 00:25:34,458.3551527 In this interpretation, the flowers are part of that facade. 305 00:25:34,458.3551527 --> 00:25:38,178.3551527 You're giving me these flowers for what I just did on that stage. 306 00:25:39,18.3551527 --> 00:25:40,338.3551527 That alter ego. 307 00:25:40,338.3551527 --> 00:25:54,168.3551527 That's the performer and the entertainer, but the girl underneath, what does she get? So what thank you for the lovely bouquet could really mean by this point in the song is thanks for being a fan, but you have no idea who I really am. 308 00:25:55,8.3551527 --> 00:25:58,8.3551527 You're here for the show and I'm just the girl. 309 00:25:58,8.3551527 --> 00:26:05,58.3551527 But we also have to look at when these flowers are given, both for showgirls in general and for this showgirl they're given after the show is over. 310 00:26:05,448.3551527 --> 00:26:21,318.3551527 The curtain closes, the costumes come off, the armor falls, and it's only after they step off stage that they get their flowers, and in the prologue when she's questioning how this larger show will end, how this life, this career, this persona will end. 311 00:26:21,318.3551527 --> 00:26:23,718.3551527 She says, you would choose it all again. 312 00:26:23,808.3551527 --> 00:26:27,438.3551527 No matter how the story ends with the ugliest booze or the loveliest bouquet. 313 00:26:27,978.3551527 --> 00:27:08,643.3551527 Will she go out being canceled? Will she be kicked off the pedestal? Will she be gracefully played off as she takes her final bows? Will they hand her flowers or throw rotten tomatoes? That's the larger question here, and the larger meaning of the lovely bouquet is how will it end? How will I be remembered? How will I be memorialized? Because when the life of a showgirl expires, what happens next? Is there a second act or will the public just stop tolerating you once you're too old or too famous? That's the life of a showgirl. 314 00:27:08,643.3551527 --> 00:27:15,513.3551527 It's doing your best and spinning on your tallest tiptoes, never knowing where and when you will stop spinning. 315 00:27:15,513.3551527 --> 00:27:16,923.3551527 It could end at any time. 316 00:27:17,823.3551527 --> 00:27:20,733.3551527 And this is the central theme more than any other on this album. 317 00:27:21,453.3551527 --> 00:27:24,963.3551527 How does the life of a showgirl end. 318 00:27:26,244.3629296 --> 00:27:31,382.2910006 Thank you so much for coming with me on this journey through the life of a showgirl. 319 00:27:31,982.2910006 --> 00:27:36,2.2910006 Please remember to like and subscribe so you don't miss any of my future episodes. 320 00:27:36,452.2910006 --> 00:27:42,752.2910006 Next up, I'm gonna take all of these puzzle pieces of this album and lay them out and see what they look like. 321 00:27:42,752.2910006 --> 00:27:49,772.2910006 We're gonna reflect on this album as a whole and what it means about Taylor's larger character arc and trajectory. 322 00:27:50,297.2910006 --> 00:27:52,67.2910006 Thank you so much for being here with me. 323 00:27:52,67.2910006 --> 00:27:53,27.2910006 It really means a lot. 324 00:27:53,27.2910006 --> 00:27:58,367.2910006 I'm just starting this channel and seriously every person who watches us. 325 00:27:58,937.2910006 --> 00:27:59,447.2910006 Thank you. 326 00:28:00,707.2910006 --> 00:28:07,517.2910006 All of this content is available on my website in the show notes where you can find these annotated lyrics that you've seen if you're watching on YouTube. 327 00:28:07,577.2910006 --> 00:28:11,657.2910006 And I also have Lyric quizzes analysis of over 250 of Taylor songs. 328 00:28:11,657.2910006 --> 00:28:12,677.2910006 So much more. 329 00:28:12,917.2910006 --> 00:28:13,907.2910006 Go check that out. 330 00:28:14,447.2910006 --> 00:28:20,237.2910006 If you're watching me on YouTube, make sure to subscribe on podcasts, and if you're listening on, go subscribe on YouTube. 331 00:28:20,747.2910006 --> 00:28:23,177.2910006 Thank you so much, and I will see you soon. 332 00:28:23,177.2910006 --> 00:28:25,487.2910006 That's it for this chapter of Swiftly Sung Stories. 333 00:28:25,547.2910006 --> 00:28:29,267.2910006 If you enjoyed this deep dive, please don't forget to follow, subscribe, or leave a review. 334 00:28:29,327.2910006 --> 00:28:31,367.2910006 It helps other Swifties find their way here. 335 00:28:31,517.2910006 --> 00:28:34,337.2910006 I'm Jen and I had a marvelous time reading everything with you. 336 00:28:34,457.2910006 --> 00:28:34,967.2910006 See you next time.
I'm Jen, your Swiftie English teacher, and today we are in the final track of the life of a showgirl and we are tackling Track 12, the title track.
So the Life of a Showgirl closes out this album with really an allegory about the perils of fame.
And in this track we meet Kitty, who is this OG Showgirl, who warns her young fan not to enter into this tough business, even though it's narrated by both Taylor and Sabrina Carpenter.
(00:27):
This duet tells a singular story.
But what does this song really mean and how is it tying all of these album threads together? We are gonna find out all of this content is available on my website if you want the text version with annotated lyrics, and if you're watching this on YouTube, you can also find me wherever, get your podcast and vice versa.
Okay? Let's lay a little bit of groundwork for the themes within the song, and then we will roll into our dissection line by line. 8 00:00:55,847.355152681 --> 00:01:01,547.355152681 Welcome to swiftly sung Stories where we unpack the Taylor Swift Universe one era album and lyric at a time. 9 00:01:01,727.355152681 --> 00:01:06,47.355152681 Think of it like English class, but it's all Taylor Swift and none of the boring stuff. 10 00:01:06,497.355152681 --> 00:01:11,897.355152681 I'm Jen, your Swifty English teacher and classes in session, so come on in and meet me in the margins. 11 00:01:12,183.355152681 --> 00:01:12,903.355152681 Quick PSA. 12 00:01:12,933.355152681 --> 00:01:20,853.355152681 I only discuss Taylor's personal life in my lyrical analysis when it is essential to understanding the text or if it helps us put the lyrics into context. 13 00:01:20,853.355152681 --> 00:01:22,833.355152681 I'm not here to discover what Taylor Swift did. 14 00:01:22,833.355152681 --> 00:01:25,533.355152681 I wanna see what the art does and what the art says. 15 00:01:26,103.355152681 --> 00:01:33,393.355152681 Also, I'm dissecting it obviously through my lens and my opinion, and that's gonna be different from your lens and your opinion, and that is the amazing part. 16 00:01:33,653.355152681 --> 00:01:34,223.355152681 About art. 17 00:01:34,223.355152681 --> 00:01:35,33.355152681 It's subjective. 18 00:01:35,63.355152681 --> 00:01:40,703.35515268 We all have different takes on this, so I'm not saying that my analysis is fact or gospel. 19 00:01:40,703.35515268 --> 00:01:44,573.35515268 I'm just here to point out different interpretations so you can draw your own conclusions. 20 00:01:45,83.35515268 --> 00:01:48,698.35515268 Take what resonates, and leave the rest and let me know what you think in the comments. 21 00:01:50,128.35515268 --> 00:01:56,608.35515268 Okay, so the life of a showgirl is really interesting in the way that Taylor and Sabrina narrate this story. 22 00:01:56,708.35515268 --> 00:01:59,948.35515268 There's two really common narrative formats for a duet. 23 00:01:59,998.35515268 --> 00:02:09,208.35515268 There's this sort of dueling duet where each narrator is playing a character and each character tells their own story, like they're in conversation with one another. 24 00:02:09,388.35515268 --> 00:02:12,418.35515268 Think of a song like Exile that is a conversational duet. 25 00:02:13,78.35515268 --> 00:02:23,728.35515268 Then there's the parallel duet, which is what the song is where we have two narrators who are telling the same story either as two separate characters or as one character. 26 00:02:23,778.35515268 --> 00:02:26,478.35515268 So our two narrators are Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter. 27 00:02:26,568.35515268 --> 00:02:35,178.35515268 And what's interesting is that we don't get to know whether they are separate characters or whether they are the same person. 28 00:02:35,178.35515268 --> 00:02:43,788.35515268 They could each be playing these aspirational showgirls looking up to this mentor, or they could just be taking turns voicing this single protege. 29 00:02:44,178.35515268 --> 00:02:46,308.35515268 So keep that in the back of your mind as we go through this. 30 00:02:46,308.35515268 --> 00:02:51,798.35515268 Like is it intentional? What does it represent and what's your take? So we have our two narrators. 31 00:02:51,798.35515268 --> 00:02:58,38.35515268 They take turns telling the story of their experience with a third showgirl kitty who is their idol. 32 00:02:58,518.35515268 --> 00:03:05,988.35515268 But Kitty discourages them from entering the showgirl life because she's warning them this business, this sparkly life is not what it seems. 33 00:03:06,768.35515268 --> 00:03:10,398.35515268 And as a whole, this is an allegory about perils of fame and celebrity. 34 00:03:10,758.35515268 --> 00:03:18,468.35515268 As we've discovered through our whole analysis of this album, this is the most prominent theme, the duality of a showgirl. 35 00:03:18,498.35515268 --> 00:03:28,38.35515268 There's this polished, sparkly exterior, the showgirl who performs, and then there's the softer, more introspective human girl inside. 36 00:03:29,58.35515268 --> 00:03:32,538.35515268 These two sides have been at war, not only in this album. 37 00:03:33,53.35515268 --> 00:03:59,448.35515268 But in several albums, really beginning earnestly in reputation, it's this dilemma of can I have my cake and eat it too? Will I ever get to have a peaceful private life when my show, this production that is me, always gets in the way? We've seen the more vulnerable side of this with songs like Delicate, call it What You Want, the Archer Mirror Ball, dear Reader, how did it end, et cetera. 38 00:03:59,988.35515268 --> 00:04:05,148.35515268 And we've also seen her put on this tougher facade of like, I'm fine, I swear I'm fine. 39 00:04:05,208.35515268 --> 00:04:07,758.35515268 In songs like Endgame, antihero be jeweled. 40 00:04:08,178.35515268 --> 00:04:10,38.35515268 But Daddy, I love him. 41 00:04:10,38.35515268 --> 00:04:10,923.35515268 I can do it with a broken heart. 42 00:04:11,733.35515268 --> 00:04:12,333.35515268 Et cetera. 43 00:04:13,173.35515268 --> 00:04:20,553.35515268 For me, the life of a showgirl kind of straddles this line between vulnerable and putting on a tough front. 44 00:04:20,583.35515268 --> 00:04:26,43.35515268 There's some real moments of vulnerability, but it's still wrapped up in this facade of a showgirl. 45 00:04:26,488.35515268 --> 00:04:40,798.35515268 And we're gonna dig into all of that, but I think with this song being the title track, we have to pay attention to how these themes play out in the lyrics, who these narrators are, what they're saying, and who these characters represent in the context of this showgirl life. 46 00:04:41,428.35515268 --> 00:04:46,858.35515268 So we're also gonna see how these lyrics tie into other lyrics on this album and on her writing and other albums. 47 00:04:46,908.35515268 --> 00:04:55,518.35515268 So let's dive in, see what we can extract, and hopefully by the end we will be able to sort of tie a bow around all of the themes that she's been exploring in this album. 48 00:04:56,658.35515268 --> 00:05:00,528.35515268 So the first verse begins, her name was Kitty, made her money being pretty and witty. 49 00:05:01,413.35515268 --> 00:05:05,943.35515268 So our first narrator, Taylor, introduces this other showgirl character Kitty. 50 00:05:06,603.35515268 --> 00:05:09,3.35515268 We're in the present tense and we're looking back on the past. 51 00:05:09,333.35515268 --> 00:05:17,13.35515268 The name Kitty conjures up this sort of soft, feminine woman, right? Like someone who doesn't really have claws. 52 00:05:17,13.35515268 --> 00:05:19,173.35515268 She's kind of child like she's innocent. 53 00:05:19,953.35515268 --> 00:05:22,83.35515268 But we're gonna learn that that is not the case at all. 54 00:05:22,83.35515268 --> 00:05:30,153.35515268 But why Kitty? Why did Taylor choose this name? There's the obvious inspiration, which is Taylor's cats, but there's another more pertinent one. 55 00:05:30,393.35515268 --> 00:05:34,113.35515268 Elizabeth Taylor, who was often called kitten or kitty. 56 00:05:34,803.35515268 --> 00:05:42,873.35515268 I think that is the most likely reference she's making because Elizabeth Taylor was portrayed as this soft, ultra feminine women on the outside. 57 00:05:43,578.35515268 --> 00:05:46,98.35515268 But on the inside, she was tough as nails. 58 00:05:46,128.35515268 --> 00:05:48,768.35515268 She was a bulldog, a powerhouse. 59 00:05:49,428.35515268 --> 00:05:57,78.35515268 So this fictional kitty is introduced as this perfect showgirl specimen who makes her living as the ideal feminine, pretty and witty. 60 00:05:57,78.35515268 --> 00:06:01,498.35515268 But our two showgirl narrators don't yet know how much she sacrificed to get to where she is. 61 00:06:03,63.35515268 --> 00:06:03,693.35515268 Taylor goes on. 62 00:06:03,693.35515268 --> 00:06:05,103.35515268 They gave her the keys to the city. 63 00:06:05,553.35515268 --> 00:06:07,563.35515268 Then they said she didn't do it. 64 00:06:07,803.35515268 --> 00:06:10,23.35515268 Legitly sounds familiar. 65 00:06:10,713.35515268 --> 00:06:19,233.35515268 So Kitty conquered show business, but then they tried to yank her career away the moment she made a misstep or a perceived misstep. 66 00:06:20,303.35515268 --> 00:06:24,323.35515268 This is the narrative that Taylor has often told us about her cancellation. 67 00:06:24,323.35515268 --> 00:06:27,503.35515268 She even uses similar metaphors here. 68 00:06:27,503.35515268 --> 00:06:33,233.35515268 Her career is her kingdom or her castle, and even the keys being taken away. 69 00:06:33,563.35515268 --> 00:06:35,393.35515268 See, uh, look what you made me do. 70 00:06:35,723.35515268 --> 00:06:47,183.35515268 She uses almost that exact phrase, this theme of missteps is also explored and canceled, where she's making this cultural commentary about how the world tries to tear down powerful women. 71 00:06:48,648.35515268 --> 00:06:52,338.35515268 I bought a ticket, our showgirl narrator says about Kitty's show. 72 00:06:52,638.35515268 --> 00:06:55,188.35515268 She's dancing in her garters and fishnets. 73 00:06:55,488.35515268 --> 00:06:57,768.35515268 50 in the cast zero missteps. 74 00:06:57,768.35515268 --> 00:07:08,718.35515268 The Garters and Fishnets are a classic showgirl costume, but they also remind us of Taylor's costumes on the Eras tour and that show, much like this one takes a village to put on and to pull off. 75 00:07:09,528.35515268 --> 00:07:14,88.35515268 But it also reminds us of the prologue poem where Taylor says, we learn these tricks along the way. 76 00:07:14,448.35515268 --> 00:07:21,618.35515268 The flesh toned bandage wrap covered by skin colored fishnets because you will cover the wound no matter how deep it is. 77 00:07:22,518.35515268 --> 00:07:26,358.35515268 Here, she's using the fishnets to symbolize this facade. 78 00:07:26,358.35515268 --> 00:07:34,728.35515268 Kitty is on stage in her costume, and her costume is the armor that covers all the bruises and the wounds that this business has inflicted on her. 79 00:07:34,728.35515268 --> 00:07:36,558.35515268 Looking back, I guess it was kismet. 80 00:07:36,558.35515268 --> 00:07:39,438.35515268 She says Kismet just means fated or destined. 81 00:07:39,438.35515268 --> 00:07:50,418.35515268 So this visit to see Kitty performing was fated, she thinks, and that is because of what Kitty is going to reveal when she approaches her in the lyrics that follow. 82 00:07:50,418.35515268 --> 00:07:54,558.35515268 Moving into the first pre-chorus, the show is over, but our narrator sticks around. 83 00:07:55,398.35515268 --> 00:07:59,898.35515268 I waited by the stage door, packed in with the autograph hounds barking her name. 84 00:08:01,8.35515268 --> 00:08:06,138.35515268 She is trying to get a look behind the curtain of this performance, and she gets a taste of what this is like. 85 00:08:06,168.35515268 --> 00:08:18,78.35515268 These people are all screaming and clamoring for Kitty, but she describes this as Autograph Hounds barking her name dogs barking for Kitty, it's cats versus dogs. 86 00:08:18,408.35515268 --> 00:08:21,888.35515268 That's how she's framing this relationship between fans and artists. 87 00:08:22,488.35515268 --> 00:08:23,988.35515268 It's an antagonistic relationship. 88 00:08:25,548.35515268 --> 00:08:32,328.35515268 And honestly, if I had people trying to take my photo everywhere I went and pestering me, I would see it as an antagonistic relationship too. 89 00:08:33,108.35515268 --> 00:08:34,38.35515268 It's understandable. 90 00:08:34,938.35515268 --> 00:08:36,798.35515268 Then glowing like the end of a cigarette. 91 00:08:36,798.35515268 --> 00:08:39,918.35515268 She goes on, wow, she came out suddenly. 92 00:08:39,918.35515268 --> 00:08:41,568.35515268 This celebrity is among mere mortals. 93 00:08:43,203.35515268 --> 00:08:46,923.35515268 Kitty is described as glowing, but it's not flattering. 94 00:08:46,983.35515268 --> 00:08:58,353.35515268 She's a light in the darkness, but she's represented as something deadly, a cigarette, and this cigarette imagery foreshadows what happens to showgirls. 95 00:08:58,353.35515268 --> 00:09:04,83.35515268 They burn bright and burn out, and all the while living this life will slowly kill you. 96 00:09:05,283.35515268 --> 00:09:06,483.35515268 Then she speaks to Kitty. 97 00:09:07,83.35515268 --> 00:09:08,883.35515268 I said, you're living my dream. 98 00:09:09,423.35515268 --> 00:09:13,143.35515268 Our wannabe showgirl tells her idol that she has her dream life. 99 00:09:13,143.35515268 --> 00:09:20,913.35515268 It's everything she's ever wanted, but it's been foreshadowed by the cigarette imagery and the cats versus dog comparison. 100 00:09:21,693.35515268 --> 00:09:25,893.35515268 This dream life is not a dream, and she's about to learn why. 101 00:09:25,893.35515268 --> 00:09:31,383.35515268 When kitty replies in the first chorus, we get to hear kitty's reply and her advice. 102 00:09:31,713.35515268 --> 00:09:34,743.35515268 Hey, thank you for the lovely bouquet Kitty says. 103 00:09:35,688.35515268 --> 00:09:46,698.35515268 Literally, she's probably handing her flowers, which is traditional after performance, but metaphorically, the flowers are admiration, props, idolization. 104 00:09:47,478.35515268 --> 00:09:51,708.35515268 But what else are cut flowers? They're dead on arrival. 105 00:09:51,708.35515268 --> 00:09:52,668.35515268 They won't last. 106 00:09:53,808.35515268 --> 00:09:56,58.35515268 So this fits in with this subtle foreshadowing. 107 00:09:56,58.35515268 --> 00:09:57,663.35515268 You're only as hot as your last hit. 108 00:09:58,293.35515268 --> 00:10:02,598.35515268 Just like these flowers, they'll be dead and forgotten in this fast-paced show. 109 00:10:02,598.35515268 --> 00:10:03,318.35515268 Business life. 110 00:10:04,533.35515268 --> 00:10:08,463.35515268 You are sweeter than a peach kitty says, but you don't know. 111 00:10:08,463.35515268 --> 00:10:17,883.35515268 The life of a showgirl babe sweeter than a peach is rather an old fashioned phrase, which fits in with this art deco imagery of the album. 112 00:10:18,273.35515268 --> 00:10:23,43.35515268 But it also implies that she's easily bruised, not tough enough for this life. 113 00:10:23,43.35515268 --> 00:10:24,693.35515268 She's a fragile peach. 114 00:10:25,503.35515268 --> 00:10:29,133.35515268 You have no idea what it really takes kitty's saying, and you're never ever gonna. 115 00:10:30,738.35515268 --> 00:10:32,508.35515268 This last line is a bit of a dagger. 116 00:10:32,508.35515268 --> 00:10:33,738.35515268 You'll never make it. 117 00:10:34,878.35515268 --> 00:10:38,568.35515268 Why won't she make it? Because she has unrealistic expectations. 118 00:10:38,568.35515268 --> 00:10:44,448.35515268 She looks at this showgirl life as a dream, but she doesn't see the bruises and the wounds underneath the costume. 119 00:10:44,448.35515268 --> 00:10:47,28.35515268 She sees the show, not the girl. 120 00:10:47,988.35515268 --> 00:10:49,988.35515268 Then kitty goes on wait. 121 00:10:50,148.35515268 --> 00:10:52,428.35515268 The more you play, the more that you pay. 122 00:10:52,818.35515268 --> 00:10:56,508.35515268 So she's comparing show business to a losing game or to gambling. 123 00:10:57,48.35515268 --> 00:10:58,818.35515268 And it's not just money, though. 124 00:10:58,938.35515268 --> 00:11:00,588.35515268 This life probably costs a lot of money. 125 00:11:01,98.35515268 --> 00:11:02,748.35515268 She's talking about the emotional price. 126 00:11:02,748.35515268 --> 00:11:08,58.35515268 The longer you're in this business and the more popular you are, the more you sacrifice in your private life. 127 00:11:08,958.35515268 --> 00:11:20,628.35515268 She encourages her protege to hold off and think about it, because once she starts playing, it'll only cost money, time, privacy, sanity, and all the rest it'll take over your entire life. 128 00:11:21,648.35515268 --> 00:11:23,178.35515268 You're softer than a kitten. 129 00:11:23,358.35515268 --> 00:11:31,818.35515268 So you don't know the life of showgirl, babe, she's saying this ironically, and you're never gonna wanna so kitty. 130 00:11:32,838.35515268 --> 00:11:43,998.35515268 The soft kitten thinks that she's too soft, too naive, too optimistic, not tough enough, and she tries to shut down these hopeful dreams by giving her this really crushing reality check. 131 00:11:43,998.35515268 --> 00:11:46,128.35515268 You can't be soft in this business. 132 00:11:46,128.35515268 --> 00:11:50,898.35515268 You have to be tough, and even though her name is Kitty, she only looks soft on the outside. 133 00:11:50,898.35515268 --> 00:11:51,468.35515268 On the inside. 134 00:11:51,468.35515268 --> 00:11:52,488.35515268 She's hard as nails. 135 00:11:52,788.35515268 --> 00:11:55,518.35515268 And we're about to learn how she came to be that way. 136 00:11:55,578.35515268 --> 00:12:03,948.35515268 In the second verse, so the second verse is narrated by Sabrina Carpenter, and she begins, she was a menace, the baby of the family in Lennox. 137 00:12:04,803.35515268 --> 00:12:14,583.35515268 So we're now hearing Kitty's origin story, and this is important in the narrative sense because we can't care about Kitty who is really the center of this story without knowing why she is the way she is. 138 00:12:14,583.35515268 --> 00:12:17,343.35515268 She can't be this one dimensional, famous figure. 139 00:12:17,343.35515268 --> 00:12:22,473.35515268 We have to understand why her advice is important and how her struggles got her to where she is. 140 00:12:23,193.35515268 --> 00:12:26,283.35515268 So Kitty was the rebellious child of the family growing up. 141 00:12:26,283.35515268 --> 00:12:29,613.35515268 Like every youngest child, Taylor tells us an eldest daughter. 142 00:12:29,613.35515268 --> 00:12:30,873.35515268 She grew up in the wild. 143 00:12:31,743.35515268 --> 00:12:34,383.35515268 Her father whored around like all men did. 144 00:12:34,413.35515268 --> 00:12:39,93.35515268 She continues implying that she lacked a strong father figure. 145 00:12:39,723.35515268 --> 00:12:41,703.35515268 Her mother took pills and played tennis. 146 00:12:42,828.35515268 --> 00:12:46,908.35515268 So it sounds like she's had this privileged but really lonely upbringing. 147 00:12:46,908.35515268 --> 00:12:50,298.35515268 So we begin to understand why this kitty character longed for more. 148 00:12:50,688.35515268 --> 00:12:54,918.35515268 She's got this philandering father, absent addict mother. 149 00:12:55,218.35515268 --> 00:12:55,838.35515268 You get the picture. 150 00:12:55,968.35515268 --> 00:13:00,618.35515268 She probably never had the attention or the love that she needed, so she went out in search of it elsewhere. 151 00:13:01,938.35515268 --> 00:13:03,108.35515268 Then we see this search. 152 00:13:03,108.35515268 --> 00:13:05,118.35515268 So she waited by the stage door. 153 00:13:05,178.35515268 --> 00:13:07,188.35515268 She's talking about this younger kitty. 154 00:13:07,818.35515268 --> 00:13:11,568.35515268 Before she became a showgirl, she repeated the same ritual that our narrators have. 155 00:13:12,288.35515268 --> 00:13:18,48.35515268 As the club promoter arrived, she said, I'd sell my soul to have a taste of the magnificent life. 156 00:13:18,78.35515268 --> 00:13:19,188.35515268 That's all mine. 157 00:13:20,118.35515268 --> 00:13:23,328.35515268 So young Kitty is speaking to this industry figure. 158 00:13:23,328.35515268 --> 00:13:28,188.35515268 She's looking for someone to guide her and take a chance on her, just like our narrators are. 159 00:13:28,818.35515268 --> 00:13:33,318.35515268 But it's important to note that she says she'd sell my soul for this career. 160 00:13:34,308.35515268 --> 00:13:38,718.35515268 This is in fact what it will cost, and we will learn later on in the lyrics. 161 00:13:38,748.35515268 --> 00:13:40,458.35515268 She's going to make a deal with the devil. 162 00:13:40,938.35515268 --> 00:13:47,58.35515268 We know how those deals pan out in father figure, and it's the same here, but that's not what showgirls get. 163 00:13:47,58.35515268 --> 00:13:49,398.35515268 She says they leave us for dead. 164 00:13:50,253.35515268 --> 00:13:52,323.35515268 They don't get a magnificent life, that's all mine. 165 00:13:52,323.35515268 --> 00:13:58,473.35515268 Their lives are dictated by money and fame, and the public, their time and their soul is not their own. 166 00:13:58,473.35515268 --> 00:14:01,443.35515268 Once the public loses interest, you are left by the wayside. 167 00:14:01,443.35515268 --> 00:14:10,338.35515268 So once the show is over, what happens to the girl? The chorus repeats word for word, and then when we reach the bridge, the narrative zooms out. 168 00:14:10,938.35515268 --> 00:14:16,128.35515268 It zooms out from kitty and it's back on our narrators, our wannabe showgirl or showgirls. 169 00:14:17,88.35515268 --> 00:14:20,598.35515268 So I took her pearls of wisdom, hung them from my neck. 170 00:14:21,408.35515268 --> 00:14:22,308.35515268 This is the bridge. 171 00:14:22,728.35515268 --> 00:14:27,768.35515268 Our showgirl takes the metaphorical pearls of wisdom and puts them on heeding kitty's. 172 00:14:27,768.35515268 --> 00:14:31,98.35515268 Advice to toughen up, but kind of disregarding the rest. 173 00:14:31,998.35515268 --> 00:14:33,288.35515268 Someone can tell us what. 174 00:14:33,618.35515268 --> 00:14:35,898.35515268 We want will really suck, but in reality we won't. 175 00:14:35,958.35515268 --> 00:14:38,88.35515268 It won't click until we find out for ourselves. 176 00:14:38,88.35515268 --> 00:14:46,848.35515268 But even though those pearls of wisdom aren't physical pearls, they also kind of are, she's putting on this costume and Pearls usually symbolize this innocent femininity. 177 00:14:47,538.35515268 --> 00:14:49,338.35515268 She's going to lose that innocence though. 178 00:14:50,343.35515268 --> 00:14:52,983.35515268 I paid my dues with every bruise she goes on. 179 00:14:52,983.35515268 --> 00:14:54,393.35515268 I knew what to expect. 180 00:14:54,663.35515268 --> 00:14:57,993.35515268 So she's climbing the industry ladder and she pays her dues. 181 00:14:57,993.35515268 --> 00:15:01,173.35515268 By gaining experience and this sweet peach. 182 00:15:01,233.35515268 --> 00:15:06,333.35515268 Probably gets bruised physically, but mostly emotionally along the way. 183 00:15:06,963.35515268 --> 00:15:09,3.35515268 She knew it would be tough, so she had to become tougher. 184 00:15:09,153.35515268 --> 00:15:11,703.35515268 She's no longer sweeter than a peach and softer than a kitten. 185 00:15:11,703.35515268 --> 00:15:13,833.35515268 She's hard as nails just like kitty. 186 00:15:14,883.35515268 --> 00:15:23,313.35515268 And we know that because she tells us, do you wanna take a skate on the ice inside my veins? And this is her displaying how far she's come. 187 00:15:23,313.35515268 --> 00:15:29,853.35515268 She's had to become so unshakeable in this business that she no longer cares about anything but her path forward. 188 00:15:29,853.35515268 --> 00:15:34,203.35515268 Her veins, her blood now runs ice cold. 189 00:15:35,43.35515268 --> 00:15:40,233.35515268 And here's where we discover that she really did sell her soul ,because she's become inhuman. 190 00:15:41,523.35515268 --> 00:15:49,683.35515268 It wasn't just a smooth skate to the finish line though, because she tells us next, they ripped me off like false lashes and threw me away. 191 00:15:50,313.35515268 --> 00:15:56,463.35515268 So once the public got tired of her, or she made one misstep, she became disposable. 192 00:15:57,93.35515268 --> 00:16:04,293.35515268 If the lashes sound familiar, she also mentioned this part of her showgirl costume, this showgirl armor in the prologue poem. 193 00:16:04,803.35515268 --> 00:16:11,973.35515268 So this life that she puts on this showgirl facade can be ripped away just as easily as false lashes. 194 00:16:12,963.35515268 --> 00:16:22,653.35515268 This whole metaphor likely alludes to Taylor's cancellation of 2016, but in the broader sense, it's commenting on the expiration date of women in show business. 195 00:16:22,983.35515268 --> 00:16:26,613.35515268 It's already short and you can expire before you know it. 196 00:16:26,643.35515268 --> 00:16:47,13.3551527 This is a major theme on the album, and it's asking, how long will this last? Will it last? Will I get canceled again, or can I step down gracefully from the pedestal? How is this gonna end? She goes on and all the headshot on the walls of the dance hall are the bitches who wish I'd hurry up and die. 197 00:16:47,13.3551527 --> 00:16:47,373.3551527 Sorry. 198 00:16:47,493.3551527 --> 00:16:48,153.3551527 It's hilarious. 199 00:16:48,153.3551527 --> 00:17:01,863.3551527 There's the literal meaning of this, which is that inside the story, our showgirl is in a dance hall and there's photos on the walls of all of these up and comers who wish she would just get out of the way and let them have their own moment in the spotlight. 200 00:17:03,93.3551527 --> 00:17:14,853.3551527 But then there is the metaphorical dance hall of show business, or the music industry, which could be the billboard charts, the Grammy Awards, Spotify, social media, whatever. 201 00:17:15,798.3551527 --> 00:17:22,728.3551527 In that way, the photos are of other artists that wish that Taylor's career would just die so that they can stand a chance. 202 00:17:23,688.3551527 --> 00:17:37,398.3551527 And though headshot is just what industry photos are called, the darker tone here reminds us of the other, meaning a shot to the head or a kill shot, but as targeted as she is, both this fictional showgirl character. 203 00:17:37,398.3551527 --> 00:17:42,528.3551527 And Taylor herself, she's not going anywhere, she says, but I'm immortal now. 204 00:17:42,618.3551527 --> 00:17:43,218.3551527 Baby dolls. 205 00:17:44,523.3551527 --> 00:17:46,143.3551527 I couldn't if I tried. 206 00:17:47,508.3551527 --> 00:17:51,978.3551527 She's too big to fail or too legendary to ever become a footnote. 207 00:17:51,978.3551527 --> 00:18:03,498.3551527 And the I here is, I think both this showgirl character on the page and Taylor Swift Incorporated, or this massive epic career and persona that she's created. 208 00:18:04,38.3551527 --> 00:18:07,758.3551527 She's immortal in the sense that her career and her music will live on no matter what. 209 00:18:07,998.3551527 --> 00:18:15,258.3551527 She set this new standard and that legend, that mythology will live on forever, even after. 210 00:18:15,268.3551527 --> 00:18:16,48.3551527 She's gone. 211 00:18:16,468.3551527 --> 00:18:30,658.3551527 She can't die because as she says in Elizabeth Taylor, all my white diamonds and lovers are forever in the paper, on the screen, and in their minds, she's left this paper trail on the public memory and on pop culture as a whole. 212 00:18:31,708.3551527 --> 00:18:37,78.3551527 But this I'm immortal now also reminds us of that previous line I'd sell my soul. 213 00:18:37,948.3551527 --> 00:18:40,198.3551527 And then she did sell her soul because we have. 214 00:18:40,233.3551527 --> 00:18:49,983.3551527 Learned that she became cold and callous and has ice for veins, and she's immortal now because she sold her soul to the devil in order to have all of this success. 215 00:18:51,393.3551527 --> 00:18:58,833.3551527 I think this is both a particular commentary on showgirls in general and what they have to sacrifice to get themselves to the top. 216 00:18:59,883.3551527 --> 00:19:02,343.3551527 It's also an admission from Taylor herself. 217 00:19:02,343.3551527 --> 00:19:08,703.3551527 So much of this record deals with the duality of the showgirl, what it's like on the outside versus what it feels like on the inside. 218 00:19:09,153.3551527 --> 00:19:16,923.3551527 So when she says she couldn't die, even if she tried, it's this confession that this life, this career, is inhuman. 219 00:19:17,313.3551527 --> 00:19:19,593.3551527 Even if she wanted to get out, she couldn't. 220 00:19:19,593.3551527 --> 00:19:20,733.3551527 She's too big. 221 00:19:21,303.3551527 --> 00:19:23,913.3551527 She looms too large over this whole universe. 222 00:19:24,603.3551527 --> 00:19:28,383.3551527 But can we also read this as snarky and condescending? Yeah. 223 00:19:28,653.3551527 --> 00:19:37,443.3551527 There's the infantalizing baby dolls talking down to those up and comers in the industry, and it feels like bragging or rubbing their noses in it. 224 00:19:38,148.3551527 --> 00:19:45,828.3551527 But it's important to remember that she's saying this as this showgirl character who had to sell her soul to the devil, and now she's become the devil. 225 00:19:46,8.3551527 --> 00:19:49,188.3551527 So in the context of this character. 226 00:19:49,743.3551527 --> 00:19:52,323.3551527 Yes, it makes sense out of context. 227 00:19:52,323.3551527 --> 00:19:55,53.3551527 If we read this as Taylor Swift talking, it's both true. 228 00:19:55,473.3551527 --> 00:20:01,53.3551527 She is kind of the biggest artist to ever exist and it also feels icky and boastful. 229 00:20:01,83.3551527 --> 00:20:07,143.3551527 So it's Yes, and And I think a lot of the songs on this album are both things. 230 00:20:07,213.3551527 --> 00:20:08,743.3551527 I'm immortal Now, baby Dolls. 231 00:20:08,773.3551527 --> 00:20:09,193.3551527 I couldn't have. 232 00:20:09,193.3551527 --> 00:20:15,43.3551527 I tried and then she moves into, so I say, Hey, thank you for the lovely bouquet. 233 00:20:15,583.3551527 --> 00:20:18,973.3551527 She's saying, you want me to die, but I'm immortal. 234 00:20:19,603.3551527 --> 00:20:20,953.3551527 But thanks for the flowers. 235 00:20:21,223.3551527 --> 00:20:22,543.3551527 It's not a genuine, thank you. 236 00:20:22,543.3551527 --> 00:20:28,843.3551527 It's an Oh, of course you admire me because I am who I am, which is the greatest thing to ever exist. 237 00:20:29,383.3551527 --> 00:20:31,423.3551527 It's like, oh, you tried to tear me down. 238 00:20:31,423.3551527 --> 00:20:32,863.3551527 You're so obsessed with me. 239 00:20:32,863.3551527 --> 00:20:34,333.3551527 It's actually romantic. 240 00:20:35,503.3551527 --> 00:20:37,603.3551527 She goes on, I'm married to the hustle. 241 00:20:38,143.3551527 --> 00:20:40,933.3551527 She's never gonna slow down so that they can catch up. 242 00:20:41,593.3551527 --> 00:20:43,63.3551527 But this metaphor, I'm married to. 243 00:20:43,63.3551527 --> 00:20:48,463.3551527 The hustle also hints at one of the other themes of this album, which is this private versus public life. 244 00:20:48,733.3551527 --> 00:20:51,253.3551527 The showgirl character has sacrificed a private life. 245 00:20:52,168.3551527 --> 00:20:53,428.3551527 To have a public life. 246 00:20:53,458.3551527 --> 00:21:00,148.3551527 She married her job and that is something that our central narrator, Taylor, is really grappling with this in this album. 247 00:21:00,208.3551527 --> 00:21:07,78.3551527 Can she have both? Can she have her cake and ate it too? And now I know the life of a showgirl babe. 248 00:21:07,78.3551527 --> 00:21:09,808.3551527 She goes on and I'll never know another. 249 00:21:09,808.3551527 --> 00:21:11,428.3551527 Now she really knows what it takes. 250 00:21:11,638.3551527 --> 00:21:15,148.3551527 She knows she has what it takes, and she'll never go back to having a normal life. 251 00:21:15,148.3551527 --> 00:21:16,888.3551527 For better or for worse. 252 00:21:17,218.3551527 --> 00:21:17,998.3551527 I'll never know. 253 00:21:17,998.3551527 --> 00:21:21,748.3551527 Another touches on this other theme of the album, which is The Road Not Taken. 254 00:21:22,258.3551527 --> 00:21:37,288.3551527 So many songs on this album, the Fate of Ophelia, opalite, ruin, the Friendship, et cetera, are centered around fate and the idea of why something wasn't fated or what would've, could've, should've happened had she made a different choice. 255 00:21:38,128.3551527 --> 00:21:38,548.3551527 Here. 256 00:21:38,548.3551527 --> 00:21:41,608.3551527 She'll never know another life because she's given her entire life. 257 00:21:42,253.3551527 --> 00:21:44,833.3551527 To this career, this showgirl production. 258 00:21:46,63.3551527 --> 00:21:49,213.3551527 She goes on pain hidden by the lipstick and lace. 259 00:21:49,243.3551527 --> 00:21:50,833.3551527 Sequins are forever. 260 00:21:50,983.3551527 --> 00:21:52,873.3551527 And now I know the life of a showgirl babe. 261 00:21:53,743.3551527 --> 00:21:59,503.3551527 So beneath her costume is all of the turmoil and tears that it took to get here, but the show must go on. 262 00:22:00,633.3551527 --> 00:22:14,463.3551527 This is another major motif on this album, which is the facade, the costume, and she touched on this in the prologue too, but sequins are forever is interesting because it's almost the polar opposite of diamonds are forever from Elizabeth Taylor. 263 00:22:14,463.3551527 --> 00:22:21,543.3551527 Diamonds are shiny and valuable and impenetrable, but sequins are cheap, mass produced and disposable. 264 00:22:21,693.3551527 --> 00:22:23,133.3551527 So why are sequins forever. 265 00:22:24,3.3551527 --> 00:22:27,603.3551527 To me, it feels like she'll always hide behind the sequins. 266 00:22:27,958.3551527 --> 00:22:37,408.3551527 Or the show, she'll never let the curtain fall and show the pain that's hiding behind the lipstick and lace, because that would reveal too much about how taxing this whole business is. 267 00:22:38,98.3551527 --> 00:22:45,928.3551527 She needs to make it look easy in order for us to believe in the facade, so the sequins distract us from what's going on underneath. 268 00:22:45,928.3551527 --> 00:22:48,958.3551527 We'll be forever distracted by the shiny exterior. 269 00:22:48,958.3551527 --> 00:22:51,208.3551527 Sequins are forever because they're her armor. 270 00:22:52,678.3551527 --> 00:22:53,788.3551527 Wouldn't have it any other way. 271 00:22:53,788.3551527 --> 00:22:59,68.3551527 and she repeats this twice, she'd never trade this life for another and she'll never quit the act. 272 00:22:59,248.3551527 --> 00:23:03,388.3551527 But the repetition makes it feel like she's trying to convince herself. 273 00:23:03,448.3551527 --> 00:23:09,688.3551527 And I'll never know another, and I'll never know another, it's like she's trying to convince herself of her commitment. 274 00:23:09,688.3551527 --> 00:23:15,948.3551527 Would she really never wanna go back to a normal civilian life? She could never do that. 275 00:23:16,248.3551527 --> 00:23:18,318.3551527 She's too big, she's too famous. 276 00:23:18,558.3551527 --> 00:23:22,728.3551527 She can't just go, you know, live in Kentucky somewhere anonymously. 277 00:23:22,728.3551527 --> 00:23:23,688.3551527 It just couldn't happen. 278 00:23:23,688.3551527 --> 00:23:27,18.3551527 This calls back to one of the most vulnerable parts of the prologue poem. 279 00:23:27,888.3551527 --> 00:23:41,973.3551527 It's worth everything it has cost you, and even at your darkest or drunkest, you wouldn't say anything different, would you? You would choose it all again, no matter how the story ends with the ugliest boos or the loveliest bouquet. 280 00:23:43,173.3551527 --> 00:23:48,873.3551527 The loveliest bouquet of course, ties this moment inextricably to the song, but so does this. 281 00:23:48,873.3551527 --> 00:23:50,703.3551527 Wouldn't have it any other way. 282 00:23:51,183.3551527 --> 00:24:02,103.3551527 In both of these lines, both in this song and in prologue poem, it feels like she's asking and answering, but in doing this, she's trying to convince herself that the road she's taken is the right one. 283 00:24:03,18.3551527 --> 00:24:05,238.3551527 For our showgirl narrators in this song. 284 00:24:05,238.3551527 --> 00:24:06,708.3551527 They asked for it and they got it. 285 00:24:07,188.3551527 --> 00:24:11,838.3551527 They were warned, and it was just as terrible and scary as Kitty said it would be. 286 00:24:12,678.3551527 --> 00:24:18,168.3551527 Or as Taylor says in the prologue poem, it's beautiful, it's rapturous, it is frightening. 287 00:24:19,398.3551527 --> 00:24:20,508.3551527 It's all of these things. 288 00:24:20,508.3551527 --> 00:24:26,178.3551527 But for our showgirl, Taylor Swift, it feels like this is something she's really truly grappling with. 289 00:24:26,388.3551527 --> 00:24:34,38.3551527 Is it worth it? Is the show worth sacrificing the girl? In the end, our showgirl narrators call out to their mentor. 290 00:24:34,38.3551527 --> 00:24:39,738.3551527 They say, Hey Kitty, now I'm making money being pretty and witty and this is their, I told you so. 291 00:24:39,738.3551527 --> 00:24:43,878.3551527 Moment Kitty said they'd never know the showgirl life, but now they do. 292 00:24:44,898.3551527 --> 00:24:50,988.3551527 Thank you for the lovely bouquet They say to Kitty, who's now handing them flowers after their show. 293 00:24:51,798.3551527 --> 00:24:55,548.3551527 Just like in father figure, the student has surpassed the master. 294 00:24:55,548.3551527 --> 00:25:01,488.3551527 But what does this bouquet represent? It's been repeated so many times, both here and mentioned in the prologue. 295 00:25:02,238.3551527 --> 00:25:07,818.3551527 It's becoming symbolic of something and here are a few possibilities that exist in my mind. 296 00:25:07,818.3551527 --> 00:25:09,18.3551527 Number one, it's the obvious. 297 00:25:09,18.3551527 --> 00:25:10,728.3551527 It's props, it's awards. 298 00:25:10,728.3551527 --> 00:25:12,168.3551527 It's you're doing a great job. 299 00:25:12,168.3551527 --> 00:25:13,668.3551527 Like, girl, go get your flowers. 300 00:25:14,538.3551527 --> 00:25:17,778.3551527 But the award, the applause is for the show. 301 00:25:18,318.3551527 --> 00:25:21,48.3551527 And here's where this second interpretation comes in. 302 00:25:21,708.3551527 --> 00:25:23,748.3551527 It's exposing this duality. 303 00:25:23,748.3551527 --> 00:25:31,368.3551527 There's the showgirl who gets the lovely bouquet, and then there's the girl who has all these trappings of fame and fortune. 304 00:25:31,368.3551527 --> 00:25:34,458.3551527 In this interpretation, the flowers are part of that facade. 305 00:25:34,458.3551527 --> 00:25:38,178.3551527 You're giving me these flowers for what I just did on that stage. 306 00:25:39,18.3551527 --> 00:25:40,338.3551527 That alter ego. 307 00:25:40,338.3551527 --> 00:25:54,168.3551527 That's the performer and the entertainer, but the girl underneath, what does she get? So what thank you for the lovely bouquet could really mean by this point in the song is thanks for being a fan, but you have no idea who I really am. 308 00:25:55,8.3551527 --> 00:25:58,8.3551527 You're here for the show and I'm just the girl. 309 00:25:58,8.3551527 --> 00:26:05,58.3551527 But we also have to look at when these flowers are given, both for showgirls in general and for this showgirl they're given after the show is over. 310 00:26:05,448.3551527 --> 00:26:21,318.3551527 The curtain closes, the costumes come off, the armor falls, and it's only after they step off stage that they get their flowers, and in the prologue when she's questioning how this larger show will end, how this life, this career, this persona will end. 311 00:26:21,318.3551527 --> 00:26:23,718.3551527 She says, you would choose it all again. 312 00:26:23,808.3551527 --> 00:26:27,438.3551527 No matter how the story ends with the ugliest booze or the loveliest bouquet. 313 00:26:27,978.3551527 --> 00:27:08,643.3551527 Will she go out being canceled? Will she be kicked off the pedestal? Will she be gracefully played off as she takes her final bows? Will they hand her flowers or throw rotten tomatoes? That's the larger question here, and the larger meaning of the lovely bouquet is how will it end? How will I be remembered? How will I be memorialized? Because when the life of a showgirl expires, what happens next? Is there a second act or will the public just stop tolerating you once you're too old or too famous? That's the life of a showgirl. 314 00:27:08,643.3551527 --> 00:27:15,513.3551527 It's doing your best and spinning on your tallest tiptoes, never knowing where and when you will stop spinning. 315 00:27:15,513.3551527 --> 00:27:16,923.3551527 It could end at any time. 316 00:27:17,823.3551527 --> 00:27:20,733.3551527 And this is the central theme more than any other on this album. 317 00:27:21,453.3551527 --> 00:27:24,963.3551527 How does the life of a showgirl end. 318 00:27:26,244.3629296 --> 00:27:31,382.2910006 Thank you so much for coming with me on this journey through the life of a showgirl. 319 00:27:31,982.2910006 --> 00:27:36,2.2910006 Please remember to like and subscribe so you don't miss any of my future episodes. 320 00:27:36,452.2910006 --> 00:27:42,752.2910006 Next up, I'm gonna take all of these puzzle pieces of this album and lay them out and see what they look like. 321 00:27:42,752.2910006 --> 00:27:49,772.2910006 We're gonna reflect on this album as a whole and what it means about Taylor's larger character arc and trajectory. 322 00:27:50,297.2910006 --> 00:27:52,67.2910006 Thank you so much for being here with me. 323 00:27:52,67.2910006 --> 00:27:53,27.2910006 It really means a lot. 324 00:27:53,27.2910006 --> 00:27:58,367.2910006 I'm just starting this channel and seriously every person who watches us. 325 00:27:58,937.2910006 --> 00:27:59,447.2910006 Thank you. 326 00:28:00,707.2910006 --> 00:28:07,517.2910006 All of this content is available on my website in the show notes where you can find these annotated lyrics that you've seen if you're watching on YouTube. 327 00:28:07,577.2910006 --> 00:28:11,657.2910006 And I also have Lyric quizzes analysis of over 250 of Taylor songs. 328 00:28:11,657.2910006 --> 00:28:12,677.2910006 So much more. 329 00:28:12,917.2910006 --> 00:28:13,907.2910006 Go check that out. 330 00:28:14,447.2910006 --> 00:28:20,237.2910006 If you're watching me on YouTube, make sure to subscribe on podcasts, and if you're listening on, go subscribe on YouTube. 331 00:28:20,747.2910006 --> 00:28:23,177.2910006 Thank you so much, and I will see you soon. 332 00:28:23,177.2910006 --> 00:28:25,487.2910006 That's it for this chapter of Swiftly Sung Stories. 333 00:28:25,547.2910006 --> 00:28:29,267.2910006 If you enjoyed this deep dive, please don't forget to follow, subscribe, or leave a review. 334 00:28:29,327.2910006 --> 00:28:31,367.2910006 It helps other Swifties find their way here. 335 00:28:31,517.2910006 --> 00:28:34,337.2910006 I'm Jen and I had a marvelous time reading everything with you. 336 00:28:34,457.2910006 --> 00:28:34,967.2910006 See you next time.
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