Who was Taylor Swift‘s main muse for The Life of a Showgirl? It is without a doubt her fiancé, Travis Kelce!
When the pop star announced her new album back in August during her record-breaking New Heights podcast episode, she made it clear to fans that it was going to be a peek into the “behind the scenes” of her life during The Eras Tour. She explained:
“It just comes from, like, the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in, in my life. And so that effervescence has come through on this record … this is the record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time. This album isn’t really about what happened to me on stage, it’s about what I was going through off stage … it’s the life, behind it all; the life beyond the show.”
And a big part of The Eras Tour chapter in her life? It was her falling in love with Trav! So it should come as no surprise to anyone that he inspired a lot of the lyrics on The Life of a Showgirl! But which ones? Don’t worry, we broke it all down for you (below)…
Related: Did Taylor Swift Make A Charli XCX Diss Track?!
The Fate of Ophelia
The singer kicks off the album with the track The Fate of Ophelia, in which she looks back on the early days of her romance with Travis. Taylor first references how he made the first move and attempted (and failed) to give her his phone number via a friendship bracelet during the Kansas City stop of her tour in July 2023. She sings:
“I heard you calling / On the megaphone / You wanna see me all alone / And if you’d never come for me / I might’ve drowned in the melancholy.”
However, as we all know, Travis didn’t give up on Taylor. The musician eventually went out with him after several people vouched for the football player — and so he ultimately “saved [her] heart from the fate of Ophelia,” a tragic character in Shakespeare‘s Hamlet who goes mad and dies after Hamlet accidentally murders her dad and mocks her while breaking up with her. One thing we know about Tay Tay is that she loves her literary references! LOLz!
Referencing Travis’ Kansas City Chiefs team, she continues to sing:
“Keep it one hundred / On the land, the sea, the sky / Pledge allegiance to your hands / Your team, your vibes / Don’t care where the hell you been / ‘Cause today you’re mine.”
And of course, we need to bring up numerology here! Taylor also loves that! “Keep it one hundred” is clearly a reference to her man because his jersey number is 87, and her favorite number is 13. Combine that, and you get 100. Not to mention, this caption (below):
It appears Trav was dropping easter eggs! He learned from the best! Listen to the entire track (below):
https://www.youtube.com/movie?v=svcboYY81wU
Elizabeth Taylor
On Elizabeth Taylor, Taylor laments how her ex-lovers couldn’t take the pressure of being in the spotlight with her (cough, cough Joe Alwyn). But when it comes to Travis? He fully embraced it and bloomed. She gushed about the athlete, saying:
“All the right guys promised they’d stay / Under bright lights, they withered away / But you bloom.”
Taylor truly found her perfect match! Listen to the song (below):
https://www.youtube.com/movie?v=4Mg_Qtr6Osg
Opalite
Next up is Opalite. It is a no-brainer that the song is about Killa Trav. His birthstone is literally an opal, as he was born on October 5 Happy early birthday to him! While Taylor does not mention him by name in the tune, the lyrics make it clear it is about her beau (and throws a little bit of shade at his ex)!
It starts with Taylor admitting she used to think about her exes all the time and she “had a bad habit” of finding relationships that were “never gonna last,” adding:
“I thought my house was haunted, I used to live with ghosts.”
That was until Travis stepped into her life. Taylor expresses in the song:
“My Mama told me / It’s alright / you were dancing through the lightning strikes/ Sleepless in the onyx night / But today the sky is opalite … Never made no one likе you before / You had to make your own sunshinе / But today the sky is opalite.”
Aww! Listen (below):
https://www.youtube.com/movie?v=4FUIEcnvT04
Eldest Daughter
Taylor slipped in a reference to Travis in the track number, Eldest Daughter. The lyrics read:
“When you found me I said I was busy / That was a lie/ I have been afflicted by a terminal uniqueness / I’ve been dying just from trying to seem cool.”
Some fans think those lines are a reference to how the Happy Gilmore 2 star didn’t get to meet her at his first Eras Tour show. While Travis previously said it was because “she doesn’t talk before or after her shows,” Swifties think she is saying that she was really fresh off a heartbreak from Matty Healy. Hmm. Take a listen to the track (below):
https://www.youtube.com/movie?v=rc6NKSVv2fw
Wi$h Li$t
Taylor is ready to “settle down” with Travis — and she made that crystal clear on the track Wi$h Li$t! The lyrics list off all these things other people want in the verses, but when it comes to her, she only wants him and their future together. She croons in the chorus:
“I just want you / Have a couple kids / Got the whole block looking like you / We tell the world to leave us the f**k alone … and they do / Wow / Got me dreaming ’bout a driveway / with a basketball hoop / Boss up, settle down / Got a wish list / I just want you.”
So sweet! Near the end of the track, Taylor continues to sing how she made “wishes on all of the stars” and prayed to “God” to “bring me a best friend / who I think is hot.” LOLz! Her wishes came true! She went on to say:
“I thought I had it right once, twice / But I did not / You caught me off my guard/ I hope I get what I want (Get what I want) / ‘Cause I know what I want.”
Listen to it (below):
https://www.youtube.com/movie?v=mC54kTYa9oI
Wood
This is Taylor’s most raunchiest song yet! Our jaws dropped when we first listened to it! In Wood, the Grammy winner is completely talking about hooking up with Travis! And she does not hold back! She sings how her “curse” with bad relationships was “broken” by a “magic wand.” IYKYK! That is not all! She then goes:
“Forgive me, it sounds cocky / he (ah!)matized me / And opened my eyes / Redwood tree / It ain’t hard to see / His love was the key / That opened my thighs.”
There is also this:
“Girls, I don’t need to catch the bouquet / To know a hard rock is on the way / … Seems to me that you and me we make our own luck / New Heights of manhood / I ain’t gotta knock on wood.”
“New Heights of manhood.” Damn, Tay! Listen to the track (below):
https://www.youtube.com/movie?v=erilCNjng-g
Honey
And finally, one more love song about Travis! Toward the end of the album, Taylor shares how someone (meaning her guy) brings a “different meaning” to the word “honey”:
“But you touch my face / Redefine all of those blues / When you say… ‘Honey’ / Summertime spritz, pink skies / You can call me ‘honey’ if you want / Because I’m the one you want / Wintergreen kiss, all mine / You give it different meaning, ’cause you mean it when you talk.”
That is beautiful! Taylor continues:
“Honey, I’m home, we can play house / We can bed down, pick me up, who’s the baddest in the land, what’s the plan? What’s the plan? / You could be my forever night stand / Honey.”
The songstress gushes about how Trav is “in awe” of her and praises her in public — unlike her past boyfriends:
“When anyone called me ‘lovely’ / They were finding ways not to praise me / But you say it like you’re in awe of me / And you stay until the morning, honey.”
Wow! You can just tell Taylor loves this guy so much! Listen to the song (below):
https://www.youtube.com/movie?v=9Sx8MWI8qTU
What are your reactions to the new album so far, Perezcious readers? Which Travis lyric is your favorite? Sound OFF with all of your thoughts in the comments (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN, Travis Kelce/Instagram]
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