Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album (ts12), “The Life of a Showgirl (TLOAS),” is her long-awaited album, which was released on Oct. 3. The album has an overall theme of joy, excitement, trials, and a sort of showing of who Taylor is outside of her music career. It’s an exciting album with upbeat and lyrical songs.
Evidently, Swift had been working on TLOAS years before the initial countdown of the explicit announcement of the new album. Many Easter eggs were given about TLOAS. In 2022, during the “Bejeweled (Midnights album ts10)” music video, Swift wears a showgirl inspired costume and is seen sitting on a grandfather clock with her body covering the number 12, a likely reference to her 12th album. The video also features an elevator with the second and tenth floor buttons lit up in orange (ten + two = 12), alluding to ts12. As well as purple glitter leaking all over the video. Taylor’s TLOAS color palette, orange and minty green, has been teased many times. During the Eras Tour in Miami, Florida on Oct of 2024, Swift wore an orange and green outfit. She also performed a very orange- heavy “1989” set on the 12th show of her European tour, even though 1989 is generally a sky blue colour. These are a few of the many ‘easter eggs’ that Swift dropped via the Eras Tour, social media, and music videos.
On Aug. 11 at 12:12 a.m., a mysterious countdown was put out on Swift’s website; this countdown expired at the same time on the next day, Aug. 12, releasing the announcement of a new album. Then on Aug. 13, she appeared on the New Heights podcast to share the details of the album. Such as the track list, cover art and the release date, which was Oct 3. All over the world, Swift fans were in a shock, but quick to get down to detective work to try and figure out what the album would entail.
Every song on Swift’s album took it’s place one through twelve on the top 100 billboard. The top 3 were The Fate of Ophelia, Opalite, and Elizabeth Taylor. All three of these songs are lyrically and thematically connected to Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce, as well as being references to older, classic songs. These three songs set the stage for the rest of the album, which have Folklore, Evermore, Midnights, and The Tortured Poets Department vibes to them. Swift’s last album of the eras tour is thought to be a sort of combination between these older albums with the happiness of her life as a showgirl, signaling the end of her final album of the tour.
Swift’s album released on Oct. 3. Fans were ecstatic about the release, many listened to the entirety of the album as soon as it came out, and there were mixed reviews and thoughts. Every song of the album has a different aesthetic to it, but all mostly the same overall vibe. Fans were a little uncomfortable with the songs being different, hence the mixed reviews. There are a few songs about her fiancé, Travis Kelce. Some about her friends or people in her life, or about her life on stage. But the songs are quite different. Overall, the album is a favorite of many and the end of an amazing era.
