Taylor Swift’s love for Easter eggs is alive and well, as she recently teased snippets of lyrics from her upcoming album.
The Life of a Showgirl, the pop icon’s 12th studio album, is set to release globally on October 3.
Ahead of the album release, a Spotify experience was held in New York City on Tuesday (September 30), showcasing potential lyrics from the project, but not everyone was impressed.
Highlights
- Taylor Swift teased three lyrics from her upcoming 12th studio album, 'The Life of a Showgirl,' during a Spotify pop-up in New York City.
- Some social media users criticized the lyrics as “tone deaf,” saying they didn’t reflect the reality of most people’s lives.
- Swift announced a theatrical release party from October 3–5, featuring exclusive music videos, behind-the-scenes footage, and lyric videos from the new album.
“Taylor really unveiling lyrics through hidden letters like we’re all in English class decoding a poem, just drop the song…” wrote one social media user.
Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, features 12 songs in total
Image credits: Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images
The Spotify experience included photo ops, themed rooms hinting at the album’s concept, exclusive swag, and more, all for fans who attended the ongoing three-day pop-up.
Swifties at the event spotted the first lyric from the album, written in what appeared to be peachy-orange lipstick on a mirror.
The lyric read, “Oftentimes it doesn’t feel so glamorous to be me.”
Fans quickly shared the now-viral image on social media.
Image credits: Thomas Niedermueller / Getty Images
Soon after, the same message was projected on massive billboards in New York City’s Times Square, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.
While the context of the lyric and its associated track remain unclear, netizens slammed the billionaire pop star, with many accusing her of being “tone deaf” and “cosplaying the struggle” of being rich.
The lyric from one of the 35-year-old Grammy winner’s latest songs was unveiled to fans at a New York City Spotify pop-up
Image credits: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott / taylorswift / Instagram
“Taylor really said being the highest-paid popstar alive feels ‘not so glamorous’… yeah I bet flying private to your 18th mansion must be rough,” commented one displeased netizen.
In 2024, Swift was featured on the Forbes 100 list and officially declared a billionaire, largely thanks to her record-breaking Eras Tour.
The tour became the highest-grossing concert tour in history, with ticket sales surpassing $2 billion, significantly boosting the Cruel Summer singer’s net worth.
Image credits: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott / taylorswift / Instagram
Image credits: Philippine Concerts / Facebook
As of late 2024, Swift’s estimated net worth stood at $1.6 billion.
In light of this, one critic expressed, “Taylor Swift really cosplaying the struggle like her Eras Tour grossed less than $1k.”
“What an odd thing to say considering what most people are going through today.”
The Love Story singer is officially a billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion as of 2024
Image credits: spotify / spotifynews / Instagram
In addition, another one of her lyrics was projected on a São Paulo billboard by Spotify.
It read, “Everyone’s unbothered til they’re not.”
Taylor has always included Easter eggs since her very first album.
Eagle-eyed fans also noticed that, just like with the secret messages hidden in CD booklets using random capitalized letters in the lyrics of her 1989 album, she employed a similar trick this time around.
On Apple Music, Swift’s 2017 song Reputation featured a selection of capitalized letters within the lyrics.
The decoded message, which many believe to be a potential lyric from the new album, read, “They don't make loyalty like they used to.”
Taylor has always been a fan of Easter eggs, and all of her past album releases featured some sort of secret message for fans to decode
Image credits: spotify / spotifynews / Instagram
The 35-year-old songstress announced the new album during an unexpected appearance on her NFL star fiancé Travis Kelce’s co-hosted podcast with his brother Jason Kelce, New Heights, on August 12.
Just days after the announcement, Spotify confirmed on Instagram that The Life of a Showgirl became the most pre-saved album in the history of its Countdown Page.
Image credits: taylornation / Instagram
In the wake of the three lyrics revealed so far, social media users harshly criticized Taylor across online platforms.
One X user sarcastically wrote, “Y'all just don't get it. It's hard being a billionaire. She has so much money she doesn't even know what to do with it anymore.”
Another one commented on Reddit, “It’s tone deaf. There’s a lot of us that work jobs that feel like a prison for a hell of a lot less. If you hate it so much, step back.”
Image credits: spotify / spotifynews / Instagram
A third added, “Yup. & here before everyone says 'bUt ThE COnTeXT maTtErS' when they made an intentional decision to post this lyric without context lol.”
“Aww, poor baby. She can sulk and count her millions.”
Taylor announced a theatrical release party for Swifties to celebrate her new album on Instagram
Image credits: spotify / spotifynews / Instagram
On September 19, Swift shared exciting news in an Instagram post, revealing that a “limited” number of fans would get to attend “The Official Release Party” of the album, which will coincide with its release date.
The theatrical event will take place from October 3 to October 5, “only in cinemas!”
Image credits: spotify / spotifynews / Instagram
“You’ll get to see the exclusive world premiere of the music video for my new single ‘The Fate of Ophelia’, along with never before seen behind-the-scenes footage of how we made it, cut by cut explanations of what inspired this music, and the brand new lyric videos from my new album The Life of a Showgirl.”
Image credits: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott / taylorswift / Instagram
“Looks like it’s time to brush off that Eras Tour outfit or orange cardigan… Tickets are on sale now. Dancing is optional but very much encouraged,” she concluded.
“This is gonna be her worst album. Trying to be glamorous yet failing cause… ma’am you’re almost 40. Wrap it up!” commented one critic online
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