Showgirls, Taylor Swift’s long-awaited album, The Life of a Showgirl, is officially out. On Oct. 3, Swift released her pop album, featuring songs about her time in the limelight, her fairytale romance with her fiancé Travis Kelce, her experience being an eldest daughter, her friendships throughout her life, serving as a “Father Figure” for younger prodigies, and more —and the title track, “The Life of a Showgirl” features pop princess Sabrina Carpenter. Swift is no stranger to referencing real people in her songs, and this song is no exception. In the title track, Swift and Carpenter also reference a showgirl named Kitty, leaving fans with one question: Who is Kitty in TLOAS?
On Amazon Music’s “Track by Track” version of TLOAS, it features Swift’s commentary on the tracks, describing what they’re about. Swift says that the track “is the story about a fictional showgirl named Kitty.” There we have it, folks, Kitty is solely fictional. However, Swift further describes her inspiration for the song and the message behind it, proving that every song she writes always has a reason to appear on the album. She is a mastermind after all!
Swift describes how her character in the song is very inspired by Kitty, especially after seeing her perform. “But rather than responding with fakeness, she tells it like it is,” Swift elaborates. “She kind of warns me off this lifestyle because it’s so much more than just glitter and the glamour. There’s a lot else that comes with it, so it’s kind of an ode to show business and the women that move through those pitfalls and obstacle courses.” It almost seems as though Kitty represents an older and wiser Taylor Swift, speaking to her younger self.
In the “Track by Track,” Swift called Carpenter “the ultimate showgirl,” making it only right that she has a feature on the album, especially one as lively as this. She also shared that the track ends with actual crowd noise from her last show of the Eras Tour in Vancouver. “That always chokes me up because it transports me right back to the actual memory of standing on that stage for the last time on that tour,” said Swift.
It was only right that the title track (and final one) of the album felt special and meaningful to Swift, and TLOAS has proven to be no exception.