Home » Albums » The Life of a Showgirl » Songs on The Life of a Showgirl » Ruin The Friendship

Ruin The Friendship

The Life of a Showgirl (2025)

“Ruin The Friendship” is track six on Taylor’s twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl (2025). Co-written by Taylor, Max Martin and Shellback, it was released on October 3, 2025.

Background and Recording

In March 2023, Taylor launched “The Eras Tour,” a career-defining project that would span nearly two years and ultimately become the highest-grossing tour in history, establishing her as the wealthiest female musician of all time. Beyond its unprecedented commercial success, the tour marked a period of profound personal change and artistic reinvention. In its early months, Taylor ended her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn and briefly rekindled a past romance with musician Matty Healy. These turbulent events unfolded against the backdrop of her peak global visibility and inspired the writing of her eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, which went on to become the world’s best-selling album of 2024. Much of the record was conceived while she toured the United States in the spring and summer of 2023.

The following year brought a strikingly different creative direction. After meeting NFL player Travis Kelce in July 2024—a relationship that would later lead to their engagement—Taylor entered what she described as “the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place” of her career. This new chapter inspired her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, which reflected a brighter, more exuberant sound. To realize this vision, she reunited with Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback, long-time collaborators who had helped shape the sonic identity of her early pop work on RED (2012), 1989 (2014), and reputation (2017). Taylor revealed that the project began after she reconnected with Max Martin during the Stockholm stop of “The Eras Tour” in May 2024, and in the months that followed she traveled to Sweden between European tour dates to record the album.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Glistening grass from September rain
Gray overpass full of neon names
You drive, 85
Gallatin Road and the lakeside beach
Watching the game from your brother’s Jeep
Your smile, miles wide

[Chorus 1]
And it was not an invitation
Should’ve kissed you anyway
Should’ve kissed you anyway
And it was not convenient, no
But your girlfriend was away
Should’ve kissed you anyway

[Verse 2]
Shiny wood floors underneath my feet
Disco ball makes everything look cheap
Have fun, it’s prom
Wilted corsage dangles from my wrist
Over his shoulder I catch a glimpse
And see…You looking at me

[Chorus 2]
And it was not an invitation
But as thе 50 Cent song played
Should’vе kissed you anyway
And it was not convenient, no
Would’ve been the best mistake
Should’ve kissed you anyway

[Refrain]
Don’t make it awkward in second period
Might piss your ex off, lately we’ve been good
Staying friends is safe
Doesn’t mean you should…
Don’t make it awkward in second period
Might piss your ex off, lately we’ve been good
Staying friends is safe
Doesn’t mean you should…

[Bridge]
When I left school I lost track of you
Abigail called me with the bad news
Goodbye…
And we’ll never know why
It was not an invitation
But I flew home anyway
With so much left to say
It was not convenient, no
But I whispered at the grave
“Should’ve kissed you anyway.”

[Final Chorus]
And it was not an invitation
Should’ve kissed you anyway
Should’ve kissed you anyway, anyway
And it was not…

[Outro]
My advice is always ruin the friendship
Better that than regret it
For all time
Should’ve kissed you anyway
And my advice is always answer the question
Better that than to ask it
All your life
Should’ve kissed you anyway
Should’ve kissed you anyway