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

The Life of a Showgirl

Feat. Sabrina Carpenter | The Life of a Showgirl (2025)

“The Life of a Showgirl” is the titular twelfth and final track on Taylor’s twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl (2025). Co-written by Taylor, Max Martin and Shellback, the song was released on October 3, 2025. It features American singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter.

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.

Lyrical Theme

Upon the release of The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor told Amazon Music:

«The last song on this album is the title track, ‘The Life of a Showgirl.’ It is the story of a fictional showgirl named Kitty and how my character in the song goes to see her perform and is completely inspired by her. But then responding with fakeness she tells it like it is and she kind of warns me off this lifestyle because it’s much more than the glitter and the glamour. There’s a lot else that comes with it. So, it’s kind of a ode to show business and the women who move through those pitfalls and obstacle courses. And I thought who better to be part of this song than the ultimate showgirl, Sabrina Carpenter! And thankfully she said yes and she’s absolutely incredible on this song. One thing that I really love about the ending of it is that we actually ended the song with actual crowd noise from my last 'Eras Tour' show in Vancouver, so that always chokes me up because it transports me right back to that actual memory of standing on that stage for the last time. On that tour that was so important to me, and the tour that really inspired this album. So, it's the last track of the album and a really special one to me.»

Taylor Swift

In December 2025, Sabrina commented: “Ten-year-old me, for so many reasons, could not believe it. To hear our voices together, we definitely realized it was special, but I would have never been like, ‘Hey, bestie, put me on a song.’ She was so gracious to think of me for a song that spoke to our life experiences in such a real, genuine way. It really sums up what so many young women in this industry go through.”

Lyrics

[Verse 1: Taylor Swift]
Her name was Kitty
Made her money being pretty and witty
They gave her the keys to this city
Then they said she didn’t do it legitly
I bought a ticket
She’s dancing in her garters and fishnets
Fifty in the cast, zero missteps
Looking back, I guess it was kismet

[Pre-Chorus 1: Taylor Swift]
I waited by the stage door
Packed in with the autograph
Hounds barking her name
Then glowing like the end of a cigarette
Wow, she came out
I said, “You’re living my drеam”
Then she said to me

[Chorus: Taylor Swift]
“Hеy, thank you for the lovely bouquet
You’re sweeter than a peach
But you don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe
And you’re never, ever gonna
Wait, the more you play, the more that you pay
You’re softer than a kitten, so
You don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe
And you’re never gonna wanna”

[Verse 2: Sabrina Carpenter]
She was a menace
The baby of the family in Lenox
Her father whored around like all men did
Her mother took pills and played tennis

[Pre-Chorus 2: Sabrina Carpenter & Taylor Swift]
So she waited by the stage door
Asked the club for more to arrive
She said, “I’d sell my soul to have a taste of a magnificent life”
It’s all mine
But that’s not what showgirls get
They leave us for dead

[Chorus: Sabrina Carpenter, Sabrina Carpenter & Taylor Swift]
Hey, thank you for the lovely bouquet
You’re sweeter than a peach
But you don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe
And you’re never, ever gonna
Wait, the more you play, the more that you pay
You’re softer than a kitten, so
You don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe
And you’re never gonna wanna

[Bridge: Taylor Swift & Sabrina Carpenter]
I took her pearls of wisdom
Hung them from my neck
I paid my dues with every bruise
I knew what to expect
Do you wanna take a skate on the ice inside my veins?
They ripped me off like false lashes
And then threw me away
And all the headshots on the walls
Of the dance hall are of the bitches
Who wish I’d hurry up and die
But, I’m immortal now, baby dolls
I couldn’t if I tried, so I say

[Chorus: Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter]
“Thank you for the lovely bouquet
I’m married to the hustle
And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe
And I’ll never know another
Pain hidden by the lipstick and lace (Lipstick and lace)
Sequins are forever and now I know the life of a showgirl, babe
Wouldn’t have it any other way (Thank you for the lovely bouquet)
Wouldn’t have it any other way (Thank you for lovely bouquet)
Hey, Kitty (Thank you for lovely bouquet)
Now I’m making money being pretty and witty
Thank you for the lovely bouquet”

[Outro: Taylor Swift & Sabrina Carpenter]
Thank you for an unforgettable night
We will see you next time
Give it up for the band
And the dancers
And of course, Sabrina
I love you, Taylor
That’s our show
We love you so much
Goodnight