Taylor Swift’s endless chain of Easter eggs has fans taking a closer look at the album cover for The Life of a Showgirl before its highly anticipated release on Oct. 3
Taylor Swift’s announcement of her new album The Life of a Showgirl sent fans into a frenzy as they continued to look for clues about the upcoming project.
After giving fans a peek at the cover during her appearance on the New Heights podcast, Taylor’s fans sprung into action, unpacking all the hidden details. Swifties are desperate for any crumb to piece together what her 12th studio album might sound like. Plus, with Taylor being known for her exceptional storytelling, they’re keen to figure out what the songwriting may teach them about her life.
The album cover depicts Taylor in a showgirl-esque outfit, reminiscent of the 1920s flapper aesthetic. She gives the camera a stare while being half submerge in water. The graphic design gives a flashy appearance with some aspects of the photo being altered to appear jumbled.
However, it was the color scheme fans most immediately picked up on. Taylor’s new album is largely orange and a mint green, and fans noticed it was similar to the color of copper oxidizing. A fan on X, formelry known as Twitter, wrote, “The color scheme is copper oxidizing because a showgirl is on a pedestal for the world and over time, in the public eye they lose their shine the weathering from being the target for the world’s misogyny. #TheLifeOfAShowgirl.”
Some fans recognized that the Statue of Liberty famously oxidized into its famous green color, wondering if Taylor took inspiration from it at all.
The popstar maintains a residence in New York City and famously references the city throughout her music. A fan said, “Statue of Liberty oxidized from orange to become green, symbolizing Taylor herself being corroded/destroyed by the industry but the oxidation actually protects the metal from further corrosion so she was hurt but it made her stronger.”
In addition to the color, fans also noticed her position in the water, which resembled a famous painting and depiction of Ophelia. The Hamlet character is used in the title of one track, The Fate of Ophelia, on the Max Martin produced album.
Ophelia by John Everett Millias shows Ophelia drowning after climbing a willow tree and falling. In the visual, her face is half submeged, sticking just barely out of the water, which is similar to Taylor’s pose on the album cover.
This occurs after Hamlet rejects her, leaving fans to wonder if they’ll hear more about a similar gut-wrenching heartbreak in the album.
Showing a side by side of the album cover and painting, a fan wrote, “also with how Taylor explained the concept of the album & the cover, her referencing the death of Ophelia in it & the fate of ophelia being the first track i know all the covers are an absolute gag but it makes perfect sense to me why she chose this one.”
Taylor explained part of the inspiration for the cover came from her time on the Eras Tour. She said, “My day ends with me in a bathtub. You wont get to bed until 4 in the morning, you have 2 more shows in a row, but you did it tonight.”
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