12. The Life of a Showgirl

1. Musical Style: Broadway Show Tune

2. Literary References: none

3. Key Lyric: "I'm married to the hustle / And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe ... Wouldn't have it any other way"

4. Favorite Lyric: "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"

5. Taylor's Callback: "Look What You Made Me Do"

6. TL/DR: "Sequins are forever"

7. Previous Track 12s: I'm Only Me When I'm With You, The Best Day, Haunted, Sad Beautiful Tragic, I Know Places, Dress, Soon You'll Get Better, mad woman, long story short, Sweet Nothing, loml

The title track of the album is the perfect ending to a nearly flawless album, and she illustrates the lyrical narrative of a jaded performer telling a starstruck ingenue "you don't want this life" by dueting with her own protege, Sabrina Carpenter.

I'll admit I didn't connect with the music on this song the first time I heard it. It's out of place in terms of the Martin/Shellback rhythmic foundation of most of the rest of the songs here, and it's something new and unusual for Taylor, as well, as it's straight out of the score of a Broadway musical.

The best part musically is the bridge, which as usual, is also the best part of Taylor's lyrics, in which she and Sabrina tell the story of all the sacrifices they made to make it in the business. Sabrina sings the most telling of the lyric, singing "Do you wanna take a skate on the ice inside my veins? They ripped me off like false lashes and then threw me away." 

Taylor ends the bridge with her callback to "Look What You Made Me Do" of resurrection, singing that "the bitches who wish I'd hurry up and die" are completely out of luck: "I'm immortal now, baby dolls, I couldn't if I tried."

What a triumphant coda to a magnificent album. Taylor and Sabrina take a cautionary tale of hardship, obstacles, and rejection and through their talent and determination, come out not only as heroes but as women who have surpassed their role model in terms of satisfaction: "Now I know the life of a showgirl, babe / Wouldn't have it any other way."

Taylor breaks through the fourth wall in the outro with actual audio from the end of one of her Eras Tour shows featuring Sabrina on stage with her. In doing so, Taylor emerges from the confines of the stage into the real world, having made her own showgirl dreams come true.

But that's not the only thing she's accomplished. She's also found a life partner who understands, accepts, and celebrates her fame and talent, who encourages her to grow and achieve in her own life, who blooms under the bright lights that always surround her—Travis is a showman himself, and this album is a celebration of Taylor's past and present, not a final encore but a definitive statement that the best is still yet to come.