The Life of a Showgirl (song)

"The Life of a Showgirl"
Song by Taylor Swift featuring Sabrina Carpenter
from the album The Life of a Showgirl
Released	October 3, 2025 (2025-10-03)
Studio	MXM Studios (Stockholm) Shellback Studios (Stockholm) IMRSV Studios (Stockholm) Studio 112 (Jonstorp)
Genre	Country pop
Length	4:01
Label	Republic
Songwriters	Taylor Swift Max Martin Shellback
Producers	Taylor Swift Max Martin Shellback
Lyric video
"The Life of a Showgirl" on YouTube

"The Life of a Showgirl" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring the American singer Sabrina Carpenter. Written and produced by the former alongside Max Martin and Shellback, it is the closing and titular track of her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl (2025). ^[1]

Background

On August 12, 2025, Swift announced The Life of a Showgirl in her official website and in an episode from the podcast New Heights , hosted by her fiancé and NFL player Travis Kelce. The same day, Swift also released exclusive and limited pre-orders of the new album in her shop while displaying a blurred version of the cover artwork. ^[2]

On August 13, 2025, Swift revealed the cover artwork and the official track listing, as well as the release date of October 3. One of the tracks revealed was "The Life of a Showgirl", in which Carpenter would be featured. ^[3]

Composition

"The Life of a Showgirl" is a mid-tempo country pop song, instrumented with slide guitars and strings. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} Lyrically, the song begins in narration of the life a showgirl named "Kitty", who "made her money being pretty and witty". It delves into Kitty's backstory, then shifts to a recount of an interaction between Kitty and the narrator. ^[9] The song shifts perspective in the bridge, with the narrator experiencing the struggles of their own fame as a showgirl. ^[10] The song ends with a spoken outro, which depicts Swift and Carpenter closing a show together, with crowd noise sampled from the Eras Tour concert in Vancouver. ^[11]

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from critics. Pitchfork described the song as "a little schmaltzy", but also "proactive about introducing an independent personality with a story to tell", calling it "one of the moments when, musically, The Life of a Showgirl brushes up against a much better idea", further describing it as "a big, glorious pageant that inspires organic passion and camaraderie". ^[4] The Independent said that the song "serves as a grand finale, pairing the two singers’ voices in shimmering harmony as Swift symbolically takes a bow and hands the spotlight to the next generation." ^[8] Clash wrote that the song "doesn’t quite bring clarity to a scattered collection of songs", ^[12] and Consequence called the song "surprisingly limp". ^[13]

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes. ^[14]

Studios

• Produced at MXM Studios and Shellback Studios, Stockholm
• Recorded at Shellback Studios, Stockholm
• Violins recorded and engineered at IMRSV Studios, Stockholm
• Horns recorded and engineered at Studio 112, Jonstorp, Sweden
• Mixed at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach
• Mastered at Sterling Sound, Edgewater, New Jersey

Personnel

• Taylor Swift – lead vocals, songwriting, production
• Sabrina Carpenter  – lead vocals
• Max Martin  – production, songwriting, piano, keyboards, recording
• Shellback  – production, songwriting, programming, bass, drums, guitar, percussion, keyboards, recording
• Anders Pettersson – pedal steel guitar
• Per Strandberg – banjo, mandolin, electric guitar
• Erik Arvinder  – violin, recording, engineering
• Conny Lindgren – violin
• Daniela Bonfiglioli – violin
• Fredrik Syberg – violin
• Lola Torrente – violin
• Matthias Johansson – violin
• David Bukovinsky – cello
• Tomas Jonsson – clarinet, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute
• Wojtek Goral – flute, alto saxophone
• Janne Bjerger – trumpet
• Magnus Johansson – trumpet
• Peter Noos Johansson – trombone
• Helena Stjernstrom – English horn
• Mattias Bylund – upright piano, synth strings, orchestra arrangements, recording, engineering
• Johan Randén – electric guitar
• Henrik Langemyr – strings copyist
• Lasse Mårtén –recording, engineering
• Willem Bleeker – recording, engineering
• Stefan Pettersson – recording, engineering
• Serban Ghenea  – mixing
• Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing
• Randy Merrill  – mastering

Charts

Chart performance for "The Life of a Showgirl"

Chart (2025)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA) [15]	6
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [16]	40
Germany (GfK) [17]	9
Italy (FIMI) [18]	73
Lithuania (AGATA) [19]	32
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [20]	7
Norway (IFPI Norge) [21]	15
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [22]	6
UK Streaming (OCC) [23]	6
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [24]	28
US Pop Airplay ( Billboard ) [25]	38

References

1. "The Life of a Showgirl / Taylor Swift / Credits". Tidal . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
2. Dailey, Hannah (August 13, 2025). "Taylor Swift reveals Life of a Showgirl release date, album cover & track list featuring Sabrina Carpenter". Billboard . Retrieved September 19, 2025.
3. Bonner, Mehera (August 13, 2025). "Taylor Swift Reveals Tracklist for The Life of a Showgirl". Cosmopolitan . Retrieved September 19, 2025.
4. Gaca, Anna (2025-10-06). "Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl". Pitchfork . Retrieved 2025-10-07.
5. Zemler, Emily (October 3, 2025). "Hear Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter Join Forces on 'The Life of a Showgirl'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved October 6, 2025.
6. Hodgkinson, Will (October 3, 2025). "The Story Behind Every Song on Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl" . The Times . Retrieved October 4, 2025.
7. Jenkins, Craig (October 3, 2025). "Taylor Swift Chooses Chaos" . Vulture . Retrieved October 4, 2025.
8. O'Connor, Roisin (October 3, 2025). "Taylor Swift Review, The Life of a Showgirl: As Compelling as She's Ever Been – the Star, The Ringmaster and the Circus All in One". The Independent . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
9. Wilson, Carl (October 3, 2025). "Taylor Swift's New Album Is a Masterpiece of Cringe". Slate . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
10. Ukiomogbe, Juliana (October 4, 2025). "On The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter Explore the Price of Fame". Elle . Retrieved October 6, 2025.
11. McMackon, Cassidy (October 3, 2025). "Vancouver Eras Tour crowd featured on title track of Taylor Swift's new album". CBC News . Retrieved October 5, 2025.
12. Hague, Lauren (October 3, 2025). "Taylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl". Clash . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
13. Graves, Wren (October 3, 2025). "Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl Is All Dressed up with Nowhere to Go: Review". Consequence . Retrieved October 7, 2025.
14. The Life of a Showgirl (booklet). Taylor Swift. Republic Records. 2025.
15. "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. October 13, 2025. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
16. "Taylor-Swift: The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
17. "Taylor Swift feat. Sabrina Carpenter – The Life of a Showgirl" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
18. "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 41 (dal 03.10.2025 al 09.10.2025)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana . Retrieved October 11, 2025.
19. "2025 41-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. October 10, 2025. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
20. "Official Top 40 Singles". Recorded Music NZ. October 10, 2025. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
21. "Singel 2025 uke 41". IFPI Norge . Retrieved October 10, 2025.
22. "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 41" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved October 11, 2025.
23. "Official Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company . Retrieved October 11, 2025.
24. "Taylor Swift Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
25. "Taylor Swift Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2025.