Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia Ophelia Keep it one hundred, on the land, the sea, the sky Pledge allegiance to your hands But I’m never gonna let you down I’m never gonna leave you out So many trade up I ain’t go to knock on wood. All of that bitchin’ wishing on a fallin star Never did any good I ain’t go to knock on wood.
-We love you too much! -That was so nice! -We love you too much! -[ Laughs ] -That was… [ Cheers and applause ] -The big — I know — You have to — We have to let her talk. Sorry. -No. It was so nice. That was — That was incredible. Wow. -That’s the loudest intro in the history of “The Tonight Show.” -You guys are the best. -They’re the best crowd.
-Everyone in here. -Yeah, they’re the best. -I feel like I’m back at the Eras Tour. -Yeah! I’m like — Come on. [ Cheers and applause ] Uh, let’s talk “Life of a Showgirl” is out now. It went to number one. It is the biggest streaming day for any album released this year across all platforms, including Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Every platform. Number one. Congratulations. -That’s all you guys. Thank you so much. [ Cheers and applause ] -How — How does it feel to have this out in the world? -I mean, it’s — I — Yes. I’m so excited about, like — This was sort of a surprise and a secret that I had been carrying around for a year. And I was so excited.
It’s like — It’s like when you’re like, “I got a really great Christmas present for my brother.” But you have it for a year. And so it’s really exciting that, you know, they have opened the present and they are playing with the toy. And it’s fantastic. Like, this has just been, like, I think the most well-matched, um, era in terms of where my life was when I wrote it and then where I am now when it’s out in the world.
I feel exactly the same way as I did when I wrote and recorded these songs. It’s like — -Because sometimes you put out an album… -Oh, sometimes you write, like — “The Tortured Poets Department.” Like, the name didn’t lie. I was like — I wrote that song and I was just, like, miserable. -Yeah.
-And then when I put it out, I was like… “I’m so happy now.” So I just, like… Release week meant just, like, putting my phone in a drawer. You know? Like, I was just like — You know, this feels so special because, um, like, with my albums, I love to kind of, you know, showcase sort of, like, aspects of my personality that are in the extreme, right? Like, “Tortured Poets Department,” my last album, was really highlighting the facets of me that are like a writer that’s, like, earnest and stoic and raw and sort of, like, the sprawling part of it,
where the part of me that wants to just be like, “I’m just gonna write everything and give you everything I wrote,” right? Raw and, like, pain and just excruciating, um, detail. And then there’s this, like — That was the character of the poet, and this I wanted to be the character of the showgirl, which is, like, other aspects of a person’s personality, where you’re, like, funny and feisty and, like, having a blast and flirty and sort of tongue-in-cheek and a little scandalous and, like, friendly.
-Yes! Yes! [ Cheers and applause ] We’re feeling all of it. By the way, I have to say — Because I’m getting blinded. Congratulations on your engagement. -Oh, thanks. Thanks. -Yeah. No big deal. [ Cheers and applause ] Wow! -Yeah. -Can I see? -Yeah. Of course. -Oh, my Lord. Can we — Look… [ Cheers and applause ] Taylor. -It’s crazy.
-Taylor, that is insanity. -That’s crazy! -Well, he put a lot of — He put a lot of work into that one. -He did. He did. And he had it for a really long time before he gave it to me, too. -He did? -Yeah. So he had it, like — He custom did this and designed it with this amazing jeweler who he made it with. -It’s gorgeous. Even the sides are beautiful.
-I know! I know! I look at it constantly. Like, it’s not… It doesn’t feel, um, in any way normal for me. I’m just sort of like, “Oh, man!” -Yeah. Yes. -Whoa! But it’s like — It’s more than that. It’s like — I just like — He’s just my favorite person I’ve ever met. No offense to everyone else. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-But the fact that this is the person that I get to hang out with every day forever is just like — That’s the whole thing of it. You look at that, and you’re like, “I get to hang out with him forever.” And this represents that. -That’s the win. Yeah. Well, I know that you did his podcast, “New Heights,” which, by the way, I have done.
And since I’ve done his podcast, they’ve won every game since I done — -You know what? Don’t think I didn’t notice that. -Thank you. -Yeah. -I don’t want a thank-you. I don’t want any credit. Let’s just act like it didn’t happen. -Yeah, let’s not jinx anything. Let’s sort of… But… -But it did happen. -It did happen.
-What are you gonna do? -We have to acknowledge certain superstitious things that cause a streak of winning. -Yes. -It’s gameday. My head is very much there. -Yes, you are. -So thank you for acknowledging that. -No, no, I was gonna bring up the podcast only because you did the podcast to announce and reveal your album title. -Yes.
-And then after that podcast, I think it was — I think I’m right about this. It might be another rumor about you. But he went, and you got engaged right after the podcast. -Yes. So, basically, um, I think for Travis, the podcast was just sort of, like, a distraction, sort of ruse to keep me not looking out the windows of the house.
-It was all happening. Was the backyard normal when you got there? -I don’t — Every time he does the podcast, it’s not like he, like, blacks out all the windows. The dra– There’s, like, fully, like, just blackout drapes on every single window of the whole house. -Yeah. -You’re like, “Honey, this is real secretive.
” -“He is so serious about this, and I really appreciate that.” Um, but then, um, afterward, I kind of realized, like, he’s walking around sort of nervous about the podcast. He’s like, “My heart is racing. I just really want… I know how much this means to you. Like, really want this to be what you hoped it would be.
” Because we’d been talking about doing the podcast and announcing the album. And he’s like, “My heart’s racing.” And I’ve never seen this dude nervous, ever. -Of course he’s not nervous about the podcast! -He’s professionally not a nervous person. -He’s like, “I wonder what questions I’m gonna ask you. I know one! I know one! I know one question that I’m gonna ask! I know the big one! But I can’t get to that yet!” [ Laughter ] -He was like, “Do you want to go and just walk around the backyard and have a glass of wine?”
I’m like, “I’m always gonna want to do that.” -That’s cool. -Um… -And then I realized exactly why all of the windows were curtained and why he was nervous. -Yeah. Look at this right there. -It was the best possible case scenario. Look at that! That’s what he was turning the backyard into. -It is gorgeous! -Like a secret garden oasis.
-It’s beautiful! [ Cheers and applause ] Uh, you’ve had a giant, giant year. A lot of things to celebrate. You have the number-one album. You’ve got engaged. You also, uh, finally got the masters. You control all of your masters. [ Cheers and applause ] -That’s… [ Cheers and applause ] -Wow. -Thanks, guys. -That was hard work. That’s a lot of…
-The Roots know. Like, they… Ahmir knows. We’re all just out here in this crazy, insane music industry. And, um, the fact that this happened still feels absolutely outlandish to me because I kind of had made peace with the fact that I was going to re-record my music. I was going to try to replicate these songs as accurately and exactly as possible, and that was just what I was going to do.
Because nobody had ever given me the opportunity to bid on my work before. So I was used to feeling — Whenever I would see one of my music videos that I’m really proud of from those first six albums or when I would see, like, an album cover of mine or hear one of the older songs, I’d get so sad. And I had to sort of create this protective layer of, like, not really letting them in.
Like, not really — Like, “Oh. There’s one of my music videos. Don’t really look at it. Don’t get sad. Don’t let it ruin your day.” -Because you don’t own it. Someone else is getting — -“Because you don’t own it. You never will. And that’s — And you just have to make peace with that.” So it’s actually — I’ve had to reroute my entire absorption system of my own work to be just stoked whenever I see any of it.
And it is the best feeling in the world. Thank you, guys, for caring about this at all. [ Cheers and applause ] -Now it’s like — listen to it all. -Yes. -Love it all. And every time you hear it, you go, “I remember where I was when I recorded it. I remember where I wrote it.” -Yes, and now you get to go back down memory lane…
-But then you also — That you re-recorded it was also historic and cool. -That was really fun. I had a blast. -That was awesome! -We had a time. -That was awesome, what you did! -It really was fun. And it was like — I know that these are not conversations that have typically been had outside of, you know — behind closed doors, conference room, contract negotiations sort of.
Inside the music-industry type, um, spaces. And the fact that when I did say to the fans like, “This is something I care about. I know — You don’t have to care about this.” It may not be something that you have really, like, absorbed yourselves in or, like — But the fact that the fans cared, it means the world to me.
I know that it was a new topic of conversation to share publicly. Every artist doesn’t have to care about owning their music, but I just wanted them to, like, know that this is a thing. And if you do care about it, negotiate to have it. -Get in there. And you’re already doing it. You’re inspiring… -Thanks.
-…hundreds of thousands of artists to do that. -Yeah. -And it’s really cool that you did that and that you were honest and let us in — kind of a little peek behind the curtain of what the business is. -Like, a huge peek behind the curtain. I was like, “Agh!” Like… -Agh! -All the monsters came out! Like, yeah.
-I thought we could do something kind of fun here. Because you’re Taylor Swift and you make a lot of headlines, there’s a lot written about you on the Internet every day. Some of it is very hard to tell what’s true. And I thought we could have a little fun with this. -All right. -Okay. So what I’m gonna do is — -Oh, my God.
-No, I’m going to read some rumors that I heard about Taylor Swift. -Wait. So what is this for? -It’s just because it looks cool. -What does it — Do you know what this does and when I am supposed to…? -Yes. You’re supposed to press it. Uh, wait. No, no. Not yet. But… I think you press it — When we’re all done, I’ll go back through every rumor and you press it if that one is true.
-So you’re gonna say things that are true and false, and you’re gonna — Are you — -No. -Is this like two truths and a lie where you guess? -Kind — Yes. Oh, I can do that. -Yeah. -Oh, I like that. -So we’re basically playing two truths and a lie. -I heard that — Yes. Yes. One of these is true. -One of these things are true, but everything else is false.
-That’s correct. All right, here we go. Taylor Swift, you turned down the Super Bowl Halftime Show because the NFL wouldn’t allow you to own your performance footage. Okay. We’re gonna go through — there’s five rumors. -[ Laughs ] -Interesting. Rumor two. [ Laughter ] Your close friend, Ed Sheeran, learned about your engagement like everyone else did, on Instagram.
[ Laughter ] That would be great, if that’s true. R-r-r-rumor three. In your speech at Selena Gomez’s wedding, you joked that Selena beat you to the altar. [ Laughter ] That’s funny. And I know you — you’re funny. I could see that happening. Rumor four — you’ve been spotted walking a mystery dog in Florida.
[ Laughter ] This is true. This is on the Internet. You were walking a dog that’s not your dog, and it’s a mystery dog. And by the way, I think that might be the true one, but who knows. [ Laughter ] Travis Kelce can be heard harmonizing on “Opalite.” [ Laughter ] All right, I said five rumors about — about you.
One of them is true. -And you are guessing now which one you think is the true one. And what happens if that is not true? -If I’m correct — -Do I get to, like, throw a marker or something like that? -No, no, no. How about this? What if, if it’s true, then you hit the buzzer? -Okay. -Right? So — -And I just sit here.
-Well, hopefully, I’ll get the right one. What if I’m correct? -Okay. Yeah, yeah. You could — You could get it first. -Or we can run through the rum– Let’s do that, and then we could maybe run through the rumors and see why they’re rumors. -This is the most incredible… -What are the rules of this game? You’ve never played Two Truths and a Lie? -No.
-So, you basically guess — -But I don’t know if there are two truths. I think there’s one truth. -Because there’s one truth and a bunch of falses. -This is called Four Lies and a Truth. -Okay, so I should have this if it’s false. -Okay. All right, hit that if it’s false. -There’s more of a chance that it’s gonna be false if there’s one truth in there.
Then there’s more — And I love a buzzer! -Okay. [ Laughter ] You can take this home with you. All right. -And if it’s true, I — I’m sorry I’ve taken this over. -No, I love this. No, this — -If it’s true, I could say, “That’s true.” [ Laughter ] -All right, all right. The name of this game is called That’s True. -Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Or you could call it That’s So True, which is my favorite Gracie Abrams song. And then you could play it with other people! [ Cheers and applause ] -Okay. Okay. That’s So True. -Okay, cool, cool, cool. -All right. I’m gonna say the rumor that I think is true — Super Bowl — I don’t think that you would about footage or something.
That’s too — You don’t care about that. -So you — -Wait. Hold on. I’m going to say my truth. [ Laughter ] I think my truth — Ed Sheeran is funny. -Wait, wait. -But I think you’re closer to him. -When do I get to touch this? -Hold on. Not yet. I didn’t guess — When I say, “This is the truth.” -You’re working through this in your inner monologue that we’re hearing a little bit of.
-Correct. -Okay. I love this. -I’m working my inner monologue out loud in front of everybody. -Yeah, yeah. It’s like, you know… -It’s not mystery dog. -Your process is your process. -It’s not mystery dog. Travis can be heard harmonizing. I don’t think he would — we would want to do that. I think he would want you to have your moment to shine.
Um, the Selena Gomez one, I feel like that’s funny. And I feel like you say, “Hey, you beat me to the altar.” I’m gonna say Selena Gomez is true, that you were at Selena Gomez’s wedding and you joked, “Hey, you beat me to the altar.” [ Buzzer ] -It’s false. [ Laughter ] -What is the rules?! Wait.
What are the rules of the game? The game is not It’s False! The game is — It is — What is the game called? -I don’t know. [ Laughter ] -Sorry. That’s False? -Yeah. -So you never said that. -Well, I — so, I got to see her be the most elegant, gorgeous, not only bride but just vision that I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful as her on her wedding day. -I love her.
-And she deserves all of this happiness. Benny — He is him. -The best. -He is so funny. -He’s the best. -He’s the best. Um, so I did make a speech, but I actually made a point not to mention anything about my engagement. Nobody wants you to be like, “Hey, I know this is your wedding day, but, like, [gibberish] [ Laughter ] You know, like — I was like, “Don’t mention it.
” -Yeah, it’s not about you. -Maybe turn it around. [ Laughter ] -Like, it’s all — -Do you know what I mean? -This is her day. -I did do some light teasing about the way that we used to dress in 2008, the year that we met. Because we met when we were teenagers in 2008. It was quite a year. [ Laughter ] Let me tell you, it was the year of deep, deep v-necks.
-Was it — was it deep? -I just go into, like… Did I just go into, like, the Gilded Age? -Ooh! -I love “The Gilded Age.” -Me too. “The Gilded Age.” -Don’t even get me started. Carrie Coon’s character. -Carrie Coon! -It was the year of aggressively colorful skinny jeans. [ Laughter ] Everyone was walking around saying things were amazeballs.
[ Laughter ] Mrs. Astor hated it. -Oh, my God. That nailed it right there. -So, basically, Selena used to — like, her favorite outfit back then was, like, a very long tank top, skinny jeans. -They know it. -But, like, a tiny little vest. Like, a tiny — the smallest vest and Chucks. And that was her, like, uniform of that year.
And mine was the — I just always looked like I was, like, late for the cowboy-themed junior prom. [ Laughter ] And so I talked a little bit about 2008. I talked about, you know, how happy I am for her and how just beautiful it’s been to get to be a part of her life. But I did not make it about me. -Okay, good.
All right, then I’m going to have my second guess here. And I’m going to say, I think it’d be funny if Ed Sheeran learned about your engagement on Instagram. -That’s so true. [ Laughter, cheers, applause ] ♪♪ -Oh, no! -I have a perfect explanation. -Oh, no. -He doesn’t have a phone! [ Laughter ] He doesn’t have a phone.
-Didn’t he wrote a whole album about an old phone that he had or something? -But he doesn’t have one that works. -That’s true. That is true. -So he doesn’t have a phone. And this is, like, one thing I love about him. It’s very eccentric. Love it. [ Laughter ] But when I’m going through b
eing like, “Hey, like –” You know, “Hey…” -All my peeps. -“Who should we FaceTime?” I’m going through my texts and being like, “Who have I texted within the last month of my life,” and he just wasn’t there. Because you have to, like — he’s — you have to, like — -How do you get ahold of him, the Bat Signal? -You have to e-mail him. And then if you want to set up a FaceTime, he has to find an iPad.
They have to give it to him like he’s a child that they give the iPad to. -Yes. And he watches an episode of “Bluey.” And then… -This is one of my absolute favorite people on the planet. -I know! That’s why I didn’t guess that. -And then when the news came out, I was like, “Oh, my God, we forgot to call Ed!” [ Laughter ] “Oh, no.” -That’s my favorite. -He’s like family.
-Like, I love him. -Of course. -But he doesn’t have a phone. [ Laughter ] -So that is the true one. So you didn’t you didn’t turn down the Super Bowl because of performance footage? -No. -Okay. -No, no. Well, here’s the thing. Like, Jay-Z has always been very good to me. -Yes. -Our teams are really close. Like, it’s like they sometimes will call and say, ”
How does she feel about…?” And that’s not, like, an official offer or an official, like — or a conference room conversation. -It’s just a feeling-out. -Our teams are really close. “How does she feel about it, in general?” And we’ve been — we’re always able to tell him the truth, which is that, like, I am in love with a guy who does that sport on that actual field.
Like, that is violent chess. That is gladiators without swords. That is dangerous. I am — The whole season, I am locked in on what that man is doing on the field. Can you imagine if, like, he’s out there every single week, like, putting his life on the line, doing this very dangerous, very high-pressure, high-intensity sport, and I’m like, “I wonder what my choreo should be?” -“Oh, my gosh, honey.
Let me have one thing! Let me have one thing.” -I think we should do two verses of “Shake It Off,” into “Blank Space,” into “Cruel Summer” would be great. Like, it’s just like, this is — And this is nothing to do with Travis. He would love for me to do it. I’m just too locked in. -Good. -Like, yeah. -Love hearing that. All right.
And then, uh… Travis is not harmonizing on “Opalite.” -He’s not, no. [ Laughter ] -And you’ve not been spotted walking a mystery dog in Florida? That was an odd one. -I have never walked a dog in Florida or maybe ever. [ Laughter ] -But the Internet is saying that you have. That’s why I wrote it down. -I know.
I didn’t do that, though. -It’s not true. All right, there you go. -They should be able to run free. [ Laughter ] -No, they should — -Let ’em free. Let ’em loose. They come back. Don’t they come back? That’s the cool thing about dogs. -All right. [ Laughter ] -You just call them, and they just come back. They come back to you. -That’s not true at all.
And I’m gonna call — -If you love your dog… -Let him free? That’s not true at all. Let it roam? Let it roam. -It’ll come back to you. -All right. We’re gonna take a commercial break. In the meantime, I’m going to call Ed Sheeran and say hi to him, check in. Guys, thank you for doing that. More with Taylor Swift when we come back.
-Taylor Swift! [ Cheers and applause ] Uh, you… In addition to your number-one album, you’re also number-one at the box office over the weekend with the official release “Party of a Showgirl.” Congrats on that, as well. -Thank you. Thank you. -That’s super fun and something different. And in that you also — you debuted the video for “The Fate of Ophelia.
” Great video. -Thank you so much! -You wrote and directed it. -Yes. [ Cheers and applause ] -Every fan is looking at little Easter eggs, and I was — Me too. And I’m looking at everything like… It’s just brilliantly done. It’s gorgeous. Uh, it looks like it’s… Were you starting in a museum or is it…? What is it based on? -It’s the Hollywood Theater.
-Ah! -We wanted it to seem sort of like a — sort of like an ambiguous theater where you would go and see all different types of performance. So you might see a Shakespeare production. You might see ballet. You might see a concert. Um, and then we obviously are like — We’re, like, referencing the, um — the John Everett Millais painting of Ophelia in both my album cover and in this music video, which — it kind of becomes a plot device.
Um… -But It’s so beautiful. ‘Cause it looks like noth– It’s all, like, painted. But it’s like, nope, now it’s three-dimensional and now you’re standing… I’m like, “Go, go go! That’s awesome!” -That’s what we were calling the breaking of the parallax. Right? So, like, if you’re… So… -Wait. That’s the name of my next album.
-Yeah. Right. That’s such a great album title. Oh, my God. “The Breaking of the Parallax.” Oh my God. -Yeah, I got to steal that one. -Yeah. Um… -Critic’s Choice across the board. -“Breaking of the Parallax.” -So, so basically a parallax is if you’re looking at something, almost like a diorama. You’re looking at it from one angle, and it shows a picture, but if you were to come around the side, you’d see that it’s different layers that are creating it.
So that’s that first scene when you’re going and looking at this, and it looks like a painting from front on. As soon as you turn, you see that we’re backstage. -It’s well done. I loved it. -Thanks. -I love that it got me right in there. I was like, “Yeah.” And I love that. And I love the diving in. -Yeah.
-I go, “Is that a shout-out to the Eras Tour maybe?” -Absolutely. Absolutely. And so, essentially, like, we also wanted it to kind of hint at the Eras Tour because each scene is one take. So, like, we have either a Steadicam or a crane operator camera, and it’s not like, um… you switch to this angle, you switch to this angle.
We cut here. We go wide. We’re medium. -One take. -It’s one take. And so that felt more like the energy of a performance when you — it’s make it or break it. It’s this moment. You hit your marks or you don’t. -Wow. -Um, and so that was really fun to have that energy going and to be in rehearsals again with that entire group of people that I had with me on the Eras Tour, and they’re all in the music video.
And it just felt like this joyous reunion. -And then there’s a reference to Kitty. -Yeah. So there’s a — There’s a — Like, a scene marker that comes down in front of one of the scenes, um, in one of our, um, sort of transitions, and it says “Starring Kitty Finlay.” And there’s a fictional character, um, named Kitty in “The Life of a Showgirl,” the song, that’s just this character who you meet.
She’s up on stage. She’s doing — You realize, “I want to do what she’s doing.” She inspires you. And then when you meet her, she warns you against doing it, which I think is something that may have happened to anyone who said that they wanted to go into music. You know, people who are in it will tell you how hard it is and how chaotic it can be and just how cutthroat.
But if you love it enough, you’ll do it anyway, and you’ll take what comes with it. -Oh. I love that. -Yeah. So that’s that name, but it’s also my — It’s also the name of my mom’s Great Dane. Um… -Okay. There we go. There we go. That’s… -Which is, you know, important to my mom, so it’s important to me.
-Yeah. By the way, we love you, Mom. -Yeah. -Your mom’s the best. -Yeah. She’s absolutely the best. -The best. -And then — And she’s — She is absolutely the best. And, then, her mother — again, my mom — Um, her mother is named Marjorie Finlay. That was my grandmother. -So Kitty… -So that’s where Finlay came from.
-Ahh! -And all signs lead back to my mom. -Yeah. Why not? That’s good. Why not? -Yeah. -She’s the greatest. She is. -I do love her. And I did see a sourdough, uh, cameo in there, as well. -Yeah, there’s a sourdough bread cameo. I am — Recently I have become the most annoying person that anyone knows about the topic of bread.
It’s like — I have these, like, baking or cooking obsessions, where, like, my recent obsession, whatever it happens to be, becomes my entire personality. It’s all I can talk about. I have to actually stop myself from talking about bread at parties because people don’t… -You baked me a bread, and you begged me not to bring it out here.
-I did bake you a bread. -“I baked you a bread.” -I baked you two loaves. And then I said, “If you bring it on TV, people are gonna be like, ‘She won’t stop.'” -It’s too much. It’s too much. -But I can’t stop. -It’s too much. No. -I think I need to move on to accoutrement of the bread. Jams and such. -Oh! -I think it could get even…
-And such? Such? -Jams and such. -Jellies? -Yeah. -Chutneys. -[ Laughs ] Wow! -Can you imagine? -Can you imagine the world that opens up? -Me at a party talking about chutneys. -Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I can’t wait. -Yeah. They’re like, “Avoid that girl over there.” -No. I love it. -“She’s written some bops, but she is boring!” -I want to hear about chutneys next time you come on.
-“She’ll put you in a verbal headlock about her sourdough starter, and you will have to claw yourself out.” -I cannot wait to have it. And thank you so much for being so generous and always doing those extra… You always go extra. You’re just amazing. -You do, too. I want to say that about you. That’s why everybody loves to come see you.
You do extra. You give us a buzzer. You play a game with us that has no rules. And you make this so fun for us to come and talk about the work that we made that we worked so hard on and love. And you listen to it, and you, like, actually care about what we make. Everybody who comes on the show loves you. -Thank you, bud. -Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you, bud… -You got a lot of heart, kid. -You did it. -Keep going. -You did it. -Keep going. -You got me! You got me! You got this cold heart to get emotional! Uh, let’s play another game. -Yeah. -All right. It’s a quick — This is a fast game. This is a fast game.
-Where’s the buzzer? -No buzzer in this one. There’s no buzzer. This one is the Game of Lasts. -Okay. -Okay? It’s like the last blah blah blah. The last thing you blah blah blah. -Oh. So I just say the last thing I did. -Yeah. Just talking. It’s a talking game. You could play it anywhere. You can play it in the car with your friends.
Look. I’m driving. Look at me. I’m driving. Here we go. All right. This is Lasts. And this is gonna go super fast. -Cool. -Last person you texted. -Selena. -Last concert you went to. -Uh, the Eras Tour, Vancouver, back in December of last year. -Wow. Last TV show you watched. -Oh! Oh! There’s two I’m on right now.
-“Gilded Age”? -Uh, yeah. Uh, that’s… -Different. -I love it, but that’s not the last one I did. “The Girlfriend” is a good one, and “The Paper” is a good one. -Yes. -Yeah. -Last movie you saw. -Last movie. Oh! “One Battle After Another.” -Yes! -My God! My God! -Yes, it was great! -Chase Infiniti. Teyana Taylor.
How are they gonna split the Oscar in half? -I don’t know. -We will see. -Leonardo DiCaprio. Sean Penn. -So funny! Benicio’s so — They were so funny! Leo was hilarious. -Jonny Greenwood. The soundtrack. -That s– -The score. Yeah. -The fact that when you hear that theme each time… -Scared me.
-It makes you feel something different every single time. -Good. I loved it, too. -And we are so lucky to be alive at the same time as Paul Thomas Anderson. -There you go. Come on. I agree. -He’s just — Like, it’s crazy that he is just out here doing that. He’s writing it. He’s directing it. He’s existing on this — just this higher level that we get to watch.
Anyway, that was the last movie I watched. -Last fall-related activity you did. -Oh. Um, I baked cinnamon rolls the other day. That is the — That means it’s here! -Yes! It’s here! -It’s here. -‘Tis the season! -Yes. -Uh, last song of your own that you listened to not on the new album. -Oh. Okay.
So I have this tradition when — The eve before I have a new album that comes out that starts a new musical era, I listen to the entirety of the last album that I made. So I listened to “Tortured Poets Department” to say goodbye to it. And, um, I do it every time. -Wow. I love that. -It’s every night before a new album comes out. -I didn’t know that. I love this game.
Last song of any artist that you listened to. -Oh. Uh, Tate McRae has a great new song called “Tit for Tat.” You gotta listen to it. It’s — -It’s good? -Like, full volume, over and over again on repeat. -All right. Love that. -It’s just so good. -Finally, the last person you said, “And, baby, that’s show business for you,” to.
-Um… Man. Um, I don’t say it often. Um, but I’ll say it now. That’s show business for you. -Yeah! That’s — I’ll take it! I’m the last person! I rigged that one. Since “The Life of a Showgirl” is officially out, what do you think about — what do you think about playing some of the songs? What do you think about playing some of the songs together and sharing some stories behind them? -I would love to. -Let’s do that after the break.
-Welcome back, everybody. Taylor Swift is joining us. Her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” is out now. I thought it’d be fun to maybe go through some of the tracks here on the album of “Life of a Showgirl” and maybe share the inspiration behind each one. -Yeah, I would love this. -Is that fun? -So this is our, like, podcast. -It kind of feels like — Yeah.
-I love this. -It’s kind of like a loose — -So the second podcast interview I’ve ever done. I’m very excited. -I’m honored. -I loved your first one. -Yeah. This is good. Okay, good. I’m very excited. And whoever the other person’s podcast you did, don’t get mad at me, okay? Because there’s room for two of us.
Yeah, to have podcasts. Alright. Okay, “Opalite.” Let’s start with that one. -Alright. -Okay. Let’s start. I’m just gonna play it first, and then we’ll talk about it. Let’s give it a taste. -♪ But my mama told me it’s alright ♪ ♪ You were dancing through the lightning strikes ♪ -You know the words already? -♪ Sleepless in the onyx night ♪ -Yeah. You can sing along. Go ahead.
-♪ Now the sky is opalite ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, my lord ♪ -Oh, my God. -♪ Never made no one like you before ♪ -The way they know every word. -Dude, already. -♪ You had to make your own sunshine ♪ -You’re the best. -♪ But now the sky is opalite ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ -Oh, my God! -Come on! Wow! [ Cheers and applause ] How do they know? -You had, like — You had like, six minutes to learn all the words and you’ve done it.
That’s unbelievable. -That’s kind of amazing. -Oh, that felt — -Everyone in the audience knew every lyric to that song that’s not even really on the radio yet. That’s wild. -This is beautiful. -Let’s talk about “Opalite.” I don’t even know if I know what “Opalite” is. -Opalite is man-made opal. -Okay. -So, like, just like they can do man-made diamonds, they can do man-made opal.
And I thought it was kind of a cool — It was, like, interesting imagery and a cool metaphor for life isn’t always going to give you what you want. You’re not always going to get your way. You’re going to get your heart broken. Things are going to happen to you. Chaos will ensue. But you have to pick your own happiness.
You choose it. Like, it doesn’t always choose you. It doesn’t always just show up knocking on your door. You have to sometimes make your own happiness, just like… -Yes! -…man-made opal. -Wow. -But it’s like — But also there’s also, like, you know, like gemstones in the chorus, like “onyx night.” “Now the sky is opalite,” just trying to kind of put gemstones in the chorus too.
-How do you come up with this? Do you just wake up in the middle of the night and go, “Opalite”? -Yeah. That’s literally how it happens. -And you write it down? -Yeah. I mean, it’s like — it’s in the night. It’s in the day as well as the afternoon and the evening. All the times… -All the times. -…that I am here.
-Have you written something earlier today? -No, no, I am just — I’m just vibing. This is the release week of this album. Like, I’m just riding this wave. It’s like — It’s like this song is exactly how I feel right now. And it’s just kind of like amazing to hear you guys sing it like that. That was pretty… -Alright.
-Pretty great. [ Cheers and applause ] -How about this? Alright, how about “Wi$h Li$t”? Let’s do — [ Cheers and applause ] -♪ I just want you, huh ♪ ♪ Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you ♪ ♪ We tell the world to leave us the…alone, and they do, wow ♪ ♪ Got me dreaming about a driveway ♪ ♪ With a basketball hoop ♪ ♪ Boss up, settle down, got a wish list ♪ ♪ I just want you ♪ -Alright. Come on.
-Ah! [ Cheers and applause ] By the way, I love it. Sing every song. You guys sound fantastic. -You really do. It’s not just that you know the words. You actually sound gorgeous. [ Laughter ] -That — Tell me what the song is about, and I’ll tell you what sticks out in my head. -Um, okay.
So this song, the chorus, I kind of designed the chorus to be… And you got to just, like, go with me here. You know in “Happy Gilmore” when he — When he has his happy place. -Yes. -And that’s where he goes when he’s really stressed out or the world’s really getting him down and he’s really — And he’s, like, really like going through it.
And he just goes to this place in his mind and he — and he — and that’s his happy place. Like, that chorus, I just wanted a chorus like that basically shows you what mine is and sounds exactly how mine would sound. Like, this is utopia for me. That’s where I go when I’m stressed out, is that fantasy. -And basically all you want is you.
That’s one of your — That’s your wish. -It’s like, yeah, you’re saying that to the person that you’re with, like — -Yes. -And you’re — And you’re saying, you know, that you want like this — You want to build a life with them, and you want it to feel like home and — and like — -That’s what you do with your lyrics.
You’re such a great artist and a writer. -Thanks. That’s so sweet. No, thank you. -I can’t believe I’m that person. But I don’t — -No. -I don’t mean to be that person. -Are you kidding me? I love hearing that. -But basketball hoop. Basketball hoop in the dr– -Yeah, yeah. -That’s the one that gets me. I know exactly where we are.
-Yeah, like, I learned about sports for this man. [ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ] -Ah! Ha! -And I love him. I love him. I don’t want to do them, but I love watching them. I can — I could see, you know. -Yeah. [ Laughter ] Someone doing them, yes. -Yeah, people do them. And it’s great and I’ll watch them.
-You’ll watch them, yes, but you go for it. You do it. -I love it. Do them. -Yes. Do that. -Do that. -Should we transition to “Wood”? [ Cheers and applause ] This is “Wood.” W-O-O-D, by the way, if anyone’s watching. -Yeah -W-O-O-D, like, wooden. Yes. Wood. Here we go. This is “Wood.” -♪ All of that bitchin’, wishing on a falling star ♪ ♪ Never did me any good ♪ ♪ I ain’t got to knock on wood ♪ ♪ It’s you and me forever dancing in the dark ♪ ♪ All over me, it’s understood ♪ ♪ I ain’t got to knock on wood ♪ -Alright, now, this is great.
All these are great tunes. [ Cheers and applause ] -Thanks. -Do you come up with tunes before? For this exact song, did you go [ Vocalizing ] -No. So I brought this into the studio and I was like, I want to do sort of like a — I want to, like, do a throwback kind of timeless sounding song. And I have this idea about, like, I ain’t got to knock on wood and we would knock on wood and it would be all these superstitions.
And it really started out in a very innocent place. [ Laughter ] ♪♪ You know, it started out like… I don’t know what happened, man. I — [ Laughter ] -It went off the rails. -I got in there. We started vibing and — and I don’t know. I don’t know how we got here, but I love the song so much. [ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ] -It’s perfect.
It’s perfect the way it is. Let’s go into “The Life of a Showgirl.” -♪ 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, girl, baby ♪ ♪ And you’re never gonna wanna ♪ -Ooh! Ooh! [ Cheers and applause ] You got it.
Like, when you do that, you go, “That’s the ending. That’s the ending.” Like ♪ Never gonna wanna ♪ -Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, because I’d been writing this album to be around the themes of show business and a public life. And because, honestly, we all have a public life now. We all are mandating our relationship with social media and social circles and gossip and — and so I was like, I want to focus on sort of like the playful, fun, funny, humorous sides of that.
Um, and so we’d been dealing with kind of themes like that and sprinkling those throughout the record, but I had it in my notes just “you don’t know the life of a showgirl.” I just had that in my notes written down, and I was just like, “I got to figure out how this fits in.” And all of a sudden this song comes together.
And the first thought I had was Sabrina Carpenter. You know? [ Cheers and applause ] She’s like — -She knows how to — She knows maybe. -Quintessential showgirls. -Yes. -She is such a funny person. She is so tough in the right ways and soft and vulnerable in the right ways to be an artist that is dealing with the kind of just absolute mayhem that gets kind of — these artists get subjected to when you’re putting out art publicly.
And I was so happy that she wanted to sing that second verse because I kind of wrote it for her, the sort of like she’s just this like, sort of like “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.” I was like, “I just know she’s going to have fun singing this.
” It’s kind of her type of lyric. She just loves to write like a clever little, uh, little jab at… Yeah. -…men. [ Laughter ] So… -Is there many people — There’s not that many people that you can actually relate to on this level. -I mean, I — That sounds sad. Um, but it’s actually like you just kind of find your people.
And even if it’s not about relating to people, like, I can’t really relate to the pressure that — that Travis is under out there on the field. Like, I’ve never had, you know, 300-pound men running at me, trying to hurt me. You know what I mean? And the same way that I — with Sabrina, I’ve — I’ve never come up as a new artist in the moment that she’s coming up where she’s had social media.
Like, I remember when someone told me about Instagram and it was like on my second or third record, like, so I’ll never be able to relate to their experience. We’ll never be able to have identical experiences. But as sort of entertainers, one of our main jobs, I think, is to be a mirror for people. You look into the art we make, you see yourself back.
The way you feel about our art has a lot to do with the life experience that you’re having at this point in time, and that’s why I’m so happy I have so many different albums. Like, people will come up to me and be like, “I didn’t get ‘reputation.’ I didn’t understand what that was like. Now, five years later, it’s my favorite record” or, you know, “evermore” or something like that.
And it is like the fun of it for us to create a mirror for people to look into. I definitely think that Sabrina and every other artist out there doing this can relate to that. So in that way, I do feel like we all can relate to each other. -Yeah. Interesting. That’s good. [ Cheers and applause ] “Father Figure” — another well-written — You’re good.
Alright, here’s a little of this. -♪ I pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain ♪ ♪ Said, “They wanna see you rise ♪ “They don’t want you to reign” ♪ ♪ I showed you all the tricks of the trade ♪ ♪ All I ask for is your loyalty ♪ ♪ My dear protégé ♪ ♪ I’ll be your father figure ♪ ♪ I drink that brown liquor ♪ ♪ I can make deals with the devil ♪ ♪
Because my…bigger ♪ ♪ This love is pure profit ♪ ♪ Just step into my office ♪ ♪ They’ll know your name in the streets ♪ ♪ Leave it with me ♪ ♪ I protect the family ♪ -Oh, come on! [ Cheers and applause ] -♪ I protect the ♪ Yes. -Man, like, that song was so much fun to write. So it’s like, uh, you know, protégé, mentor, and the relationship between the two.
Right? And the power dynamics and sort of the idea that the power could flip and somebody could betray somebody. That’s so fun to write. And this is written from the perspective of, like, of the mentor, you know, to the protégé. But because I kept thinking about that scene in “Succession” where Logan looks at his kids and says, “I love you, but you are not serious people.
” [ Laughter ] And I think about that scene constantly. I just think it’s one of the coolest scenes ever. And I was like, “I want to write a song that has that energy of sort of Logan Roy being like, you bit the hand that fed you and you do not have — you do not possess the vernacular to be doing this.” But I also really have completely related to the protégé perspective in so many of these situations.
Right? Like, I relate to the younger one, like when I’m listening to this song. Like, even though it’s from the perspective of the father-figure character. That’s why I like this song so much. -And you always find a way to go like, “Wait, did she just say that?” [ Laughter ] “Did she — Rewind that for a second.
Did she just say deal with the devil and…?” -Yes. -Yeah. -Yes. You know, it’s entertainment. -Yes. -It’s my one job. -It’s — Yeah. [ Laughter ] -You know, the spice level on this album is high. -Yeah. It is. [ Cheers and applause ] It is. I think it’s the spiciest yet. -Yeah. It is what it is, you know? -It is what it is.
This one is “Elizabeth Taylor,” who — -Ah. [ Cheers and applause ] -I love “Elizabeth Taylor.” But let’s just play a little bit of “Elizabeth Taylor.” -♪ I’d cry my eyes violet ♪ ♪ Elizabeth Taylor ♪ ♪ Tell me for real ♪ ♪ Do you think it’s forever? ♪ ♪ Been number one but I never had two ♪ ♪ And I can’t have fun if I can’t have ♪ ♪ Be my N.Y.
when Hollywood hates me ♪ ♪ Only as hot as your last hit, baby ♪ ♪ Been number one but I never had two ♪ ♪ And I can’t have fun if I can’t have you ♪ -Alright. [ Cheers and applause ] Another one. Another banger! -Thanks. -“Elizabeth Taylor.” Why Elizabeth Taylor? What is the connection? -I love Elizabeth Taylor. I love her so much.
She is like, I think, the ultimate sort of icon role model that I look to when I look at somebody who had, like, immense pressure on them, was, like, extremely, like, scrutinized, everything she ever did. She kept making more and more daring art. Like, it’s almost like the more polarizing people were about her, the more she just kept, like, doing even more challenging roles, taking bigger risks.
And she’s like out here like at the height of whatever, you know, scrutiny she may have been under and the height of her fame, she’s, like, winning Oscars and not letting anything kind of stop her from doing it for the reasons she’d always done it. She was so funny. She used humor as like a device against — against sort of anybody who had — like, any of her detractors or whatever.
Like, I’ve done that with songs like “Blank Space” when people are like, [whiny voice] “Oh, you’re a man-eating serial dater.” -Yeah, yeah. -[ Normal voice ] And I just would be like, “Oh, let me write a song from that perspective. That’s hilarious.” So you — I think you have to be able to combat negativity with humor.
That’s my favorite thing about her. I just wanted to make a song that felt like as luxurious and glamorous as she was in sort of the verses and the bridge. We had a harp. We have, you know — We pulled out all the stops for her. -Harp. I love getting a harp on a track. Come on. Bring it back. -Yeah. -No, she’s just glamour and fun and — -Yeah. -I just love everything about Elizabeth.
-Everybody should be obsessed with Elizabeth Taylor. -Yes. [ Laughter ] How about we do one more? Can we do “Fate of Ophelia”? -Yes! Yes. Yes, yes. [ Cheers and applause ] -Alright. -♪ All that time, I sat alone in my tower ♪ ♪ You were just honing your powers ♪ ♪ Now I can see it all ♪ ♪ See it all ♪ ♪ Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and ♪ ♪ Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia ♪ ♪ Keep it 100 on the land, the sea, the sky ♪ ♪ Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes ♪ ♪ Don’t care where the hell you’ve been ♪
♪ ‘Cause now you’re mine ♪ ♪ It’s ’bout to be the sleepless night ♪ ♪ You’ve been dreaming of ♪ ♪ The fate of Ophelia ♪ -Ooh! [ Cheers and applause ] -You guys are the best. Oh, my God. -Alright. “Fate of Ophelia.” Do you go — How did you come with ♪ You’re dreaming of ♪ -That was — -♪ Ophelia ♪ -Let me tell you the rush — -Let me tell you…
-It’s great! -…the rush I felt when I thought of that. -It’s great! -It was the same feeling that I felt when I thought of ♪ Can’t you see ♪ ♪ You belong with me? ♪ -Really? -Yes. Sometimes when you like — -♪ You’re dreaming of ♪ It’s so good! -It is so fun. It’s just like — Oh! [ Cheers and applause ] -I love it.
-Thank you for acknowledging that melody. Yeah, that was a — that was a big one for me. -That’s a good belter and it’s like — Yeah, it’s just fun to sing along with. -It was so fun. And it was also just sort of like we wanted to take just like different — just different tones of speaking like almost different time periods of the way that people used to speak.
Like, there’s certain like Shakespearean kind of ways of phrasing things in terminology and like, “tis locked inside my memory and only you possess the key,” but there’s also, like, “pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes.” Like, we wanted to kind of blend, like, now and then and try to juxtapose those together in a way that hopefully works.
But I’m — I love this song so much. I’m so proud of it. I’m so proud of the video. We had such a blast. Just this whole process of this song coming out into the world and people — I see people, like, dancing to it online and they’re absolutely crushing it. -Yes. -It is unbelievable. -I watched like 100 of them this morning trying to learn.
Yeah. -It’s amazing. And, like, it just — it’s so fun to have fun. And I really appreciate you guys having fun with me. [ Cheers and applause ] -We are. We’re totally having fun with you. We’re having so much fun with you. I can’t thank you enough for always remembering me and coming back to the show and for keeping it 100…
[ Laughter ] …which I appreciate that. Is that an Easter egg, by the way? -That’s a lyric in the song. -Okay. [ Laughter ] -So — So yes, so yes. Yes. So it’s a lyric. -If it’s a lyric, anything could be an Easter egg? -Well, it’s both. It’s both. Everything’s correct. [ Laughter ] -I’ll tell you what it is.
And like you said it, you nailed it already. It’s fun and it’s fun to be with you and it’s fun. We are lucky to be living in a time with Taylor Swift, you know? [ Cheers and applause ] Thank you. Love you, bud. -You’re amazing. -You’re the best. Congrats. Number-one album! Congrats on your engagement. Thank you for coming to see us.
Taylor Swift! “The Life of a Showgirl” is out now. We’ll be right back with more “Tonight Show”!
