Here's Why Taylor Swift NameDrops 'Elizabeth Taylor' in Her 'The Life of a Showgirl' Track Lauren PuckettPopeOctober 3, 2025 at 6:23 AM 0 "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.
- - Here's Why Taylor Swift Name-Drops 'Elizabeth Taylor' in Her 'The Life of a Showgirl' Track
Lauren Puckett-PopeOctober 3, 2025 at 6:23 AM
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Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl features a song called "Elizabeth Taylor."
The track makes numerous references to the late actress, who was hugely famous for both her career accomplishments as well as her love life.
"Elizabeth Taylor" points toward Swift's evolving relationship with the spotlight.
Not so very long ago, Taylor Swift placed a cheeky reference to the late film icon Elizabeth Taylor in the opening track of her album Reputation. The song "...Ready For It?" points to an unidentified partner as the "Burton to my Taylor," a nod to Taylor's legendary love affair with the actor Richard Burton. But, apparently, the line served only as a jumping-off point for Swift, who has since drawn new comparisons between herself and Taylor beyond their shared name.
In "Elizabeth Taylor," the second track off her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, not only does Swift name-drop the actress directly, but she also weaves Taylor-centric Easter eggs throughout the lyrics. Using these references, she muses over Hollywood machinations and the challenges endemic to a love life under the spotlight. Both, of course, are concerns to which Taylor could relate.
Taylor was one of the most famous film stars of the mid-20th century, making her acting debut as a child in the 1944 film National Velvet. Over the ensuing decades, she grew into a hugely accomplished artist and entrepreneur, one as famous for her personal life as her professional one. She gained particular notoriety for her marriages, of which there were eight to seven different men. (She married, divorced, remarried, then re-divorced Burton.) More than one of these relationships incited scandal: Taylor had an affair with singer and actor Eddie Fisher that resulted in his divorce from fellow singer and actress Debbie Reynolds, then later had an affair with Burton, for whom she left Fisher. These high-profile relationships garnered significant media attention, shepherding in a new era of celebrity that would eventually lead to the social-media scrutiny enjoyed by stars like Swift herself.
Throughout "Elizabeth Taylor," Swift nods to the actress's pleasures, passions, and problems. Those references include:
"That view of Portofino was on my mind," a reference to Taylor's love of the Italian village where Burton proposed to her in 1964
"I'd cry my eyes violet," a reference to Taylor's iconic "violet" eyes (as well as the name of one of her perfumes)
"I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust," a reference to Taylor's legendary fine jewelry collection (which included Cartier)
"We hit the best booth at Musso & Frank's," a reference to the Los Angeles restaurant where Taylor was known to dine
"All my white diamonds and lovers are forever," a reference to Taylor's fragrance line, called White Diamonds
But Swift's clearest reference is to Taylor's fame itself, which complicated her relationships and blurred her humanity (and likely had the actress similarly wondering if her marriage might ever last "forever.") With "Elizabeth Taylor," Swift seems to finally hold fast to the love she has found—a love that won't shrink from the spotlight's glare, but rather navigate it by her side.
Read the full lyrics to "Elizabeth Taylor" below:
Elizabeth TaylorDo you think it's forever?That view of Portofino was on my mind when you called me at the Plaza AthénéeOoh, oftentimes it doesn't feel so glamorous to be meAll the right guys promised they'd stayUnder bright lights, they withered away, but you bloomPortofino was on my mind and I think you know whyAnd if your letters ever said, "Goodbye"I'd cry my eyes violet, Elizabeth TaylorTell me for real, do you think it's forever?Been number one, but I never had twoAnd I can't have fun if I can't have (Uh)Be my NY whеn Hollywood hates meYou're only as hot as your last hit, babyBeen numbеr one, but I never had twoAnd I can't have fun if I can't have...youHey, what could you possibly get for the girl who has everything and nothing all at once?Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust (just kidding)We hit the best booth at Musso & Frank'sThey say I'm bad news, I just say, "Thanks"And you look at me like you're hypnotizedAnd I think you know whyAnd if you ever leave me high and dry
I'd cry my eyes violet, Elizabeth TaylorTell me for real, do you think it's forever?Been number one, but I never had twoAnd I can't have fun if I can't have (Uh)Be my NY whеn Hollywood hates meYou're only as hot as your last hit, babyBeen numbеr one, but I never had twoAnd I can't have fun if I can't have...you
Elizabeth Taylor Do you think it's forever? If I can't have youAll my white diamonds and lovers are foreverIn the papers, on the screen, and in their mindsAll my white diamonds and lovers are foreverDon't you ever end up anything but mine
I'd cry my eyes violet, Elizabeth TaylorTell me for real, do you think it's forever?Been number one, but I never had twoAnd I can't have fun if I can't have (Uh)Be my NY whеn Hollywood hates meYou're only as hot as your last hit, babyBeen numbеr one, but I never had twoAnd I can't have fun if I can't have (if I can't have you)All my white diamonds and lovers are foreverElizabeth TaylorDo you think it's forever?In the papers, on the screen, and in their mindsAll my white diamonds and lovers are foreverDon't you ever end up anything but mineOh, oh, oh
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