East Bay Bookshelf

If you are a regular reader of the blog, you know I’m a certified Taylor Swift fan. I was traveling for work last week and when I woke up on that Tuesday morning, I had so many texts and DMs about TS12! My week flew by and I didn’t have a lot of time to dig in, but now I’ve had a week to digest it all and catch up. Even if you aren’t a Swiftie, this can be your one-stop-shop to know what’s going on – and a Swiftie in your life will be very impressed with your knowledge.

TS12

TS12 is going to be Taylor Swift’s twelfth studio album. Below are all of her albums in order (excluding Taylor’s Versions, more on that later!). I also included some of the hit songs you may have heard on the radio through the years. Fun fact: my dad was watching CMT during my senior year of high school when he asked me, “Have you heard of Taylor Swift? She sings a song about Tim McGraw.” So, Dad, thanks for making me a life-long fan!

1. Taylor Swift – 2006 (hit song: Tim McGraw)
2. Fearless – 2008 (hit song: Love Story)
3. Speak Now – 2010 (hit song: Enchanted)
4. Red – 2012 (hit song: All Too Well)
5. 1989 – 2014 (hit song: Shake It Off)
6. Reputation – 2017 (hit song: Look What You Made Me Do)
7. Lover – 2019 (hit song: Cruel Summer)
8. Folklore – 2020 (hit song: cardigan)
9. Evermore – 2020 (hit song: champagne problems)
10. Midnights – 2022 (hit song: Anti-Hero)
11. The Tortured Poets Department – 2024 (hit song: Fortnight)
12. The Life of a Showgirl – 2025 (hit song: TBD!)

New Heights

So, what do I mean by that Tuesday? On Tuesday, August 12th I woke up to so many messages that Taylor was going to appear on the New Heights podcast (hosted by Travis and Jason Kelce). On Wednesday there was a very special 2 hour and 4 minute episode where she revealed so many details about her new album. Since I was traveling, I didn’t have the opportunity to listen until I was on the plane back home on Friday.

One of my favorite segments was when she was explaining how she reclaimed her masters. She went into detail about what it actually means for an artist to own their music and why she felt compelled to re-record her first six albums and call them “Taylor’s Version.” She dives into the business and contract law side of things, too. I loved that she sent her mom and brother to negotiate the deal to get all her music back!

I also was so impressed by Jason Kelce’s interview skills. Great job all-around, it was such an entertaining episode!

The Life of a Showgirl

On the podcast, Taylor described The Life of a Showgirl as a behind-the-scenes look of her life on the Eras Tour. She explained that there will only be twelve tracks and that’s it. She described her previous album, TTPD, as a “data dump” with 31 tracks. This new one will be very different – crisp lyrics and infectious melodies. I have great news for fans of Shake It Off, Blank Space, and Wildest Dreams: she is collaborating with Max Martin and Shellback again. During the Eras Tour, she was making trips to Sweden to record this album…where she found the time to do it all? Who knows?

Ophelia, Elizabeth, and the Eldest Daughter

We need to talk about the tracks on this album. Here they are in order.

1. The Fate of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin the Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. CANCELLED!
11. Honey
12. The Life of a Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)

It has come to my attention that I will need to brush up on my Shakespeare (Hamlet) before this album comes out. I’m going to do you a favor and link to the SparkNotes character analysis of Ophelia. To say I’m excited for Track 1 would be an understatement.

I’m also intrigued by Track 2 about Elizabeth Taylor. Swift also refers to the Burton-Taylor relationship in her song “…Ready for It?” on reputation. I’m sensing a theme!

I know that eldest daughters everywhere are excited for Track 5. And eagle-eyed Swifties noticed that Track 10 spells “CANCELLED!” with two Ls and is in capital letters, with an exclamation point. We will see what (or who) this one is about.

And finally, she’s collaborating with Sabrina Carpenter on Track 12 which is also the title track. Sabrina opened for over 20 shows on the Eras Tour, so I think it’s fitting to see this collab!

October 3rd

Mark your calendars, The Life of a Showgirl is out on Friday, October 3, 2025. How can you prepare?

1. Watch or listen to the New Heights episode.
2. Listen to her first 11 albums (including the re-records called Taylor’s Version).
3. Watch the Miss Americana documentary from 2020 that showcases Swift behind-the-scenes.
4. Watch The Eras Tour concert movie from 2023. Note that this is before the TTPD set was added in 2024.
5. Read Hamlet by Shakespeare (at least the SparkNotes 😉).

Let me know which songs you are most excited about!