"But a new song off The Life of a Showgirl illustrates her preoccupation like never before. In "Elizabeth Taylor," Swift draws upon the titular icon's storied personal life to express anxieties about her own. In fact, the opening lines - "Elizabeth Taylor, do you think it's forever?" - read almost as if she's asking the late star for clarity in navigating love in the public eye."
"Expanding on that inspiration, Swift nods to Portofino, the Italian village where Richard Burton reportedly proposed to Taylor (and the namesake of Swift's glittery orange TLOAS vinyl). She also references the Plaza Athénée in Paris, another notable location for the tumultuous couple. (It's also the hotel Carrie Bradshaw stayed at during the Sex and the City series finale.) "And if your letters ever said goodbye, I'd cry my eyes violet," Swift sings in the chorus, an apparent nod to Burton's love letters."
Taylor Swift channels Elizabeth Taylor's life to articulate anxieties about love under public scrutiny, opening with the question "Elizabeth Taylor, do you think it's forever?" The song references Portofino and the Plaza Athénée to evoke places tied to Taylor and Richard Burton. The chorus echoes Burton's love letters with the line "And if your letters ever said goodbye, I'd cry my eyes violet." The track explores the tension between a famous public persona and private relationships, includes the lyric "Oftentimes it doesn't feel so glamorous to be me," and contains playful lines addressing her fiancé, Travis Kelce.
Read at Bustle
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