Taylor Swift’s wifey era! All the nods to Travis Kelce in star’s new songs in first music release since MSG wedding
Taylor Swift fans waited till the stroke of midnight on Friday to get a chance to listen to the singer’s highly anticipated expanded version of her hit album The Life of a Showgirl.
The new album, subtitled The Encore, promised to feature plenty of references to the 36-year-old singer–songwriter’s husband Travis Kelce, 36, after their star-studded wedding at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in July.
She didn’t hide her inspiration with her new song Cleveland!, which featured lyrics that unmistakably told the story of her romance with Kelce.
In the chorus of the newly released song, she referenced Kelce’s hometown of Cleveland Heights, which also alluded to his podcast, New Heights.
‘He already took me to Cleveland / And showed me The Heights, so hate all you like / This is the love of my life, hey, hey, hey,’ she sang, according to lyrics shared on Genius.
In addition to Cleveland, Swift padded out The Life of a Showgirl’s track list with three other tunes: the previously released Patient Zero, Pink Clouding and Babylon.
Taylor Swift fans waited till the stroke of midnight on Friday to get a chance to listen to the singer’s highly anticipated Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, which featured four new songs referencing her romance with husband Travis Kelce; Above, in October 2024
In the chorus of the newly released song Cleveland!, she referenced Kelce’s hometown of Cleveland Heights, which also alluded to his podcast, New Heights
Swift began Cleveland with a self-deprecating verse intended to display the rantings of her biggest critics and trolls.
She’s not as hot as she was, but she was only a four / She was never a girls’ girl, she was just a— / And with all of that money, why’s she dressed like trash? / When she smiles, it’s annoying, and have you seen her stumbling clumsily? / Would you even call that dancing?’
But the billionaire hitmaker got the best of her critics in the chorus, when she referenced her new husband.
In her second verse, Swift added some of her raunchiest, most sexually suggestive lyrics to date.
‘The taste of me is acquired, but it’s his favorite dish,’ she sang.
As Swift continued, she appeared to contrast the online criticism that has long been a fixation of hers with Kelce’s unbridled adoration for her.
‘He says I look like an angel, they say, “I hate that— (B****),’ she continued.
Swift also suggested that her love wasn’t tuned in to the online criticism that is fodder for her songs.
‘He already took me to Cleveland / And showed me The Heights, so hate all you like / This is the love of my life, hey, hey, hey,’ she sang, according to lyrics shared on Genius; Above, in January 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri
In her second Cleveland! verse, Swift added some of her raunchiest, most sexually suggestive lyrics to date. ‘The taste of me is acquired, but it’s his favorite dish,’ she sang; Above, with Kelce on May 23 in Cleveland, Ohio
She also sang about how Kelce seems to be disconnected from the online criticism that inspires many of her songs. ‘He’s been saying forever, must not have read that scathing take ’bout how I’m fake,’ she sang; Above, in New York in 2024
Fans had already spotted apparent references to Kelce in six of The Life of a Showgirl’s original 12 songs
‘He’s been saying forever, must not have read that scathing take ’bout how I’m fake,’ she continued.
This wouldn’t be the first time Kelce has inspired his wife’s songwriting.
When Swift released the standard version of The Life of a Showgirl in October 2025, fans realized she had unveiled the raunchiest song of her career with its track Wood.
The song featured lyrics alluding to how a man had broken the narrator’s unlucky streak with romance, and fans took the song to be heavily inspired by Swift’s now-husband – as well as his manhood.
Swift sang about how she and her new man ‘ain’t gotta knock on wood’ as they could ‘make our own luck.’
‘And baby, I’ll admit I’ve been a little superstitious / The curse on me was broken by your magic wand / Seems to be that you and me, we make our own luck,’ she continued.
As her lyrics became more sexually suggestive, the Eras Tour superstar also made it clearer than ever that she was singing about Kelce when she included a reference to his podcast New Heights, which he co-hosts with his brother, Jason Kelce.
‘New Heights of manhood / I ain’t gotta knock on wood,’ she sang, before adding, ‘His love was the key / That opened my thighs.’
She scandalized fans with her original Life of a Showgirl tune Wood, which fans believed featured numerous allusions to Kelce and his manhood; Above, in March in LA
She continued: ‘Forgive me, it sounds cocky / He ah-matized me / And opened my eyes.’
Swift scandalized her fans by continuing: ‘Redwood tree / It ain’t hard to see / His love was the key / That opened my thighs.’
In the ninth stanza, she also appeared to reference their engagement.
‘Girls, I don’t need to catch the bouquet, mmm / To know a hard rock is on the way,’ she sang while balancing romance with her playful lyrics.
Fans also spotted a potential reference to finding love with Kelce that saved her from potential tragedy in The Fate of Ophelia.
In fact, fans detected possible references to Kelce in six of the original album’s 12 songs.
Among the songs was Wi$h Li$t, in which Swift sang to a lover about not requiring a life of wealth and ease because ‘I just want you.’
The Life of a Showgirl was released just two months after Swift made a blockbuster appearance on Kelce’s New Heights podcast, where she had announced the album.
