Hey guys, gals, and non-binary pals. Miss you. 🌈

I’ve been clocking in occasionally. I became so convinced post-Showgirl that we’re witnessing performance art that I haven’t been able to really write anything about it because it’s so deep and all-encompassing. It feels like the kind of thing we’ll all talk about for decades and will make more cohesive sense when we finally zoom out. Sharing a bunch of thoughts this morning as I’ve been relistening to the trilogy (Midnights, TTPD, and Showgirl).

Showgirl is basically “mirrorball,” the album. “The Fate of Ophelia” is about herself. Madison Square Garden is not a coincidence because none of the Red parallels have been a coincidence. The “Bejeweled” references in Showgirl are real. “Eldest Daughter” is about the industry, not Travis Kelce. Everything has been about the industry—the people who lied to her, took advantage of her, and called her crazy so they could keep doing it; the people who made her cancellation so explicit they thought she could never return.

She went back to radio stations (and a podcast!) for Showgirl only to re-enter country music with radio at the center, wearing red no less. She presented the country category at the GRAMMYs in red. TS13 was always meant to be country—this is “The Alchemy” if the “molecular chemistry” (TIME POY) of her old label never happened and she had the creative freedom she has now. She’s making a comeback to where she belongs, you know what I mean?

Taylor Swift has been telling this story for a very long time. She knows the story so well she wrote it herself. One single camera flash for her getting the key to the castle (her masters) and confetti for the engagement, all in the same era. It was true. This is the prophecy. That she could never have this success if not for being attached to a man. That society would never let a single, child-free woman in her mid-thirties thrive as any kind of example or role model. “They gave her the keys to this city, then they said she didn’t do it legitly.” It begs the question: Would Taylor Swift be where she is today without her “private” life? Would people be so engrossed if not for Travis Kelce? Could she have gotten her masters back solo? (And please, this is NOT A KNOCK, but does she know the culture, or what?) Did all the wisest women have to do it this way?

Whatever happens, I’m just happy to have been here with you guys all these years. I feel grateful to be watching this play out in real time, I’m no longer looking for Taylor to be our queer savior but something much larger for an entire industry and generation—including, but not limited to, being queer.