Music

Taylor Swift’s “Elizabeth Taylor” Lyrics Are Full Of Pop Culture Lore

The new track revisits a common theme in the singer’s songwriting.

by Grace Wehniainen
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 02: Taylor Swift attends the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto....
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It’s no secret that Elizabeth Taylor is one of Taylor Swift’s great muses — having name-dropped the actor in “...Ready for It?” and evoked her era of Old Hollywood glamour in songs like “The Lucky One” and “Wildest Dreams.” 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.

Of course, while “Elizabeth Taylor” may serve as a pop culture history lesson, the track’s meaning taps into something Swift has been wrestling with for much of her songwriting career — the reconciliation of her public persona and her private relationships.

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“Oftentimes it doesn’t feel so glamorous to be me,” she sings, adding that past partners weren’t always a match for her high-profile life. “Under bright lights they withered away.”

While it might be an angsty track, there are also plenty of cheeky quips that show Swift is embracing her reality with someone who’s “hypnotized” by her: her now-fiancé, Travis Kelce. “Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust,” she says — before adding a playful “just kidding.” With her beau, she doesn’t need to choose one or the other.

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“Elizabeth Taylor” Lyrics

Read the full lyrics to Swift’s new song below.

Elizabeth Taylor
Do you think it’s forever?

That view of Portofino was on my mind
When you called me at the Plaza Athénée
Ooh, oftentimes it doesn’t feel so glamorous to be me
All the right guys promised they’d stay
Under bright lights they withered away
But you bloom
Portofino was on my mind
And I think you know why

And if your letters ever said goodbye
I’d cry my eyes violet
Elizabeth Taylor
Tell me for real, do you think it’s forever?
Been number one but I never had two
And I can’t have fun if I can’t have —
Be my NY when Hollywood hates me
You’re only as hot as your last hit baby
Been number one but I never had two
And I can’t have fun if I can’t have you

Hey, 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 and Frank’s
They say I’m bad news, I just say thanks
And you look at me like you’re hypnotized
And I think you know why

And if you ever leave me high and dry
I’d cry my eyes violet
Elizabeth Taylor
Tell me for real, do you think it’s forever?
Been number one but I never had two
And I can’t have fun if I can’t have —
Be my NY when Hollywood hates me
You’re only as hot as your last hit baby
Been number one but I never had two
And I can’t have fun if I can’t have you

Elizabeth Taylor
Do you think it’s forever?
If I can’t have you

All my white diamonds and lovers are forever
In the papers, on the screen, and in their minds
All my white diamonds and lovers are forever
Don’t you ever end up anything but mine

I’d cry my eyes violet
Elizabeth Taylor
Tell me for real, do you think it’s forever?
Been number one but I never had two
And I can’t have fun if I can’t have you
Be my NY when Hollywood hates me
You’re only as hot as your last hit baby
Been number one but I never had two
And I can’t have fun if I can’t have —

All my white diamonds and lovers are forever
In the papers, on the screen, and in their minds
All my white diamonds and lovers are forever
Don’t you ever end up anything but mine
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