Taylor Shares How Sabrina Responded When She Asked Her To Collab

It’s the life of a showgirl... times two. Taylor Swift’s 12th album The Life of a Showgirl came out on Oct. 3, and the title track features fellow pop princess (and Taydaughter) Sabrina Carpenter. The “Man’s Best Friend” singer has the honor of being the only artist featured on the album, and according to Swift, her inclusion on this particular track was 100% intentional.

“She’s a friend of mine, [and] she’s one of my favorite artists,” Swift said while explaining the song’s inspiration during The Official Release Party of a Showgirl film. “She’s really well-equipped for this career. She is so good at moving through backlash or criticism ... She has the temperament to pivot and use it as fuel. I wanted to see if she was up for this because she has the same mentality of this song — she has a love for the game that overrides how hard this can be.”

In the song, Swift and Carpenter sing about a fictional showgirl named Kitty whose job looks extremely glamorous from the outside. But backstage, Kitty tells a different story: “Hеy, thank you for the lovely bouquet / You're sweeter than a peach / But you don't know the life of a showgirl, babe / And you're never, ever gonna.” It’s then revealed that Kitty sometimes wishes for a quieter life: “She said, "I'd sell my soul / To have a taste of a magnificent life that's all mine" / But that's not what showgirls get / They leave us for dead.” Still, she ultimately decides that she “wouldn’t have it any other way.” It feels like a nod to Swift’s traveling lifestyle on the Eras Tour, for which Carpenter was an opener in 2023 and 2024.

Swift also opened up about Carpenter’s reaction to being asked to do the song. “She was like, ‘I’m dead, yes. I’ve been waiting for you to ask,’” Swift said. “When she went on tour in Sweden, she took her days off and recorded it.” As Swift pointed out, it’s perfectly in line with the theme of the song — the hustle never stops for a showgirl, no matter how busy things get.