One week until The Life Of A Showgirl is released! I'm very excited to talk about Ruin The Friendship today.
There are two common interpretations of this song, but I think there's one that's much more likely. I see some people saying that this might be a song about Taylor's drama with Blake Lively, and there are a few reasons why I don't think this is a plausible theory. The timeline wouldn't make sense since Taylor said she wrote this album during the Eras Tour which was before the Blake Lively situation happened. It's also been said that Taylor's songs could be used as evidence in court cases and may cause more drama so Taylor might never make a song about Blake Lively for this reason. One other less important and less defining reason why this is unlikely is because generally track 6s are happier songs to provide "relief" after the sadder track 5s. For example, White Horse followed by You Belong With Me, All You Had To Do Was Stay followed by Shake It Off, and probably most famously the insane rollercoaster experience that is All Too Well followed by 22.
In my parallel songs post, I mentioned a slightly obscure song that was featured in AllTheHits a few months ago, Peggy - Friends To Lovers. I think the title Ruin The Friendship suggests not wanting to be friends... but wanting to be lovers. Yep, yet another song I think is about Travis Kelce. I do think there will probably be a bit of a sadder undertone to this song. Obviously this concept would suggest taking a risk, because most of the time, friendships last longer than romantic relationships, and after a breakup, it would be hard to be friends again. As far as I can remember, Taylor is only currently friends with one of her ex-boyfriends - Taylor Lautner, the subject of Back To December who she apologized to and made peace with, and even featured in the I Can See You music video. There's a sort of fear I associate with this song - if this doesn't work out, the friendship will still be ruined.
Musically, it'll probably follow that mood - very passionate-sounding, slightly off-kilter, but still upbeat and romantic. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince comes to mind, and that song has some top-tier production so that would be setting pretty high expectations for this song. This is a bit unlikely, but another song that could fit this vibe in a different way (and that Taylor hasn't really made another song like) is Haunted. To me, Haunted feels like one of few Taylor songs (along with It's Nice To Have A Friend and Closure and probably a few others) that doesn't have a "sister song" in a similar musical style. I would love more of the emo Taylor we briefly got in the middle-early eras of Speak Now and Red. Taylor has surprised us many times before, and I hope Showgirl is the same way!
Alright, time for songwriting! No leaks, no AI assistance, just HFE94. I'm really proud of this one honestly.
"Being seen as a queen
When the crowd is your king
Written as a dream
And it's a lonely thing
Except when you're there
Etched in my top lip
If you really care
Baby, gimme your bracelet and ruin the friendship!"
That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!
