On Oct. 2, right as the clock struck 11p.m., sophomore Ashi Ali projected the lyrics of the newly released songs on her TV screen. Her phone blew up with texts of excited friends as she pressed play on singer and songwriter Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl.

“I had fun with my sister and my friends, just all trying to figure out what each song means and the different Easter eggs that came with it,” Ali said.

Within a half-day after its drop, Swift’s twelfth studio album has already garnered the most single-day streams on Spotify this year. After five million pre-saves on the platform, Swift continues to break records.

To many, Swift’s album release isn’t just a musical comeback. Through an estimated $45 million international box office debut of Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, fans around the world have gathered to celebrate Swift’s album, turning her music into a global cultural phenomenon. Swift highly encourages singing and dancing during the premier, transforming what was a movie screening into a small concert for her dedicated fans.

Through The Life of a Showgirl, Swift conveys a dichotomy of the performative and private life of a celebrity. Ali says that this release presents a fresh take on fame, while also going back to Swift’s roots in upbeat pop.

“For two or three years she’s been on the Eras Tour, and she’s experienced the highs and lows of being a showgirl, ” Ali said. “She’s grateful, but she’s also being honest and saying yes, there’s some downsides.” 

After the emergence of the tenth studio album Midnights piquing her interest in 2022, Ali began to listen to Swift’s full discography, eventually growing into a devoted “Swiftie.”

Senior Sonia Chilukuri, a fellow Swiftie “superfan,” has already listened to the new album’s entire 12-track discography multiple times. A song that especially stood out to her was the release’s title track.

“That’s where she talks most about being a showgirl,” Chilukuri said. “I really liked that it featured Sabrina Carpenter because I know they can both relate to it. It’s very powerful when they both sing together at the end.”

Chilukuri has sacrificed sleep for almost every one of Swift’s albums since middle school. Having attended the Eras Tour twice, Chilukuri truly lives the “Swiftie Life.”

“I make a friendship bracelet for every song on the track list,” she said. “While I was listening to the album, I would keep track of the list by taking off a bracelet when I finished listening to each song.”

Similar to Chilukuri and Ali, freshman Noa Hayon has found a group of friends to bond with over Swift’s new releases. Although Hayon was once a Taylor Swift hater, she grew to reconsider her perspective on the pop star.

“Going into St. John’s in sixth grade, all my friends really liked her,” Hayon said.

The Swiftie fandom, however, isn’t just for students. After listening to the singer’s fourth studio album, Red, when she was still a student, Upper School math teacher Alice Fogler (‘10) has loved the celebrity’s music for over a decade. She first discovered Swift’s music at the recommendation of her then-best friend, and was among the first generation of people to play the hit track “22” when she turned 22 years old.

As someone who has grown up with Swift’s earlier albums, Fogler has witnessed firsthand the impact of the pop singer’s career. From the debut single “Tim McGraw” to the record-breaking Eras Tour, Swift has developed from a young country singer to a worldwide superstar. 

“She’s a couple years older than I am, so we’re of the same generation,” Fogler said. “But the fact that she is also appealing to people who are 20 years younger speaks to the longevity of her music.”

During the pandemic, Fogler relied especially on Swift’s music, specifically the twin albums folklore and evermore. As a teacher, social distancing prevented Fogler from having the same level of interaction with her students, yet folklore acted as a support system as she navigated the pandemic.

“Having music that was just about stories was just kind of beautiful,” she said. “ Having that kind of escapist album, these stories about other people that you could fall onto, was what I needed at the time.”

Dubbed the “victory lap of the Eras Tour”, The Life of a Showgirl attracts students and teachers, new fans and old. With this new era comes new music videos, new social media trends and new tracks to cry over, but one thing stays the same—the connection between Swift and her Swifties.

“She is just so involved in her fanbase,” Hayon said. “She’s done so much to get to know her personally, bit by bit, and I think regardless of her music, she’s a great person.”