Music – ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ Taylor Swift (2025)

On 3 October 2025, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift released her twelfth studio album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’. The lead single from the album was ‘The Fate of Ophelia’.

Swift wrote and produced the song, it being co-produced by Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback.

The song broke the Spotify record for the highest streams in a single day.

Wikipedia writes:

In the lyrics, Swift pledges loyalty to an honourable and deserving man for saving her from a death similar to that of Ophelia, a character in William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, who dies from madness and grief that resulted from romantic rejection … The music video, written and directed by Swift, premiered as part of the ‘The Official Release Party of a Showgirl’, an album launch and event film released in cinema theatres on the same day as the album. The video portrays Swift in various styles of showgirls throughout different historical time periods. … The song includes numerous references to Swift’s relationship with her partner Travis Kelce … Throughout the song Swift recalls moments when Kelce supported her, drawing a parallel to how Ophelia might have been saved if she had received help. …. She credits Kelce from saving her from ‘insanity, drowning, deception and purgatory’ brought on by past relationships and the isolation of fame, citing him as the reason she avoided an ‘Ophelia-like fate’. …

Swift is in the front rank of modern music, as a music writer, lyricist, producer and performer. The ‘Ophelia’ theme credits her with an apt knowledge of history, and plainly relationships (ie with Kelce) are important to her. The writer – despite his demographic – is a fan.

The music video – see below – is very watchable. It opens inside the Foyer of the Los Angeles Theatre, before embarking upon depictions of showgirls over history. The cinematographer was Rodrigo Prieto, the choreographer Mandy Moore and the production designer Ethan Tobman (source: Wikipedia).

The YouTube video of the song is here.

The Wikipedia references above were accessed 8 October 2025.