Listeners have noticed something interesting about “The Life of a Showgirl” by Taylor Swift (the song, not the album).
Even before Swift released her 12th studio album on October 3, fans were poring over song titles and leaked lyrics to decipher who or what inspired the prolific artist’s latest work. However, once the album dropped, fans were finally able to hear the songs and their detective skills uncovered more than just lyrical Easter eggs and connections to past lore. Intentional or not, many fans think one of Swift’s songs referenced an ex in another way.
All over the internet, listeners are sonically comparing “The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)” to “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers. Specifically, TikTok user @makennaaryan played “Heeeeyy, thank you for the lovely bouqueeeet” from “TLOASG” right before pressing play on “I’m feeling so coool,” writing, “Thought something sounded familiar,” over the video.
Meanwhile, @kassandramuoz2 drew similar comparisons between the first verse of “TLOASG” and the 2019 track off the Jonas Brothers’ Happiness Begins, writing, “Tell me I’m crazy or are they the same?”
People on X and Reddit were also asking about the song’s similarities. Listen, artists are regularly accused of ripping off other songs when the truth is that there are only so many combinations of chord progressions in the universe (if you’ve never listened to “4 Chord Song” by Axis of Awesome, please do so now). While many internet users instantly thought of “Cool,” other commenters claimed they were reminded of “Halo” by Beyoncé and “Air” by Jordan Sparks. It’s all par for the course at this point.
