Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” songs sound familiar? It may not be an accident
If you’ve been driving yourself crazy trying to figure out why Taylor Swift’s new songs remind you of something you’ve heard before, you’re not alone.
Taylor Swift rarely does anything by accident. And while it’s normal for songs to take inspiration from somewhere else, many fans have been noticing that specifically those on “The Life of a Showgirl” sound quite familiar. So if you listened to at least one and thought, “Where have I heard this before, what does this sound like?”, you’re not alone.
‘The Life of a Showgirl’ by Taylor Swift becomes the most streamed album in a single day in 2025 on Spotify. (139M streams) pic.twitter.com/4IxhXKiMpu
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 3, 2025
Taylor Swift’s TLOAS songs that sound like other songs: A list
In my first listen-through, I noticed that the intro to “Wood” sounded extremely familiar, and it took me a bit, but upon a few more listens, I was singing “Oh, baby, give me one more chance” and realizing it’s The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”. Then, the reviews from friends started pouring into the group chats, with one saying “Wi$h Li$t” and “Cancelled” sounded like songs they’d heard before. And then, it was another, and another, and another.
And this may not have been an accident. While “Father Figure” openly (and with permission, of course) took the title and some lyrics from George Michael’s 1987 hit, the others are a little bit more subtle.
If you’ve listened to Swift’s new album on Spotify, you may have noticed the images forming kaleidoscope shapes and patterns. This album itself is a kaleidoscope of sounds. This is just a theory, but it could be that Swift actually meant it to be sort of a tribute to other artists and songs that gave her inspiration.
I’d like to point out the caption in the post she made about the album:
“The mosaics of laughter and cocktails of tears
Where fraternal souls sing identical things"
Hmmm. INTERESTING.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the similarities between her songs (especially the intros) and other songs so you can stop driving yourself crazy asking, “where have I heard this before???”.
“The Life of a Showgirl”: sounds like “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers
“Actually Romantic”: sounds like “Where is my Mind” by the Pixies and “Beverly Hills” by Weezer
“Wood”: sounds like "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5
“Cancelled!”: sounds like “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish and “Yellow Flicker Beat” by Lorde
“Wi$h Li$t”: sounds like “Bad Chem” by Sabrina Carpenter
I’m sure there are more to add to the list that others will notice and hear, but for now, these were the ones that have stood out. Taylor Alison Swift knew what she was doing.
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