Taylor Swift’s <i>The Life of a Showgirl</i> Is Musically Nostalgic for a Time Long Past

Abstract Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl is littered with musical nostalgia, harkening back to previous musical eras. Songs such as “Opalite” reference these musical genres of the past with specific combinations of musical parameters such as chord progressions, unusual vocal and instrumental timbres, and subtle text cues. In this essay, I will explore several different ways in which music theorists and musicologists have theorized nostalgia, before demonstrating the musically nostalgic effectiveness of the song “Opalite.” I conclude by speculating on this musical nostalgia as a possible broader reflection of current American culture.