Taylor Swift’s ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ lyrics hint at Travis Kelce as the one who ‘saved’ her

Taylor Swift's new album The Life of a Showgirl

"The Fate of Ophelia," the first song on Taylor Swift's new album The Life of a Showgirl, feels both intensely personal and richly literary.

Taylor gives Shakespeare's Ophelia's tragic story a hopeful twist rather than merely recounting a tale of heartbreak.

Taylor transforms a classic tragedy into a message of resiliency by telling the story of Ophelia, which ends in grief and loss, to one of salvation and strength.

With phrases like "I might've drowned in the melancholy," "You dug me out of my grave," and "the eldest daughter of a nobleman," Taylor Swift makes explicit allusions to Ophelia from Hamlet throughout the song.

Shakespeare's Ophelia is renowned for her kindness and loyalty, but she also succumbs to the men in her life because of their control over her. Swift seems to relate to that sense of being stuck, but she suggests a different conclusion for herself—one in which she is saved rather than destroyed.

Fans think the person who “saved” her in the song is her fiancé, NFL star Travis Kelce. She sings about “your team, your vibes” and “I heard you calling on the megaphone,” which makes it feel like a love letter to him. The song talks about how this person pulled her out of the loneliness and pain she’d been through — from toxic relationships (“love was a cold bed full of scorpions”) to the isolating spotlight she’s been in (“I sat alone in my tower”).

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Swift's bright red lips stay above the surface, seemingly refusing to sink, even though she is partially submerged, much like Ophelia, on the album cover. It's a strong picture of survival.

Taylor Swift has a history of drawing on Shakespeare, like with her 2008 hit “Love Story,” and here she’s doing it again, but this time turning a story of tragedy into one of hope and love.

It’s like she’s saying, “I was close to losing myself, but someone came for me — and that changed everything.”