As a Swiftie myself, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m always looking for ways to connect whatever Taylor Swift is working on back to Reputation and the potential Taylor’s Version of it. Now, with The Life of a Showgirl’s release, the Swifties (myself included) are doing just that. Yep, there are theories floating around that point to the idea that the vault tracks from Rep could be coming out with this new album, and we have to talk about them.
Now, notably, when Taylor Swift got her music back, she published a letter explaining what happened as well as her plans for the re-recordings of her debut album and Reputation. She wrote that she hadn’t even recorded a quarter of that sixth album, and opened up about why it had been so hard to redo, noting that “it’s the one album in those first 6 that [she] thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it.” So, that essentially put the idea of ever getting a full Reputation (Taylor’s Version) to rest.
However, she did note that there would be a time for the vault tracks to “hatch,” and that word “hatch” is tripping fans up. That’s because in The Life of a Showgirl rollout, there have been hatching graphics on the cover:
Almost like we’re waiting for the reputation vault tracks to HATCH 👀 #TSTheLifeofaShowgirl pic.twitter.com/0kOwUmgsLbSeptember 30, 2025
Also, that cracking graphic used looks a whole lot like the graphics used on the Eras Tour for the Rep song “Delicate,” which you can see by watching the concert movie with a Disney+ subscription.
But this doesn’t stop there; on Apple Music, random song lyrics in Reputation had been capitalized, which led to the reveal of a new lyric from Swift’s upcoming album that reads “They don’t make loyalty like they used to,” per @TSUpdating. However, it’s worth noting that the next day, the same thing happened with the lyrics on 1989.
Nevertheless, the clowning continues. As USA Today reported, during the Spotify pop-up in New York, which also featured the “Keep it 100” line that Travis Kelce has dropped a few times, fans picked up on some Rep energy. As the report stated, there was a packed bag featured as one of the props with a gold key on the strap. Some Swifties think it’s a nod to “Getaway Car,” a staple track off Reputation, because it has the line “Put the money in the bag and I stole the key.”
It’s also worth talking about the parallels between Reputation and The Life of a Showgirl. The covers for both albums were shot by the same photographers, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Along with that, Swift’s twelfth album is being produced by her, Max Martin and Shellback, who notably worked with her on Red, 1989 and Rep, with that sixth album being the last time they collaborated.
So, I’m for sure finding reasons to clown about Reputation and those vault tracks, because a whole lot is adding up right now. However, it could also be the gold bodysuit situation all over again, and we could be reading way too far into this, especially since Swift did say The Life of a Showgirl would only be 12 songs.
The clowning will continue, though, because really, we won’t know what’s going on until this album comes out at midnight. So, get ready, folks, because whether the Rep vault is unlocked or not, we’re entering a new and very exciting era.