Fresh Air - Laufey Is Unapologetically Herself

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

Icelandic jazz-pop star Laufey spoke with Terry Gross about her classical training in cello, breaking out online during COVID, and her first arena tour. "I've been inspired by Golden Age films, the va-va-voom of it all," the Grammy-winning artist says. Laufey sings and plays in the studio throughout the conversation. Her new album is A Matter of Time. Also, Ken Tucker reviews Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When someone you love is diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness, all you want to do is help. But where do you start? On the Life Kit podcast, we have tips for you. Your agenda should be, I'm going to be with you and be totally present to whatever comes up. Listen in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts for different ways to offer support. This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross.

My guest, Leve, is a singer, cellist, pianist, guitarist, and songwriter, who's 2023, album Bewitched was the first album ever to top Billboard's jazz and traditional jazz charts in its first week of release. But is she a jazz artist? Only partially, her 2023 album Bewitched, won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop album, and was named Crossover Album of the Year by Variety. Her music resembles her personal identity in that both are hard to categorize. Her songs draw on her deep knowledge of classical music and jazz, as well as from pop and classic musicals. She grew up in Reykjavik Iceland and Washington, D.C., with a mother who emigrated from China and is a violinist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Her father is from Iceland,

and Leveh grew up listening to recordings from his jazz collection. She started piano lessons at age four, cello lessons at age eight, and performed on cello with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra when she was 15. She describes her music as taking inspiration from the past, with lyrics firmly rooted in the present. Her concerts are filled with listeners in their 20s who may not know or care much about jazz or classical music. Leve is 26. She started attracting an audience during the COVID lockdown when she began posting videos of her singing jazz standards and originals, accompanying herself on cello, guitar, or piano. She brought her guitar with her today to play and sing some songs, including music from her new album, A Matter of Time. Let's start with a track

called Clockwork. It's an upbeat love song with an obvious jazz influence, so here's Clockwork. So I'd never do this again. Think that I'm so clever I could date a friend. He just called me,

said he's running late, like me, he probably had to regurgitate. I know it's irrational. At least I'm so. for where I'm shivering maybe I'll stay home oh no he's here my so wild place I've considered every way words will forget deeply regret he'll run away and nothing brings me fear like meeting with my Just a knee

But my clockwork thing He fell in love with me Levei, welcome to fresh air It's a pleasure to have you on the show And thank you for bringing your guitar with you We'll hear some music in a couple of minutes You're so popular, especially among People in their 20s

Your first music festival was when you performed at Lollapalooza And you brought an orchestra with you What insights does that offer about who you are and about your music. Well, thank you so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here. I mean, Lollapalooza was such a perfect moment for me of showing exactly who I am to the world

because, I mean, Lollapalooza is a music festival that I would say is for modern music and for young people. I've never viewed myself as anything other than a modern artist, but I've always, of course, loved classical music and jazz music and had a love for, all things a bit older. So to get to bring an orchestra and that sound onto such a modern stage, I mean, we had a K-pop act playing after us and a rapper before us on that very same stage.

I think it's so beautiful that all of these different styles of music can exist in one. And what does it say that you'd never been to a music festival? I mean, I'd been to Newport Jazz Festival, so that might answer your question. I guess, I mean, I grew up in Iceland, so I just wasn't very close to that culture. We had our own smaller festivals. Let's talk a little bit about your musical origin story. Your mother plays violin in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. What did you learn about music from hearing her practice at home?

I learned a couple of things. I think, like, hard work is really, really important, and it's something you need to keep up. I mean, my mom has been in the same. the orchestra for almost 30 years and she still practices every single day for every single concert it's not something you shelve after you grow up and but it also has taught me that it's something that never really leaves you growing up in a musical family i mean my grandma's 80 something now and she still plays piano every single day just like as she did when she was seven so it's taught me that it's kind of this thing that can follow you forever but my mom always talked about

especially like the beauty of music and and how it has to come from your heart and I think that's been such an important through line with with my music no matter what genre it's leaning towards did you grow up backstage oh absolutely I grew up on stage I think I have stories of my mom playing some contemporary Icelandic composers and it was really loud and every break she would like check her tummy like I have a twin sister so the two of us were in there and she was like are they still moving? Like, did we silence them? When you started taking music lessons, would your mother ever holler from another room?

Wrong note. Every single day. Really? Not from another room. The same room. Oh, yeah. Did that make yourself conscious practicing with a pro with an airshot all the time? It was like having a teacher every single day.

I would practice piano while my sister was practicing violin. And then we would swap and she would practice piano. and I would practice cello and my mom spent the entire afternoon just drifting back and forth from the piano room to the string room to the piano room to the string room and it was very disciplined but I'm so thankful for that and my mom still tells me if I'm playing out of tune and I'm so thankful for her for that and I think it's one of the reasons I'm I'm the musician I am today so I think your grandparents are both music professors in China is that right yeah so how much time have you spent in China and did you take any lessons while you were there? Yeah, I did. I spent a lot of time

in China every summer growing up. I would go spend two to three months there and just immerse myself in properly learning the language and also probably learning classical music. So definitely, like, my first cello lessons were in China and I received all my cellos there. Is it a different style of teaching than in the U.S.? yes and no i mean my grandfather was was known for a very specific technique that was full of idioms and and metaphors and he taught mostly like young prodigies um and so it was a very like poetic way of learning like he would talk about how vibrato needed to feel natural and flow like wind flowing through the branches of a tree and pronating properly on a bow it felt like pouring water out of

of a kettle, things like that that kind of taught me how to learn music in a very poetic way, which I think has had such an effect on me as a songwriter as well, because I think so much about how music and physical movement come together. Well, here's what I'd like to do, since we're talking about classical music and orchestra, I want to ask you to sing your song Snow White. And then I want to play, in the middle of the album, there's an interlude called, cuckoo ballet. And it's almost like an overture with melodies from your songs interwoven. And it's just orchestral. So there's a really nice orchestral passage of the song Snow White with you on

shallow. So I just want to contrast the two to show two of your side, like the singer-songwriter's side, and then transforming that into something, you know, much more classical sounding. Absolutely. Okay. So let's start with you doing Snow White. Do you want to introduce the song? Yes. So it's a song that I wrote about my never-ending kind of battle with beauty standards and this idea of perfection. And it was very, I was a little scared to put this song out because it's very honest. And I never want to show, especially all the young woman in my audience that I don't believe in myself, because how can they believe in themselves if I have trouble believing in myself? But I, came to this realization that that it was perhaps comforting to know that other people feel the same way so this is snow white I feel myself I feel the

little the same I don't think I'm pretty it's not up for debate a woman's best currencies her body

not her brain they tried to try to tell me tell me I'm wrong but mirrors tell lies to me my mind just plays alone the world is a sick place at least for a girl

the people won't be Rudy, skinny, always wins, and I don't have enough of it. I'll never have enough of it. Well, thank you for that. So I want to compare that to what you've done when you had it orchestrated. this is from a medley called Cuckoo Ballet in the middle of your album. And this is the excerpt in which you're playing in an orchestral setting that part of the song and you're featured on cello.

So that was my So that was my guest, Levei on cello. That's from an orchestral interlude in the middle of her new album, and the album is called A Matter of Time. So now that we've heard you on cello, you started playing cello when you were eight. Did you choose that? Was it chosen for you?

I chose it. I think I wanted to be different from everyone in my family. My sister chose violin, and I think because I'm the older twin, so I thought I should play the bigger instrument. Uh-huh. Older by seconds. Yeah.

So you listened to a lot of jazz growing up because your father had a big jazz collection. What era or what songs or singers particularly influenced you? I think Ella Fitzgerald was the very first singer that I really felt that I vocally resonated with. I think she just sounded like a cello. So I immediately was like, oh, I want to sound like her. and I was having trouble finding songs in my range to sing, but Ella's range, though more than, bigger than mine, still, her singing style, I seemed to fall most naturally into that kind of style. Same with Billie Holiday, and I also loved Nat King Cole and Julie London and Peggy Lee

and Doris Day. It was kind of, you know, that type of era of mid-century singing that I really was drawn to. Would you play a standard for us that you particularly liked? Yeah. Do you want to do it could happen to you? Yes. And let's mention here that this is one of the things that kind of put you on the map because you recorded this on your phone during COVID, and I think it's the first and one of the first videos that you put out on YouTube? Yes, COVID started and I had what I thought would be a two-week break. So I thought I'd use that time to just post videos of myself singing online. And it started with a lot of jazz standards. And I was playing the jazz standards on cello and singing along. And yeah, I did a cover of It Could Happen to You. And also of the song,

I wish you love. And the two of those kind of hit the algorithm or whatever you say. They kind of definitely were the first things. I think people were like, what? Why is this girl, this young woman playing cello and singing? It was like multiple things they hadn't seen combined together. Yeah. And Chet Baker has a great recording of this. Yes. Yeah. That's my favorite Jack Baker album. It could happen to your one. So. Okay. And this is Leve. Hide your heart from side, lock your dreams at night, it could happen to you, don't count stars or you might stumble, someone drops a sigh and down you tumble, keep an eye, and down you tumble, keep an eye, on spring from when church bells ring it could happen to you all I did was wonder how your arms would be and it happened to me thank you that was levy singing and playing guitar and she has a new album called A Matter of Time so that video that you posted like before you actually made studio recordings you accompanied yourself on cello when you sang that song

but you strummed and and kind of picked as if it was a guitar so I'm wondering if the opposite has happened since cello is your first instrument your main instrument have you taken any cello techniques and transfer them to guitar I you know I haven't bowed a guitar yet but Maybe I should. I think I've tried as a joke before. Really? I was thinking too of the kind of cello vibrato. Yeah. I mean, I don't think I've directly put it into guitar, but I've definitely, I started playing cello before I started singing. So I think my singing style has always kind of been something similar to cello playing, and whether it's the vibrato style or the ligato.

and kind of sliding into notes. Like, that's very much my vocal style. And I think it is quite similar to my cello style. So you grew up in two extremes. You grew up in Iceland, but you also spent a lot of time in Washington, D.C. What were you doing there? What was your family doing there?

My father was working for the Icelandic government there. But my mom would sub with the Baltimore Symphony when she was there. So I kind of got to be a little bit of, an American kid for a bit, which I think having a childhood in America is really where I fell in love with a great American songbook. What was your father doing in the government? He was working for the IMF. The International Monetary Fund? Yes. So two extremes, like Iceland is like remote. It's a small country. It's very cold. Washington, D.C. is one of the capitals of the world, not just the capital of the U.S. And it's so busy.

What was it like growing up into pretty opposite worlds? It's certainly a lot warmer and swampier than... Certainly, yeah. Than Iceland, yeah. I think it's one of the most important experiences that I've gone through. I had a very deep understanding of how big the world was from a very early age because I would still spend my summers in China. And the three are so, so, so, so different.

I think from... What I really learned from Washington, D.C., I think especially, was just how multicultural it was. I mean, I went to a public school in D.C. and even within just my neighborhood school, I think 90% of my class was international kids. And I was such a naturally multicultural kid. It made me quite happy. I also loved all the museums. And I remember going to the ballet at the Kennedy Center and the symphony. And I just have very, beautiful memories from growing up there. And like I remember moving back to Iceland when I was eight or nine. And I remember it felt like the world fell dark for a little bit because there was so much brightness in Washington, which sounds like a crazy thing to say right now. But I think it really

just opened my eyes up to how very big the world is. Because Washington, D.C. is also such a unique city within the United States. Well, since you're half of Chinese, and half Icelandic, and you grew up in Iceland, not a lot of Chinese people in Iceland. So being half Chinese was probably considered unusual, maybe even, like, quote, exotic. But growing up in Washington, there's like lots of people from China and other Asian countries. So what was it like for you to be so unusual in such a homogenous place as Iceland? It was really difficult. I think Iceland is so small and it's lovely and I miss it every single day, but it was very hard as a kid to comprehend why I didn't look like everyone else or how my interests were different. There weren't many kids around me taking a competitive pre-professional classical music route. There weren't many kids around me who had to go back home and practice every single day. And I often felt like my voice. wasn't being heard and I was ready to do anything to get my voice to be heard. And I knew that

the first step to that was trying to get out of Iceland and see if perhaps my voice would resonate more in the big world where I wasn't an odd fish. Let's take another short break here and then we'll be back for more music and conversation with Levei. Her new album is called A Matter of Time. I'm Terry Gross and this is fresh air. Across the country, states and counties are rushing to change their voting rules. Stacey Abrams says these attacks on voting rights are part of the authoritarian playbook. You may not be into politics, but politics is into you and it is a stalker. Listen to Code Switch in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcast.

Before Gwendolyn Christie was cast as Breanne of Tarth on Game of Thrones, She had a hard time finding a good role. The feedback she'd always get was the same, and it wasn't particularly helpful. Because you're too tall and you're too unconventional looking. And I just thought, gosh, I'm limited. Gwendolyn Christie from Game of Thrones, Severance, and more on Bullseye for Maximumfund.org and NPR. Hi, this is Molly C.V. Nesper, digital producer at Fresh Air. And this is Terry Gross, host of the show.

One of the things I do is write the weekly newsletter. And I'm a newsletter fan. it every Saturday after breakfast. The newsletter includes all the week's shows, staff recommendations, and Molly picks timely highlights from the archive. It's a fun read. It's also the only place where we tell you what's coming up next week, an exclusive. So subscribe at www.org slash fresh air and look for an email from Molly every Saturday morning. I want to ask you to do another song for us, and this is Castle in Hollywood. Would you give us the backstory for the song? yeah this song is written about a friendship breakup i i found that there are not many songs about

breaking up with a friend but it's a pain that can sometimes be more painful than breaking up with a romantic lover so i wanted to write about this experience that i had and i think especially when women fall apart with women there's such an interesting line of empathy that's between them It's it's kind of like I'll love you forever, but just not. Don't be around me. I rack my brain, spend hours and days. I still can't figure it. What happened that year in the house?

Still learning to live without you. I wonder what you tell your friends Which version of our fairy story The one where you walk out in glory Or the night I moved out in a hurry I think about you always Tied together with a string I thought the lilies died by winter

Then they bloomed again in spring It's a heartbreak Mark the end of my girlhood will never go back to the castle in Hollywood Thank you. That was Levei performing for us. And what was the castle in Hollywood? Was that a fantasy of what you wanted your life to be? No, I lived in the first apartment I moved into

was this English storybook house in West Hollywood that had a turret. And it was commissioned by Charlie Chaplin, actually in 1928, I believe. Wait, wait. The first apartment that you rented was one that Charlie Chaplin commissioned. How did that happen? Yeah. Pure internet luck, I think.

It was definitely a little scary. It was very dark. But my bedroom was circular. It was inside a turret. And I had a tiny little window with bars on it, like a proper Rapunzel window. And yeah, it was a really, really weird apartment. apartment, but so charming and exactly what I, what my storybook heart craved when I first moved to L.A. So you compose on guitar, even though that's not your first instrument. Chalo's

your first instrument, you're a very good pianist. Why do you compose on guitar as opposed to say piano, which would be the more obvious choice? Yeah, I compose a lot on piano too, I think increasingly now. I started writing a lot on guitar, I think, because it was this unknown instrument to me where I wasn't following a set of rules that I had learned over my years of classical training. I wasn't going back to any habits. I was just letting my heart and fingers wander. So I think also it's a fairly soft instrument. So singing over it, it's easy to hear myself and hear the lyrics and really understand what I'm trying to say. It didn't get in the way of my songwriting.

You've performed to a lot of different audiences like jazz, classical, pop, and therefore to different ages as well, like the jazz audience tends to be older, ditto for classical music audience, your pop audience, I think is largely made of people in their 20s. Do you become a different self for each type of audience? No, I think I'm pretty similar in every single setting, and I'm very very, very, unapologetically myself, like when I'm on stage with an orchestra and I really do try to play as many concerts with orchestras because I just want to get young people into those buildings, into those rooms, get young people used to that sound of, you know, 60 plus instruments

playing and musicians playing at the same time. There's nothing quite like it. And then at the same time, I kind of push against the classical medium of just kind of blabbering on stage, like in between songs. I'll explain what the songs are about and just to feel that connection with the audience and just to further show them that this is something classical music, orchestral music is something that can be theirs too and doesn't need to feel like this foreign thing that exists behind a wall. I might be totally wrong in thinking this so you can tell me after I explain. Okay. So you're capable of singing, you know, pretty high up, but also when you sing full out and a low voice. It's a very strong voice. And similar to a cello, which was your

ambition, but the dresses that you wear, a lot of the clothes that you wear are very like diaphanous and flowy, almost like angelic. And the contrast between like the deep voice that you can have and those, you know, kind of diaphanous clothes reminds me of ballet. and I know at some point you were studying ballet, right? Yeah, I've always loved ballet so much. And I grew up dancing ballet very badly, but just being completely enamored by it because it was the physical answer to classical music.

Right. So here's why the comparison is between your deep voice and the contrast with your clothes and ballet, because in ballet, you have to be really strong. And you have to have incredible endurance and be willing to live with pain. and be incredibly disciplined.

But with a tutu on and with a lot of the classic ballet choreography, you're supposed to look totally weightless and like princess-like or angelic. And the contrast between the strength that's required and the image on stage of the ballerina, it's a huge difference, kind of like your voice and the way you often dress. Does that make any sense? do you? Oh no it absolutely does I think like ballet I go to lengths to make my performance look effortless but yeah I mean ballet costumes dresses very inspired by that in my dressing on stage for multiple reasons the first being comfort you can move in them and I need to be able to breathe

and and move around but I think you know when I'm playing with whether it's a string quartet or an orchestra and those little moments in between the movement of a tutu, the movement of a dress, the movement of clothing, it just adds to the performance and it's something I think about a lot. I don't like wearing stiff clothing because it pulls the music down and it pulls my performance down too. Let's take another break here and then we'll hear more music played by Leve, who is my guest. She's from Iceland and this, Leve, this sounds like a very Icelandic name. Yes, it's from Norse mythology.

Oh, meaning what? It's also my great-grandmother's name, but the god of mischief, Loewke, or Loki, his mother was named Loewe. Oh, I've heard of Loki. Yeah, if you look up his full name, it's Loki Loe-Lovee son, son of Levee. And what's your full name? My full name is Loewe, Lin-Bing, Yonstot-Ear. So the Lin-Bing is the Chinese part? That's the Chinese part.

Bing means ice, so I'm named after Iceland. Lynn is my Chinese family name. And Yon Stotter means daughter of Yon. My father's name is Yon, and I am his daughter. Right, okay. We'll be back after a break, and her new album, by the way, is called A Matter of Time. This is Fresh Air. I want to play another song from your album, and this is a song.

that I think is very different from the other songs on the album. It's more of, it has more of a soul influence to it. And the song is called Silver Lining. Do you want to talk about writing this? Silver Lining is one of those very rare songs that I wrote to kind of perfectly compliment my voice. I wasn't thinking about anything other than just wanting to write. of course I love song and I wanted to get those feelings off my chest and I'm a very naturally sarcastic person so it carried through in a very sarcastic way but with lyrics like when you go to hell

I'll go there with you too that's my way of describing how much I love you I'll follow you anywhere but I really wanted to write a song that was just built around my vocal performance I think something that I didn't get to explore as much in my last album was my vocal range and I don't use reverb often, but the voice is seeped in reverb, but with intention. Okay, let's hear it. This is Silver Lining from LeVay's new album, A Matter of Time. Drowning in red wine and sniffing cinema We've been kissing on the playground Acting like little kids

Making dirty jokes and getting away with it So I propose It's long overdue When you go to hell, I'll go there with you too. And land were punished for being so cruel The silver linings I'll be there'll be there. That was Silver Lining from Leve's new album, A Matter of Time. Are you on tour now?

I am on tour right now, and it's my first arena tour, so it's definitely different and a little bit daunting, but I feel like I've been able to show every part of my artistic vision at once, which makes me so happy. I have ballerinas on stage with me. jazz dancers. I have my band and I have a string quartet and I have a jazz club in the middle of the stage and it just feels really, really special to finally get to kind of show the world exactly what I'm about. No, it's like 360 degrees of view with the ballet dancers and jazz dancers and a jazz set in the middle. What kind of reaction do you get to that? I think at first some people were

confused because I've previously due to, of course, budget restraints and other things and room restraints, I've just been showing a more muted side of myself or acoustic side of myself, which I absolutely love and adore and will continue to do too, whether that's concerts with orchestras or concerts at jazz clubs or just solo. But I've always been inspired by Golden Age films, the va-va-voom of it all. And I've also always loved pop music and how I feel like at pop concerts that the artists can go all out and be unapologetically themselves. I've always wanted the same. I think I gained a bit of a reputation as this very soft artist with my last projects. And though I am that, I am so much more than that as well.

since you have a jazz set in the middle of your concerts now when you're on tour I'm going to ask you to play a jazz original that you wrote and this is one of your early songs that's called Valentine I've been playing a much more swingy version of this on tour so it's going to be weird to go back to this version but this is how I wrote it so it is how it shall be performed affection for years and years. Now I have it, and damn it, it's kind of weird.

He tells me I'm pretty, don't know how to respond. I tell him that he's pretty too. Can I say that? Don't have a clue. Every passing moment I surprise myself. I'm scared of flies or I'm scared of guys Someone please help Because I think I've fallen in love this time

I blinked and suddenly I had a Valentine That's a nice song It's sweet It's very naive. It reminds me of being 21 Folling in love for the first time? Yes. Do you get back to Iceland much?

I do. I go home a lot. It really grounds me. And I write the best there. I wrote half the album there. And your music's popular there, right? I don't know. I think so. I don't know if my music is very popular, but I think there's definitely a lot of hometown pride. So when I go home and play concerts, I think it's always very special because they're very proud of different. artists or athletes who've kind of gone past, gone outside of the country and made their mark there. Well, Leve, I want to thank you so much for talking with us and for doing some songs for us.

Thank you so much. I wish you well on your tour. And, you know, thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It's been such an honor. Oh, my pleasure. Leve's new album is called A Matter of Time. After we take a short break, our rock critic Ken Tucker, will review Taylor Swift's new album, The Life of a Showgirl. This is fresh air. Taylor Swift's new album, The Life of a Showgirl, is her 12th studio album and arrives at a time when Swift dominates not just the music industry, but American pop culture itself. The details of her recent engagement to football player Travis Kelsey can seem to her fans

as important as her music. So what does this mean for the dozen new songs on this album? Rock critic Kent Tucker has a review. I heard you calling on the megaphone. You want to see me all alone. As legend has it, you are quite the pyro. You light the match to watch it blow. And if you'd never call for me,

I might have drowned in a melancholy. I swore my loyalty to me, myself. Taylor Swift's crisp, clever new album, The Life of a Showgirl is offered to its audience in an intentionally crass, playfully cynical manner. There she is on the cover, dressed in the skimpy attire of a Las Vegas showgirl. A few weeks before its release, on the podcast of her football fiancé Travis Kelsey, she said, this album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during the Erez tour. It's about what I was going through off stage. Half control freak, half cool English teacher, Swift is trying to guide the narrative interpretations for the life of a showgirl.

I hadn't thought of you in a long time, but you keep sending me funny Valentine's. And I know you think it comes off vicious, but it's precious, adorable, like a toy to all. out blocking in me from a tiny purse. That's how much it hurts. How many times has your boyfriend said? Why are we always talking about her? It's actually sweet all the time you've spent on me. It's honestly a wild.

All the effort you've put in. It's actually romantic. I really got to hand it to you. That's a song called Actually Romantic. On this album, Swift is reunited with the Swedish producer Max Martin, with whom she's made her catchiest hits, including Shake It Off, and we are never, ever getting back together. I much prefer the grand, intense pop productions of Max Martin

to the brooding ballads that prevail on non-Martin productions, such as Swift's last album, The Tortured Poets Department. On the new song Wood, Martin turned Swift loose to tear through a rhythm and blues chorus that's unlike any singing she's done before. All that miss now is shit on the falling star. Never did me any good. I ain't got to knock on wood.

It's you and me forever dancing in the dark. Over me. I ain't got to knock on my eyes. Forgive me, it sounds cocky, he hypnotize me and open my eyes. Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see his love was the key that opened my skies. The lyrics for that song, by the way, are full of double entendres, and single ones that may require a certain amount of parental explanation for a considerable portion of Swift's audience.

It's PG-13 autobiography, for the fans who love to parse the lyrics seeking private it's why publications are reduced to coming up with clickbait headlines about the song opalite people magazine to take just one of many offer this headline taylor swift's opalite lyrics explained breaking down the travis kelsey inspired track this would be merely silly where the music not so strong with its creamy disco beat and surging chorus See it before, they'll see it again Life is a song It ends when it ends

I was raw But my mama told me It's all right You were dancing through the lightning strikes Sleepless in the on its night But now the sky is over light Oh oh my lord On never made no one like you before

You had to make your arms sunshine But now the sky is open light On the title song Swift joins up with pop star of the moment Sabrina Carpenter To offer one of those showbizies hard extravaganzas That could serve as a Broadway musical showstopper I took her pearls of wisdom Hung them from my neck

I paid my dues with every bruise I knew what to expect Do you want to take a skate On the ice inside my veins They ripped me off like false lashes And then threw me away And all the headshots on the walls Of the dance holler of the witches

Who wish I'd hurry up and die But I'm immortal now Baby dolls I couldn't if I tried So I say, Thank you for the lovely book Hey, I'm married to the hustle And now I know the life of a show girl, babe

And I'll never know another Hey As the album proceeds, you begin to realize that Swift focuses less and less On her perennial subjects, heartache and heartbreak. Her dozen songs combined to form a picture of true love Found, tested, and proven as strong as her early work always yearn to find.

She uses a couple of songs to dispatch a few bad men, such as a condescending controller on this one called Father Figure. When I found you, you were young, we were lost in the cold, pulled up to you in the jack,

turned your axe into gold. The winding road leads to the chateau. You remind me of a young, Come me, I saw potential. I'll be a father figure, I drink that brown maker, I can make deals with the death, because my check's bigger. This love is pure profit, just step into my office.

I dry your tears with the sleep, leave it with me. One key to Taylor Swift's success is that she's turned fame into a a game her fans are invited to play along with her. Everyone is welcome backstage now, where Taylor will greet you with open arms, a big smile, and a knowing wink. You can call me, honey, if you want, because I'm the one you want. When anyone called me, sweetheart, it was passive or aggressive at the bar, and the chick was telling me, back off because a man had looked at me wrong if anyone call me honey it was standing in the

bathroom white teeth they were saying that skirt don't fit me and I cried the whole way home but you touch my face redefine all of those blues when you say honey summer time Ken Tucker reviewed Taylor Swift's new album, The Life of a Showgirl. Tomorrow on fresh air, we'll talk about how the Pentagon and military are being transformed. Last week, Defense Secretary Hexeth told hundreds of top military commanders to end, quote, woke policies. And President Trump suggested using the military against the enemy from within. Trump has deployed the National Guard to several U.S. cities. Our guest will be Nancy Yusef, who covers the defense.

Department for the Atlantic. I hope you'll join us. To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram at NPR Fresh Air. Fresh Air's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our senior producer today is Teresa Madden. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our managing producer is Sam Brigger. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Anne-Marie Bledonado, Lauren Crenzel, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Yucindi, and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producer is Molly C.B. Nesper. Our consulting visual producer is Hope Wilson. Roberta Shorock directs the show. Our co-host is Tanya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross.