One of Taylor Swift's 'Showgirl' poems seems to spotlight this young '22' hat recipient. Bryan West, USA TODAY NETWORKOctober 8, 2025 at 4:05 AM 0 Feathered into the glitzy rollout of Taylor Swift's 12th album, "The Life of a Showgirl," are five original poems attached to five of the album's variant...
- - One of Taylor Swift's 'Showgirl' poems seems to spotlight this young '22' hat recipient.
Bryan West, USA TODAY NETWORKOctober 8, 2025 at 4:05 AM
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Feathered into the glitzy rollout of Taylor Swift's 12th album, "The Life of a Showgirl," are five original poems attached to five of the album's variants.
One, titled "The Crowd Is Your King," may have spotlighted an Indianapolis "22" hat recipient and her mom, a longtime Swiftie.
"I woke up to dozens of text messages," said Cindy Childs the morning after the album's release. "Friends were asking, 'Did Taylor write a poem about you?'"
The poem starts:
Remember this city?You've been here before in another lifeOn another tourRemember her?She's got a mortgage nowStraight teeth where there'dbeen metal bracketsStanding with her 8 year old daughter...You mouth 'I know you'...
"I had like an audible gasp," Childs said. "I had so many flashbacks."
Taylor Swift crowns Eloise Childs with a "22" hat during a show in Indianapolis on Nov. 2, 2024.
Exploring the 12th era: Everything we learned in Taylor Swift's rollout of new album 'Life of a Showgirl'
The flashbacks stretched nearly a decade. The "OG Swiftie" first caught the singer's attention on an Instagram Live when her daughter, Eloise, was just 3 months old. Swift joined the chat and stayed for 45 minutes, joking with Childs not to wake the baby to say "Hi" to the pop superstar.
Eight years later, on night 2 in Indianapolis, the mom and daughter headed to the Eras Tour show. Swift's team walked over to their seats and escorted them to the edge of the catwalk. Eloise was crowned with the coveted fedora.
The magical moment is permanently etched in Childs' mind.
Swift's poem continues:
In the millisecond gap in your choreographyTo you, she will look exactly the same ageas the first time you saw herShe will always be 14 and a halfRemember!Lock right back into the footworkAny missed step is a misstepYou must remember everythingBut mostly this: The crowd is your king
Although the lines are a direct parallel to Childs, she said the poem embodies more the fan experience.
"I don't think it's just about me and Eloise, I think it is a beautiful tribute to the original Swifties who have been around to have seen her tours," she said. "We have seen her, she's grown up with us, we've grown up with her."
The four other poems are titled: "Sweat and Vanilla Perfume," "Shiny Bug," "Baby, That's Show Business" and "The Tiny Bubbles in Champagne." Together, they read like diary entries from behind-the-scenes moments in Swift's life when she wasn't on stage. Stars over letters in the poems spell out the numbered order that, if you put them together, make up the prologue to "The Life of a Showgirl."
"The Crowd Is Your King" captures the luminary bond between an artist and the audience. For Childs and Eloise, the words feel like a spotlight shining right back.
"It gives me goose bumps," she says. "It makes me want to cry. The fact that we could have been a small part of that, and that it's written down, gives me pause."
Eloise Childs smiles on Nov. 3, 2024, while wearing her "1989" bomber jacket and "22" hat signed by Taylor Swift.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Taylor Swift's 'Showgirl' poem may spotlight this '22' hat recipient
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