Who Is Taylor Swift's 'Ruin the Friendship' About? 'Life of a Showgirl' Track 6, Explained Michelle SteinOctober 3, 2025 at 3:32 AM 0 Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl—and many fans found themselves wondering: Who is "Ruin the Friendship" about? On Friday, Oct.
- - Who Is Taylor Swift's 'Ruin the Friendship' About? 'Life of a Showgirl' Track 6, Explained
Michelle SteinOctober 3, 2025 at 3:32 AM
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Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl—and many fans found themselves wondering: Who is "Ruin the Friendship" about?
On Friday, Oct. 3, The Life of a Showgirl debuted at midnight ET. Swift's track No. 6 tackled the story of a high school crush she never acted on. Tragically, the song revealed that he died years later, and she regretted not kissing him.
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Who Is Taylor Swift's 'Ruin the Friendship' About in 'The Life of a Showgirl'?
Swift didn't name anyone in "Ruin the Friendship." (It's also worth noting that not all of her songs are autobiographical.) With that said, many Swifties are curious about who, if anyone, "Ruin the Friendship" is about—and they have theories based on the lyrics.
Taylor Swift performing at an Eras Tour concert. (Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
The track starts by painting a picture of a teenage girl in high school who has feelings for a boy who is just a friend. She regrets not kissing him and potentially ruining the friendship by seeing if there was more to the relationship.
In the bridge, Swift sings, "When I left school, I lost track of you / Abigail called me with the bad news / Goodbye, and we'll never know why," sharing that he died and her best friend, Abigail Anderson, called to tell her about it.
She flew home for the funeral and "whispered at the grave, 'Should've kissed you anyway.'"
At the end of the song, Swift advised listeners to "always ruin the friendship" because it's "better that than regret it for all time."
Taylor Swift Fans Debated the Meaning of 'Ruin the Friendship'
On Reddit, Swifties reacted to "Ruin the Friendship," with one fan pointing out, "This was like the one true story-song on the album and for that, I can appreciate it."
Someone else admitted, "This caught me off guard. I was NOT expecting to hear the saddest song ever 💔."
Another Redditor speculated, "I'm fairly certain that she attended a celebration of life ceremony in April 2023 for someone she went to high school with, as there's a picture circulating of her and her high school friends posing together after the ceremony. I think the person that they were honoring is the muse. It could be the same muse as 'Forever Winter.'"
Related: Who Is Taylor Swift's "Actually Romantic" About? Life of a Showgirl Diss Track, ExplainedO
Meanwhile, a different Reddit user confessed, "Ok, interesting reading everyone else's interpretation of the song. I took it as she was in love with her friend's man and she didn't want to ruin that friendship? But I totally can see it as not wanting to ruin the friendship with the boy too."
Many Thought 'Ruin the Friendship' Would Be About Blake Lively Before the Album Was Released
When Swift revealed the track list for The Life of a Showgirl, many fans saw the title "Ruin the Friendship" and assumed it was about Blake Lively amid the ongoing lawsuit drama. Many shared their surprise when track No. 6 had nothing to do with that friendship.
One Reddit user admitted, "Not the Blake diss track some thought it would be."
Taylor Swift celebrates her birthday with Blake Lively on Dec. 13, 2023, in New York City. (Gotham/GC Images)
Another commented, "This song sent me because it wasn't at all what I expected. Yeah in some sense I guess I was on the Blake Bandwagon with the title, but the turn really sent me. I started crying and like yeah, absolutely yes I've sat (as I am sure many others have) wondering how different life might have gone if we had 'ruined that friendship' or tried. This isn't to say you regret your current choices, it's just always a curious thought."
Yet another Redditor shared, "I can't believe certain people thought this was going to be about Blake Lively meanwhile it's about her crush from school who passed away 😭 so sad."
It will be interesting to see what Swift says, if anything, specifically about "Ruin the Friendship" as she makes multiple talk show appearances in the days that come.
Next: Who Is Taylor Swift's "Father Figure" About? Life of a Showgirl Diss Track, Explained
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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