Mere hours after the track list for Taylor Swift's upcoming 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, was revealed, Swifties had flooded the internet with theories about each of the songs. The song that's been the subject of the most early theorizing, however, might just be the album's third track, titled, "Opalite."
The prevailing theory about "Opalite" is that the track will be an ode to Swift's relationship with her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and Swifties are citing a few key pieces of evidence to back the theory up.
First, there's the obvious Kelce connection: The Kansas City Chiefs tight end's birthday is in October (just two days after The Life of a Showgirl's release on October 3, no less), which means his birthstone is opal.
• Taylor said her favourite stone was opal since her childhood: “it somehow made me feel better”. Travis’ birthstone (oct) is opal🫠 pic.twitter.com/0WL4IBVZ6rJanuary 31, 2024
While opalite is a manmade stone that's similar to opal, the connection is still clear—and Swift has made a habit of wearing opal jewelry throughout her relationship with Kelce. The singer notably wore Opal Diamond Graduated Pavé Hoop Earrings by WWAKE when she turned out to support Kelce at the AFC Championship game in January 2024, as People reported at the time.
And before that, in December 2023, another piece of Swift's opal jewelry made headlines—an enormous opal ring surrounded by halo of blue topazes, that she wore to her 34th birthday party (and showed off proudly in photos she shared on Instagram from the event). While many were quick to speculate that the ring was a gift from Kelce, it turned out to actually be a gift from Swift's friend, Keleigh Sperry.
Sperry revealed that she was the person behind the custom ring, which incorporated both Kelce and Swift's birthstones, in a video on her Instagram Story. In the video, Swift can be heard admiring the ring.
Taylor Swift reacts to Keleigh Teller's birthday gift in new video. pic.twitter.com/5PXuVermPIDecember 21, 2023
"This is unreal, Keleigh. Opal and blue topaz," she says in the video before dropping the title of another The Life of a Showgirl track. "Wow … This is like a present for Elizabeth Taylor, not me."
According to Page Six, Rare Carat gemologist Karly Bulinski estimated that the opal in the ring could be as large as 20 carats, and that the price of the custom piece could be in the range of $10,000.
Swift's love for opals predates her relationship with Kelce, however. In 2017, she told Us Weekly a sweet story about the important role the gemstone played for her as a teen.
“My favorite stone is an opal because when I was bullied in school, my mom used to take me to T.J. Maxx after school to look at the opal jewelry,” she explained. “I thought opals were so beautiful, and somehow it made me feel better. We never bought them, just looked.”
Swift even referenced the October birthstone when she announced The Life of a Showgirl's release date during her appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights podcast.
When Jason pointed out that, in addition to Travis, two other members of the Kelce family (Travis and Jason's mother, Donna Kelce, and Jason's daughter, Wyatt Kelce) have birthdays in October, Swift mentioned the gemstone directly, responding, “I picked a good month, all these libras out here, the opal birthstones.”