Taylor Swift’s newest track, “Wood,” from her album ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ has quickly become one of the most talked-about songs of her career, and for good reason. The steamy, innuendo-laced lyrics appear to celebrate her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, turning his public persona, private relationship, and even his podcast name into lyrical foreplay.
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In “Wood”, Swift playfully toys with superstition and sensuality, mixing wordplay with romantic devotion. She sings:
“Seems to be that you and me, we make our own luck / New Heights (New Heights) of manhood (Manhood), / I ain’t gotta knock on wood.”
It’s fitting that Swift’s most teasing lyric in “Wood” directly references New Heights, the podcast that literally launched their relationship.
Back in July 2023, before the two had ever met, Travis Kelce confessed on New Heights that he’d attended Swift’s Eras Tour stop in Kansas City and had hoped to give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it.
That playful, public confession caught Swift’s attention. As she later told TIME, she found it “adorable” and reached out to connect privately. Within weeks, the pair were quietly dating, and by the time Swift appeared at her first Chiefs game that fall, the pop icon and the football star had become America’s most-watched love story.
So when Taylor now sings about “New Heights of manhood,” it’s not just a pun; it’s a tribute to the podcast that sparked their romance. What began as a throwaway joke from Travis’s mic turned into the foundation of one of pop culture’s most genuine modern love stories.
On this week’s New Heights episode, Travis and Jason Kelce devoted part of the show to The Life of a Showgirl, with Jason gleefully steering the conversation toward “Wood.”
“Wood, great, great soundtrack!” Jason joked. “How do you feel about ‘Wood’? Let’s ask this.” Travis burst into laughter. “It’s a great song!” he said, dodging the obvious.
Jason, not missing a beat, teased: “Do you feel cocky about the song ‘Wood’?” Travis shook his head, smiling: “Any song that she references me in is very…special.”
Then Jason pulled out the most infamous lyric:
“Travis, come on. ‘Redwood tree ain’t hard to see.’ That’s a generous word! If somebody wrote a song about me, it’d be like ‘Japanese maple — sometimes can see.’”
Swift’s affection for Kelce has quietly threaded through her recent work. On The Tortured Poets Department, songs like “The Alchemy” and “So High School” hinted at a budding romance rooted in admiration and playfulness.
In “The Alchemy,” she invoked football imagery: “These blokes warm the benches / We’ve been on a winning streak / He comes running over to me.”
And in “So High School,” she leaned into their dynamic: “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle.”
Now, “Wood” brings the relationship into full bloom. It’s not coded or subtle. It’s bold, mischievous, and deeply affectionate, a song that celebrates both love and laughter.
