Pop superstar Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated album “The Life of a Showgirl” on Friday after originally announcing it on the New Heights podcast, hosted by her fiancé Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce.
In addition to the album release, Swift also released an accompanying film which took fans behind the scenes of each song on the album and explained the inspiration behind the songs. Watching the film before listening to the album definitely provides some much-needed context.
This album was produced by Max Martin and Shellback who worked with Swift on “Red,” “1989” and “reputation.” Because these albums are fan favorites, Swifties had high hopes for this release.
“Life of a Showgirl” is the smallest album of Swift’s discography with only 12 songs and no extra tracks.
As much of a hot take as this may be, I personally like this album. I’m glad it has a more positive tone now that Swift is in love and engaged, compared to her other albums where she was hurting and going through pain. Despite me liking this album, it’s definitely not my favorite compared to her previous work.
“The Life of a Showgirl” is Swift’s most eyebrow-raising album yet. In some songs, there are lyrics that had me thinking “oh wow.”
For example, in “Wood” one of the most questionable lyrics is “Redwood tree / It ain’t hard to see / His love was the key / That opened my thighs.” This lyric is a little too much information. I mean, I appreciate her honesty and transparency, but there’s things people just don’t need vivid details about, and your sex life is one of them. Other artists have had raunchy lyrics that have been successful such as Sabrina Carpenter with “Juno.” However, I feel Carpenter does her raunchy lyrics in a more subtle way.
“Actually Romantic” is a song that has sparked rumors of a feud between Swift and Charli xcx. The lyrics “I heard you call me boring Barbie when the coke’s got you brave / High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me” reference someone listeners believe to be Charli xcx.
This song follows Chari xcx’s 2024 song“Sympathy is a knife,” which is believed to be written about Swift. Swift’s potential rebuttal has people speculating on a feud between the two artists. Despite the fact, Swift has praised Charli XCX in the past. As for “Actually Romantic,” it’s not my favorite song on the album, but I don’t necessarily think it’s bad.
My favorite song on the album is “The Fate of Ophelia,” and quite frankly one of the only ones I enjoy listening to without skipping parts of it.
Swift released the music video for the song on Sunday. The visuals accompany the music well, and the costumes in the video are exquisite. Dancers from the Eras Tour played a part within the video, and shone due to its amazing choreography led by Mandy Moore who also choreographed the Eras Tour. The dances have caught attention as numerous people on TikTok are creating videos recreating the moves.
Another song on this album that stood out to me is “Eldest Daughter,” the gut-wrenching fifth track. Track 5 songs on Swift’s previous albums have some significance, because they are typically the most emotional songs, with examples being “So Long, London” from “The Tortured Poets Department” and “Tolerate It” from “Evermore.” The song also shines a light on a trend on TikTok called “eldest daughter syndrome” that can relate to Swift’s expressed experiences being the eldest daughter.
I personally connected with the song because it reflects my experiences as the eldest daughter in my family. Specifically, feeling more pressure to live up to my parents’ expectations and to act as a role model for my younger sibling. The lyrics “But I’m never gonna let you down / I’m never gonna leave you out” are extremely relatable.
The main instrument in this song is a very soft piano, which makes “Eldest Daughter” calmer compared to the other upbeat songs on this album.
Many people on social media, particularly on TikTok, do not like this album. Similarly, Pitchfork gave “The Life of a Showgirl” a 5.9/10 for a ranking.
I think the negative ratings come from this album being different from Swift’s other albums. Her other albums have typically been about her trauma or about her exes. This album instead features her swooning over her engagement to Travis Kelce and emits more positive emotions, which I really do appreciate.
A common criticism of the songs on this album is that many sound similar to songs from other artists, implying that Swift copied their music. One TikTok user made a video of specific songs from “Life of a Showgirl” that sound like other songs, with the most popular theories being that “Life of a Showgirl” sounds like “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers and the beginning of “Wood” sounds like “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5.
Overall, I’d rank this album a 7.5 out of 10. Although I like the fact that Swift is showing a happy and fun side of her artistry instead of showing feelings of heartbreak or anger, it definitely is not my favorite album of hers. She has a lot of other great songs and albums that are far more hard-hitting than this one.
