If I had to summarize my thoughts about Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” in one word — disappointment. Complete and utter disappointment.
Taylor Swift, for the past several years, has operated as a machine rather than a pop artist. Two surprise-released studio albums in 2020 (“Folklore” and “Evermore”), four re-recordings (“Red” and “Fearless” in 2021, “Speak Now” and “1989” in 2023) and two more studio albums (“Midnights” in 2022 and “The Tortured Poets Department” in 2024) all within the last five years, not to mention the two-year-long ‘Eras Tour’ in between.
In all of those releases, there is one common, extremely clear thread. The busier she gets, and the more time passes, the quality of work continues to degrade.
Therefore, when Swift announced her 12th studio album “The Life of a Showgirl” on ‘New Heights’ — the Kelce brothers’ podcast — I couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. As a long-time Taylor Swift fan (merch, vinyl, posters, the whole bit), it has been disheartening to watch an artist I adore spiral into mediocrity.
When she announced Shellback and Max Martin as producers on the album, her collaborators on mega-hits “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” and more, the dread turned into a glimmer of hope. Was Taylor Swift returning to form as a hitmaker? A hitmaker with fresh sounds, incredible pop lyricism and a knack for storytelling?
Unfortunately, no.
“The Life of a Showgirl” begins with its three best songs, “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Elizabeth Taylor” and “Opalite.” Here, Swift returns to form with punchy pop production and catchy lyrics, particularly on “Ophelia” and “Opalite.”
“Ophelia” is a bit clunky lyrically, but it works for the song. The imagery and descriptive language is what she is known for, and while it doesn’t represent her at her best, it is a great song. This song is also the album’s lead single, a fine choice for an artist who has historically been hit-or-miss with her lead single choices.
As for “Opalite,” which would have been my lead single choice, I have had the “Oh-oh-oh” line in the chorus stuck in my head since I heard it for the first time.
However, these songs are quite the catfish for the rest of the album.
“Father Figure,” which interpolates the 1987 George Michael hit, is aggressively fine. The real problem starts with “Eldest Daughter,” the album’s fifth track.
One of the primary issues critics had with “Showgirl[‘s]” predecessor, 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” was the incredibly corny lyricism on many of the tracks. For those who have not listened to that album the entire way through, Swift drops the lines, “You smoked, then ate seven bars of chocolate. We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist” (Title Track) and, “Touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto” (So High School) on “Tortured Poets.”
Unfortunately, while I would say she steers clear from some of those abysmal lows on “Showgirl,” she does not prove herself immune. On “Eldest Daughter,” she manages to fit, “I’m not a bad b*tch, and this isn’t savage” in the chorus of the song.
Throughout the rest of the album, Swift provides listeners with “As the 50 Cent song played” (“Ruin the Friendship), “Like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse, that’s how much it hurts” (“Actually Romantic”), “Fat ass with a baby face” and “Spring break that was f*ckin’ lit” (“Wi$h Li$t”), “Did you girl-boss too close to the sun? (CANCELLED!), “Legitly” and “Do you wanna take a skate on the ice inside my veins?” (Title Track). Those are only a few of them, and I didn’t even mention the entire song about Travis Kelce’s “Wood.”
While these may not seem egregious, or at least not “Grand Theft Auto” level bad, I believe it is important to remember who the artist is writing these. Taylor Swift once wrote, "My eyes leak acid rain on the pillow where you used to lay your head” (“happiness” from “evermore”) and “Leaving like a father, running like water” (“cardigan” from “folklore”).
Even as she was beginning her career, Swift displayed enormous talent as a 16-year-old country singer. She wrote on her debut album, “You come away with a great little story of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you” (“Cold As You” from “Taylor Swift”). It’s simplistic, but Swift is known for conveying great emotion and themes in cutting lyrics that aren’t more complex than they need to be.
While there are glimmers of that Taylor Swift in her past two albums, they are fewer and far between. The recurring problem with her newer work is that it all seems to be a worse version of something she has done before.
At her core, Taylor Swift is a pop artist. However, she peaked 11 years ago with “1989” and has not been able to recapture it. Even when she made two indie folk records, complete with entirely fictional storylines and scenarios, she produced the best lyricism of her career. In listening to “Showgirl,” you can hear Swift trying to recreate the magic of both eras and failing at both.
Even in the production of the album, Swift, Martin and Shellback tried to recreate the pop perfection which made “1989” Swift’s masterpiece. Instead, “Showgirl” lacks the catchy hooks and timeless sound which keeps “1989” relevant and charting over a decade later. Even the best songs on “Showgirl” just sound like mid-tier “1989” tracks.
I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy bits and pieces of the album. Despite some of the corny lyrics, I liked “CANCELLED!” and its general sound quite a lot. “Actually Romantic” has become a guilty pleasure song for me, considering it seems to be a very juvenile response to a feud between 30-year-olds. However, I believe we all need at least some petty beef in our lives, so on my playlist it goes. I also liked the title track a bit, though Sabrina Carpenter outshined her on her verses. I found the storytelling to be fairly interesting, but nothing compared to what Swift is capable of.
That, itself, is the heart of my criticism. I know, as do music critics, the general public and her own fans, that Taylor Swift is capable of so much more than this. However, as time goes on, I am growing more and more concerned that Taylor Swift might be losing the very components which made her the biggest pop star on the planet. I genuinely have no idea where she goes from here, but I do know that she needs to take a long break and figure out who she wants to be as an artist.
Sadly, and with little hope for the future of Taylor Swift’s artistry, I give “The Life of a Showgirl” a 2.5/5.
