Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album Friday after much anticipation from fans. The album, titled “The Life of a Showgirl,” aimed to pull back the curtain on her life as a performer and public figure with extravagant and theatrical theming, and while it sounds refreshing, the lyrics are not nearly to the standard I would expect from Swift.
When the clock struck midnight and I first hit play on the album, I wasn’t sure what to expect. For her past two albums, “The Tortured Poets Department” and “Midnights,” I felt that Swift’s pop music had become boring. Many of the songs sounded similar in production and lacked the liveliness of her most well-received pop album, “1989.”
So, I was pleased to finally hear songs that not only sounded different from her past two albums but had a specific “sound” besides generic pop. This is thanks to the fact that she changed producers for this album, working with Max Martin and Shellback, who have produced some of her biggest hits like “Style” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.”
My favorite song on the album is definitely “Opalite.” I love how bright and cheery the song is, and, unlike many songs on the album, I didn’t find any of the lyrics offensive to my ears. My initial thought when listening to this song was “this could probably single-handedly cure depression,” which is a testament to how optimistic it feels.
I also enjoyed “The Fate of Ophelia.” It’s a strong opener for the album with good lyrics and a solid instrumental, putting an interesting twist on the Shakespearean story of Ophelia. The music video for this track, which I got to see in theaters as part of “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” is one of my favorite music videos Swift has ever done, bringing the song to life beautifully.
Additionally, I liked “Wood,” however, the sexual innuendoes go hard in this one. It felt more like a Sabrina Carpenter song than a Taylor Swift song, which felt apparent throughout the album. While the play on classic superstitions was intriguing, and I loved the production on the song, the lyrics make it an interesting listen to say the least.
Speaking of lyrics, I must address the elephant in the room. I never thought the day would come that I would say that Taylor Swift’s lyrics were so bad they gave me a headache but, alas, here we are. While it's not the case with every song, some featured lyrics so cringey that I physically recoiled while listening.
For example, in the song “Eldest Daughter,” Swift sings: “But I'm not a bad bitch, and this isn't savage.” While she sings this ironically, it’s still so cringey that it ruins the entire song. I liked the concept of this track and what she was trying to explore, but hearing her dramatically sing “This isn’t savage” over an acoustic piano will never make me not want to scream into a pillow.
I also didn’t like “Wi$h Li$t” or “Honey.” These songs don’t feel witty or introspective, just cheap. I don’t understand how songs like these are made by someone considered to be one of the best songwriters of all time.
While I think “Honey” had an interesting concept and could have been an intriguing way to reframe the subject of pet names, the lyrics felt cheesy and the production was boring. I also don’t understand why Swift needed to use “bitch” to refer to women so much in this album; it felt derogatory for no reason. For example, in this song she sings: “And the bitch was tellin' me to back off 'cause her man had looked at me wrong.” While I understand this person was maybe not pleasant to Swift, it feels aggressively rude to refer to her like that and easily could have been avoided.
“Wi$h Li$t” felt a bit insensitive to me, as it’s just a billionaire talking about other people wanting expensive things when all she wants is a suburban life with kids. While I get the sentiment, I think this topic was addressed much better in her song “The Prophecy” from “The Tortured Poets Department.” These songs are different genres, but the way wanting true love over money is addressed in “The Prophecy” feels raw and poetic, while in “Wi$h Li$t” it just feels obnoxious and cringey.
Overall, I would say “The Life of a Showgirl” is not Taylor Swift’s best moment. While it’s sonically pleasing, there’s a certain emptiness to the album. It lacks the passion, heartbreak or distinctiveness of her past projects. And while all of the songs may get me dancing, I don’t think any of them really make me feel, which is something Swift usually excels at.
I’m excited to dance around to these songs in the coming weeks, but there are some songs on this album that I hope I never have to listen to again. More importantly, I hope that Swift takes a step back and realizes there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed when it comes to cringey lyrics and that she ran over it at full speed with this album.
