Less than a year after wrapping one of the highest-grossing tours of all time, Taylor Swift invited fans and critics alike to peek behind the curtain with “The Life of a Showgirl.”
The 12-track album, announced on the “New Heights” podcast in August, promised fans the truth of show business and the perils of being a performer. What Swift released in October failed to deliver. Recorded while she was on the European leg of The Eras Tour, the album struggles to leave any lasting impression.
Swifties were delighted to hear Max Martin — one of the notable producers behind her fourth studio album “Red” — would reunite with the popstar for this album that promised to show a different side of Swift. While the team managed to create an upbeat album, the lyrics deviate from Swift’s trademark lyricism — coming off as underwhelming at their best and cringeworthy at their worst — to the disappointment of listeners.
Starting off weak, Swift opens the album with “The Fate of Ophelia,” in which she likens herself to the tragic heroine in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” While Ophelia is a young woman whose life is destroyed by men, Swift uses the song to say her fiancé, Travis Kelce, saved her from this fate: “You dug me out of my grave/ and you saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.” Luckily, this is the last time Swift attempts to connect to Shakespeare’s prolific writing. Less fortunately, it is only the first time Kelce is praised on this record.
Swift dedicates the entirety of “Wood” to her satisfaction with her intimate life with the NFL star. She keeps it coy by saying she no longer needs to “knock on wood” because he has taken away all of her superstition. She continues to fawn over Kelce in “Wi$h Li$t.” On this track, Swift yearns to settle into a suburban life over a beat that is reminiscent of songs on her sixth studio album “reputation.”
“Opalite,” an ode to Kelce’s birthstone, is a pure dance-pop track about how she survived dark times, or “onyx nights,” to end up in a happier place. The album’s high point and final love song about Kelce comes with “Honey,” a sweet, sultry track about letting her lover use pet names.
Aside from the tracks dedicated to Kelce, the album lacks clear focus — especially since it is marketed as an album about her tour life. The second track, “Elizabeth Taylor,” fails to make any real statement about the perils of fame. “Father Figure” finds a dark sound as Swift describes the betrayal of her alleged protege, Olivia Rodrigo.
The two are rumored to have fallen out after Swift was quietly added to the writing credits of Rodrigo’s “deja vu.” “Father Figure”, though an interesting concept, is ill-conceived with lyrics that paint Swift out to be a victim who made it out on the other side victorious. She continues this concept with “Eldest Daughter,” the album’s only ballad. In this song, Swift throws a pity party for her past rejections and time spent trying to seem cool, which appears out of touch coming from one of the most successful women in the world.
“Actually Romantic” might take the crown for most embarrassing song on the album. An alleged response to Charli XCX’s “Sympathy is a Knife,” Swift misunderstands Charli’s insecurities for obsession. She spends the track poking fun at how jealous Charli presumably is about the wonderful life Swift has built.
The songstress again channels her “reputation” era for “CANCELLED!” This song, similarly to “Actually Romantic,” hones in on being disliked. Swift comments on how she and her friends get canceled for everything over an uninspired pop beat, but it’s okay because she likes “them cloaked in Gucci and in scandal.”
In a near-total departure from the main themes of the album — being in all-consuming love and an antihero — “Ruin the Friendship” is reminiscent of Swift’s “Red.” It includes similar instrumentals and storytelling as she sings about her regret for not pursuing a relationship with someone from her past. The song takes a sorrowful turn at the end as listeners find out this love interest has passed. While the track itself is impactful, it is wasted on an album that has nothing else to offer.
The album finally concludes with the title track “The Life of a Showgirl,” featuring Sabrina Carpenter. This track, which sounds almost identical to “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers, is a weak closer. The highlight of the song comes as it ends, with Swift and Carpenter showing off their personalities as they say goodnight to each other and the audience.
As a whole, the record seems rushed and out of touch. For a billionaire, releasing over 30 variants of a half-baked project reads as both greedy and unnecessary. There is power in waiting for inspiration to strike, something Swift could learn.
