The seismic sensation that was The Eras Tour spanned 21 months, five continents, and 149 shows and stationed Taylor Swift as the unequivocal goddess of modern pop music. It comes as a surprise, then, that an album spanning only 41 minutes and twelve songs may have reduced this legacy to a fraction of what it had been a mere thirty days ago.
The Life of a Showgirl marks the twelfth studio album released by Swift, and with it a drastic shift—as fans and critics have noted—in the quality of work. The album begins with “The Fate of Ophelia.” With the glitzy and glamorous marketing that comes with the showgirl imagery, even the first few seconds of instrumentals come as a disappointment. A drumroll and then—lo-fi beats and simple piano notes? As the track goes on, the vocals and production do increase, but it introduces another issue: songwriting. Although the chorus has classical pop qualities—fast-paced, upbeat, and catchy—the actual words miss the mark: “Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes.” Fans have also picked apart the track’s titular reference: in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia is a woman turned crazy by men. Swift’s implication that she could be saved by a man (“You dug me out of my grave/Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia”) marks a clear misinterpretation of her literary reference. Of course, this isn’t Swift’s first Shakespearean reference. Swift’s acclaimed 2008 track “Love Story” writes the story of Romeo and Juliet with a twist. At nineteen years old, Swift’s interpretation was endearing. At 35, however, it simply reads as bad writing.
The album continues with “Elizabeth Taylor” and “Opalite,” persistent in its simplistic lyrical themes and unvarying production. “Father Figure” provides a change in theme, painting Swift as a Godfather archetype—powerful and patriarchal, “protect[ing] the family,” drinking “that brown liquor,” and asking her “dear protege” for loyalty. Swift interpolates George Michael’s 1987 song by the same name, and the sheer deviation from the previous themes of the album makes “Father Figure” one of the most palatable of the twelve.
Next comes Track Five, “Eldest Daughter.” Swift’s Track Fives are known to be her most vulnerable: on her 2020 album Evermore, “tolerate it” features lyrics such as “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky/Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life.” On her 2010 album Speak Now, she laments, “You are an expert at sorry and keeping lines blurry/Never impressed by me acing your tests.” Even on some of her most upbeat Track Fives, she includes “I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this/I hosted parties and starved my body.” There is quite the discrepancy from previous projects, then, when Swift sings “I’m not a bad b*tch/And this isn’t savage” on her latest Track Five.
To reiterate, writing is the most prominent issue across the album. Swift has previously stated, “I know that without me writing my own songs, I wouldn’t be here.” But when an entire song is about her fiance’s “wood” and another about “liking her friends cancelled,” can fans truly rely on her songwriting? Perhaps we’ve reached a point of disconnection—it’s difficult to relate to a billionaire ranting about her “haters.” Perhaps Swift is coming out of her “imperial period”: that phase where an artist is at their commercial and creative peak. Or, even larger may be the issue of overconsumption. Since 2020, Swift has released four new albums and four ‘Taylor’s Version’ albums. Even her marketing for The Life of a Showgirl album has included the release of twenty different physical variants. When songwriters write for the sake of profit over passion, everyone loses out.
This isn’t a condemnation of Swift within the music industry—her previous works continue to be some of the best pop music of the generation. If anything, it’s a condemnation of the album within the rest of her discography. However, Swift’s legacy may be in jeopardy if her future works stay on par with this latest project.
