The Life of a Showgirl Is Not the Album We Thought We Were Getting

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at DCU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m kind of a Swiftie. At the very least, I know a lot about Taylor Swift and all her lore. I became a fan in the Reputation era due to my best friend’s obsession with her, and I’ve been following her career ever since. Now I’m a big fan of Reputation and the era that came with it. The music videos, outfits, media, and all the content we were getting from that era were legendary. It all fit the vibe of grunge and angst really well. So when I heard that the photographer who shot the Reputation album cover also took The Life of a Showgirl (TLOAS) album cover and that it had some of the same producers, I got really excited. Although I love The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) album and era, I haven’t really enjoyed her most recent eras. I, like most people, thought that because of all these similarities, we were going to get a very pop-rock album like Reputation. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t what we got. 

Instead, we have a very generic pop album with mediocre lyrics. In her announcement of the album, Swift said that this album was a combination of her poetic lyrics (that have been a part of her music since Folklore) and pop beats. Although we may have gotten the latter (though I would disagree with that), we for sure did not get the lyrics. Her lyrics have been all over the internet and not in a good way. Lyrics such as “did you girlboss too close to the sun” from Cancelled! have been made fun of relentlessly, and for good reason. 

It feels like Swift was trying to be more blunt with her lyrics and following the idea of “telling not showing.” In the past, she used very unique words that were not frequently used by the average person. Swifties used to joke that you had to read a dictionary to understand her lyrics. This was even more prominent in TTPD. When listening to it, I would often feel like the lyrics were so fancy that I couldn’t keep up with the story they were telling. 

This album is the opposite, with rarely any sophisticated lyrics and instead more straightforward ones. Maybe this was her attempt at making the stories in her songs easier to follow, and although that might be true, it comes at the cost of basic and cringey lyrics. 

One note that has been coming up on my Instagram page a lot, referring to the hate for this album, is the fact that hating on the new Taylor Swift album is a common theme. When TTPD came out, it was hated; same with Midnights and Folklore. Although I agree with this point (I hated Midnights when it was first released, and it took me years to develop a liking for Folklore), this album feels different. Swift has always been referred to as a lyricist, but this album doesn’t reach her normal standard. The promise of her iconic lyrics hasn’t been delivered, and it’s leaving fans upset. 

Swift is known for the fifth song on each album being the most hard-hitting, and it typically becomes one of the fan favourites. This includes My Tears Ricochet (Folklore), So Long, London (TTPD), Dear John (Speak Now), You’re on Your Own, Kid (Midnights), and All Too Well (Red). The fifth song on TLOAS is Eldest Daughter, which seems to be the one taking most of the hate. Lyrics include “Everyone’s so punk on the internet / everyone’s unbothered till they’re not / every joke’s just trolling and memes.” And all I have to say is that is bad. I feel like I’m listening to a Justin Bieber song where he’s explaining the story with no sense of imagery. And the chorus just gets worse (but I’ll leave that to you and Google).

Although she’s had iffy beats and production elements in the past (such as I Can Do It With a Broken Heart), she has never taken a step back in her lyricism. It feels like these lyrics were chosen to make the songs relatable and liked by teenagers. But I don’t use some of these words in my everyday life, and I’m closer in age to that audience than Swift is. 

It feels like the choices made in this album were forced on her by her label. But this doesn’t make sense because she’s Taylor Swift. She can do whatever she wants, as she’s the most powerful musician on the planet right now. So why would she release a half-baked era and album that was bound to be ridiculed? 

The answer is well, I don’t know. But it may have to do with the Exit Theory. Part of Swift’s fanbase is known for leaving hints and clues about her next moves for fans to figure out. With some of the clues she has been leaving recently, people have started to speculate that Swift will be taking a hiatus after this album. And if that’s the case, why is this the album she’s releasing before the break? 

This album has been very disappointing. I had such high expectations and thought this would be the album to bring me back into my Swiftie era, but it’s definitely not going to. But who am I kidding? Whether she goes on a break (maybe to get married and go on a honeymoon) or releases the highly anticipated 13th album (her favourite number), I will be tuning in.