As the clock strikes 12 a.m. on Oct. 3, fans around the world play Taylor Swift’s newest release, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Expected to be Swift’s best album yet, fans were met with her worst. At best, “The Life of a Showgirl” is a cheeky and witty album alluding to her new fiancé, Travis Kelce. At worst, the album is an abomination overflowing with vulgarity that gives off the energy of Chat-GPT-generated lyrics.
The first track, “The Fate of Ophelia,” gives listeners a sense of false hope. The backing track and chorus give the audience a taste of old Swift, reminiscent of songs on her first official pop album, “1989.” Although not Swift’s best, it is a strong opening for the album and leaves audiences excited for more.
As the song fades and the opening notes of “Elizabeth Taylor” play, the excitement is quickly replaced with confusion — the song sounds the same. This quickly became a trend in this album. Swift uses the same tone or instrumentals, making it hard to differentiate the songs. On top of being indistinguishable, there is no story behind the album. As Swift’s first album after her iconic “Eras Tour,” there were high expectations and potential to be her best love album. However, this album was more of a tragedy than a love story.
Out of the 12 tracks — running as her shortest album at just 41 minutes — the only standout song is “Opalite.” The song reflects the calm of finding the right romantic partner after a series of bad relationships. This is the only song that saves the album, but even then, it still is not great. The song has a catchy beat and has the hint of ABBA-style disco. Overall, the song is sweet and the best on the album, but it still lacks the pizazz Swift normally delivers in her music.
It is hard to fathom that the same woman who wrote songs such as “The Lakes” and “Peter” wrote the song “Wood” with lyrics like “He ah-matized me and opened my eyes / His love was the key that opened my thighs.” Each song’s lyrics sound like a hormonal teenage girl’s fantasy. In addition, despite being the title track, “The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)” is the worst song — both on the album and from Swift. The song is comical, not due to its humor, but by how awful it is.
In its entirety, the album was horrendous. There was a rare lyric that was “okay,” but in the ranking of Swift’s lyricism, this is easily her worst. Releasing this album after “The Tortured Poets Department” era was embarrassing and ruined Swift’s reputation. Over the 19 years of Swift’s music career, she has explored many eras, each one a poetic experience, making Swift seem like she is a mastermind. However, this album has lost her touch, is overhyped and a disgrace to the ears.
