The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift

I have a hot and cold relationship with Taylor Swift’s music. Albums like Red and Folklore displayed a real knack for colorful lyricism that felt relatable on a universal scale. Her first foray into pop on 1989 was a bevy of catchy hooks and playful songwriting that haunted my mind afterwards. Her lyricism and production have wavered on a majority of her subsequent releases post 1989. Her relatable nature has vanished as her brand has become almost Disney-like in both size and formula. As she’s become a commodity, she’s become so much more out of touch with the masses. I was thoroughly disappointed by both Jack Antonoff’s milk toast production and Swift’s lyricism on 2024’s over-bloated The Tortured Poet’s Department. I was pleased to see she’s brought back pop-music hit maker Max Martin and trimmed back the tracklist for her latest release, The Life of a Showgirl. Without any promotional singles, I went in blind hoping for a return to her catchy pop roots.

We’re immediately struck by a shift in emotions as Taylor praises the love she’s found in the opening track, “The Fate of Ophelia.” Honestly, I don’t mind how she merges allusions to Hamlet into her journey to find true love. What drags the song down the most is its production. I wish they’d stuck with its piano/omnichord hum without pumping in the distracting synth bass line. It’s so out of place that once it interrupts the piano melody, it’s like we’re in an entirely nice song.

When I hear the title, “Elizabeth Taylor,” I get images of striking beauty, Hollywood glamour, and a life searching for the perfect suitor. Swift uses this visual to connect to her own elegant lifestyle and missteps in love. This song would have dazzled with some “Wildest Dreams” treatment. Unfortunately, Martin and Shellback opted for this reputation-esque, darker soundscape that cuts the sense of longing and melancholy completely from the track. Swift’s attitude feels so out of reach for the everyday man that you don’t feel any sense of camaraderie from the message she’s putting out.

“Opalite” attempts to lead us out of the darkness and into the beauty of living in the now. Swift sheds away past exes and hardships and relates her new point of view to the colorful play of the titular opalescent glass. There is a similarity to the production on this track and Post Malone’s “Circles.” I wish they’d dial the power of this sound up much more. As it stands, it just sounds like it’s wearing the clothing of a lightened mood without embodying it.

There’s a quid-pro-quo power dynamic Swift seeks to tap into on “Father Figure.” She puts herself in the role of a rich CEO taking advantage of this young ingenue who idolizes this man. While some of the lyrics don’t completely mesh with me, it’s the airy production she uses in the chorus that ruins the song. It needs a heavier vibe, or at least some more complex melodies, to convey the duplicity of this relationship. I find it too Lover adjacent to sell what it’s portraying.

Some of Taylor’s most cringeworthy lyricism comes off in “Eldest Daughter.” Why Martin and Shellback opted for this slow-paced piano arrangement over something livelier is a baffling. The first verse and chorus ultimately take me out of her story of finding love that she finally feels secure in. The lines, “I’m not a bad bitch/ And this isn’t savage,” are delivered like someone who just barely captured their meaning. It’s a song that could have been rather captivating if it had been allowed some more time to marinate and develop.

I think “Ruin the Friendship” is the song I most connect with. As a native Nashvillian, her imagery of Gallatin Pike and the Old Hickory Lake are places I frequented regularly during my formative years. Swift laments the deeper relationship she could have had with a friend who tragically passed away at an early age. I do think some of the pop gloss detracts from the underlying intimacy she’s going for. That said, its summery carefree tone keeps alive the memories she clings to.

“Actual Romantic” reveals the rather unflattering mean-girl side of Swift that is personally a big turn-off. With lines seemingly pointed towards Charli XCX’s “Sympathy is a Knife” and the jarring line about all this negative attention “getting her wet,” it is bizarrely vindictive. Something about the pop-rock undertone gives Weezer vibes to the way the arrangement is delivered. Taylor just doesn’t have the bite of Olivia Rodrigo or the bratty attitude of Charli to sound threatening. It’s just mean-spirited.

Taylor relishes in idea of starting a family of her own with her fiancé in “Wi$h Li$t.” Swift reads all these wants and needs that many reach for, while in the end, all she desires is to live a simple married life. I really dislike this reverberating, shimmering synth that coats this song. Again, she only focuses on the superficial notions of all these things without giving them any depth. The same can be said for Martin and Shellback’s production. It’s far too watered down to provide a hook to grab you.

Personally, “Wood” is the most banal both sonically and lyrically on the record. You can hear Martin and Shellback wanted to take a nod to The Jackson 5 in their production choices, but it’s too on the nose and disjointed from Taylor’s lyrics to garner a cohesive feel. I think she’s aiming for the tongue-in-cheek sexuality of Sabrina Carpenter, but it’s far too obvious to be cheeky. I also would expect a little more sultry, soulful play in her voice from this Motown flirtation, and it gives none of those things.

The title, “CANCELLED!,” already had me feeling tempestuous about what Swift was going to hone in on. Without knowing this relates to her aligning with famous friend Blake Lively during her current scandal, I got the ick thinking it was more related to her fiancé’s more right-wing leaning friends. It’s got that reputation-seething sound, which I will say works for the message. It’s this “we’re bad because people don’t like us” message that I can’t stand. You‘re left with this celebrity drama that you can’t relate to.

“Honey” could have been one of the stronger songs on the album if it weren’t for the odd hip-hop beat placed underneath her ivory piano melody. At the core, Swift now sees these terms of endearment that once had a condescending tone as something uplifting. Taylor’s flow, reminiscent of her punchier reputation work over a Lover soundscape, is completely at odds. It comes off as more of a caricature of her prior work than something new and fresh.

Our final and titular track, “The Life of a Showgirl,” acts as a warning to those who seek glamour that it comes with a price. The showgirl teaches us to harden up, keep 3 steps ahead, and stay wise. Sabrina Carpenter is a pleasant surprise to hear. Carpenter’s airy voice complements Swift’s very nicely. It’s got that tried-and-true pop-radio shine, but it’s probably the only song on the album that I could find myself humming along to once it comes to an end.

With no teasers as to what this album was going to sound like, my hopes were something akin to mid-century pop standard/jazz with mainstream pop retool (a-la Christina Aguilera’s Back to Basics). I was very disappointed with what I was given. Much of the production suffers from the same lackluster formulas that The Tortured Poets Department did, but now with vestiges of reputation and Lover. Taylor’s songwriting is lazy. I don’t know if she rushed it to get this out, or if she’s out of material. Some songs like “Actual Romantic” and “CANCELLED!” give off a truly ugly side of Swift that has shown up more and more in her recent releases. This album truly is not for me. If you liked Midnights or reputation, I think you’ll find more to love out of this than I did.

My overall thoughts on The Life of a Showgirl:

My rating scale: Love it = 1 point, Like it = 0.5 point, Dislike it = 0 points; Final score = total points/ number of tracks

Loved it: None

Liked it: “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Ruin the Friendship” & “The Life of a Showgirl” (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)

Disliked it: “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Opalite,” “Father Figure,” “Eldest Daughter,” “Wi$h Li$t,” “Actual Romantic,” “Wood,” “CANCELLED!,” & “Honey”

My overall rating: 1.0 out of 10.