The Encore of a Showgirl

It’s officially been one year since The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album floated into our ears. It quickly became one of her most divisive albums among Swifties, some praising it for her “glitter gel pen” fun, others pointing out the simplicity and somewhat laziness of her lyricism, and as always on the Internet: some calling it trash and the worst thing she will ever do. 

And the latest Swift-induced Internet Easter Egg Hunt, this time lasting only a week, led to an Encore! An Encore of The Life of a Showgirl that is. I will not say I was overjoyed. Like many a true Taylor fan, the original album was not my personal cup of tea (and as an eldest daughter, I was wildly disappointed by its Track 5) so I was skeptical, but the 2023 Swiftie in me was excited by the idea of 4 new tracks nonetheless. 

I took notes on the Encore tracks, and the first three to me proved none-too-memorable, or memorable but for the wrong reasons. The last, “Babylon,”was actually quite enjoyable, witty and as a Native Long Islander, it hit very close to home. So just know, none of my criticism of the album is directed there. 

The lyricism, specifically on “Cleveland!”, has gotten probably the most Internet traction in the days since the album dropped. Referring to Cleveland, Ohio, the home of football player Travis Kelce. And look, I did not mind all of the love the original Showgirl gave Taylor’s now-husband. As much as I cringed, “Wood” is objectively a good pop song with a good beat (I just try not to think too hard into the ‘Redwood Tree’ of it all). And if Taylor and Travis are happy, I am happy that the woman who wrote “The Prophecy” has changed it and found her true love. However, the Taylor who wrote “Cleveland!” is not the Taylor who made me fall in love with her lyricism. 

There are many on TikTok who, albeit harsh, seem to agree with me. However, there are also many Swifties who will defend Taylor and her music at any cost. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle, but this recent album has made way for a bigger criticism of Taylor Swift as a whole. Does the woman get a lot of unnecessary criticism? Like any female pop-star, 100%. But does she possess the ability to also write a not-great song? Also, yes. The ones on her side claim that the “haters” do not like fun, or what Swift has dubbed her “glitter gel pen” lyrics. And as a girl who loves glitter and also good writing, I tracked down the speech where she dubbed the term. 

I pulled what I thought was necessary, but you can watch the full speech at the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards here.

“My favorite part of songwriting-lyricism…I have in my mind, secretly, established genre categories for lyrics I write. Three of them, to be exact. They are affectionately titled : quill lyrics, fountain pen lyrics, and glitter gel pen lyrics”

“It (a glitter gel pen song) lives up to its name in every way: frivolous, carefree, bouncy, syncopated perfectly to the beat. Glitter gel pen lyrics don’t care if you don’t take them seriously because they don’t take themselves seriously. Glitter gel pen lyrics are the drunk girl at the party who tells you that you look like an Angel in the bathroom. Because what we need, every once in a while, in these fraught times in which we live. For example: ‘my ex-man brought his new girlfriend, she’s like oh my god, I’m just gonna shake…’”

And yes, I have loved Swift’s glitter gel pen lyrics of her past albums. I have danced to “Shake It Off” since I was 7 years old, defended “ME!” to haters, and jammed to “Stay Stay Stay” in the car. Do you, dear reader, want to know why? Because I related to them. A glitter gel pen song can keep its relatability, something Swift once excelled at writing, and still be silly and fun. “Cleveland!” is a song that I genuinely cannot relate to a drop of. And the second she started talking like she was Lady Gaga at the beginning of “Born This Way” I physically cringed. This was also an issue I held with The Life of a Showgirl: when Taylor gets too specific into her own life, she forgets her fans are not all millionaires and blonde and dating the boy on the football team (in fact, more people relate to her lyrics about getting your heart broken by one).

Before you tell me it is not meant to be relatable, that the songs are meant to clap back at the haters who have been anti Travis and Taylor, I give you the  “Sarah’s and Hannah’s in their Sunday Best, clutching their pearls sighing what a mess”  on “But Daddy, I Love Him.” That song was a clapback at haters getting too involved in Taylor’s love life, and it put smart lyrics to a good beat.

This is also not to say that Travis has turned Taylor into a bad songwriter. She wrote “So High School” and sang “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle”  about the man!! And to be fair, some of The Life of a Showgirl did put clever lyricism to a pop beat. “The Fate of Ophelia” is literally a metaphor based on Shakespeare.

But what people cannot seem to accept is that maybe she just did not hit a home run with the Encore. Maybe she does have to make back the money Travis got scammed out of (for all intents and purposes, that is a joke). To be a fan of someone, does not mean you have to love and defend everything they make. And by accusing those who think critically, or have a different opinion, of “hating fun” or “glitter gel pen lyrics” it almost seems like you think that a fun and glittery song has to make its artist seem stupid. 

To perhaps throw this whole article on its head, I implore you to listen to the music and form your own opinions. Who cares what the Internet police, or some college girl who writes in her free time thinks? Listen to the music, form your own opinion, and then we can talk. 

I love sparkles and glitter, and most of the time, Taylor Swift’s music. But I am also an intellectual who can accept when lyrics are bad, and make an argument without attacking people I have never met on the Internet. 

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• entertainment
• Taylor and Travis
• the life of a showgirl