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Taylor Swift released her new album recently and I have a few opinions about the album as someone who’s been a swiftie for a few years now. How does this compare to her previous albums and what do I think this says about her music?
Background:
Taylor Swift has released her 12th studio album (excluding her four re-recorded albums) and it has sparked a lot of opinions among fans. I myself have both noticed a few things with the album as well as developed my own opinions on different aspects of the album. Commercially, the album (much like all her others) is a huge success with it selling about 4 million units within its first week (https://www.npr.org/2025/10/14/nx-s1-5570850/taylor-swift-vinyl-sales-showgirl#:~:text=This%20week%2C%20the%20sales%20for,just%20for%20the%20first%20week. )
Although I did not buy a physical copy I was quick to listen to her new album. The showgirl aesthetic was definitely something different for Taylor and I was excited to listen to the story she was trying to convey through this album. My personal favorite Taylor albums are: Folklore, Lover, and 1989. So with this in mind I was hoping for a fun and witty album.
Marketing:
The marketing for this album is a stark contrast from her previous, The Tortured Poets Department. This new album focused on a lot of glitz and glamour with implications of a more sophisticated Taylor. The orange and teal color scheme was also something of a jarring shift since her past few albums have been either darker colors or cooler tones.
Swift is known for her more subtle hints to new albums as fans love dissecting the easter eggs she places around her other bodies of work and social media in order to soft-launch the announcement of a new album. However, this album felt a lot more like a surprise and she gave what was felt like a much more casual reveal by showing the new album on her fiancee, Travis Kelce’s, and his brother, Jason Kelce’s podcast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMxdQJY1000 ).
From there she has hit the ground running with in your face promotional photos as well as a “Target” advertisement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9ED1fR21U0 ). As well as having a film style viewing for her music video “The Fate of Ophelia”.
Pros:
One thing that Taylor Swift knows how to do is make a pop album. You can tell that based on the songs themselves it has a more lighthearted tone than her previous melancholic sound she’s been toying around with. In the forty one minutes of the album I would say that they sound like songs you can dance around in your room to or even listen to on a drive with your friends.
Cons:
However, I did not like the album. I felt like the lyrics fell flat and she mischaracterizes the concept of a showgirl and the metaphors she uses. Taylor Swift is often praised for her wit and lyricism, she is well aware of this and has even referred to herself as an “english teacher” (https://www.instagram.com/p/DN02niAXMM-/?hl=en ). We are very aware of how she has developed this idea, going as far as cementing it with The Tortured Poet’s Department, a nod and reference to Dead Poets Society (both the novel and film having the same name). So with all of this build up it really disappointed me how surface level and cliche her lyrics sounded.
My least favorite song off the album is “CANCELLED!” which has lyrics such as: “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” and “Good thing I like my friends cancelled. I like ‘em cloaked in Gucci and a scandal” (https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-cancelled-lyrics ). The word choice feels very out of place and out-dated for the common slang used now. This album, especially this song, felt like it was trying to replicate the boldness and the excitement with Reputation. It reminds me a lot of the 2016-2017 era of Youtube where Shane Dawson and his friends had a strange obsession with Gucci and would regularly joke about it, as well as being cancelled. The idea behind it misses because it feels like a clap back at an audience who no longer relates or takes that word choice seriously.
Furthermore, for someone who describes herself as an “english teacher” her song “The Fate of Ophelia” feels like a misinterpretation of the character. Ophelia, a character in Shakespere’s Hamlet, is struggling with her lack of agency throughout the play. As a result, she drowns herself, this act has been seen as Ophelia symbolically making her own choices and breaking away from the confines of the men in her life (https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Symbolism-of-Ophelias-Death-PKEEW6ZVC ). In Swift’s song the chorus is “I sat alone in my tower, you were just honing your powers, now I can see it all (see it all). Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and saved me from the fate of Ophelia (Ophelia).” (https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-the-fate-of-ophelia-lyrics ). I feel like this seemed like a misinterpretation of Ophelia since her character could not have been simply saved by a good man, she found that her only way to be free was to make a decision without the influence of the men in her life and in turn she saved herself.
Conclusion:
These are just my personal opinions on the album and I you’re allowed to have your opinions as well. Maybe you really liked the album and thought it was fun but for me at least, the lyrics felt off and there were some songs more than others that really felt like her message was unclear or even negative towards the point we thought she was going to make. I think that as a musician of her caliber and status she should be producing music that is original and made with care for the fans that have supported her thus far. There have even been some Swifties who have felt upset over the lyrics in some of the songs from the album and in order to keep a constructive conversation going we should be open-minded and listen to other people’s feelings and opinions. I think that in order to make better music you need to listen to the critiques of the people around you and that’s normal for everyone. I know Taylor can make a great album but this one just wasn’t it for me.