By Amie Yansane
On Friday, Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album titled “The Life of a Showgirl”. Originally, when the news of her album was released, I was fairly impressed with the concept. An album reminiscent of 20th-century flair and female sexuality was one that definitely caught my eye. As a long-time observer of Swift and folklore fan, I decided to give the album a thorough listen. Unfortunately, after revisiting the album for a 2nd time, I can say that this was the most displeasing project that I’ve heard from Swift.
Ratings:
● The Fate of Ophelia: 5/10
● Elizabeth Taylor: 4/10
● Opalite: 4/10
● Father Figure: 3/10
● Eldest Daughter: 3/10
● Ruined the Friendship: 3/10
● Actually Romantic: 2.5/10
● Wi$h Li$t: 3/10
● Wood: 5/10
● CANCELLED!: 2.5/10
● Honey: 5/10
● The Life of a Showgirl: 4/10
I’m upset to say my average rating for this album is a 3.5/10; however, my rating is not the most upsetting part of this release.
As I stated, I was impressed with the concept of–as Swift portrays–the life of a showgirl. The theme can be considered feminist as showgirls are representative of female sexuality in the 20th century–a double-edged sword, actually–which was a taboo subject during that era. In addition to the historical context of the concept, I was also hoping that Swift would take inspiration from Gia Coppola’s 2024 film, The Last Showgirl, which documents the life of a showgirl “aging” out of the business after dedicating years to the show. It’s possible that I listened to the album expecting too much out of Swift, but something was missing from it: the actual showgirl.
While listening to the album on my way home on Saturday afternoon, I kept trying to find the elements of a showgirl in the songs, but kept getting lost while searching for them. In interviews, Swift has stated that the album focuses on the backstage life; however, the album still falls short in that context. The lyrics don’t seem to align with the idea that Swift was attempting to execute, so it might as well have been another pop album with a plainer concept.
Perhaps I’m being too hard on Swift with this project, but this is unfortunately how it is. Usually, as fans, we want to see the artist we have given a platform improve their art and diversify it. In this case, the Life of a Showgirl was an extreme downgrade from Swift’s projects from the past 5 years, with both
questionable lyrics and production. I hate to jump on the hate train, but I had high expectations and was let down by the first song alone. This is not to say this one bad album is the end of Swift’s career, but a bump in the road. Hopefully, with age, Swift will come back with a new album with more effort and better-fitting lyrics than this one.