When Taylor Swift drops anything, from a new album variant to four new songs, the whole world listens. This past Friday, Swift released The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. From her fans to her biggest haters, everyone had something to say about it the next morning. As someone who has been by Swift through thick and thin, I find myself having a harder time listening to her music and saying to others that I am a “fan” these days.
Hey, I’m a Swiftie btw
If you want my credentials, I have been a fan of Swift since the tail end of the 1989 era. When I heard “Shake it Off” for the first time, my 9-year-old self truly heard the greatest song ever. My mother bought me the Kidz Bop album just for that single and an old Red Tour t-shirt for my birthday that year. Twelve-year-old me was there for the entirety of the reputation era and went to the Reputation Stadium Tour at Gillette Stadium back in 2018, and I have collected every single CD of hers since then. I failed at getting Eras Tour tickets, but best believe I was watching those shows through a TikTok livestream and saw it in theaters when it came up. I was very much known as the Swift fan throughout high school with my Swift-inspired Etsy sweatshirts.
The height of her fame was her record-breaking Eras Tour run, and it truly felt like she was unstoppable. She created the highest-grossing tour of all time, had fans pouring out of stadiums who could not get tickets, and dropped another album, The Tortured Poets Department, during the second leg. She reached a level of fame, fortune, and praise that really no one has ever been able to achieve.
Entering into the life of a showgirl
Yet, post-tour, things really began to shift. Eight months after the tour ended, we got news of her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl. Now, I’m someone who absolutely loves vintage-inspired runs and was so in love with the glamour of the album’s promotional images. Showgirl’s 1920s flapper-girl, cabaret-styled images were something that Swift has never tapped into before. I adore the imagery of The Great Gatsby and the roaring ’20s, and was so excited to see what this album was all about. This picture below is by far my favorite, and I would argue that this album’s imagery was her best since reputation for a pop album.
Yet, after staying up until midnight to listen to the album with a few of my dorm floormates, I was nothing but disappointed after track four. I did enjoy “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Opalite,” and “Father Figure,” but once track five’s “Eldest Daughter” came on, it was all downhill from there. I was severely disappointed as a fan. The album was not cohesive, and the songs lacked connection with each other. Swift has written clunky and cheesy lyrics in her songs many, many times before, but these songs just didn’t feel like her. In one of her interviews, she claimed that this album would have the bops of 1989 and the lyricism of folklore, but I and many others heard nothing like that. Was the album rushed? Potentially. It really seems the vision of the album was unclear.
I wanted this album to be a one-and-done thing. Not everyone can have a generational run of hit albums and songs over and over again, and Swift really seemed to be the exception. Most of her albums have not faced criticism as harshly as Showgirl had, and many fans hoped that once the album was released, it would be the last we would hear about it.
Until this week.
When I was scrolling Instagram, I saw a new post from Swift announcing “Patient Zero,” and soon after, a post announcing Encore. When talking to my friend Emma, both of us noticed that the caption in the post just seemed a little off. She wrote, “About a year ago, you guys did a truly unfathomable thing. Something that completely blew my mind… You gave The Life of a Showgirl the biggest first week for an album in history… I hope you love them, because they were born out of pure gratitude for your exuberance for and celebration of the album we made.”
Taylor, did you notice that no one was asking for more from Showgirl?
As a fan of over 10 years now, this release just felt like the last slap in the face, begging fans to give her more praise for something that didn’t deserve it. I am not saying Encore’s songs were bad (except for “Cleveland!” — I’m having some serious issues with that song and cannot get myself to listen to it again), but it’s the fact that Swift has cemented herself as someone who values profit over quality and is so far detached from reality. Within her messaging to her fans around this album, her songs are here for her business, her brand, not because she really wants to celebrate her fans who have been with her so long. People are always going to hate on her for the sake of it, but this time, it just seems so much more than usual, and some of the hate with regard to her music has some valid points. This is what makes me and many others question our status as fans.
BuT, SHE’s Not fully gone
Yet, I would argue some of the old Swift is still left inside of her. “I Knew It, I Knew You” is by no means a bad song. Do I think this should be Swift’s Oscar-winning song? Maybe! It is very reminiscent of her older albums, blending her country roots in a short song that capped off Toy Story 5. Swift has the ability to write good things when she feels like it, but it just wasn’t apparent on Showgirl.
Just last night, I awaited the release of the “Patient Zero” music video, and I actually liked it a lot. She isn’t gone, like the whole internet is saying. Even with my prior critiques, I think she was too hungry for more success too quickly, leading to her “misguided era.”
Taylor, you are a showgirl. You never fail to capture the attention of millions and bring smiles to thousands at your shows. But we want to hear more from the Taylor who wasn’t afraid to explore new genres and storylines, and look back at her past and make it fresh again.