Taylor Swift’s career has always been defined by eras. She coined the term herself on The Eras Tour, the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Her early eras were well-defined, releasing chart-topping country and pop albums every two to three years. Swift has since released six albums in six years, a whirlwind of music that has seen her traverse genres once more and establish her as a workhorse at the top of the industry. The flurry of music has also been arguably overwhelming, with almost too much to digest and an almost blending of eras that were once distinct from each other.
Yet somehow this era feels different.
With “The Life of a Showgirl”, Swift returns to the bread and butter that made her successful throughout the 2010s: danceable, soaring and unapologetic pop music pushing old relationships to the ground and yearning for brighter days ahead. Think “1989” and “reputation”, but somehow it’s its own unique thing. Switching from a long run with Jack Antonoff as well as Aaron Dessner to Max Martin and Shellback is to thank for the unabashed pop switch-up.
“The Life of a Showgirl” comes out of the busiest and most transformative time of Swift’s life, recorded through The Eras Tour as she flew between shows to Sweden to power through studio sessions with the Martin-Shellback duo. Coming out of a thrilling, yet mentally exhausting time, “The Life of a Showgirl” aims to capture that feeling and unpack the many thoughts, feelings and life changes that occurred during that time. From that framework, Swift delivered one of her boldest yet divisive bodies of work to date.
One of the biggest life changes Swift experienced, her engagement to star NFL player Travis Kelce, is one of the biggest topics covered and discussed on the album. The opener, “The Fate of Ophelia”, immediately tackles their relationship, using the story of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” to frame her relationship with Kelce. Swift’s interpretation of Ophelia’s story slightly misses the mark as Ophelia represented a vulnerable young woman who was driven to suicide by Hamlet’s rejection and the controlling men in her life, but Swift gets the point across nonetheless: Kelce saved her from “tragedy”.
“The Fate of Ophelia” kicks off a tight sonic soundscape that champions a middle-ground between the punchy, dark pop of “Reputation” and the brighter synth-pop production of “1989”. The fat synth and glistening production of the lead single also appear on songs such as “Opalite” and “Honey”, and are a stark contrast from the much more stripped-back, compressed and bedroom pop vibes of her previous two records, “The Tortured Poets Department” and “Midnights”.
The following track, “Elizabeth Taylor,” embodies the “reputation” era, with punchy beat drops, dark atmosphere and haunting piano melodies. The transition to the chorus hits like a sledgehammer, emphasizing Swift’s lyrics even more. What makes this track and the rest of the album so bold is the lyrical content.
Elizabeth Taylor, the 1950s star actress in the song’s title, had a highly controversial career as she jumped between eight marriages and was the subject of much fame, discourse and public scrutiny throughout her career. Swift uses Taylor as a frame for her own career and relationship experience as someone who has long been in the public eye herself for her many dissolved relationships throughout her career. It is not the first time Swift has referenced the late actress, as she mentioned her with “Ready for It”, singing: “You can be my jailer, Burton to my Taylor.”
Swift harkens back to the industry hate she shoves down on “Reputation” and wonders if she will ever have a love forever as her fame and controversies complicate things, themes she explores throughout her discography. The album’s second track is not the only time Swift addresses “the haters” on the album, but “Elizabeth Taylor” represents the only strong stab at the talking point.
This is where the album’s divisiveness comes into play. “Actually Romantic” is a solid pop-rock cut on the surface, but when digging deeper, the track quickly spirals into Swift picking petty fights with fellow pop star Charli XCX, or somebody who just can’t stop comparing themselves to Swift. The “beef” initially started with Charli XCX’s “Sympathy is a Knife,” where the UK artist got introspective and sang about the pressures of trying to live up to the levels of fame of other artists in the industry, as well as maintaining a perfect body image and not revealing any insecurities. The line that brewed speculation about the song’s reference to Swift was “Don’t want to see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up quick.” At the time, both artists dated members of the band The 1975, with Swift briefly dating Matty Healy and Charli dating now-husband George Michael.
Charli XCX has denied that any tracks from her latest album, “Brat”, besides “Von Dutch”, are diss tracks, and neither artist has publicly criticized the other. Regardless of who the track is actually about, the track’s lyrics feel out of place, dramatized, brash and imprudent, like Swift is making an issue out of nothing. If there’s any lyric to sum up this song, it would have to be, “Like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse / That’s how much it hurts”.
The track “CANCELLED!” hits similar low points lyrically and sees Swift getting lost in something that, frankly, she should be above at this point. Swift addresses how easy it is to be cancelled as someone with fame due to cancel culture, likely referencing her friend Blake Lively throughout the song while attempting to recreate the iconic clap-back energy of “Reputation.” The topic of being wrongfully swept up in controversy and coming from a dark place is an already well-traveled path in Swift’s catalogue, and this half-hearted stab at cancel culture is her worst controversy-laden song to date.
The lyrical controversy continues on “Father Figure,” arguably the most contentious song on the album. Swift sings from the perspective of a powerful male figure, likely referencing Scott Borchetta, the CEO of Big Machine Records, who signed her to her first record deal but also sold her masters to Scooter Braun, which started Swift’s re-recording saga in the fight to regain ownership of her music. The song’s lyrics may be a bit too on the nose (her continued reference to having a bigger you-know-what). Still, they unapologetically and quite accurately capture the manipulative and greedy nature of many powerful men in the music industry. It puts the proper stamp on the saga that concluded with Swift buying back her masters earlier this year.
The track’s lyrical lowlights are largely packed into two tracks and she picks up the slack in a much more light-hearted manner across the rest of the record. While “Eldest Daughter” is one of Swift’s weaker track fives in a while, with its surface-level lyrics, it still displays the healing nature of her relationship with Kelce, and is followed by the story-driven “Ruin the Friendship”.
“Ruin the Friendship” sounds like a quintessentially “Red” cut, harking back to the country-inspired guitar work and high school-driven narratives of that era. The song covers Swift’s regrets of not going after someone she was interested in during high school, even though he was in another relationship. The song takes a sharp twist when the character (presumed to be Jeff Lang) unexpectedly dies, and Swift is filled with remorse. The song is not deeply entrenched in lyrical mastery; instead, it sees Swift at her songwriting best: a care-free, descriptive storyteller.
“Wood” matches the looser, carefree energy of the aforementioned track, but puts an unhinged disco spin on it. Swift uses superstitions as a frame for her past relationship life, but sings she no longer has to “knock on wood” as she’s found her joyful good luck charm in Kelce. The song is full of playful sexual innuendos, most notably using “wood” as a sexual metaphor and saying Kelce “was the key that opened my thighs.” The lyrics are a bit cheeky and ridiculous, yes, but “Wood” is one of Swift’s most fun tracks in a long time and its sensual and overtly playful energy perfectly matches the disco vibe.
The record reaches a pop climax both sonically and lyrically with the closer and title track, which features fellow pop star Sabrina Carpenter. The song carries an acoustic guitar, clap track and soft kick drum throughout that provides a perfect backdrop for a stellar lyrical performance from both artists. When Carpenter pops in for the second verse, the guitar picks up a distinct country twang and the beat picks up with quick-moving strings on the bridge to highlight a rapid back-and-forth between the artists. The production allows for space for both artists to shine individually and together for soaring vocal harmonies at the end of the track.
The outro tells the story of a fictional showgirl named “Kitty”, whom a young girl follows and receives blunt advice from. Kitty shares that there is much more than the glamour and glitter and warns her off the lifestyle, but the girl pushes through and embraces the challenges of show business as she reaches the stardom Kitty once had. While not a direct passing of the torch by any means, Swift and Carpenter pair perfectly to embrace the “showgirl” lifestyle and express how they’ve come into their own and won’t shy away from the limelight and criticism. “The Life of a Showgirl” perfectly sums up the album of the same name.
There is no easy way to describe ‘The Life of a Showgirl’. It’s flashy, yet oftentimes simple and carefree. It’s dramatic and controversial, yet somehow down-to-earth in many respects. It sounds like “1989” and “Reputation” had a baby, yet it’s not something we’ve heard from Swift before.
Despite some of the lyrical lowlights, the album’s tight tracklist, consistent sonic soundscape and Swift’s embrace of “the life of a showgirl” make this album a worthy listen. This album is no “1989”, but it is unapologetically Taylor Swift.
Best tracks: The Fate of Ophelia, Ruin The Friendship, Wood, The Life of a Showgirl
Worst tracks: Actually Romantic, CANCELLED!
