Pop sensation Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and has received backlash for her ‘lazy’ and unnatural writing, while others find the album to be a so-called ‘no-skip’ album.
Oct. 3 saw the release of Taylor Swift’s most recent album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” with 12 tracks, running under an hour, making it her shortest album to date. A pop album with an electric and synth sound, it fails to set itself apart from anything else on the top 100.
Working with the same producers from “1989” and select songs from “Reputation,” it’s hard to see a growth of musical identity when it fails to be memorable and make a place for itself across her other albums. With stunted lyrics and repetitive beats, “The Life of a Showgirl” fails to live up to the hype.
A strong start with “The Fate of Ophelia” brings an authentic vibe to what we are used to with Swift’s music. The introduction of cymbals and piano brings familiar feelings and the beat that continues follows that theme. With catchy lyrics and a whimsical plot line, of a woman at the brink of drowning — similar to Ophelia — and has her true love save her. While not an original story, she puts a pop twist on a classic, making a catchy, upbeat dance anthem.
Her next song, “Elizabeth Taylor,” follows the same pattern, synth taking over the beat, but with clever lyricism tying back to the glamorous Hollywood actress of the same name. Tied back to her personal life and how she sees herself in Elizabeth Taylor, working to the bone, releasing a project one after another, she writes a story of wanting someone forever and not just false promises.
‘Opalite’ opens with a beat similar to what we’ve heard in the two past previous songs and also ‘Circles’ by Post Malone. The song truly does nothing to be different from others, while mashing words together not really telling a story, it’s hard to remember it for that reason.
“I’ll be your father figure, I drink that brown liquor I can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger,” the beginning chorus of “Father Figure” really takes you out of the moment. Upon first listen, the song makes you well aware that this album doesn’t have the same heart as previous albums have, but after multiple listens, you can’t help but find it catchy. The beat and lyrics tell an odd story for sure, but you will catch yourself humming it for sure.
The fifth track on the album, titled “Eldest Daughter,” which everyone assumed would be a heartbreaking song, just makes listeners curl into themselves. The song as a whole feels like such a drastic difference from the poetic lyrics we’ve seen Swift conjure up. A hard listen with outdated slang for lyrics, it’s once again hard to find a place for “Eldest Daughter” in the pyramid of her best work.
“Ruin the Friendship” marks the halfway mark for the album and starts with a slow bass-heavy beat, bringing your attention back to the album because finally something’s different. A story of reminiscing on a high school relationship that didn’t happen, and hearing of their passing later in life, and wondering about the what if. While confusing, telling listeners to ruin their relationships because of the what if, you can’t help but see the love in the song that’s hard to see in other places.
The diss track of Charli XCX’s “Actually Romantic” is an uncomfortable listen. With a foot stomping rhythm and a nostalgic guitar line, you can’t help but find it catchy, but the lyrics alluding to the little to nothing feud between the two singers makes it hard to stomach.
With the opening beat to ‘Wood’ I can’t help but feel like I’m listening to a ‘Jackson 5’ song, but am immediately taken out of it by the use of ‘dickmatized’. Another hard listen trying to decipher the lyrics of poor penis innuendos.
‘CANCELLED!’ is one of the more memorable songs on the album, thanks to captivating beats and lyrics with no help from one of her more weak bridges. You can’t help to be mesmerized by it, however feels tone deaf considering the friends in her life that have been canceled.
“Honey” starts with the same piano and synth beat from the very beginning, yet tells a story of facing mean girl comments, but having that special someone back home. Which in itself feels romantic, but her lyrics fall short and become the most forgettable track. Going from “Wintergreen kiss, all mine” to “forever night stand,” it’s hard to see from the woman who wrote “Folklore.”
“The Life of a Showgirl” brings the album to a close, and you can’t help but yearn for its closure with this song. This song falls short and feels like a gleeful goodbye, but it feels like confirmation of Swift being able to craft anything and it will sell. There is a failure of heart here, even with Sabrina Carpenter being a feature. Its lyrics feel belittling and demeaning, like no one will be able to reach Swift’s status, and because of that, the song leaves the album with an empty feeling.
Taylor Swift’s 12th album falls short of everyone’s expectations with poor lyricism and her lower octave that shakes the music world completely. With a lack of thoughtful, intelligent lyrics and repetitive beats, it’s hard to see the same women with 11 other albums of poetry, making the album mediocre at best. You’ll listen for her name and stay for the same, but will find it hard to defend when it seems she’s forgotten the artful work she’s put out before.