After nearly two months of anticipation, Taylor Swift has dropped her twelfth studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” on Oct. 3.
As a huge “Swiftie” myself, I have been counting down the days that I could press play and dive deep into that showgirl lifestyle. After teasing the album on her fiancé’s (Travis Kelce) podcast, “New Heights,” many fans have been looking forward to the promise of a new and exciting era for Swift.
Of course, when Thursday night rolled around, my roommates and I stayed up until midnight to get a first listen of the album. Upon listening, I was immediately surprised by the feel of the album. I was definitely expecting a more “ABBA” vibe, with a lot of musical theater influence. However, the album felt more pop than I thought it would. There are a lot of mixed reviews online, with many people calling it Swift’s worst album yet. While it’s not my favorite album, I think people are criticizing it way too harshly.
“The Fate of Ophelia” is the first track, and I definitely think it’s one of her strongest. On Saturday night, I went to the AMC screening of “The Life of a Showgirl Release Party,” where she showed the music video to this song. I thought the quality and lyricism were very well done. “The Fate of Ophelia” draws influence from a Shakespearean character, Ophelia. In “Hamlet,” Ophelia finds herself caught between powerful men who cause her to go mad and eventually drown herself. Swift reflects on this story throughout her song and explains how someone in her life “dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.”
Another strong song on this album is “Opalite,” which is assumed to be about Travis Kelce. This song is about the calm of finding the right person and making your own sunshine.
Junior Jenna Walsh has been listening to the album on repeat, and said her favorite song is “Opalite.” She explained, “I really like the meaning behind the song of creating your own happiness. It’s really beautiful to me.”
Sophomore Caitlin Balaguer also picked “Opalite” as her favorite song. She really enjoys how unique and upbeat the whole album is.
Track five is titled “Eldest Daughter,” and it is one of the more controversial songs. This was definitely my most anticipated song, and after my first listen, I was a little disappointed in it. I thought Swift’s lyrics were not her strongest, especially at the beginning of the song. Her line, “Every joke’s just trolling and memes,” felt a little cringy to hear. While it’s not one of my favorites, the song has definitely grown on me a lot since my first listen. Sometimes you need to listen to a song many times before making a true judgment on it and that is true with this one.
Sophomore Emily Flynn commented on the hate the album has been receiving and said, “I think she always gets hate whenever she releases a new album. When “TTPD” (The Tortured Poets Department) came out people didn’t like it, same with “Midnights”.”
Flynn enjoys her pop albums, so she was happy with “The Life of a Showgirl.” Her favorite on the album is “Honey,” the eleventh track. Fans assume that this song discusses Swift’s relationship with Kelce and the use of the word “honey.” She explains that the word “honey” can be used in derogatory terms, belittling her. However, Kelce has changed the meaning of this word because he uses it as a term of endearment towards Swift.
My favorite song on the album is “Ruin The Friendship.” When reading the title, I thought this song would be about Blake Lively and how her controversial year has ruined her friendship with Swift. I was completely wrong because it actually dives into Swift’s high school experience. It is speculated that this song is about her late friend, Jeff Lang, who she had romantic feelings for. I thought the lyricism in this song was beautiful and heartbreaking. It’s a song about going back in time and wondering what would have happened if you took that chance. I definitely think this is the best-written song on the album.
If I had to choose the worst song on the album, I would give it to “CANCELLED!” I do like it, but I don’t think it’s Swift’s strongest. I thought “Ruin The Friendship” was going to be about Blake Lively, but I actually think this song is. “CANCELLED!” is about Swift pushing back against cancel culture. She stands with others who have been victims of cancel culture, like Lively. I understand the meaning behind it, but it’s just not one of my favorites.
The twelfth and final track on the album is the title track, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Featuring Sabrina Carpenter, this is also one of the better songs, in my opinion. A lot of people online have compared the chorus of this song to “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers. Despite not crediting the Jonas Brothers, I do think these songs sound very similar. However, I think it’s a great song and a fabulous way to end the album. This is definitely the type of feel I was picturing for the entire album.
Despite mixed reviews, I really enjoyed this album, and I think that people need to give it a chance. Like Flynn said, everyone loves to jump on the hate train whenever they can. Swift’s best lyrics come from her gut-wrenching, heartbreaking songs, but she can’t be sad forever. She is finally happy and I am here in this new era.
