Global superstar and 14-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” on Oct. 3. The album marked her return to the pop music that made her a phenomenon as Swift reunited with producer Max Martin, with whom she previously collaborated on “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” In an interview with Capital Breakfast, Swift said that “The Life of a Showgirl” represents “exactly where I am in my life.”
The 12-track album was announced at 12:12 a.m. on Aug. 12, though its release date and cover were initially hidden. The announcement appeared on Swift’s website along with advertisements for physical copies available for preorder and a clip of Swift’s appearance on her fiancé Travis Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights,” with his brother Jason Kelce. Swift’s long-awaited appearance on the podcast, released the next night, covered her journey to reclaim her master recordings, her life after The Eras Tour and with Travis, and details of “The Life of a Showgirl.”
The album opens with “The Fate of Ophelia,” a reference to Shakespeare’s tragic heroine from “Hamlet,” whose descent into madness and heartbreak led to her drowning. Swift compares herself to Ophelia, writing lyrics such as, “And if you’d never come for me / I might’ve drowned in the melancholy,” and, “You dug me out of my grave and / Saved my heart from the fate of / Ophelia.” Swift attributes her newfound happiness and fulfillment with love to her relationship with Kelce. Fans have also noted that the standard album cover resembles the famous John Everett Millais painting of Ophelia singing before drowning in water.
Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kelce is a recurring theme throughout the album, with tracks such as “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Opalite,” “Wi$h Li$t,” “Wood” and “Honey,” either mentioning Kelce or using him as a muse. In “Elizabeth Taylor,” Swift likens herself to the late Hollywood actress who married eight times. Often criticized by the media for her many public relationships, Swift rhetorically asks Taylor if she “thinks it’s forever,” referring to her relationship with Kelce.
Kelce is lovingly mentioned in “Wi$h Li$t,” where Swift envisions a life with him.
“I just want you, huh / Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you,” she sings.
Swift also tackles the subject of loss and regret on “Ruin the Friendship,” where she expresses sorrow for not pursuing a late friend during her adolescence, before he passed away. She sings, “It was not convenient, no / But I whispered at the grave / ‘Should’ve kissed you anyway.’” Her fans suspect that the friend is Jeff Lang, who they also believe is the muse behind the “Red” track “Forever Winter.”
The album concludes with a title track featuring Sabrina Carpenter, who opened 26 shows for Swift during The Eras Tour. The song tells the story of a young artist who meets celebrity Kitty Finlay. Finlay warns her that “the life of a showgirl” is more demanding than it appears. The artist eventually becomes as famous as Finlay once was, singing that she “now [knows] the life of a showgirl” and “wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Fans have criticized other tracks, like “Actually Romantic” and “CANCELLED!,” for their controversial lyrics. “Actually Romantic” is a suspected response to Charli XCX’s “brat” track, “Sympathy is a knife.” In the song, Charli XCX expresses jealousy towards a woman who embodies her insecurities and whom she is the “opposite” of. Upon its release, fans speculated that the song referenced Swift and her previous relationship with Matty Healy, who is in the same band as Charli XCX’s husband, George Daniel. Charli XCX sings, “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.” Fans believe that Swift did not receive the song positively and alludes to it in “Actually Romantic,” citing Swift’s statement that the subject is someone who “wrote me a song sayin’ it makes you sick to see my face.”
Furthermore, “CANCELLED!” covers Swift’s disdain towards cancel culture and how she “like[s] her friends cancelled.” Over the past year, Swift has faced scrutiny for her friendships with Blake Lively and Brittany Mahomes, both of whom have been “cancelled.” Some listeners criticized the track as distasteful and tone-deaf, given the political climate in the U.S.
Overall, the album received mixed reviews. Some critics described the songwriting as juvenile and corny, while devoted Swifties defended the album, arguing that people will always find something about which to criticize Swift.
Swift was also accused of copying other songs with her interpolations of Jonas Brothers’ “Cool” in “The Life of a Showgirl,” Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” in “Actually Romantic” and The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” in “Wood.” Though interpolations are increasingly popular in modern popular music, Swift’s use garnered more attention because she previously sued Olivia Rodrigo over Rodrigo’s interpolation of “Cruel Summer” in “Deja Vu.” Despite the backlash to “The Life of a Showgirl,” the album has been a commercial success. It quickly broke the record, previously held by Adele, for all-time first-week U.S. sales. Rolling Stone rated the album five stars, stating, “Swift hits all her marks — from new, exciting sonic turns to incisive storytelling.”
