Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” is her weakest album to date
“The Life of a Showgirl,” Taylor Swift’s 16th studio album, finds the most famous singer in the world at her most depraved. Having at long last achieved the love story she so infamously sang about as a young woman, Swift is only able to offer a sparse and shallow album that suggests getting what you want may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
The album opens with the “Fate of Ophelia,” an energetic pop number that takes its name from “Hamlet,” continuing the singer’s love of Shakespeare. This song is generic in its repetitive pop riffs and tired lyrics, which are perhaps emblematic of the fact that to be at the top is to be uninspired and dejected.
The album is strongest when Swift is at her most braggadocious. In “Father Figure,” she sings: “I’ll be your father figure/ I drink that brown liquor/ I can make deals with the devil because my (expletive)’s bigger.” This riff is undeniably catchy and serves as the highlight of the album.
While the album reaches its pinnacle near the middle, it quickly plummets with “Eldest Daughter,” where Swift, with apparently no sense of irony, sings: “But I’m not a bad (explative) / This isn’t savage.” These lyrics mock Black artists like Megan Thee Stallion, and have received criticism online for being a racist dog whistle.
Swift attempts to recover from “Eldest Daughter” with “Ruin the Friendship,” which offers the advice to her young and impressionable listeners to “always ruin the friendship.” This bad advice, coupled with a lackluster instrumental, marks the song as one of the weakest on the album.
As someone who has “ruined the friendship,” I must say Taylor’s advice is not one to follow, as it often leads to more heartbreak and pain than simply letting things take their course naturally.
It wouldn’t be a Swift album without the singer showing some teeth. In “The Life of a Showgirl,” however, Swift doesn’t take aim at her usual ex-boyfriends, but instead at another pop sensation: Charli XCX.
The diss comes on “Actually Romantic,” but it is this diss that is perhaps the greatest signifier of an artist in decline. With lazy songwriting and a dejected falsetto, Swift sings laconically about Charli XCX’s betrayal.
Yet this diss doesn’t quite land. Instead, it seems to suggest Swift realizes that she is in the twilight of her career and is attacking an up-and-comer out of fear of relinquishing her throne.
The rest of the album passes forgettably, save for a single, interesting feature by Sabrina Carpenter on “The Life of a Showgirl.”
Overall, “The Life of a Showgirl” is an artist’s attempt to deny that her time has long since passed. With resentful, angry lyrics tied up in upbeat melodies, Swift appears to be grasping for air in a world that has long since evolved past her — and unfortunately, we are all witness to her last few breaths.
Rating: 2/5
