Confessions of a Disappointed Swiftie Fan :: Why Taylor Swift’s “Life of a Showgirl” Misses the Mark

Confessions of a Disappointed Swiftie Fan :: Why Taylor Swift’s “Life of a Showgirl” Misses the Mark

Before we go any further, let me be clear: I am a Swiftie. I paid ungodly amounts of money to watch her live last year. I’ve defended her to anyone who dared to reduce her songs to pop fluff. Taylor Swift’s music has been the soundtrack to my life’s highs and lows. When she wrote, “Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness” in “Bigger Than The Whole Sky,” she articulated the grief I felt after my stillbirth better than I could. Her songs have been a constant friend through the decades. 

All of which is to say, it genuinely pains me to write this: I think her new album, “Life of a Showgirl,” is…well…a dud.

The album channels some of the biting energy of “Reputation,” but it’s missing the maturity and evolution I would expect from Taylor in the eight years since. Take “Actually Romantic,” where she throws a jab at Charli XCX with the line, “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave.” Considering the vulnerability Charli XCX shared in her own song “Sympathy is a Knife,” the line does not read as a clever diss, but petty and mean. It feels like Taylor should be far above that by now.

Of course, some of her evolution shines through. Travis Kelce’s influence is apparent  throughout the album, from the tongue-in-cheek song “Wood” to the domestic daydream described in “Wi$h Li$t.” This is the woman who, just three years ago, sang, “No deal, the 1950s shit they want from me, I just wanna stay in that lavender haze.” Now, having met “the one,” she shares, “Got me dreaming ’bout a driveway with a basketball hoop. Boss up, settle down.”

And listen, I truly love that for her. But I also miss the rich, complex storytelling that has become her signature. If she’s going to explore the life shift of settling down, I wanted to hear that journey described with more than just surface level cliches.

Too often, the lyrics feel uninspired. The line, “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” from “Eldest Daughter” sounds like it came straight from 2013, right alongside our Millennial straight-leg jeans and statement necklaces. The sentiment in “Everybody’s so punk on the internet, Everyone’s unbothered ’til they’re not” is a theme she’s explored before — and with more wit — in “You Need to Calm Down.” Coming from the deep, rich storytelling trenches of albums like “Folklore,” it’s a jarring listen.

Is it a total failure? Of course not. She’s still Taylor Swift. Do I have the synth-pop track “Opalite” on my weighted-vest-walk playlist? Absolutely. Have I listened to the entire album on repeat since it was released? Naturally. But the magic isn’t quite there.

So take my review with a grain of salt. If you love the album, that’s fantastic. And if you see me on my walk around Uptown, weighted vest on, earbuds firmly in place, just know that I’m still a T Swift fan. Just for today, a disappointed one.